Easy Honey Bath Bombs

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure.

Have you joined the bath bomb crazy yet? These fizzy delights come in every color, scent and size.  Drop one in the bath and have your own personal spa experience. As a lover of homemade products, you may be thrilled to learn that you can even use honey! Try this easy honey bath bombs recipe and see for yourself.

DIY Honey Bath Bombs

Creating homemade beauty products is the best way to know for sure what you are putting on your skin. Or in the case of a bath product, you can know what you are soaking in.

The magic of these bathtime beauties is the delightful fizzing effect. This is possible because of the simple chemical reaction between citric acid and baking soda in a tub of water.

Of course, the butters, oils and other ingredients added are great for your skin. Honey has many uses in skin care.

This recipe calls for dehydrated honey or honey powder. Yes, you can make your own honey powder. But, if you don’t have the time – you can also buy it ready made.

Ingredients needed:

When creating a bath bomb recipe from scratch, the common ratio of baking soda to citric acid is about 2:1.

In other words, twice as much baking soda as citric acid. Sometimes, you can go a bit further and add little more baking soda (it is less expensive) but be careful.

Baking soda: I use Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for everything possible here on the farm. Of course, you can use any name brand – it is inexpensive and easy to find.

Citric Acid: This is a weak organic acid found in many citrus fruits. It is used extensively in the kitchen for preserving, flavoring etc.

Salts: Most bath bomb recipes include salt as an ingredient. Sea salt or even table salt will work.  They make the bath water feel more relaxing and soft. I like to use good old Epsom salts – it works well, is readily available and doesn’t cost a lot.

Polysorbate 80: This product is an emulsifier that helps blend the oils and butters through out the tub water. We don’t want to create an “oil slick” in the tub-even if they are essential oils.

It also helps reduce or prevent staining of your bathtub. Makes cleanup much easier.

Colors: As you create, remember that not all colorants are the same. Some soap colorants are not recommended for bathtub use where you will be sitting in a tub of water. All of your “soft parts” exposed.

Be sure to choose skin safe colorants. Some recipes recommend using food coloring to tint you bath bombs. That will work as well. I chose to use a colorant pack that it designed for the project.

Molds: If you don’t have bath bomb molds and don’t want to buy them there are other things you can use: plastic easter eggs and clear Christmas ornaments are two favorites.

Witch Hazel: Of course we need some moisture to stick all these wonderful ingredients together.  91% isopropyl alcohol will get the job done and it is much cheaper than witch hazel. But, I use what I have on hand.

Regular rubbing alcohol has more water and it might work but I’ve always been afraid to try. Too much water in the mix will cause the produce to start “reacting” or fizzing prematurely.

Honey powder: The dried powdered form of honey is easier to use in this type of product than liquid honey.

With powder, you do not have to worry about discounting the water content but you can use liquid honey if you prefer.

Cocoa Butter: This butter is high in fatty acids which makes it a great moisturizer. It is also known for having antioxidants.

Cream of Tartar – Look for this one in the baking section of the grocery. Cream of Tartar has a long reputation of use in the kitchen. In our recipe, it helps to harden the final product.

Some recipes call for corn starch to help harden the end product. That works too but once I started, I decided not to use it. Use one or the other – not both.

Fragrance: What would a bath bomb be without fragrance? When choosing the fragrance for your recipe, make sure it is a skin safe product. Yes, even if it is a natural essential oil not every one is okay for skin use.

If you are making these for other people, also keep in mind that some people are more sensitive to fragrance than others.

Never use over a 3% fragrance ratio. Some people use a little Vanilla extract instead of fragrance oil!

Tips for Success:

If your honey bath bombs are experiencing a lot of cracking, your mixture is too dry to stick together. You can add just a splash of rubbing alcohol to the mixture and incorporate it well.

If your bath bombs are ending up with flat bottoms – and who wants a flat bottom? It is possible that your mixture is too damp. Add a bit more dry ingredients such as baking soda.

Don’t pack the mixture too firmly into the molds, especially if you are using hard molds make of metal. 

One important tip for diy bath bombs – don’t twist the mold. You may want to – I do!! But don’t twist after closing the mold.

If you want to add some extra sparkle to your honey bath bombs, you can roll them in a bit of sparkle mica after removing them from the mold. This is a beautiful effect but can be rather messy – it is much like playing with glitter as a child.

Many mica powders are great to use in bath bombs and other bath products. They are much easier to control the spread of the color though the mixture.  

However, they are not water soluble and very well may leave a lovely ring around your tub. This is especially true if you do not use the emulsifier.

Humidity Affects Performance

Bath bomb creation can be a bit of a finicky project. Humidity and bath bombs creation are not perfect partners. 

It can lead to problems getting them out of the mold as well as them having a warty look the next day.

If you live in an area with lots of humid days (I do) – plan to work on your creations with a dehumidifier going. Certainly wait until you do not have a rainy day.

Storing Your Honey Bath Bombs

These products will absorb moisture from the air. Once they are completely dry, store them in an air tight container. Not dust tight but “air-tight”. I use 2 zip lock baggies.

If this is your first time making bath bombs with honey or without, I suggest you half the recipe and try a small batch first.

Creating beautiful, stylish perfect bath bombs is an art that takes some time and skill to perfect. That is not the goal of this tutorial but rather to guide someone who want to try.

I love making homemade things for myself, my family and a few worthy friends. My products are not perfect, but I am not selling them either.

For those of you interested in wading into soap making, try this recipe for homemade soap without lye. They are very nice and even older children can make them with supervision.

Another popular and very gift-worthy craft is homemade beeswax lotion bars. The recipe is super easy to make and you can use different mold shapes.

If moisturizing and exfoliation is your thing – whip up a batch of this diy salt and honey scrub, it is nice for rough skin. For your face, I would stick with a honey face moisturizer.

If you want to have even more fun, try your hand at this beeswax body butter – it is awesome. Your friends will think you worked hard for days to make these homemade projects. Shhh…. I won’t tell.