Pumpkin Spice Bath Bomb Recipe for Fall Skin Care

DIY Pumpkin Spice Bath Bombs

Treat yourself this fall with this easy pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe. You’ll love the intoxicating scent of pumpkin spice from your favorite fragrance oil and the moisturizing shea butter, sesame oil and detoxifying sea salt. Plus, with a few tips, you can make these DIY pumpkin spice bath bombs absolutely perfect your very first try!

What Makes Bath Bombs Fizz?

There are two key ingredients that give these pumpkin spice bath bombs their fizz. They are citric acid and baking soda. When combined, the chemical reaction between these two ingredients creates carbon dioxide. This in turn makes the bath bombs fizz.

Some bath bombs, such as the bath bombs made popular by Lush, also contain synthetic foaming agents such sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSA) or sodium coco-sulfate (SCI.) The addition of these ingredients gives bath bombs amazing bubbles in addition to the fizz.

My pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe does not contain SLSA. However, if you wish to use this ingredient, you can learn how to make substitutions and changes to this fragrant DIY bath soak. Simply follow the guidelines outlined in my tips for making homemade bath bombs below.

Tips for Making Pumpkin Bath Bombs

Pumpkin spice or not, making bath bombs the first few tries can be tricky. Not every recipe works. And sometimes even those tried and true bath bomb recipes fail if the humidity isn’t just perfect. To help you avoid the pitfalls of making homemade bath fizzies, I’m sharing my top tips and tricks for how to make bath bombs. Use this helpful information to make changes to this recipe for pumpkin spice bath bombs. Or incorporate these tricks to create your own bath soak recipes.

Here are my top tips for making bath bombs at home:

Tip #1: I recommend using ingredient weights when formulating your homemade bath bomb recipes, rather than unit measurements. Not only is this a more accurate way to create a pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe, it also makes it easier to determine the amount of fragrance or other ingredients needed for your recipe as recommended usage rates are provided as a percentage. This will also make it easier to scale your bath bomb recipe up or down at a later date. As such, you will need a digital scale to weigh out the ingredients when you make your bath bombs.

Tip #2: When using baking soda and citric acid as the base for your bath bombs, the recommended ratio is to use two parts baking soda to one part citric acid. If you’d like to use a foaming agent, such as SLSA or even sodium cocoyl isethionate, it should account for anywhere between 15%-25% of your recipe.

You can make pumpkin spice bath bombs without citric acid. However, a combination of baking soda and citric acid produces the best fizz. Using lemon juice as a substitute can set off your fizz prematurely. And it can be a challenge in high humidity. While using cream of tartar, reduces the fizz reaction even further. Therefore, if you want to make the best bath bomb recipe, I recommend using citric acid.

Tip #3: Additional dry ingredients are typically added to a bath bomb recipe to prevent premature fizzing. Dry ingredients such as arrowroot powder, cream of tartar, cornstarch and clay can be use based on your preference. I like to choose my own dry ingredients for bath bombs based on the desired result and skin care benefits of those ingredients. These dry ingredients can be added to your bath bomb formulation with or without a foaming agent such as SLSA. When adding dry ingredients, it’s important that they don’t comprise of more than one half of the amount of citric acid in your recipe. Otherwise the fizzing performance of your bath bombs may be affected.

Tip #4: It’s not recommended that you add Epsom salt or Dead Sea Salt to your bath bomb formulations. This is because the magnesium in these ingredients draws moisture from the air into your bath bombs. This in turn can cause premature fizzing. However, I’ve made a number of bath bomb recipes using salt with success. (These bath bomb recipes include my Epsom salt bath bomb recipe for chronic pain as well as my rose essential oil bath bomb recipe. I also have a hidden color bath bomb recipe with magnesium flakes.) By adding a hard butter to your pumpkin spice recipe, I’ve found that it does prevent premature fizzing. Just be sure to wrap your creations tightly once they’ve dried.

Tip #5: Rather than using a liquid for making DIY pumpkin spice bath bombs, such as witch hazel, I instead use a combination of carrier oils and/or body butters. As I live in a humid area, I’ve found that these ingredients work better at preventing your bath bombs from exploding early due to high humidity. If you prefer to use a liquid rather than oils or butters in your bath bombs, then stick with 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol. It evaporates more quickly than witch hazel, thereby making it more suitable for humid climates.

Tip #6: There are a number of options when it comes to choosing colorants for your pumpkin spice bath bombs. You’ll learn more about different colorants and how they react in bath bombs — and ultimately bath water — as you experiment more and learn how to make your own recipes. Natural colorants, such as colored clays or botanical powders are one option. While lake dyes and micas are another. If you love a show in your bathtub, like the ones you get from hidden rainbow colored bath bombs, then lake dyes or dyes formulated specifically for bath bombs are the way to go. They will give the biggest color show and won’t leave a colored ring around your tub once the bathwater drains out. Lake dyes typically account for 28-34% of the total weight of a bath bomb recipe.

Tip #7: You should not use food coloring in your pumpkin spice bath bomb recipes. Not only can food coloring stain both your skin and the tub, it’s simply bad practice especially if you’re formulating recipes to sell or give as gifts. In addition, it’s also important to note that not all colorants are approved for use in bath bombs. Some green colorants, for example, including green chromium oxide, are not approved by the FDA for use in bath bombs. Therefore you should do your research on colorants before deciding which ones to use. While some colorants can be used in wash off products such as soaps or body wash, it’s not always true for things like lotions or bath bombs where there is a longer exposure time.

On the other hand, for little to no color show, you can use natural colorants or mica powders. Natural colorants, such as the spinach powder and French green clay I used in my natural mango butter bath bombs, are an easy way to create a green color. Alternately, mica powder can be used in significantly smaller quantities than both natural colorants for bath bombs or lake dyes. They’ll give your bath bombs bright colors before they go into the tub, but very muted tones once diluted in bathwater.

Tip #8: If you choose to use skin safe cosmetic micas to make these pumpkin spice bath bombs, then you will need to also use polysorbate 80. Polysorbate 80 works as an emulsifier when used in bath bomb bombs. Soluble in water and alcohol, it binds with the colorants and oils used to make your bath bombs and helps disperse them evenly throughout your bathwater. This keeps any oils or fragrances you used in your recipe from floating on top of your bathwater. It also prevents the colorants used from sticking to both your skin and the tub and it helps glitter disperse more evenly. As such, if you don’t mind using non-natural ingredients to make your bath bombs, polysorbate 80 makes a wonderful addition to your bath bomb recipes whether you use mica or not. The suggested usage rater for mica is 1-2% of your recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Bath Bomb Recipe

Want to learn how to make DIY pumpkin spice bath bombs for fall skin care? Then get ready to enjoy this warm and cozy autumn fragrance during your bath time routine. This pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe creates fun, non-candy Halloween treats you can gift. Or simply indulge in fall self care when you create these fall bath fizzies scented with a seasonal, pumpkin spice essential oil blend or fragrance oil.

This fall skin care DIY yielded three pumpkin bath bombs — one leaf bath bomb and one round 2.75″ diameter bath bomb. Therefore, feel free to double or triple this recipe to make additional fall bath bombs at one time.

Bath Bomb Ingredients

The are the ingredients you will need to make pumpkin spice bath fizzies for fall skin care:

• 13.5 oz. baking soda
• 8 oz. citric acid
• 3 oz. fine sea salt
• 2 oz. white kaolin (cosmetic) clay
• 1.5 oz. shea butter
• 1.5 oz. sesame oil
• 8 mL pumpkin or pumpkin spice fragrance oil (or 4 mL pumpkin spice essential oil blend)
• pinch each of red iron oxide and yellow iron oxide pigment powders

Tools and Equipment

In addition to the ingredients called for in my pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe, you will also need some basic tools and equipment. They include the following:

• Bath bomb mold: I used a Wilton Silicone Leaf and Pumpkin Mold for this pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe. I also used a round 2.75 diameter bath bomb mold. You can use either or both of these bath bomb molds as desired to make these pumpkin spice bath bombs.
• Glass bowls or measuring cups: You’ll need several glass bowls or other similar containers to weigh out the ingredients and combine the bath bomb mixture.
• Utensils: A utensil is necessary to mix the ingredients together when making fizzing bath bombs.
• Digital kitchen scale: As the ingredients for this recipe are by weight and not volume, you will need a scale to weigh out the ingredients.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Bath Bombs

Here is how to make pumpkin spice bath bombs:

1. Begin by using a digital scale begin by weighing all of the dry ingredients and combining them in a large glass bowl or an 8-cup Pyrex measuring cup.

2. Mix well to combine using a fork then add a pinch each of the pigment powders.

TIP: You only need a small amount of color to make DIY pumpkin spice bath bombs. The color comes through more when you add the wet ingredients. Adding too much color can cause your skin or tub to stain. So don’t go overboard. Alternately, you can also use lake dyes for these autumn bath fizzies. Lake dyes are water soluble and non-staining when used according to manufacturer guidelines. This type of colorant is ideal if you want a tub full of colored water.

3. In a separate container weigh out the shea butter then melt in the microwave or a double boiler.

4. Then weigh out and add the sesame oil to the melted shea butter.

5. Using a graduated plastic transfer pipette, measure out the fragrance oil and stir into the wet ingredients. Mix well.

6. Now slowly pour the melted shea butter and sesame oil into the dry ingredients mixing as you go. Combine thoroughly so the entire mixture is damp.

How to Make Pumpkin Shaped Bath Bombs

7. You’re now ready to use your bath bomb molds. To mold your pumpkin spice bath bombs take a large scoop of the mixture and place into your first pumpkin cavity.

8. Add more until the pumpkin spice bath bomb mixture is piled above the shape. DO NOT press any of the mixture into the mold until you’ve done this.

9. Now press the mixture firmly into the mold all at once. Brush away the excess.

NOTE: Pressing the bath bomb mixture into the bath bomb mold in stages will cause it to separate at those points and break apart.

10. Repeat with the additional mold cavities.

11. Wait one or two days before unmolding your pumpkin spice bath bombs. This will allow you to unmold clean, pumpkin shaped bath bombs in one piece.

To unmold the pumpkin and leaf shaped bath bombs, place a cutting board on top of the mold. Carefully turned them over together in order to prevent any of the bath bombs from accidentally dropping out and breaking. Then, gently press each bath bomb out of the cavities.

How to Make Round Bath Bombs

12. To create the round bath bomb(s) overfill each half of the round bath bomb mold the same way you did the silicone mold. Do NOT press the sides into the mold halves before joining them or you’ll end up with half circle bath bombs.

13. Now press each overfilled side of the mold halves firmly together. Brush away any excess from the edges.

TIP: I also twisted the two halves of my mold together a bit.

14. You can gently unmold these immediately or wait a day.

TIP: Do you need sore muscle relief? Simply substitute the sea salt in this pumpkin spice bath bomb recipe with Epsom salt. You can also swap out the sesame oil with any other of your favorite carrier oils for your skin type.

Package the Pumpkin Spice Bath Bombs

Once the pumpkin spice bath bombs have dried completely, they are ready to package. To package and store these fall bath bombs, wrap them tightly in plastic food service film or shrink wrap. You can also store them in an airtight container.

How to Use Bath Bombs

To use these bath bombs, add one bath fizzy to warm running bath water. Then allow to dissolve. Sink into the tub and enjoy.

For more ways to use pumpkin spice in skin care products, be sure to check out my post on uses for pumpkin spice essential oil. You can also discover more homemade bath bomb recipes as well as fall soap recipes and other bath and beauty DIY’s when you follow Soap Deli News blog. Find and follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.