After a while, the habit of reading food ingredient label will automatically extend to the body care product section. With more beauty trends focusing on naturally derived ingredients, I also started making some for my own use with very basic recipes starting with bath and body products. It’s tempting to stock up on a variety of ingredients to keep up with the huge range of diy bath product recipes available online, but I am determined to stick to what I already have. Apart from a few types of essential oils, sweet almond oil, and castile soap that I bought last year (Yes! All these lasted me that long!), I got the rest from my kitchen pantry: honey, baking soda, raw sugar, sea salt, coconut oil, oatmeal, apple cider vinegar, etc. I am very tempted to buy some bentonite clay, but that will probably have to wait until I finish up my jar of store-bought clay mask.
I always tell my friends that they will get a lot more bang for their buck if they make home spa products at home. Since I am making these products for my own use, chance are I will be super generous with the key ingredients such as honey or olive oil, food grade, no less and sometimes even organic.
I made this “Rosebuds + Himalayan Pink Salt + Epsom Salt” bath soak for a recent vacation and like it so much that I made more back home as a foot soak since I don’t have a bathtub. For this soak, I used a mix of Epsom salt and Himalayan salt, with more of the latter since it is the cheaper of the two. The rose buds from floral tea section were honestly more for aesthetics purpose, to have an entire bathtub of water smell like rose tea, I will need way more than the 30+ buds that I have added here. If you have a favorite essential oil that you like, add a few drops of that instead. The addition of rosebuds is a nice touch if this is put together as a gift.
This 300g bottle of bath/foot soak took me less than 5 minute to diy and cost less me than $2. Make one for your regular home spa treat, or pack this in your luggage to soothe your aching muscles at the end of the day!
Here are some interesting links that I referred to when I decided on the Epsom and Himalayan salt mix, with some common precaution to note when taking bath soak:
// 2-salt combo mentioned here, here and here as a detox bath
// a pretty gift idea
// Epsom salt with baking soda, also for detox
// precautionary notes here state that Epsom salt are not recommended for patients with high blood pressure or severe varicose veins
// benefits of Epsom salt, and Epsom salt baths here
// or detox with just Himalayan salt
MONO and CO 