A warm scented bath is one of life’s little luxuries that should be enjoyed regularly. In a previous post I shared a recipe for bath salts to soothe tired muscles. Bath oils help to moisten and nourish your skin, and adding essential oils to your bath water is one of the best aromatherapy treatments there is.
Basic Bath Oil Recipe
1 cup base carrier oil (sweet almond, castor, jojoba, safflower or sunflower – or a mix)
30-40 drops essential oils* (adjust to your preference)
Optional: oil from 6-8 vitamin E capsules (helps bath oils last longer before turning rancid, also good for the skin)
Blend all the oils together. Place in a glass container with a tight fitting lid and shake every day for a week (to blend the fragrances and allow you to adjust if required). Transfer to a decorative bottle if desired. Dried herbs and flowers can be placed in the bottle to add an extra decorative touch (don’t use fresh items – they will go mouldy and turn the oil rancid). You can also add an oil soluble dye to colour the bath oil if you want.
It is good to put the bath oil in dark coloured glass jars or keep clear jars in a dark place so that it keeps longer.
Use about a tablespoon in the bath – add after you have stopped running the water to preserve as much of the essential oil fragrance as possible. Swish the oil around and use a sponge to massage it into the skin.
Optional: replace about 20% of your oils with Polysorbate 80 (a mild, safe, vegetable derived oil dispersant available from soap making suppliers). This makes your bath oil water dispersible so it covers your body rather than floating on the water. Another advantage of using this is that then you can easily apply bath oil to your wet body after a shower if you don’t want to take a bath and still get moisturised fragrant skin.
Some well-loved combinations:
* Cinnamon Orange Bath Oil: use 20 drops sweet orange oil and 10 drops cinnamon oil. Add dried orange slices and broken cinnamon sticks.
* Energising Bath Oil: use 20 drops peppermint oil and 5 drops eucalyptus oil. Put in a blue bottle.
* Sensuous Bath Oil: use 20 drops sandalwood oil, 5 drops jasmine, rose and lavender oils. Put dried rose petals in a clear bottle.
Make themed gift packs with bath salts, soaps and other bathing delights.
Leave a Reply