Easter egg bath bombs

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

Here’s an 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 other 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, and you probably already have some essential oils or fragrance, and colourants at home from your other projects. Make sure that whatever you use, is safe to use on your skin. Colourants that work in bath bombs are lakes and special bath bomb pigment, food colouring (sparingly), and mica, which I prefer using.

Please note that fragrances and essential oils don’t mix with water, and will float on the surface, and depending on what kind of fragrance or essential oils you use, it can cause stinging. Think of it like putting undiluted essential oils on your skin. Not pleasant! I recommend using a solubiliser, such as polysorbate 80, which will dissolve the oils into the water. You can also buy a natural solubiliser from Pure Nature. An alternative, which kinda works, is to mix the fragrance or essential oils with a tablespoon tapioca starch and mix that into the bath bomb ingredients.

To make the Easter egg shapes, I used these plastic egg shells that I found at Look Sharp, but I’m sure craft stores or $2 shops 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 or use another vegetable oil.

THREE: Next mix 1/2 teaspoon essential oils or fragrance with a 1 tablespoon solubiliser like polysorbate 80, or 1 tablespoon tapioca starch and add it to the bath bomb mixture.

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 safe 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 colourant to the mixture and using your hand, mix it thoroughly until all the colour is evenly distributed throughout. I’m adding 1/4 teaspoon of mica. You can also use bath bomb pigments or lakes at the same usage rate. If you are using food colouring, I would add drop wise until you have the right pastel shade. Don’t overdo it or you’ll end up with a coloured bath tub (or kids!)

FIVE: Lastly, using a spray bottle, spritz with water work the moisture into the mixture with your hands until the consistency resembles kinetic play sand (or slightly moist sand). You want the mixture to be just moist enough so that the mixture sticks together and doesn’t crumble apart. It 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 more water on it, 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. This is always the hardest part. You need to get the mixture just right with the moisture, or else the bath bombs break apart when you try and unmould them. You also don’t want to pack it too tightly.

Handy hint: If it’s too difficult, just make half eggs!

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.