Bath Bomb Surprise

In honor of a fabulous employee!
Luke (pourer extraordinaire) created this project and we’re so lucky that he’s sharing it with all of us. Read his adorable tutorial below on how to make a Bath Bomb Surprise. There’s a short video at the bottom so you can watch to see the fizzy duck in action. Before I (badly) edited it down, it was over 2 minutes because the bath bomb kept fizzing for that long!

Directions (from Luke)

First, I used a large plastic bowl to mix the citric acid and baking soda together. I used a whisk for this step, and mixed for a good 5 minutes until I was sure the powder was properly blended.

Second, I used a pigment scoop to mix in a small amount of Rose Pearl Mica. I began with 3 heaping spoonfuls but continued to add a few more to darken the bath bombs (caution: bombs will darken after using witch hazel. Too much Mica tends to leave a ring around the tub. Easy to clean-up, but a possible annoyance). I blended this for another few minutes.

Third, I added .75 ounces of herbal essence fragrance oil, distributing evenly using the dropper. After adding the fragrance I used a mixing spoon to stir. Blend well for another minute or so. The concentration of herbal essence I used made a very potent bath bomb. In future bath bombs, I will likely use a fresher fragrance such as Champagne in lower quantities.

Fourth, I began to mix slowly while squirting witch hazel into the batch. When the batch began to thicken, I stirred and sifted using my fingers. After a few minutes, the batch began to thicken and clumped when squeezed which is the perfect consistency.

Fifth, Using the hockey puck mold, I took a handful of the batch and squished it to the bottom of the mold, packing it down. I placed the rubber ducky into the mold, and the packed around and above it until covered. I found when using the ducky, I added more of the bath bomb mix than I had intended, ending up with a tray of muffins. I packed these down with my hand, and set them aside.

Sixth, I checked on them an hour later. They were beginning to harden, and a few cracks began appearing on top. I decided to go for broke, and removed the bombs from the molds. They were still hard-packed, but I didn’t like their muffin shape. I decided to hand-pack them as if packing a snowball. After getting them into rough circles, I lightly spritzed the outside with witch hazel and smoothed them down. Satisfied with their shape, I let them sit out to dry overnight.

Voila! The bombs dried nicely, completely concealing the rubber duckies inside! A few had developed small cracks, but they weren’t deep and didn’t affect the ability of the bomb to stay together. The size of them allowed for a particularly long fizzy-period. The duckies from the first batch didn’t pop out of the bath bomb for over a minute and a half!

My girlfriend Erika did another small batch after me. She used twice the colorant (hence the warning of the ring around the tub). She managed to fit the duckies completely into the hockey puck mold while still completely concealing them. This allowed for a smaller, more durable bath bomb that still smelled just as fragrant. More of her batch tended to develop cracks, which may be attributed to the duckies expanding while the bombs were drying.

There you have it!
-Luke

Video Below (email subscribers – you need to click through to the blog to see it). In a large tub, the water would not discolor. Enjoy!