Easter egg bath bombs

Difficulty: Beginner
Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 5-6 eggs

Here’s another alternative to sugary sweet treats at Easter. Don’t get me wrong, we do lots of chocolate and hot cross buns and other sweets, but sometimes it does get a bit too much, and kids love fizzy bath bombs or a fun little soap (check out these Easter treats).

The Easter egg bath bombs are quick and easy to make, even for children, and you don’t need a lot of ingredients. The baking soda and citric acid you can get from your supermarket (although it’s cheaper to buy them in bulk from Pure Nature), and you probably already have some essential oils or fragrance, and micas at home from your other projects. The only other (optional but highly recommended) ingredient is polysorbate 80, and emulsifier.

To make the Easter egg shapes, I used these plastic egg shells that I found at Look Sharp, but I’m sure craft stores probably stock these around Easter as well. I think they’re used as some kind of hanging decorations, but they work perfect as bath bomb molds. I paid $3 for 6, so they’re not very expensive either.

The following instructions are for one lot of eggs, approximately 5 or 6. I made a different lot for each colour, 5 in total. That’s a lot of eggs. If you don’t want that many eggs, you can split the batch into two or three before you add the mica and then colour each portion a different colour.

ONE: Add one cup of baking soda and a half cup of citric acid to a bowl. Wearing disposable gloves and using your hands, mix thoroughly and break up any clumps.

TWO: Next, add one tablespoon of sweet almond oil (alternatively use another vegetable oil, such as rice bran oil), and half a tablespoon of polysorbate 80. And again mix thoroughly.

Polysorbate 80 is a natural vegetable sourced emulsifier, which helps disperse the oil and the mica in the bath water, instead of floating on the surface and leaving greasy colour rings on the sides of the bath tub. It’s not a necessary ingredient to make bath bombs, and if you don’t have it, you can leave it out, but I find it does make the bath bombs better.

THREE: Add 1/2 teaspoon fragrance or essential oil blend. Because I’m making these for children, I’m using slightly less fragrance than I usually would. Make sure that the fragrance or essential oil is safe to use in bath products and for children. Safe essential oils are sweet orange, pink grapefruit and lavender essential oil. Alternatively, Candlescience fragrances has some great skin-safe fragrances that are popular with kids, such as watermelon, fruit slices, mango and tangerine, and strawberry shortcake.

FOUR: Lastly, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of mica to the mixture and using your hand, mix it thoroughly until all the colour is evenly distributed throughout. The micas I’m using here are shimmer green, coral reef, silken violet and sweetheart rose from Pure Nature.

FIVE: Check the mixture. The consistency of the bath bomb mixture should be so that when you squeeze the mixture in your fist it holds its shape when you open your hand. If necessary spritz a little water on it and work the moisture into the mixture with your hands. You want the mixture to be just moist enough so that the mixture sticks together and doesn’t crumble apart. But be careful  if you spritz too much, the mixture will begin to fizz prematurely and ruin your bath bombs!

SIX: Once you have the right consistency,  scoop the bath bomb mixture into the two halves of the eggs and squeeze them together. Then carefully remove one half, and even more carefully tip the bath bomb into your hand.

SEVEN: Place them on a sheet of baking paper and allow them to fully dry out overnight. Anywhere dry and out of the way. I just left mine on the kitchen counter until the next morning.

If you are making more than one colour, repeat steps 1 to 7 for each colour.

EIGHT: The following day, place the eggs in an egg carton, or wrap them in cling foil, or package them in cellophane bags. Ideally they should be wrapped as the humid climate of New Zealand will make your bath bombs quickly lose their fizziness.