Rose Petal Bath Bombs:
One of the oldest and most popular bath bombs is the Sex Bomb from Lush. This is one of the first bath bombs we can even remember. Most likely due to the fact of the rose petal embeds that burst from within when placed in water. This one will forever be a classic. Surely, rose petal bath bombs however, can also be DIY’d.
The cool thing about bath bombs is that there are tons of creative minds always upping the bath bomb game. Besides new designs and scents, can you believe that jewelry and toys are also being used as embeds.
Making things even more intriguing is that the average person has the ability to replicate some of these bath bombs. Furthermore, placing your own added twist, as not to copy the exact product.
Replicating With Your Own Rose Pedal Version:
Take for instance the Lush ‘Sex Bomb’, there are many YouTube videos that talk about exactly how to replicate this design. Now the ingredients may not be all the same, but from a design standpoint, it’s hard to tell a difference.
However, that’s not quite what we’ll be doing here today. We want to walk you through an easier process that can get you really cool looking bath bombs with rose petals embeds, that even a beginner could carry out.
If you’re a novice to the process you could head over and read our blog post about bath bombs. We’ll talk you through some of the common ingredients we use to create this rose petal bath bomb.
“What Could Possibly Go Wrong?!”
Beginner Tips:
a. The Mold:
Trust us when we say the mold can make all the difference, even for experienced bath bomber. We suggest that if new to this process, start off with a stainless steel round mold (3 oz. – 5 oz.).
You can buy heart shaped molds that work well, but it can be a little tricky to get your mixture just right. Furthermore, rounded bath bombs are a little more forgiving then molds that have sharper, more detailed edges.
b. K-I-S-S (Keep It Simple Sally)
Clay’s can open up a whole realm of problems in your mixture if you’re not careful (as it changes the weight, density, and wet/dry ratio’s).
Don’t go crazy with additives. There are tons of clay’s, and carrier oils, as well as butters that you can mix in with your ingredients. However, just starting out, work with basic ingredients, and more lightweight oils.
c. Humidity
Pay attention to humidity when making bath bombs. If the humidity is to high (to much moisture in the air) it will effect your bath bombs. Moreover, causing them to adsorb to much moisture, causing ‘warts’, cracking and difficulty drying.
In fact, you may even find when making bath bombs during rainy weather causes issues as well.
Recipe For Rose Petal Bath Bombs:
Dry Ingredients (basics!)
- Baking Soda – 2 Cup
- Citric Acid – 1 Cup
- Epson Salt – 1/3 Cup
- Corn Starch – 1/4 Cup
- Dried Rose Petals (Amazon is a cheap place to buy a bag of petals)
Wet Ingredients:
- Rose Essential Oil – 25 Drops
- Polysorbate 80 – 1/2 tsp
- Coloring: Recommend Water Soluble Certified Dyes, but you can use skin-safe food coloring.
- Spray Bottle with Witch Hazel
Equipment:
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Whisk or Stand Mixer
- Mask, gloves, eye cover
- Bath Bomb Mold (round stainless steel 3 oz. mold)
Quick Tidbit About Rose Essential Oil:
Many essential oils have either been involved in research studies or theorized to have certain health benefits. Some of the benefits rose essential oil is thought to have includes; pain relief, helping reduce anxiety and depression as well as antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.
Now keep in mind, essential oils are not all therapeutic grade. Hence, not all created equal!
Directions For Rose Petal Bath Bombs:
Step One: Dry Ingredients
First, take your dry ingredients and mix them in one bowl. For example, this includes baking soda, citric acid, Epsom salt, and corn starch.
Run the ingredients through a sifter if you notice any clumps.
Step Two: Wet Ingredients
Next, mix your wet ingredients. For example water soluble food colorant of choice, polysorbate 80, and rose essential oil, in a separate bowl.
Step Three: Mix
Then, pour the wet ingredients you mixed into the dry ingredients. You can use a hand or stand mixture, but for this little amount of bath bombs, we recommend doing it with your hands, this will really give you a good feel of proper consistency, prior to molding.
Step Four: Spray
After you have the ingredients mixed together with no clumps, you can start adding sprays of your witch hazel. The purpose of the witch hazel is to give you more control of the dampness of the mixture.
Start with 3-5 sprays at a time.
* You will know it’s the right consistency when you grab a handful and squeeze the mixture together and it stays together in your hand, without sticking*
Step Five: Add Mixture
Next, grab half of your stainless steel mold. Place some dried rose petals in the bottom of the mold. We prefer rose petals to be somewhat broken up at this step, they look more appealing when the bath bomb is molded versus whole petals, our opinion.
Step Six: Continue Adding
Add your mixture to that half. Add a few more rose petals. The purpose here to embed some of them in the middle of the bath bomb. These petals can be whole. Add a little more mixture on top of those rose petals.
Grab your other half and do the same thing.
Step Six: Mold
After both halves are overfilled with mixture, press them together. Keep the molds pressed together for about 10 seconds. Alternatively, your could leave it in the mold for a few minutes, up to 30 minutes.
It’s really a “feel thing”, so if you feel your mixture could benefit from some extra time in the mold then give it a go, ideally you can squeeze together and then un-mold almost within seconds.
Step Seven: Un-Mold
Finally, un-mold the rose petal bath bomb and allow it to dry on egg carton foam or something soft for 24-hours.
Final Thoughts!
When placing these in water you will not only get that amazing rose aroma, but flower petals will be slowly released into your tub. Easy Breezy, right!
Well that’s it, we hope you enjoy creating one these simple simple bath bombs with flower petals inside, as always if you like our posts please share them on social media, which will really help us out.
Thanks for stopping by!
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4387651/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287527902_Antibacterial_and_antifungal_activity_of_Rosa_damascena_MILL_essential_oil_different_extracts_of_rose_petals