These wonderfully tropical bath bombs transform your bathwater into a mango & coconut scented hot pot of aloe vera and coconut milk goodness, laced with loads of beneficial goodies like vitamin A, C and beta carotine from the mango powder. It’s like an at-home tropical spa, plus fizzing!
In addition to being wonderfully tropical, coconut milk, aloe vera, and mango all have great benefits for the skin. Coconut milk, a delicious relative of the fantastic coconut oil, and it’s rich in C, E, B1, B3, B5 and B6 as well as iron, selenium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus. It’s moisturizing, anti-aging, and helps soothe skin ailments like eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis.
Aloe vera is, of course, a big time skin care favourite for its moisturizing, healing, and soothing properties. I got this fantastic 200x concentrated aloe vera juice powder from Saffire Blue, and after doing the math on it, it’s actually quite a bit cheaper than buying the jugs of juice (which are usually just re-hydrated powder anyways). Though 75g of the powder will run you roughly $20, it’ll make 15L of aloe vera juice ($1.33/L), which sells for $8/L in re-hydrated form. In addition to the savings, because the powder is so concentrated it makes it a great addition to bath bombs as they can pack quite an aloe-vera-y punch without having to bulk them out with lots of powder.
Mango is a fun one. The fruit extract perks up when it’s wet, and smells pleasantly of real mangoes. It’s vitamin rich, and said to help keep skin hydrated and flexible. It also smells nice, as I mentioned, which might just be my favourite part… just don’t drink your bathwater.
Pull all this together with some skin-softening baking soda (USA / Canada), fizz-making citric acid, muscle soothing Epsom salts, and bright-and-happy lime essential oil, and you’ve got yourself some beautiful bath bombs.
Coconut Mango Bath Bombs
1 cup baking soda (USA / Canada)
½ cup citric acid
¼ cup powdered coconut milk (USA / Canada)
1 tsp aloe vera 200× powder
1–4 tbsp mango powder
15 drops lime EO1/2 cup epsom salt
1 tbsp Turkey Red OilMister w/ witch hazel
Blend the baking soda (USA / Canada), citric acid, mango powder, aloe vera powder, powdered coconut milk (USA / Canada), and essential oil together in a food processor and transfer to a large, wide bowl.
Blend the Epsom salts and Turkey Red Oil together in the food processor and transfer to the bowl with the baking soda (USA / Canada) mixture, stirring the combine.
Now it’s time to add just enough liquid to get the mixture to hold together in a mold. Not too much, though, or it will react in the bowl/mold, not in your bath. That’s why we’re using a mister (it’ll spread the moisture better) and witch hazel (for some reason the reaction isn’t as vigorous when you use witch hazel, plus they dry faster, apparently).
So, spread your mixture out in your bowl so you have as much surface area as possible, and spritz. Then stir thoroughly. And repeat until you can grab a clump of the mixture and it will hold together after a firm squeeze.
Once the mixture will hold together, pack it into a mold of your choice (I like a 1/4 cup measuring cup), and then tap it out onto a sheet of wax paper. Let dry overnight, turning once.
To use, drop in a hot bath and enjoy!
I chose Turkey Red Oil because it self-emulsifies in water, meaning no weird floating blobs of oil in your tub, or oil slicks afterwards. If you don’t have it feel free to substitute any liquid carrier oil like sweet almond, grapeseed, safflower, or olive.
I forgot that you’ve said before to use as a substitute for the Turkey Red oil. I don’t have that one but I have a bunch of others on the shelf!
Hey Sally, you could use any carrier oil at all and add a solubiliser like one of the polysorbates (I suggest polysorb 80) . It would make the oil water dispersible so that it “disappears” into the water and you would therefor avoid those floating liquid islands in the tub.
Good tip—I usually use Polysorbate 20, which you want to use in equal amounts to the oil (or perhaps a bit extra polysorbate 20 to be on the safe side).
If you don’t have TRO feel free to substitute any liquid carrier oil like sweet almond, grapeseed, safflower, or olive—just remember to watch out for oil slicks 🙂
What’s the shelf life of products containing the mango and coconut powders?
I’ve got an FAQ on this 🙂
I regret not getting the TRO in my last Saffire Blue delivery…I will not make that mistake next month, lol! These look so amazing, and I would love to make them as part of my deluxe vacation DIY spa products package (I’m going to Seattle in June & I wanted to make several bath items to take with me).
I have a bit of an off topic question: are you affected by NDA’s new $100 minimum order policy? I admit it’s affecting my shopping with them, but of course I understand why they instituted the policy.
Definitely get some TRO stat, I’ve had some exciting developments with it & I think it’ll be a pantry staple for my readers in no time 🙂
And no, the $100 minimum really doesn’t effect me because their shipping basically forced that minimum for me anyways. To ship across the country to me is generally a minimum of $20 no matter what I order, so I was never going to place an order for less than about $150–$200 with that in mind. Ouch 🙁 I actually haven’t placed an order yet this year, I’m sort of proud of myself, haha.
Darn this just came to me! 😛 Now that you’ve written about the basic products new DIYers should buy: how about a post for some of us intermediate & advanced soapers, DIyers, et al. that recommends some of the more luxurious items that we can begin to add to our DIYsenals 🙂
Oooh, I love this idea! Ingredients you probably don’t need but will love playing with 😛 Consider it added to the list!
Sweetie, you’re talking about beetroot powder in your directions, but it’s not in the recipe 🙂
Oh dear, I must be truly losing it 😛 Fixed it, thanks for catching that!
These look terrific!
One question though … the directions mention beetroot powder but there isn’t an amount listed in the recipe. Is it just a mistake in the directions? I don’t see anything that looks like beetroot in the pics.
D’oh! Definitely a mistake 🙂 It’s fixed—good catch!
Hi! I am new to your blog and to DIYing, you have amazing looking recipes, I just want to try them all! In this one, is it 1-4 tbsp or 1/4 cup mango powder?
Hi Maggie! Thanks for catching that error—it’s supposed to be 1/4 cup 🙂 It’s fixed now. Have fun with your homemade bath bombs!
Hi Marie! You replied to someone that the recipe should be 1/4 cup and not 1 – 4 tbsp however I still see the recipe with tbsp mentioned for the mango powder. Which measurement is correct? Thanks!
Always go with the most recent one— 1/4 cup in this case.
So??? If I don’t have mango powder, I could use ????
I have blueberry powder?
Hi Nancy! I’d just make a different bath bomb recipe since the mango powder is a fairly integral part of this recipe. How about my rose spice bath bombs?
Thanks! I just made your hippie bah bombs! Your recipes are my favorites! More LUSH dups please!!
I’ve always got loads on my list 🙂 If you ever have something specific please fill out my recipe request form so I’ll remember 🙂
Hi Marie,
I made these and they are beautiful. I made a second batch last night and substituted strawberry extract and added beetroot powder. They smell delicious! As always, thank you for your amazing recipes and the time you devote to this blog. You truly are an inspiration and have given me a very expensive hobby! I’m loving every minute of it!
Karen
Wonderful, I’m so thrilled you like them! Thanks so much for reading & DIYing with me and supporting my blog 🙂
Hi! How many bath bombs would you say you get from this recipe?
That depends 100% on the size of your mould 😛 I think I got about four 1/4 cup ones.
OK, I’ve become soooooo confused in my search for this Mango Powder Extract. New Directions can’t ship all the Extract powders I ordered due to some EPA regulation or something. Anyway, I did order a product from Amazon that is Amchur Powder (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00449PFJY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) which is a dark golden color or supposed dried mango fruit. Well I used it and I suppose its OK, but the product on NDA’s pic appears to be a pale pretty yellow. Is Amchur Powder appropriate or is it totally the wrong product. I just don’t know what’s so hard about purchasing this and I am fed up with all the reg’s we have on what appears to be a simple product….!!! Help me find this product, PLEASE. Oh, BTW, I’m on my second order from NDA. I thought I might like their fragrance oils in some soaps and I confess I haven’t tried yet, but smelling from the bottle and rubbing some on hand or on a tissue is really turning my thought process 180* on using them. Essential Oils are so expensive when trying to sell a soap or anything else and thought they might be an alternative…another one of those learning experiences!!! Thanks for your help and I’m really enjoying all your DIY’s!
Hey! So, amchur powder is made from mangoes, but it’s definitely not the same thing—it’s an ingredient/spice in Indian cooking. I wouldn’t say I’ve been so impressed with mango powder extract that you should be going to this much trouble to get it, though! You could use the amchur powder in these bath bombs since you have it already, but I really wouldn’t fuss about getting mango extract… I certainly wouldn’t purchase it again.
And yes, if you don’t get headaches or anything from FOs they can be an excellent alternative 🙂 Just be aware that some can cause soap to accelerate!
my bombs started reacting, i think i added too much water. Will they still harden and serve their purpose?
It depends; some of the reaction has obviously been triggered already, but you won’t know until you get them wet again if the entire reaction has been triggered or not. If they are still fairly close to the shape and size of your mould you should get some fizzing, but if they expanded a ton and are all bloated, you might just have solid bath salts at this point. It’s impossible to say without using one, though 🙂