Well, for those of you that have not mapped out your hometown and are out swooping up all the Black Friday deals, I’ve got a great homemade gift idea for you.
I did this a few years ago with friends and it was a hit. The key is having some cute bottles that will dress up the side of their tub!
With just a few ingredients – you can make a special gift that will last throughout the year. I got this recipe from a friend who makes all natural soaps, scrubs and soaks and sells them during the holidays.
Bath Salts
- 3/4 Cup Epsom Salt
- 1/4 Cup Baking Soda
- 1 1/2 Cups Coarse Sea Salt (found at most health food stores)
- 10 drops of essential oils (also found at most health food stores or The Body Shop, see links below)
- 2-3 drops of food coloring – optional
Combine salts and soda
Add food coloring and scent
Stir together.
Funnel into large glass bottles.
Okay, so just to keep it real here. I added 10 drops of food coloring to that batch above instead of the 3-4 it calls for. It calls for 10 drops of the essential oil which I also added. Anyway, it’s not a big deal except that my salts are a little too bright for my taste.
Anyway, you can really make each gift unique by adding the favorite scent of the person you are giving the salts to. For instance, my mother in law loves lavender. She also has very sensitive skin so I will most likely skip the food coloring just in case. If you put them in colored bottles, you will not know the difference. My husband loves one with a little more masculine scent, so I use tea tree oil for him and my good friend loves a floral so I have lilac for her.
The oils will probably be your most expensive ingredient will go the furthest so you will not have to buy this again for a long time. Here are some links where you can buy essential oils online. Please share in the comments if you have a suggestion, too.
Oh, and make some for yourself – they feel really good!
Happy Black Friday! I hope if you did go shopping that you got the best deals around. Be sure to share any awesome beauty deals in the comments.
About Jo-Lynne
Excellent pics of your bath salts! I make them every year as gifts. I found that small-necked bottles didn’t work over time because the salt got hard when people left the bottle in the bathroom, and then they couldn’t get the bath salts out. So I switched to wide-mouth jars and decorated them instead.
Here’s my all-time favorite essential oil blend for bath salts: 7 drops Bergamot, 7 drops Sweet Orange, 1 drop Rose Geranium essential oil. SUPER relaxing, and it cheers you up! I also posted a really nice lavender bath salt recipe at http://www.easy-aromatherapy-recipes.com/lavender-aromatherapy-bath-salt-recipe.html
BTW, bath oil is just as easy to make and doesn’t get stuck in the bottles!
Thanks Kyley! It looks like a great mix.