Homemade Bath Salts

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Most recipes for bath salts are extremely simple. They typically contain a ratio of 3 parts Epsom salt, 2 parts sea salt, and one part baking soda. If you want to add some essential oils, or fragrance oils to make scented bath salts, you only need about 1/2 an ounce of either product.

So for the math challenged (um, that would include me also) you need 3 cups Epsom salt, 2 cups sea salt and 1 cup baking soda plus about 1/2 ounce of essential or fragrance oil.

Wow, really complicated, right? NOT! Remember, I did tell ya that this was super easy!

Ok, now for our shhhhhhhhh, super secret ingredient--Dendritic Salt. If you add 5% dendritic salt to your blend, you will prevent your essential oils from becoming oxidized from the magnesium in the salt. You definitely want to avoid having your essential oils oxidize, because this means they become rancid and stinky.

Dendritic salt is just regular old salt that has been exposed to a chemical to make it grow star-shaped crystals. All the better for hanging on to fragrance molecules, you know.

Dendritic salt also prevents your bath salt from clumping and caking together.

Ok, in this recipe, we have a total of 5 cups of Epsom and sea salt, so we would need to use about 1/4 cup of dendritic salt in this recipe. (Hmm, maybe this math stuff isn't as bad as I thought.)

Dendritic salt isn't terribly expensive, especially considering how little of it you really need to create homemade bath salts. You can buy 10lbs of the stuff for $15.00 at From Nature With Love.

Scented Homemade Bath Salts Suit Different Moods

How Adding Essential Oils to Your Homemade Bath Salts Can Help Lift You Up, or Calm You Down

You can make your homemade bath salts even more therapeutic by the type of essential oil you choose, as each have their own healing properties.

Here are a few examples of the different properties of essential oils:

Clary Sage Helps ease depression
Cedarwood Calms and balances energy
Grapefruit Lightens one's mood, and gives energy
Lavender Calms and relaxes
Peppermint Stimulates the mind and improves focus
Rose Fights fears and anger
Sandalwood Reduces tension and confusion

If someone you love is going through a tough time, why not make them a lovely gift of homemade bath salt with an essential oil appropriate to their current condition? Nothing would be more thoughful.

If essential oils are not readily available in your area, you can order them online.
Kalyx.com Complete Aromatherapy Oils & Supplies is a supplier of essential oils and many other herbal products.

*Caution* Some essential oils are not to be used in the bath as they can be very irritating to delicate skin (I'm sure you can figure out what I'm saying--right?) Don't use black pepper, clove, cinnamon or oregano oils in bath salts. If you are not sure, be sure to consult a guide for the appropriate use of essential oils.