After the craziness of the holidays, relaxing in an herbal bath is a great way to release pent-up stress and show a little love and gratitude for yourself. And this Herbal Love Bath Salts DIY is a delightful way to give your self-care ritual an herbal boost. Incorporating herbs like rose, hibiscus, lavender, and lemon balm into your bath is a great way to experience the soothing, nurturing benefits of these herbs. And if you make up a large batch, this love-filled herbal bath soak makes an amazing gift.
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The information in this post is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It is always best to work with a qualified healthcare professional before incorporating herbs into your diet.
What Are Herbal Bath Salts
Herbal bath salts are pretty much exactly what they sound like—a combination of herbs mixed with Epsom salt. This herbal blend is added to a bath as a way to extract the soothing benefits of the herbs.
Our skin is our largest organ and is incredibly absorbent. This means it’s a great way to gently absorb the benefits of many herbs. Plus, many herbs have properties that are healing, soothing, and softening to the skin.
Herbal Bath Salts Ingredients
You can add any number of herbs to a bath to enjoy their benefits. For this blend, I chose herbs specifically known to soothe anxiety and support feelings of love. By blending the herbs with Epsom salt and a bit of essential oil, you get an herbal bath salts blend that will create the most indulgent, relaxing, spa-like experience right in your own bathtub.
- Rose is probably the ultimate symbol of love and beauty and is also symbolic of the importance of healthy boundaries (just look at her thorns). Rose is often used in skincare to support healthy aging.
- Hibiscus has an affinity for love and passion, working on the sacral chakra to help you reconnect with your enthusiasm for life. It also creates a lovely pink hue when brewed.
- Lavender is well-known and loved for its relaxing, calming properties. It’s often used topically to soothe pain and aid in healing.
- Lemon Balm is an uplifting herb that can help calm anxiety and balance mood. It’s also great for supporting emotional wellness and bringing comfort during challenging times.
- Ylang Ylang Essential Oil has an intoxicating, heady fragrance. It helps soothe anxiety, stress, and tension, as well as dry skin and itching. It also has a reputation as an aphrodisiac.
- Epsom Salt has been added to baths as a folk remedy for ages to help reduce aches and pain, relieve sore muscles, reduce swelling, and generally soothe stress.
How To Make And Use Herbal Bath Salts
Making herbal bath salts is a fairly simple process. For this blend, I combined equal parts of each of the dried herbs, by volume, together in a bowl. Most of the herbs I have were already “cut and sifted”, which means I didn’t have to do much to break them up into small pieces. If you have whole herbs, you may want to break or crush them up a bit so they’re all uniform size.
Next, I took the total volume of the herb mix and combined that with an equal amount of Epsom salt, again by volume. You basically want one part herb blend to one part Epsom salt.
Finally, I added just a few drops of the ylang ylang essential oil and stirred everything up to distribute the scent.
Store the bath blend in an airtight glass jar and it’s ready to go.
Using The Bath Salts
There are three basic ways you can use this herbal bath blend.
- If you have a drain filter and don’t mind a bit of cleanup, you can simply toss the herb blend right into the bath as you’re filling it and swirl it around to distribute. This can create a very “Instagram-worthy” herbal bath but is kind of a pain in the ass to clean up.
- You can add the blend to a muslin bag and tie that to your faucet so that the hot water runs directly through the bath blend. This is basically the same concept as using a tea bag to make tea. You can also use a washcloth that you tie off. Then, just let the pouch of herbs steep in the bath while you relax. Makes cleanup a breeze.
- The final option is to basically brew up the herbal tea blend before adding it to the bath. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then remove from the heat and stir in the herb blend. Cover and let steep for 20-30 minutes. When ready, pour the mixture through a strainer and into your bath. One quick note—this will increase the temperature of your bath more than you expect. So add it before your bath is totally full so you can add in some cool water to adjust the temperature, as necessary.
Once your bath is ready, put your phone on Do Not Disturb, turn on some soothing music, dim the lights, and maybe even light a candle. Really set the mood as you slip into your soothing bath. Then sit for at least 20 minutes, focusing on the gratitude you feel for yourself and your body. I’m willing to bet that you’ll feel like a new you when you’re done.
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Herbal Love Bath Salts
Materials
- ¼ cup dried rose
- ¼ cup dried hibiscus
- ¼ cup dried lavender
- ¼ cup dried lemon balm
- 1 cup Epsom salt
- 4 drops ylang ylang essential oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add all the dried herbs and the epsom salt. Stir to combine.
- Add the essential oil and stir again to distribute.
- Transfer the bath blend to an airtight glass container and store in a cool, dark place.
- To use, add ½-1 cup of the blend to a bath. See notes in blog post for a few ways you can add this herbal blend to your bath.
Resources:
- The Portable Essential Oils: A Pocket Reference of Everyday Remedies for Natural Health & Wellness by Anne Kennedy
- Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom, and Magic of 200 Plants by Juliet Diaz