• 1kg of Sea Salts - coarse or chunky, or use a combination of the two.
• Small amount of pigment for colouring. If you want to keep to natural ingredients, ultramarines are a good choice. Otherwise, and for a wider range of colours, you could pick one of our cosmetic pigments.
• 20g of soap fragrance oil or essential oil
• Dried petals or herbs
• Airtight containers

Place the salts in a large mixing bowl. This should be a bowl that you can keep just for making toiletries, ie not for food use. If using a blend of salts, stir well to combine the crystals.

Colouring the salts:

Cosmetic pigments are very concentrated and care must be taken not to overdose the salts.

Dip the very tip of a teaspoon into one of the pigments and shake off any excess onto a piece of paper. (Save this by folding the paper in half and carefully tipping the pigment back into the container.)

Stir the pigment into the salts. Mix thoroughly for several minutes and the salts will slowly take on a soft shade as the powder coats each crystal. Add more pigment if you want a slightly stronger colour but bear in mind that the colour will look deeper once fragrance/essential oil is added. Please note that pigments can stain plastic baths if overdone so it’s best to stick to a pastel shade.

Adding fragrance:

Add the fragrance or essential oil by dripping it evenly over the salts while stirring them. Stir for several minutes to ensure the fragrance is evenly distributed.

Leave the scented salts to dry out for at least 24 hours. Put them in a warm, dry place to allow the fragrance to combine thoroughly.

While drying out, sometimes bath salts form a solid lump depending on humidity where you are making them. If this happens, don't panic! Turn out the solid salts into a large, clean and strong polythene bag (double bag for extra strength if necessary). Hold down the open end of the bag to stop any salts escaping and loosen the lump by hitting it gently with a wooden rolling pin. Keep doing this until all of the crystals are broken up and free-flowing.

Botanicals:

Dried herbs or petals add a lovely finishing touch to bath salts. Add a sprinkling to the salts and stir in. Put the salts into airtight jars until needed. Alternatively you could fill your containers with alternating layers of salts and herbs/petals. Add a hand made label and you have a lovely gift!