As the snow arrives (sadly I’m not kidding, it snowed here all last weekend!), hot baths quickly become one of my favourite ways to warm up and wind down. A good pumpkin ale, some Scrubs on my iPad, and I’m a happy lady. If that bath smells like cookies and leaves my skin hydrated and happy, all the better. That’s where these adorable little nuggets of minty cocoa bath delight come in. These Thin Mints Bath Melts dissolve into your bath water, turning it into a big ol’ tub of what is essentially super-weak lotion, making for a decadent soak and some seriously happy skin. Just don’t be tempted to drink your bath water, even if it does smell like minty hot cocoa!

The base of these melts is crazy simple—it’s just cocoa butter, Turkey red oil (or grapeseed oil), and a complete emulsifying wax. I highly recommend a fragrant cocoa butter that still smells of its delicious chocolatey source. The emulsifying wax is what lets the cocoa butter mix with your bath water instead of just floating on top, making for a non-lethal end-of-bath climbing out of the tub experience, which is a serious bonus in my opinion. It also helps the cocoa butter actually help your skin—it’ll be everywhere in your bath water rather than just lurking around on the surface like pond scum.

I made these Thin Mints Bath Melts two different ways so you could have some options! Not only did I try two different ways to get the brown tint (cocoa powder vs. brown mica), I also tried two different ways to get that minty green middle bit. When it came to brown mica vs cocoa powder, I found I liked the brown mica colour better; it was warmer and richer. That can obviously vary with whatever micas you have on hand and what your cocoa powder is like, though. I highly recommend getting yourself a mica sampler pack if you’re ever ordering from TKB Trading—it’s a great way to play with lots of different colours without committing to too much of anything, and their sample sizes are quite generous! Most of the micas I used came in sample packs from different suppliers (exact links are in the recipe) and I love having lots of colours to choose from without breaking the bank.

This was the mica seam version in progress, just about ready to dust in the middle seam.

For the green middle bit, the first thing I tried was a mica seam, as you might do when making soap. I used a sieve to dust a fine layer of green mica between two layers of dark brown melted cocoa butter mixture. That way is probably a bit easier than way #2, but doesn’t provide the same obvious green middle. Way #2 is a two-toned sandwich, requiring you to divide up the melted cocoa butter mixture and colour each part differently, layering them up, and chilling between colours. It takes a bit more time but definitely has a stronger sandwich look. Choose whichever method you like the sounds of!

Once you’ve got your finished Thin Mints Bath Melts, you’ve got a great bath treat—for you, or for someone else! These cute wee nuggets would make great Christmas gifts—just be sure you include instructions so they don’t get accidentally eaten!

The richer coloured ones on the left were coloured with micas and used the two-tone sandwich method. The ones on the right were coloured with cocoa powder and used the mica seam method.

Thin Mints Bath Melts

15g | 0.53oz cocoa butter (USA / Canada) (make sure it smells like cocoa!)
15g | 0.53oz Turkey Red Oil or grapeseed oil
10g | 0.35oz complete emulsifying wax (not beeswax!)

20 drops peppermint essential oil (USA / Canada)

1/16 tsp brown mica or cocoa powder
1/32 tsp green mica (this amount will vary depending on the layering technique you choose)

I used Saffire Blue’s Antique Copper, TKB’s China Jade, and Yellow Bee’s Sun Kissed Olives micas.

Prepare a water bath by bringing about 3cm/1″ of water to a bare simmer in a small saucepan. Weigh the cocoa butter, liquid oil, and complete emulsifying wax into a small heat resistant glass measuring cup, and place that measuring cup into your water bath to melt everything through. That’ll take about 15 minutes.

As your cocoa butter mixture melts, prepare your silicone mold by setting it onto a plate (so you can move it between the counter and the fridge). I used this one from Amazon (make sure you get the small one). The cavities are about 5g/0.17oz, and I would not recommend making your bath melts any larger than that or you’ll find they don’t melt terribly well in bath water that isn’t hot enough to scald. You’ll also want to clear out an area in your fridge large and flat enough for that plate.

After your cocoa butter mixture has melted, stir in the essential oil. How you proceed from there depends on how you want to do the green bit in the middle:

Mica Seam

Stir the brown mica or cocoa powder into your cocoa butter mixture, and using half of that mixture, fill your molds to halfway full. If you are using the mold I used, that’ll be 8 cavities. Then, using a fine sieve and your green mica, dust green mica over the half-filled melts. Place the plate with the mold in the fridge for 20 minutes to help the cocoa butter set up (you’ll want to put the measuring cup of leftover cocoa butter mixture back in the hot water bath to keep it melted). After that, top off the molds with the rest of the brown cocoa butter mixture, and top off with another mica dusting. Pop that back in the fridge to set up for 20–30 minutes before removing the melts from the mold. Take care to handle them as little as possible as they’ll melt quickly on contact with skin.

Two-Tone Sandwich

After your cocoa mixture has melted, weigh 10g (0.35oz) into another small heat resistant glass measuring cup. Stir the brown mica or cocoa powder into the large portion of the melted cocoa butter, and the green mica into the small portion. Fill your moulds ~40% with the brown mixture—that should be half of it (if you are using the mold I used, that’ll be 8 cavities). Pop that in the fridge to set up for 20 minutes (you’ll want to put the measuring cups of leftover cocoa butter mixtures back in the hot water bath to keep them melted). After 20 minutes, divide the green cocoa butter mixture between the molds, aiming for ~60% fullness. That goes back into the fridge to set up, and then top them all off with the last of the brown mixture. Let that set up, unmold, and voila!

To use your bath melts, add ’em to a hot bath. Depending on how hot you like your baths, you might want to give ’em a smush with your fingers before dropping them into the water to help them melt. Remember not to handle them too much and to store them somewhere cool—that low melting point means they’ll melt quickly when handled and will melt if stored somewhere much warmer than 30°C/86°F (I don’t recommend mailing these to anybody in the summer!).

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