Super simple luxury bathing time.

Have you noticed how much bath salts, oils and bath bombs cost lately? And how they’re usually individually wrapped in plastic or sold in single use packs? Well, I’m here to tell you that you can easily make your own bath stuff in under 10 minutes for cheap and it will even be totally customised. For bath salts and bath oils, all you need to do is mix the ingredients together and you’re done, just like that! I’ve also included 2 of my favourite combinations to get you started.

How to make bath salts

For 1 cup of homemade bath salt you’ll need:

• 1 cup salt (coarse sea salt, Black sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, rock salt, Epsom salt…)
• Up to 5 drops of essential or aromatic oils (rose, lavender, orange, eucalyptus, rosemary, ylang-ylang…)
• 2-3 tablespoons of dried herbs/flower petals or colloidal oats etc. (optional)

Mix it all together in a small bowl and store in a clean, dry glass jar for up to a year (I reuse the glassware from pickles and yoghurt). Use about 1/2 cup per bath.

Here’s one of my homemade bath salts suggestions:

Simple relaxing lavender bath salt

• 1 cup quality coarse sea salt
• 3 drops lavender aromatic oil
• 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Things to note: You can use whichever salt you like and mix and match them as well, but it’s best to avoid regular table salt, because it’s usually enriched with iodine and iodine baths can be problematic for people who are sensitive to it. Coarse salt works best, I like to use the Slovenian sea salt that is produced in Piran salt pans using traditional methods. Some people like to use Epsom salts because of the added magnesium for muscle relaxation and others like to add a bit of baking soda, but I’m not a fan of either.

Similarly, it’s best to dilute your essential oils in a carrier oil, which is a vegetable oil like coconut, jojoba or olive oil, because they will separate out on top of the water and can be irritating if you have sensitive skin. If you don’t like oil in your bath, you can use aromatic oils instead – the difference between essential and aromatic oils is that aromatic oils contain about 2% of essential oils diluted in a carrier oil. Also, if you want to add dried herbs or flowers etc., but don’t want them floating around in your bath, you can use a large cloth bag as a sort of teabag for your bath – the salt will dissolve into the water and you’ll still get all the smells and benefits without the mess.

How to make bath oils

For 100 ml of homemade bath oil you’ll need:

• 100 ml (4 oz) of carrier oil (sunflower, hemp seed, sweet almond, olive, coconut, jojoba, argan, avocado oil…)
• 5-10 drops of essential oils (lemongrass, roman chamomile, frankincense, clary sage, jasmine…)
• 1 tablespoon of dried herbs or flower petals (optional – rose, lavender, chamomile, jasmine, peony, herbal mixture…)

Mix everything together and store in a small glass bottle, preferably a dark one to prevent exposure to sunlight, which ages the oil. The easiest option is a dropper bottle as you can use the pipette to measure out the oil for your bath – you’ll want at least 15 ml per bath, which is about 1 tablespoon if that helps. Shake well to combine and store for up to a year.

Here’s a homemade bath oil suggestion:

Soothing orange chamomile bath oil

• 60 ml sunflower oil
• 40 ml calendula infused olive oil
• 3 drops orange essential oil
• 3 drops roman chamomile essential oil
• 1 tablespoon herbal tea with chamomile

Things to note: You can use most types of vegetable oils like those suggested above, and you can even mix them with infused oils (I discussed infused oils here, but basically they’re oils with herbs). If you are using dried flower petals or herbs, put those in first and then pour the oil over them to make sure there’s no air trapped inside the petals. By the way, herbal teas work great as a source of dried flowers, because they’re readily available and you know they’re safe since they’re meant for consumption. Just make sure the herbs they contain can be used in a bath. Same goes for essential oils – avoid spicy oils like peppermint, cinnamon, clove etc.

Super simple, right? These are just the basic guidelines, but you can make your homemade bath salts and oils it as complex as you’d like. As always with homemade stuff, make sure you do an allergy patch test on your skin before using, so that your bath time won’t turn into a nightmare.

P.S.: If you know who you’re giving them to and their preferences and sensitivities, these homemade bath salts and oils can also be a great, thoughtful gift for your friends and family (see my gift giving guidelines here).