DIY Epsom Salt Upgrade

DE DIY: Epsom Salt Upgrade

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Epsom salts are a staple at my barn and in my bathroom.  The horses may not care too much about how they smell or what color the salts are, but I do.  An Epsom salt bath after a hard day of work, a fall, or an epic workout session is the perfect way to relax and support muscle recovery.   Sure…you can buy scented Epsom salts, but you have to settle for what’s available.  I prefer different smells at different times and usually enjoy more unique scents, so I like to make my own.  I also enjoy adding a little color so that the jar looks beautiful in my bathroom, adding to the decor rather than taking away from the look with a plastic bag.

What you need to DIYDIY Epsom Salt Upgrade

  1. Plain Epsom Salts (I recommend bulk.  The more you buy, the cheaper it is).
  2. A pretty container/jar to hold your finished product (I got mine at World Market).
  3. A large mixing bowl (optional) and a small bowl.
  4. Skin softening Oil of some type (Olive oil, Grapeseed Oil, Jojoba Oil, etc.)
  5. Food coloring or skin safe cosmetic dye
  6. Essential oils or cosmetic grade Fragrance Oil.  Note: many Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils can be irritating to the skin, so do a little research.  For instance Clove Essential Oil can irritate skin.
  7. 1 Cup measuring cup
  8. 1 Fork

 

The recipe is dependent on the amount of Epsom Salt you are going to prepare.  The following is for 10 cups.

  • 10 cups Epsom Salt
  • 5 Tsp Oil (or more if you prefer a more moisturizing bath).
  • 25 – 50 Drops of Fragrance Oil/Essential Oil – this will vary by oil.  Start with less and then increase to preferred scent level.
  • 10-20 drops of colorant – this will vary.  Start with less and then increase to preferred color.  Note:  The color of the bath salts will not change the color of your water.  The amount of dye in the salts will not be enough to significantly color large amounts of water.
    DIY Epsom Salt Upgrade   DIY Epsom Salt Upgrade

Using your measuring cup, measure out 10 cups of Epsom Salt into your container or a large mixing bowl and make sure to break up any clumps (easier to do this with your hands).  In the small bowl, measure out your oil, fragrance and colorant and mix as best you can.  The colorant probably will not disperse in the oil and will stay beaded up.

DIY Epsom Salt Upgrade

Pour mixture of oils/colorant over the top of the salts slowly while stirring with a fork.  Once all oils are added, continue stirring the salts until the colorant has dyed the salts uniformly.  You may want to use a large spoon to pull up any un-dyed salts from the bottom of your bowl/container.   At this point you can add more colorant if the salt is not quite the color you were looking for (don’t forget red+yellow = orange, blue+yellow = green, blue+red=purple, and… purple + orange = brown.  Be creative with your coloring, but know what colors yield other colors so you don’t end up with a gross mess.  Add additional fragrance oils at this point if you feel like the scent is low.  If you are having issues dispersing the colorant, you may need to add more skin softening oils.  Pour the salts into your display container if you mixed them in a bowl.  Note:  make sure to wash any kitchen utensils thoroughly before using them to prepare or eat food with them.  DIY Epsom Salt Upgrade

Run a warm/or cool bath, add in 1 – 2 cups of your new custom bath salts and enjoy!!

Note on my custom salts pictured:  I used green and blue colorant to reach this color,  used a Pink Sugar dupe fragrance oil for the scent of this batch, the pretty jar comes from Cost Plus World Market (they have the best storage containers) and I bought the bulk salts come from the San Francisco Salt Company.

 

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