How to make soothing Bath Bombs

In late September my Calendula flowers are still producing masses of blooms which, weather permitting will last for at least another month or so. At this time of year, I’m always looking for ways to put those beautiful healing flowers to use in natural products.

Whilst sitting in a Dentists' waiting room, flicking through the lovely array of magazines, I saw some recipies using Calendular flowers. I can’t remember the exact recipe but this is close enough for me and works like a dream.

These are also perfect for soaking tired and sore feet at the end of the day. I love them so much that I’ve decided I’m going to make them every year to include in my Christmas gift sets.

Calendula & Lavender Bath Bombs

How to dry the flowers

You can buy Calendula and Lavender flower petals already dried and you will need two handfuls of dried flowers for these bath bombs. If you are lucky enough to have them growing in your garden and are drying the flower petals yourself, you will need around four handfuls of fresh flowers.

The best time to pick the flowers is in the morning after the flowers have had a little sun and are no longer wet with dew.

I lay mine out on kitchen paper to dry. I think this helps draw out the moisture from the flowers but you can also use newspaper for this. The leaves should be left in a dark airy room to dry.

Dry the Calendula flower petals in batches, so as soon as one batch is dry you're ready to spread out the next batch. I always make sure to leave enough flowers in the flower bed to produce seeds for next year though. I just leave them alone to seed themselves and so far they’ve always survived our Bavarian winters and come back in abundance the following year!

To dry the Lavender, I cut the flowers, leaving the stems quite long and bind them together in small bunches. I hang up the bunches (flower heads down) in a warm dark room until they are fully dry. Once dry, I separate out the small Lavender flowers and store them in a cupboard in an air tight jar.

Calendula & Lavender Bath Bombs

Ingredients

280g Bicarbonate of soda

150g Citric Acid,

80g Cornstarch

100g Coconut oil or Cocoa Butter

10g Essential oil of choice (optional)

15g Emulsifier - Mulsifan (this can be left out but then the oil will swim on top of the water)

2 handfuls of dried Calendula or Lavender flower petals

How To Make the Bath Bombs

Mix together all the dry ingredients.

Melt the oil in the small pan.

Add the the emulsifier and essential oil if using and stir well.

: Weigh out the ingredients

: 280g Bicarbonate of Soda

: 150g Citric Acid

: 80g Cornstarch

: Mix well

: Add the oils to the dry ingredients

: Mix thoroughly

: It should look like this

Add the oil to the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly.

Use a dessert spoon (or ice cream scoop) to scoop up small amounts of the mixture.

Press the mixture into a form of your choice or simply roll into a ball (you will need to wait a while for the mixture to stiffen a little if making balls, otherwise they will just collapse).

Gently roll the bath bombs around in the dried Calendula or Lavender flowers.

Set aside to dry for at least 24 hours.

I popped my bath bombs into jars and made some pretty labels for them. They make perfect gifts for friends and family, especially at Christmas when everyone's feet are worn out from all that shopping and partying!

Here's what the labels look like:

The labels have been uploaded to the FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY for my subscribers. The link to the library and the latest password are always at the bottom of my weekly newsletter. If you're not a subscriber and would like to download the labels you can sign up for the newsletter using the form below.

I hope you love these bath bombs as much as I do and if you’re looking for some more ways to use up your Calendula flowers why not take a look at this really easy tutorial on how to make Calendula oil.