Hi,

Aromatherapy bath salts are very easy (and fun) to make!

You will want to start by first buying your unscented bath salts. Bath salts are inexpensive and can usually be bought in bulk at places like Costco or Smart and Final. Bath salts usually consist of any one or a mixture of the following:
- Epsom salts (these contain magnesium, very good for muscle aches and tightness)
- Large crystal sea salt. This has beneficial minerals in it and is soothing to any skin rashes, etc.
- Baking soda. This helps bring your skin to a beneficial and healthy pH level.

Second, you will want your aromatherapy components. These can be either aromatherapy or essential oils, and actual crushed herbs. Try some of the following:
- Essential oils - lavender, eucalyptus, orange, rose geranium for starters. You can read more on which oils to use for certain conditions at http://www.aromaweb.com. You will only need to use several drops of these, so look for 1/2 oz. bottles (15ml) at your local health food store or online to try scents out. Warning - essential oils and plastic don't get along very well; if you use more than a few drops in your bath salts mixture, consider using a glass container for them rather than plastic.

- Herbs - lavender buds, miniature dried rose petals, calendula petals, chamomile buds, rosemary leaves...these can add additional subtle fragrance notes to your blend. They also tend to make for a beautiful presentation if you want to blend some bath salts and bottle them for gifts. All of these are available online, and some can also be found at health food stores. Or, you can be thrifty like me and cut lavender buds and rosemary out of your mom's garden!

One last thing is coloring. Regular water-based food coloring is a perfect way to enhance your bath salts. To get the salts colored evenly, use a large, gallon-sized plastic bag, and fill it no more than half-way with bath salts. Then, add food coloring - try 3 drops, then shake the salts briskly for a few minutes and assess the color. You can also mix - ad a few drops of red and one drop of blue to get lavender, for example.

Good luck and have fun with it!