My name is Riverflows, and I'm a bath addict. There's something about water that relieves my hyper sensitive soul - and add some candles, flowers, oils and scents and you're not getting me out of there in a hurry! These holidays I've needed the baths to sooth my overwrought system. Best of all, I've been lighting the outdoor fire bath and bathing out under the sunset and stars most nights, which is truly divine!

So when I read a recipe for bath bombs, I was all in. Natural medicines and fizzy bath time? Awesome! I could have made bath salts, but I'm a big kid. Fizziness is just a delight. It's like popping an aspirin in water and hearing the hiss and watching the bubbles rise - there's something just magical about it.

The fizziness comes from a chemical reaction between the dry powders of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate reacting with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide. Cornstarch can be added to slow down the reaction too.

But enough of the science - there's just something luxurious about a bath bomb that beats drops of oil or handfuls of salt. It seems to extend the ritualistic element of bath time and makes it more like a spa. Added ingredients make it good for the skin, leaving it soft, supple and smooth - and if you're adding essential oils, these too will have their various physical, psychological and spiritual affects, depending on what you are going for.

Rather than add a tablespoon of water to my bath bomb recipe, as most recipes on the internet called for, I trusted my instincts and added oil instead. I had a bottle of ready made calendula oil, which is fabulous for the skin. As for the 'suprise' in mine, I wasn't ever going to add glitter, as you might find in a shop bought product - that stuff is killer for the environment and you'll be picking bits of sparkle from bits that don't sparkle for a long time, let alone rings of glitter around the bath. I went for lavender and calendula, and rosemary in my second batch. Any pretty herbal flower will do, so long as it's not poisonous! Read up on the benefits of certain flowers before you start.

Natural medicine for me with my bliss bath bombs? Lavender has been my companion this year, calming my nerves and helping me sleep. Frankincense too is lovely for calming and for the skin.

I was going to order some cool bomb moulds from the internet, but in the interests of not buying more crap, I went with a silicon cup cake mould that I already had. Maybe I should call them cupcake bombs? Bath cupcakes? Anyway, they worked a treat - simply pressing the mixture into the moulds and leaving it over night worked a treat.

Bath Bliss Bombs

1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup of citric acid
1/2 cup of epsom salts
2 tbsps magnesium flakes
1/4 - 1/2 cup of dried flowers
15 - 20 drops of essential oil
3 tbsps of herb infused oil, or oil of your choice

Mix the essential oils with the oil - I used calendula infused olive oil, 10 drops of lavender, 5 drops of frankincense and 5 drops of juniper. Then, add to your dried ingredients and mix until it starts to hold together just enough - not too wet, not too dry. i started with 1 tbsp olive oil but found I needed a little more to hold it together to press into the tin. I also used fresh lavender, so I was counting on there being a little bit of water in the flowers to help moisten it without it starting to fizz. The original recipe with which I was experimenting called for 1 tbsp of hydrosol, so you could try that too.

They need to be used within 6 months and kept in an airtight container - the more moisture in the air and the longer they sit, the less fizzy they'll get. However, they'll still dissolve and the salts and oils will still be good. Again, this was a science experiment for me and I recommend googling yourself to see what you think. All I know was this recipe made sense, and worked for me.

And my skin is silky smooth, and I pretty much look forward to my bath every evening - it's a little luxury that makes these holidays just a little bit more blissful.

Do you make your own bath bombs? What's your secret?

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