DIY Lavender Bath Bombs with Recipe

Last month I purchased my first Lush bath bombs (YAY!) and like any good crafter/diy-er I set out to learn to make my own.  I watched a few videos on YouTube and read some blog posts.  After comparing the various recipes, I decided to give it a go.

The first evening I tried making these bath bombs was quite frustrating.  I mixed the ingredients according to the instructions.  and everything was going smoothly until I added the citric acid.  As soon as it went in everything turned into a fluffy expanding mess!  Not at all the dryish powder I saw in e...ver...y video. -___-   In this video you can see the mixture expanding like it's not suppose to.

At first I thought I added too much water.  So I used less in my second batch... aaaand the same thing happened. UGH!  Next I removed the coconut oil I chose to add it.  The recipe originally called for almond oil, but I subbed coconut oil... I nixed it in hopes of getting the mix right.  I still got the same results. ::throws a tantrum:: In the last batch, I swapped water for witch hazel as in one of the recipes I saw... Unfortunately, I still ended up with a soft fluffy bath bob :(

FAIL!!!!!!

By this point I just wanted to trash everything.  Chalk it up to "can't do it" and plan my next trip to Lush.  But I'm a bit too stubborn for that.  So I went back online to do some more research.  I came to the conclusion that I was still using WAY too much water/liquid.  So instead of spritzing arbitrarily from the water bottle, like the recipe I was following said, I mixed an exact amount.

------ The Next Day ------

SUCCESS!!!!!!  That simple change was the ticket!  I added the coconut oil back in and measured the exact amount of water.  The mix came out perfectly!  I had zero trouble getting the mix into the mold.  And the bomb came out beautiful *.*

1. baking soda 2. corn starch 3. citric acid
4. water, oil, food color, essential oil 5. mix slowly 6. pack in mold

Now that I know what I did wrong, I want to make ALL DE BATH BOMBS!  I just need to decide what scents I want to get.  I'm so glad I didn't give up on this DIY. 

L-R: AvoBath from Lush, DIY fail, DIY success!