4 natural homemade bath products for glowing skin

After a hard week at work, sometimes it's nice to unwind with a soothing bubble bath. But if you're worried that you don't know what ingredients you're exposing yourself or your children to, here are some natural remedies that you can try.

Bubble baths are fun, but children shouldn't use them daily. Too much of a good thing could irritate sensitive skin.

• 125 ml (1/2 c) shampoo
• 175 ml (3/4 c) water
• 1 ml (1/4 tsp) table salt

  1. In a medium bowl, mix shampoo and water. Gently stir until blended. Add salt. Stir until mixture thickens.
  2. Pour through a funnel into a clean bottle with a tight cap. This bubble bath will keep safely for months in the bathroom.

This recipe is especially suited for children or adults with sensitive skin.

• 125 ml (1/2 c) distilled or bottled water, not tap water
• 1 packet unflavoured gelatin
• 125 ml (1/2 c) baby shampoo

1. In a small pot, bring the water to a boil. Add gelatin and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Slowly stir in the baby shampoo. Let this mixture cool until it's tepid enough to put in a clean, decorative widemouthed jar with a tight-fitting top.
2. Place jar in the refrigerator to set the gel.
3. Use a few teaspoons of gel per bath. Bath gel should keep up to a month in the refrigerator.

• 1 envelope unsweetened Kool-Aid or equivalent, any flavour
• 1 kg Epsom salts

  1. Pour half the Epsom salts into a clean 945-millilitre (one quart) container. Empty the pouch of soft drink into the salts. Cover and shake until combined.
  2. Add the rest of the salts and continue shaking. Your mixture will be subtly coloured, but the "magic" colours will appear as you toss the salts into the warm tub.
  3. Use up to 125 millilitre (half cup) of bath salts per bath. Water will be scented and colourful. For a more dramatic appearing display, double or triple the recipe, but use several different-coloured (flavoured) packets of drink mix and layer the crystals and salt in a clear glass jar. Don't shake to mix. (Be sure to purchase the unsweetened drink mix.)
  4. Store in a covered container. Keeps indefinitely.

If you like experimenting with recipes in the kitchen, you'll get a real kick out of making these "cookies" for the tub. Bakers will recognize the steps in dough-making, rolling, and baking, but there's a twist! Make one batch for yourself and another for friends.

• 500 ml (2 c) fine sea salt
• 125 g (1/2 c) cornstarch, plus more for rolling dough
• 125 g (1/2 c) baking soda
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) dried, chopped lavender or sage(optional)
• 2 eggs
• 30 ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil
• 5 ml (1 tsp) vitamin E oil (if necessary, break open several capsules)
• 8 drops essential oil or perfume oil of your choosing

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). In a large bowl, combine salt, cornstarch and baking soda. Stir in chopped herbs, if using. Stir in eggs, vegetable oil, vitamin E oil and essential oil and keep stirring until you form a dough.
  2. Rub cornstarch on a rolling pin and spread some on a work surface. Roll the dough out to a thickness of about two centimetres (3/4 inch). Cut into shapes with cookie cutters or a biscuit cutter. Place your "cookies" on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2.5 centimetres (one inch) apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool and store in a tight-topped cookie tin in a cool, dry place.
  3. When ready to use, place one or two of your bath cookies into the tub as the water runs.