Relaxing Bath Salt Recipe for a Rainy Weekend

It’s going to be a very rainy weekend here in sunny Santa Barbara and I’m already stressing over what do with the kids now that everything (baseball games, birthday parties, skateboarding, really everything we do on weekends) has been cancelled.  Here’s something that I just came up with that they can do tomorrow, and that I can enjoy tomorrow evening.  It’s something that can be made from ingredients that almost everyone has in their pantry and doesn’t require much clean up at all.

I’m going to let the kids, and that means my own 3 kids plus a few more added in for extra noise, be mad scientists/crazy cooks and stir up some body salts for me to pour into a relaxing hot bath.  I’m planning on having them mix up extra batches in different scents so that I can give them as gifts to my busy mom friends who I know will appreciate them as much as me.

What you need:

• 3 cups Epsom Salt (which is not a salt, really, but a pure compound of magnesium & sulfate that has many health benefits and is a natural remedy for many ailments)
  
• 2 cups Sea Salt
• 1 cup of baking soda (for skin softening properties)
• 1/2 ounce of essential oil for aromatherapy

Mix it Up:

Measure out the salts and whisk them together well, making sure to break up any clumps. Next, add 1 cup of baking soda…for a 3:2:1 ratio of salts to the baking soda.

I like to add about 1/2 ounce of essential oils to this recipe. (If you add too much fragrance, your salts will tend to clump.) I love to use LAVENDER, GERANIUM, EUCALYPTUS, & JUNIPER, alone and also mixed in various blends.

Use whatever essential oils you have on hand. If you don’t have any essential oils in the house, you can always zest a lemon or orange and throw that in the mix for a delicious citrus scent.  I also like to make a fragrance-free batch for those who are scent-sensitive.

Package It:

Pour several cups into an air-tight container. While plastic is definitely better than glass around the bath tub, especially if kids are around, some essential oils will warp and discolor plastic. So, I like to use large mason jars. They’re prettier too.  These skin-softening Bath Salts will keep for months and make fantastic gifts.  So put those kids to work today!  Enjoy your bath.

Have a great weekend!