Making your own homemade bath salts using epsom salt, pink himalayan salt, dead sea flakes and essential oils is so easy and absolutely worth it! These bath salts are one of the first diy’s that I ever did. After that I was completely hooked to keep finding simple homemade recipes, especially ones that could be easily adapted for different purposes as well.
Homemade products have started to appear more and more around our home, since you are able to control the ingredients and often save you money. Both are great reasons to start making your own homemade bath salts, since they ingredient list can range from anywhere between 2-6 ingredients.
Benefits of taking a salt bath
Bath salts are great for so, so many things. This list continues to grow, but here are the most common areas people see improvement in once they start taking salt baths.
- Stress reducing
- Relaxing
- Easing muscle soreness, stiffness & achiness
- Used to help detox the body
- Promote circulation
- Helping with joints and certain types of arthritis
- Treat skin conditions (eczema, psoriasis, dry skin, breakouts)
- Reduce pain symptoms such as head tension
Epsom salts
Epsom salts are the base of your homemade bath salts. Technically, you could omit them for a fancier looking salt but I wouldn’t recommend it. They are loaded with magnesium, similar to the magnesium flakes, but often at a much lower price point and just as effective. Quick tip when buying epsom salts, always make sure to buy them unscented! This way they are not full of synthetic fragrances and you can add your own pure essential oils to give them an amazing scent. While they might not the prettiest salt on their own, they are always in my homemade bath salt recipe!
Pink Himalayan salts
These salts may be used alone, or in addition to epsom salts and magnesium flakes. They are a light pink color and come in fine to coarse salts. I find they are a good balance between the other types of salt and add such a pretty look to the homemade bath salts (especially if you have them on display or making them as a gift – see gift guide below). The pink himalayan salts are pricier than epsom salts. I like to find them for a good price at Home Goods or buy a slightly larger bag from Amazon.
Dead Sea flakes
Dead Sea bath flakes are exactly what they sound like – flakes of salt from the Dead Sea. One of the reasons to combine different types of salts is because they unique characteristics. Salts from the Dead Sea have 21 minerals including magnesium, calcium, sulfur, bromide, iodine, sodium, zinc and potassium. These are all amazing for skin, detoxification and overall wellness. They make a beautiful bath salt, but can be more expensive since they are from the Dead Sea. The ones I buy from amazon are here.
Personally, I enjoy using all three types of bath salts when I make my homemade bath salt recipe. If we’re short on time or we don’t have any pre-made bath salts on hand, I may only use epsom salt for a quick and simple bath salt.
Best essential oils to use for your bath salts
Different essential oils will add to the bath salts and make them even more effective and enjoyable! Depending what you are using the bath salts for, there are different essential oils to use. Here are some of my favorite essential oils to use in homemade bath salt recipes :
- Lavender : Great for relaxing, calming and balancing. Amazing for your skin, including would healing, acne, eczema, psoriasis and many more. Since it’s great for so many things, lavender is known as the swiss army knife of essential oils!
- Stress Away : Provides feelings of peace and tranquility, and helps relieve everyday stress and tension that arises. This blend contains copaiba, lime, cedarwood, vanilla, ocotea and lavender.
- Citrus oils : Orange, lemon, grapefruit, bergamot and lime are so of my favorite citrus oils to use. They are all great mood enhancers, have been shown to help reduce anxiety and increased relaxation.
- Rosemary : Has amazing properties to help with detoxing the body, as well as hair loss and acne. It may improve mental clarity and focus.
- Peppermint : Great for skin conditions such as itchy skin, eczema, psoriasis). It can also be used for head tension and soothe other areas of the body with pain (including arthritis).
- Eucalyptus Globulus : Promotes healing, overall well being and purification. Great for soothing muscles and respiratory/sinus issues.
- Frankincense : Increases mediation, spirituality and uplifts mood. Can help with muscle relaxing and inflammation in the body.
- Thieves : Great for detoxing the body, overall health and wellness and head tension.
Shop any single essential oils or essential oil blends here.
All about making homemade bath salts
Let’s get into making your homemade bath salts! When I make them at home for our typical usage, I am using epsom salt, dead sea flakes, and essential oils. If I want to be fancy or have a little more time (or frankly, just when I remember), then I add the pink himalayan salt.
First, we add the epsom salt, dead sea flakes and pink himalayan salt. I usually aim for a 1:1 ratio when only using the epsom salt and dead sea flakes. When I add the pink himalayan salt, the ratio is 3 parts epsom salt, 3 parts dead sea flakes and 1 part pink himalayan salt.
Second, we add between 20-30 drops of essential oils to the combination of salts. Mix the salts and essential oils with a metal spoon to combine well. Please note, if you are making this recipe for kids I would recommend using half the amount of essential oils (10-15 drops) instead.
Lastly, spoon bath salts into glass jars to store. They will keep for 6-8 weeks in these jars. I always try to avoid using plastic containers when using essential oils, as the oils are so concentrated they can break down most plastics.
To use your homemade bath salts, simply add 1/2 cup to very warm bath water. Stir the bath salts to make sure the completely dissolve in the water before getting into the water.
homemade bath salts using essential oils
Materials
- 1 1/2 cups epsom salts
- 1 1/2 cups dead sea flakes
- 1/2 cup pink himalayan salt
- 20-30 drops essential oils
Instructions
- Add 1 1/2 cups epsom salt, 1 1/2 cups dead sea flakes and 1/2 cup pink himalayan salt to glass bowl
- Add 20-30 drops essential oils to salts.
- Mix salts and essential oils together.
- Store in glass jar or use right away.
Different essential oil combinations for your bath salts
stress reducing
- 20 drops stress away
- 10 drops orange
relaxing
- 10 drops lavender
- 10 drops peppermint
- 10 drops lemon
uplifting
- 10 drops bergamot
- 10 drops orange
- 10 drops grapefruit
tension reliever
- 15 drops peppermint
- 15 drops eucalyptus globulus
muscle soothing
- 10 drops peppermint
- 10 drops frankincense
- 10 drops eucalyptus globulus
detox
- 20 drops rosemary
- 10 drops thieves
respiratory relief
- 10 drops thieves
- 10 drops peppermint
- 10 drops eucalyptus globulus
Homemade bath salts as a gift idea
These bath salts are such a great and easy gift for a birthday, Christmas, Mother’s Day, wedding shower, teacher or any other special occasion. A homemade gift goes a long way to show them that you care and appreciate them. I love giving these to all the people in my love who enjoy a relaxing soak in the bath tub or a simple foot soak!
My favorite essential oils combinations for gifting include:
Stress Away + Orange/Lemon/Peppermint
Peppermint + Vanilla
Lavender + Grapefruit + Stress Away
Valor + Orange
When gifting these homemade bath salts, I like to use more decorative glass jars and tie a pretty ribbon or string around the jars for a simple and festive look. You can definitely make this part your own, depending on the time of year and who you are giving them to! Layering the bath salts is a way to make it more festive for the holidays or special occasion.
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