Lindsay and I led our Spa Science workshop this past Saturday and it was fantastic! At first our nine girls were shy and quiet, but ten minutes into the Fizzy Bath Bomb experiment the room was full of chatter, and the air was clouded with corn starch and scented with quite a combination of fragrance oils. Our other recipe experiments included Sweet Lip Smackers, Shake ‘Em Bath Salts, and a Yummy ‘Nana Face Mask.

Each girl had her stack of recipe cards, a slew of measuring utensils and a great big mixing bowl. Most surprising things  we learned from our experiments? If you mix the wet and dry ingredients of the Fizzy Bath Bombs too quickly – they foam up into a big bubbling blob (naturally, this delighted the girls). Also, corn starch, when liberally dusted about the room by nine spa scientists, makes the floor amazingly slick. Rubber soled shoes recommended!

We packaged our spa treats in a variety of tins like the diner-style sugar shaker for our bath salts and travel containers for the lip balm. The girls named their concoctions, created labels and packed everything up into a colorful bag.

All these recipes are basic kitchen-chemistry. With a quick trip to the grocery store (and perhaps the health store for fragrance oils) you’ll have everything you need to mix them at home. A plastic egg crate, ice cube tray or muffin tin make perfect molds for bath bombs or small soaps, and a decent dollar store will have a variety of containers for your finished products.

Host a spa science party perhaps?! Here’s our favorite recipe…