Pamper Yourself with Home Made Bath Salts

There's nothing like a long soak in the tub on a lazy summer day, especially when you've included luxurious bath salts that help relax tired muscles, ease stress and fill the air with exotic scents. Bath salts are also good for softening the skin. They're easy and inexpensive to make at home. Follow this simple recipe for making your own bath salts and spoil yourself after a long day of hard work!

This recipe makes enough for two baths.

Materials

½ cup of coarse kosher salt
½ cup Epsom salt
1 quart-size, freezer-grade zip-lock plastic bag
Food color
Eucalyptus and Lavender Essential oils (available at craft or natural food stores)

Instructions

Place the coarse and Epsom salt into the zip-lock plastic bag. Add one drop of food color, lock bag and shake to distribute color. Repeat process until the desired color is achieved throughout the salt. It's important to add only one drop at a time because multiple drops may begin to melt the salt. Add a couple of drops of essential oils to the bag, seal and shake to distribute the scent. Repeat the process until the desired scent is achieved. You probably will need to add 5-10 drops of essential oils before proper scent level is reached.


Personalize Your Salts

As you gain more experience making bath salts, you may want to try creating your own unique scent by using more than one type of essential oils. As you experiment, make sure you note how many drops of each specific scent you added. Then, you'll have your exact recipe when you discover the combination for your perfect signature scent.

When bathing, pour half the contents of one batch into hot running water. Swirl with your hands until the salts are completely dissolved before getting into the bathtub.

Once your refreshing soak is over, make sure you replenish your skin's moisture with a high-quality body lotion. While bath salts are a relaxing treat, they can dry your skin if you use them often. Applying lotion while your skin is still damp will help maintain moisture.

Homemade Bath Salts Make a Great Gift

Homemade bath salts make a colorful and thoughtful gift for family and friends. With just a couple of additional items and a few extra batches, you'll have a great gift that will be appropriate at any time.

To make a gift jar of bath salts, pour the finished product into a glass canning jar. These jars have a two-piece lid that will tightly seal your bath salts and preserve their scent until they're used. The jars are available at any grocery store.

After the bath salts are in the jar, place the sealing lid on top of the jar. Next, cut a piece of colorful (or lacy) fabric that generally matches or complements the color of your bath salts. Place the fabric over the lid, and then screw the sealing ring onto the jar. Tie a piece of decorative ribbon around the neck of the jar to finish the look.

For added fun, use your computer and printer to design your own labels that can be customized for each person you're giving them to. Print out the labels and stick them onto your gift jars.

You also can create a more colorful gift jar by making two separate batches of different colors and scents and layering them in a larger jar. Vanilla and rose bath salts make a nice combination, for example.