Homemade for the holidays.

This year I got a little creative with presents for some of my coworkers. My mom found the "recipe" for homemade bath salts in a Martha Stewart catalogue. We made it once following the instructions explicitly and found it to be far too greasy and reeking of olive oil. Fun! Our second attempt with sunflower oil was much better and far less smelly. Below are the instructions.
May I suggest paying particular attention to the alterations in italics. The person who put together this article was a HUGE fan of oil.

Body Scrub (or bath salts)
Makes about 2 1/3 cups (or 4 large Mason jars)

• 2 cups Epsom salts or organic cane sugar
• 1 cup carrier oil (Start with a teaspoon and work your way up. You do NOT need to use an entire cup. We used sunflower oil. AVOID the olive oil!)
• 8 drops essential oils (We used Grapefruit Peppermint oil from Bath and Body works and put in about 10 drops)
• 1 drop food coloring

Special equipment: plastic pipette (should come with the essential oil), canning jars (you can purchase a dozen Mason jars from a craft store like Michaels for cheap.)


1: Stir together Epsom salts or sugar and carrier oil in a bowl, mixing well.

2: Using a pipette, add essential oil, 1 drop at a time. Add food coloring, and stir until color is even throughout. Spoon into canning jars.