Homemade DIY Bath Salt Recipe Use Herbs or Essential Oils

December 20, 2018 by Melissa Norris 8 Comments

This homemade bath salt recipe is one of the easiest projects to whip up for gifts, either for yourself or lucky folks on your list. Not only is it frugal and easy, but this is one gift that has therapeutic benefits, score!

Benefits of Bath Salts

Bath salts aren't actually made with salt, but Epsom salts, which looks similar to salt but is large crystals of magnesium sulfate. This is where part of the therapeutic benefit parts comes in.

Our bodies need a proper level of magnesium to function properly. And some studies show magnesium may offer help with insomnia.

Magnesium is one of the most important minerals in our bodies and helps regulate hundreds of enzymes in our bodies. It helps the proper function of our cardiovascular and endocrine systems as well as our brain and neurotransmission. To sum it up, it’s a pretty big deal in keeping us healthy on a whole lot of levels.

An Epsom salt bath can help increase your magnesium levels.

Making homemade bath salts with baking soda is a great way to help soothe irritated skin, a water conditioner, and helps leave skin feeling extra silky.

Learn how to nourish your body with a natural medicine cabinet with items already in your spice and herb cabinet.

Grow your own culinary and medicinal herbs and learn how to easily preserve them to stock your pantry and medicine chest.

Easy guides and recipes to use your herbs in your own:

homemade soaps
herbal tinctures
nourishing lotions and soothing salves

Want more easy homemade recipes all in one place? This recipe and 100+ more are found in my book–> click here Hand Made: the Modern Guide to Made-from-Scratch Living. <<–

Start at

DIY Bath Salt Recipe

2 cups Epsom salt

½ cup baking soda

Sea salt (optional)

3 to 4 Tablespoons herb of choice (optional)

Mix together the Epsom salt, baking soda, and salt (if using).
Add in herbs and combine until well mixed.
Mix all of this together and store in a clean Mason jar. Add 1 cup to bath water. To help dissolve the salts, pour them under the running water while the bath is drawing.

How to Make Bath Salts for Gifts

The above recipe makes enough for a pint sized jar (2 cup size) which is perfect for gift giving. If you want to make a large number of these up for gifts, simply double, triple or quadruple the recipe and pour into individual jars.

Consider the individual as you pick your herb or essential oil combinations. If someone is sensitive to scents, you can omit it and the baking soda and Epsom salts still make a wonderful homemade bath soak.

This is my favorite part. Personally, I love turning this into a lavender bath salts recipe because lavender essential oil is soothing after a long day, not just to the senses but also to tired muscles.

But I also like to add in the addition of peppermint essential oil for fun Christmas kick and if you've got any type of congestion, this addition is perfect!

Simply add between 10 to 20 drops per 2 cups of bath salts, stir until combined, and gift. You can use a single essential oil or mix and match for different scents or benefits.

Peppermint tends to be a strong oil, so I use less of it when combining it with lavender or vanilla so it doesn't over power the other scents.

I use Plant Therapy for my essential oils because I can get free shipping and order whenever I want, they have KidSafe labels for all essential oils that are safe for use with children (safety is a big deal to me), and they have certified aromatherapists I can ask any questions I may have. Sweet!

Note: Never add essential oils directly to bath water, as they won’t disperse. By adding them to the Epsom salts first, they’re able to dissolve into the water. Otherwise you’ll create an oil slick on top of the water. Always use essential oils with caution, and less is more. Some oils like peppermint, cinnamon, and other warm oils can burn the skin if applied directly without dilution (and some should never be applied to the skin or used in the bath). It's best to use the homemade bath salt with essential oils recipe below following the carrier oil instructions and amounts.

Free Essential Oil Caution Guide– know which oils are photo-sensitive, which aren't safe for children, and if an oil interacts with certain medical conditions. Get your free copy here–> Essential Oil Safety Guide and Chart

DIY Bath Salt Recipe with Essential Oils

Dilution method shared from Dr. Eric Zielinski The Healing Power of Essential Oils

1 cup Epsom salt

1 ounce pure castor oil soap

1 ounce oil- olive, jojoba, or avocado oil

10 drops essential oil (lavender or rosemary are two of my favorites)

food scale

Using a food scale, combine castor oil soap and oil in a glass container.
Add in essential oil. Stir until well mixed, it will turn creamy.
Stir into 1 cup Epsom salt and mix well.
Store in a glass jar and add 1 cup to bath water. Make sure to use hot water to dissolve in bath water.

Note: Do NOT add baking soda when using the essential oils and carrier oils, it will foam and create a mess!

Some people have reported when using the castor oil soap and oil for dilution that it doesn't dissolve all the way in the bathtub. It's likely the water isn't hot enough so an easy solution is to put some water in the tea kettle and bring it to a boil. When you first start to run the bath, pour in your bath salts and pour the hot water from the kettle directly over top, then continue to fill up the tub with water from the tap, adjusting the temperature so you don't burn yourself at the end. I always do this anyways to make sure my bath is hot enough as our poor little hot water tank can't fill up the large soaker tub to my liking anyways.

What are your favorite combinations to use in the homemade DIY bath salt recipe?

More Posts You May Like

7 Holiday Essential Oil Blends for a Natural Homestead

December 7, 2017 by Melissa Norris 1 Comment

There's little else I can think of than giving someone a gift that truly helps improve their lives. I remember when I first started down the path of choosing more natural products and moving away from synthetics.

A whole new world opened up. Not only did I feel better, because let's be honest, the proof is in the pudding, but I wanted to give the same gift to all of my loved ones. I knew what a difference it was making in my life and this homesteading girl just can't help sharing the good, it's what good folks do, right?!

Whew, so glad we're good folks and agree on that.

Here's why going the natural route is not only beneficial, but a must!

(we'll also talk about some precautions you need to know going the natural route as well).

There are over 84,000 chemicals on the market and only 1% of those have been studied for safety.
What's worse than that, is there are known studies that show these ingredients are cancer causing, neurotoxins, and endocrine and hormone disruptors.
Just a few by name are Phthalates, Proplyene Glycol, and parabens. Many times these are found under the listing “fragrance” on a label, which really tells us nothing. Companies do not have to list the individual ingredients they use in their “fragrance blend.”
According to this article, the Environmental Working Group states that 75% of products have phthalates in them under the “fragrance” listing.

I don't know about you, but that's enough to get me changing out the items we use in our home lickety-split.

How to scent your home naturally

While I kicked synthetic to the curb, I still want my home and body to smell nice. I discovered essential oils and quickly dove into using them in our homemade body care products, natural perfume, and diffusing them.

But, even though it's natural, you still need to do due research. Not all essential oils should be used topically or even diffused around young children. For more on this you can read or listen to my story and experience with The Truth About Essential Oils and How to Stay Safe

Essential Oil Diffusers

The easiest way to scent your home is with an essential oil diffuser. You place water into the compartment of the diffuser and add a few drops of your essential oil and it uses a cool mist to the air, delivering both the scent and the medicinal aromatherapy components of the oil.

This is the Essential Oil Diffuser I use and it also acts as a humidifier, with a light function (you can turn it on or off), nightlight, programmable on/off cycles and auto shut-off (automatically turns off when the water runs out). I've had mine close to a year and love it.

If you're looking for a bigger diffuser for a really large room, Plant Therapy has this model

Favorite Essential Oil Diffuser Holiday Blends

Get stocked up on your essential oils from Plant Therapy with 10% Off Your $50+ Order!

Use Coupon Code: “10PER” Click here and get all your blends for yourself and as gifts

Christmas Tree
3 drops Fir Needle (this is a KidSafe oil)

3 drops Spruce (also a KidSafe oil)

Christmas Baking

2 drops Sweet Orange

1 drop Cinnamon Bark

2 drops Vanilla Oleoresin

Holiday Spice

2 drops Sweet Orange

1 drop Cinnamon Bark

1 drop Clove

1 drop Spruce

Candy Cane Swirl

1 drop Spearmint

2 drops Peppermint

2 drops Vanilla Oleoresin

Essential Oil Perfume Blends

The below blends are my personal favorite and the amounts are to use in the aromatherapy diffuser jewelry.

You can easily use a roller bottle with the same blends below (in a 10ml rollerbottle this will be approximately 2% dilution) and fill it with your carrier oil of choice.

Vanilla Burst

2 drops Vanilla Love (contains ylang ylang)

1 drop Citrus Burst

Lavender Lime

2 drops Lavender

1 drop Lime

Soothing Sweet

1 drop Lavender

2 crops Vanilla Love

Aromatherapy Diffuser Jewelry

Let it be known, I'm a natural loving homesteading Mama, but I still like to get my girly girl on. The cattle and chickens are quite used to seeing me with rhinestones on the pockets of my jeans while slugging through barn yard.

I've never been much of a perfume wearer, quite frankly, almost every scent gives me a headache (which I now know is probably due to all the synthetic chemicals in it, so I feel fortunate I never wore it much), but I do like to smell pretty.

And sometimes, that means more than just using homemade soap, I want a scent. I love my aromatherapy diffuser lockets, because I can get my pretty on in both the scent and they're very cute. I frequently get comments on them for design alone when I do venture off the homestead.

Here are two great deals and some of my favorite designs!

Aromatherapy Diffuser Locket- Flower Burst Essential Oil Locket in Rose Gold

Stainless Steel Aromatherapy Diffuser Locket- Tree of Life Design

Get stocked up on your essential oils from Plant Therapy with 10% Off Your $50+ Order!

Use Coupon Code: “10PER” Click here and get all your blends for yourself and as gifts

Psst, if you want to learn how to use essential oils and herbs to make your own homemade soaps, beeswax candles in jars, creams, body butters and more, check out the Hand Made Masterclass here while it's still over 50% OFF and FREE shipping.

The Truth About Essential Oils and How to Stay Safe

June 1, 2017 by Melissa Norris 48 Comments

Let's get to the truth about essential oils and my story. Being a natural minded girl, you're probably thinking I'm going all in with essential oils and think they're the greatest thing ever, but that's not the case, at least, not the whole case. I'm not going to tell you they're safe because they're natural and they're going to cure every disease and malady you come across.

They're not some type of miracle in a little bottle, though they do work so well for some people they consider them as such. Probably not what you were expecting to hear, but stay with me.

Essential oils are natural and can be very powerful, but they also need to be used responsibly, and with proper research.

Disclaimer: Heads up, I’m not a certified medical professional. These statements haven’t been approved or evaluated by the FDA and none of this should be considered treatment or diagnosis, it is for informational purposes only.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Plant Therapy.

Listen in to the Pioneering Today Podcast, inspiring your faith and pioneer roots with old-fashioned skill sets and wisdom in a modern world. Learn about homemade herbal remedies to keep you and your family safe while embracing the natural items while you’re mucking out the barn, working in the garden, cooking up supper, or driving in your car… or any task you’re doing, we’re happy to be there with you!

What is an essential oil

An essential oil is the natural oil found in a plant that is extracted by distilling it, either by steam or water. It's a very concentrated form of the plant or herb.

Why I stopped using essential oils

Bet ya didn't see that coming. When I first heard of essential oils I was really excited. I'd already been disillusioned by modern medicine and found healing for my stomach acid and ulcers by turning to natural remedies and whole unprocessed foods.

I found out about essential oils and signed up with a MLM (multi-level marketing) company. I was eager to learn about using the oils for my health and that of my family. I followed the advice given to me by people with the company and those who had been using the essential oils for years with the same company.

I tried using the essential oils as suggested, by adding a drop to water or adding a drop to my coffee or hot chocolate. I had heart burn like you wouldn't believe and a burning in my gut.

I kept hearing the terms Therapeutic grade in reference to oils, especially in regard to quality and safety for ingesting, or applying neat. Neat means putting the essential oil on your skin without diluting it. Therapeutic grade isn't certified or governed, it's simply a term.

Instead, I now prefer to look at third party lab testing to indicate the purity of the oil. Just because a company uses the term therapeutic grade doesn't mean it's a bad company or oil, but on the flip side, it doesn't mean it isn't.

I'm not saying the oils by these companies aren't quality or that all of the reps for them are giving bad advice, because that's not true, but there are some that are sharing and giving dangerous advice in the use of the oils.

Essential oils can and should have a place in your natural medicine cabinet and homestead, but only when you go into it armed with knowledge based on fact and give them the proper respect they deserve.

My daughter has a blood clotting disorder, Von Willebrand's disease, and she is very limited to what she can use, even in over-the-counter medicines. I was hoping I'd be able to use herbs and essential oils.

Someone shared a post that said to use Ginger essential oil for people who were on blood thinners or had blood clotting disorders. I quickly requested the photo and information be immediately taken down due to the danger. Ginger can interfere with blood clotting so someone with clotting issues or already on blood thinners could suffer dangerous side effects by following this advice.

When the seriousness of this advice was not heeded, I could no longer in good conscious be apart of the team or company. I was seeing too much dangerous advice and when it was questioned, vague answers or the FDA is out to get us was toted. While I'm not a huge fan of the FDA and many of their decisions, not everything they do in regards to essential oils is the work of big pharma, some of it is because people, especially children, were being harmed by inaccurate use and information.

After doing more research and realizing certain oils were dangerous for children, I stopped using them. I didn't trust the advice I'd been given and until I could do my own research, I wasn't comfortable using them.

Resources

Free Essential Oil Caution Guide– know which oils are photo-sensitive, which aren't safe for children, and if an oil interacts with certain medical conditions. Get your free copy here–> Essential Oil Safety Guide and Chart

What essential oil company do I use now? So glad you asked.

I recently found Plant Therapy and fell in love when I placed my first order. They staff certified aromatherapists (meaning people who are actually trained in the use of essential oils) and they place a KidSafe label on all of their oils that are indeed safe to use with children.

After seeing their dedication to safety and that they have third party lab reports listed on each essential oil as well as certified organic in many of the varieties. I reached out to them to ask if they'd give a special deal to Pioneering Today and MelissaKNorris.com readers and listeners.

They said yes and shipped me the set they were offering so I could try it out as well. Big thank you to Plant Therapy for being a sponsor and offering a great deal.

The also have a line of KidSafe oils and blends that were formulated by world renowned essential oil safety expert, Robert Tisserand. For ease of use they even have a KidSafe Wellness Roll-On Set

Some of my favorite and most used essential oils are Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint all combined for you in this special starter kit

How I use essential oils

But after I'd had time to dig in and do more research, and to let my emotions calm down a bit, I started using essential oils again. Because they are pretty amazing and do have their spot in my natural medicine cabinet, beauty routine, and even cleaning products.

Topically– this is the method I use on a daily basis, with one oil or another. If I'm coming down with a cold I'll use immune boosting oil blends.

For my beauty routine my favorite is Frankincense . I will use it with jojoba oil as my nightly moisturizer.

Warning: I never use an oil neat, and no, contrary to someone saying if you have a reaction to using an oil neat it simply means the quality of the oil was bad. When you use an oil neat, or undiluted, you are running the risk of skin reactions, but secondly, and perhaps more important, using an oil neat can lead to systemic toxicity. Systemic toxicity doesn't always show up immediately-source

In Homemade Products– I use essential oils in homemade soaps, salves, lotion bars and lip balms. Peppermint is one of my favorites for lip balms and hand creams, but I use lavender in soaps and relaxing bath salts.

Note: Peppermint needs to be diluted well as it will burn the skin if applied neat or at too high a ratio and is also not considered a kid safe oil. Please see our free download guide for a list of essential oils and there cautions with use.

For cleaning– lemon essential oil works amazing well at getting gunk or labels off of glass. But be very careful using it on plastic or easily damaged surfaces. It's quite acidic.

Diffusing and/or Aromatherapy– this is using the scent of an essential oil to help your body both physically and emotionally. Usually in the form of either stimulating or calming, depending upon the desired result.

I use a drop of lavender essential oil straight on my pillow case every other night.

Instead of using synthetic fragrances, which can often contain volatile or carcinogenic properties, essential oils are a great way to fragrance a room or as a perfume.

Roll-on Bottles-You can put 2 teaspoons of carrier oil in a roll-on bottle and add your favorite essential oils for a perfume or medicinal use. I have a lavender one and also a Melaluca aka Tea Tree oil roll-on after we had a set of hair bugs visit our family last week.

For a clean summer scent I love using lemon or lavender with lime in the diffuser.

This is my newest diffuser and I love the different light settings or not using one at all.

What is the Live Pioneering Today Show

Knowing the proper dilution rate is also important for safety and Plant Therapy has that listed on their bottles of essential oils. They created this handy Dilution Rate Chart that you can get as a magnet or as a free download. Click here to access

The live Pioneering Today Show is where I go live once a week to answer your questions on all things related to simple living and homesteading, from growing your own heirloom gardening, raising livestock, preserving food at home, cooking from scratch, and making it yourself.

Details:

When: Every Thursday morning at 8:30 am Pacific (11:30 Eastern)

Where: on my Facebook page.

Want a reminder? Simply type in “Remind Me” here in the message box on Facebook and I”ll shoot you a reminder 10 minutes before we go live.

What if I can't make it Live?

No worries, you can catch the replay here on the blog, Youtube, or on Facebook.

Have a Question You'd Like Answered on the Show?

Shoot me an email at melissa (at) melissaknorris.com and put #Question for Live Show in the subject line.