With the summer heat on its way, I have beaches on the brain. If you don’t live close to a body of water, your bathtub is the next best thing. These Beach Ball Bath Bombs bring a little summer fun to the tub. They are created in the Bath Bomb Mold & Package. Once fully hardened, they are decorated to resemble beach balls with various shades of mica “paint.” The paint is created with mica and 99% isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol dries in about 15 minutes, leaving behind the cute beach ball stripes.
I scented these bath bombs with a combination of Flower Child Fragrance Oil and Grapefruit Bellini Fragrance Oil. Flower Child is a unique and sophisticated floral scent with notes of bergamot, amber and jasmine. To lighten it up a bit for summer, I paired it with the bubbly and citrusy Grapefruit Bellini Fragrance Oil. It smells amazing!
When you use micas to color your bath fizzies, they may leave some color on the tub. This will depend on how big your tub is, and can vary depending on the color. For example, if you use Luster Black Mica, you may notice more color on the tub than with a lighter color. I recommend giving your bath a light wipe down before taking a bath so the oil around the tub won’t attract color. This always helps avoid a ring around the tub later on. Also, I like to have a wet rag to wipe off any color right off the tub. It comes off easily that way but don’t use a white wash rag for this. =) You can see how these fizzies looked in a veryyyyyy teeeeeeeeennnnnsy bit water in the video below!
What You’ll Need:
5-6 Bath Bomb Mold & Packages
1 1/2 cups Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
3/4 cups Citric Acid
4 mL Flower Child Fragrance Oil
1 mL Grapefruit Bellini Fragrance Oil
9 mL Avocado Oil
Buttercup Mica
Magenta Mica
Cellini Blue Mica
99% Isopropyl Alcohol
Witch Hazel in 8 oz. Spray Bottle
Droppers
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ONE: In a bowl, measure out 1 1/2 cups of sodium bicarbonate and 3/4 cup of citric acid. If there are any clumps in the mixture, you can push the powder through a sifter or break up the clumps with your fingers. Citric acid has a tendency to take off nail polish, so wear gloves to protect your manicure. =)
TWO: Add the Grapefruit Bellini and Flower Child Fragrance Oils. Add the avocado oil and use your hands to mix the oils into the powder.
THREE: Once the oils and dry ingredients are fully incorporated, check the moisture of your fizzies. When squeezed with your hand, the mixture should hold its shape. Add spritzes of witch hazel into each container, mixing between every couple sprays, until each container has a texture similar to wet sand.
FOUR: Fill two halves of the bath bomb molds, gently pressing the mixture in each to make sure they hold their shape. Mound a little extra powder in the center of one half of the mold. Match the eyelets of each side up, and press together. To avoid any imperfections on your bath bomb, make sure to direct pressure to the edges of the mold rather than the center. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Allow the fizzies to stay in the mold to dry and harden overnight.
FIVE: Once the fizzies have hardened, remove the top half of the mold. In small separate containers, mix 1 tablespoon 99% isopropyl alcohol with 1 teaspoon of Cellini Blue Mica, Buttercup Mica and Magenta Mica to create a “mica paint” of the three colors. Using a fine-pointed paint brush, draw a small circle with the yellow paint directly in the center. Then paint large stripes of the yellow, blue and red down the sides of the bath bomb.
I chose to only paint one half of the bath bomb to make them easier to handle. But if you’d like, you could certainly paint the whole thing! Just keep in mind that doing so also adds more mica to the tub, so you may want to test one to make sure it doesn’t color your water too much. =)
SIX: Once you’re done painting, allow the bath bombs to dry with the top half of the mold off for about 15-20 minutes. Then place the mold and package back on bath fizzies until you’re ready to use. Because these bath bombs contain some oil, they may make your bath tub a little slippery, so be careful when exiting the tub. Enjoy!
What kind of summer projects are you making?
Beach Ball Bath Bomb DIY
Ingredients
- 5-6 Bath Bomb Mold & Packages
- 1 1/2 cups Sodium Bicarbonate Baking Soda
- 3/4 cups Citric Acid
- 4 mL Flower Child Fragrance Oil
- 1 mL Grapefruit Bellini Fragrance Oil
- 9 mL Avocado Oil
- Buttercup Mica
- Magenta Mica
- Cellini Blue Mica
- 99 % Isopropyl Alcohol
- Witch Hazel in 8 oz. Spray Bottle
- Droppers
Instructions
- In a bowl, measure out 1 1/2 cups of sodium bicarbonate and 3/4 cup of citric acid. If there are any clumps in the mixture, you can push the powder through a sifter or break up the clumps with your fingers. Citric acid has a tendency to take off nail polish, so wear gloves to protect your manicure. =)
- Add the Grapefruit Bellini and Flower Child Fragrance Oils. Add the avocado oil and use your hands to mix the oils into the powder.
- Once the oils and dry ingredients are fully incorporated, check the moisture of your fizzies. When squeezed with your hand, the mixture should hold its shape. Add spritzes of witch hazel into each container, mixing between every couple sprays, until each container has a texture similar to wet sand.
- Fill two halves of the bath bomb molds, gently pressing the mixture in each to make sure they hold their shape. Mound a little extra powder in the center of one half of the mold. Match the eyelets of each side up, and press together. To avoid any imperfections on your bath bomb, make sure to direct pressure to the edges of the mold rather than the center. Continue until all the mixture is used up. Allow the fizzies to stay in the mold to dry and harden overnight.
- Once the fizzies have hardened, remove the top half of the mold. In small separate containers, mix 1 tablespoon 99% isopropyl alcohol with 1 teaspoon of Cellini Blue Mica, Buttercup Mica and Magenta Mica to create a “mica paint” of the three colors. Using a fine pointed paint brush, draw a small circle with the yellow paint directly in the center. Then paint large stripes of the yellow, blue and red down the sides of the bath bomb.
- I chose to only paint one half of the bath bomb to make them easier to handle. But if you’d like, you could certainly paint the whole thing! Just keep in mind that doing so also adds more mica to the tub, so you may want to test one to make sure it doesn’t color your water too much. =)
- Once you’re done painting, allow the bath bombs to dry with the top half of the mold off for about 15-20 minutes. Then place the mold and package back on bath fizzies until you’re ready to use. Because these bath bombs contain some oil, they may make your bath tub a little slippery, so be careful when exiting the tub. Enjoy!
Hi, I have a question here. After I applied the mica, no matter how long I put to dry up, the color still come out when I touch it. Any solution?
That is normal – the alcohol helps the color dry on the bath bomb but it doesn’t prevent it from transferring. You can try spraying it with a bit of hairspray or wrapping it with plastic wrap before putting it back in the package. That will help prevent some of the transfer during transit.
Hi, I have a question for anyone who can give me advice.
I’m going to make a ( lip oil ) and I’m not sure what type of oil to use would be best for lips?
Since lip oils are something new to me I’m not sure what would be a great hydrating base?
If anyone has some good advice I would really appreciate it????
Try coconut, olive, sweet almond.
Any liquid moisturizing oil would work! Olive and sweet almond are great options. You can also try avocado, grapeseed or chia seed oil. 🙂
Olive oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Olive-Oil-Pure-P5246.aspx
Sweet almond oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Sweet-Almond-Oil-P3205.aspx
Avocado oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Avocado-Oil-P3198.aspx
Grapeseed oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Grapeseed-Oil-P6029.aspx
Chia seed oil: https://www.brambleberry.com/Chia-Seed-Oil-P5612.aspx
Get more tips for making lip products here: https://soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/lip-products/how-to-create-lip-product-recipes/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
These are super cute! I may have to try painting with mica! Bath bombs have been a challenge for me but here are a couple of tricks I’ve learned that helped me: 1. Mix all ingredients except for the citric acid. When everything else is mixed well, mix in the citric. That way you get no premature fizz action. 2. To mold the balls, use both mold pieces with the ridge around the top. That way you can brush the excess away easily. Then remove one piece and apply the cap. (I let them dry before applying the cap.). Hope this helps!
Now why didn’t I think of that! Awesome tips – thanks!
Thanks for sharing your great tips Lucia! 🙂
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
What do you mean you let them dry before putting on the cap?
Great tutorial. However, if you don’t want the colorant floating on top, make sure to add polysorbate 80 to help it disperse. ????
Yes, please try a recipe version with P80 in it, to show how different the results can be!
I agree! And, at what ratio should you use it?
Thank you so much for the suggestion guys! For Polysorbate 80, we recommend about .1 ounce per cup of fizzy mixture. We’ve found that helps the oil mix into the bath water well. 🙂
You can see bath bombs with Polysorbate 80 in action here: https://soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/peppermint-candy-bath-bomb-tutorial/
-Kelsey with Bramble Berry
Polysorbate 80: https://www.brambleberry.com/Polysorbate-80-P4438.aspx