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Olivia :)

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Olivia :)

Hey there Olivia...lol, a question about "The Ongoing Bomb Saga" hahahahaha....ok....so your bombs float, we BOTH live in humid climates. You know how badly I want mine to float and all that!! What SIZE are your bombs? And I'm wondering something too...I've been using just plain old citric acid from Amazon...I put a small BB order in today, but I called them first because I was curious....I was wondering about the size of the citric granules...because depending on what colorant I'm using, I get a speckling thing goin on...you can clearly see the citric acid is colored more than the rest of the bomb. BB said that their citric is more like table salt...so I put both in my hand and BIG difference. I'm guessing the smaller the citric, the better it will bind...maybe? Oh, Olivia, I want a floating bunch of bombs SO BAD!!! Grrrrrr...wth am I doing wrong?! Size? Recipe? I will prevail!! hahaha

Haha! I feel for you, though! I like BB's citric acid, have been perfectly happy with it. Oh dear, size. Hmmm, mine can be different sizes, really. I have not made a successful, big round one yet. Wildly guessing, mine have probably been between 4 and 2 oz. And I don't think that ALL of mine have floated.

Just curious, what kind of colorants do you use? I have used oxides and ultramarines (they mix in REALLY nicely with the baking soda/citric acid). I did notice some speckling in my bombes when I used Chrome Green Oxide, I think it was... I have no clue why, though.

Also, do you add any oils or butters into yours? I almost always do.

I feel like I'm not very good at helping answer your questions, as you make way more bombes than me!

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Olivia :)

hey!! Sorry it took me so long to reply....ok, so I just decided to grind down my citric acid in a blender until my BB stuff got here...it seemed to work great. But still no floating....well, SOME of them did. When I first started making these, I added LOTS of butters...mango and shea were my favorites, and one bomb i would grate little flecks of cocoa butter in them...plus the fragrance oils and eo's....those bombs were between 8-9 oz, and I was using the BB stainless steel molds. They were hard as rocks! But I realized that with adding as much stuff as I was, I'd have to charge an arm and a leg for my bombs, which were basically giant bath truffles.. I'm guessing I started doing this toward the end of February...yep, that seems right. Since then, I have tried damn near everything. I have this really awesome bomb I call "Pink Flamingo"...with that one, I color using the Electric Bubblegum from BB, and I add some edible lusters (makes a really cool effect in the water!) Ive also used basically every colorant there is...I'm even using the d&c powders and liquids. As of late, I just tried to go super simple and use this recipe 4 cups baking soda, 2 cups citric, colorant, and 1 tbs of fragrance and eo's, and my hubby loves the bombs that foam up, so I added a tbs of slsa. They were 6 oz and floated like a dream. The batch I made yesterday? They unmolded beautifully, and this morning they weigh almost 8 oz. It's pouring down rain outside. I really, truly think, that since I'm not mother nature and I can't control the weather and I live in Gatlinburg TN in the middle of a rainforest type climate in the mountains, that I'm going to get ZERO consistency here. I cant imagine that leaving the slsa out of the "Pink Flamingo", because I didn't want "her" lol, to be a foamer, caused a 2 oz difference. How depressing. *sigh*

I use cocoa butter in my bath bombs. It's been pretty successful during certain months considering I live in a very humid area. I made some today and I spritzed with witch hazel and it made little warts ugh. I haven't tried using almond oil though, I think I'll give that a go next time!!

Hippychicprod, I have used cocoa butter in my bombes before and love it!! Does it seem to contribute hardness or floatability (if that's even a word) to yours? Hope you have success with the almond oil!

Missjslick, that is so strange that your bombes' weight changed that much. No clue on that one. But you really sound like you're an expert on colorants, fragrances, additives, and techniques now. That's awesome!

I recently got some kaolin clay from BB and am going to try that!

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Olivia :)

Hippychicprod, I have used cocoa butter in my bombes before and love it!! Does it seem to contribute hardness or floatability (if that's even a word) to yours? Hope you have success with the almond oil!

Missjslick, that is so strange that your bombes' weight changed that much. No clue on that one. But you really sound like you're an expert on colorants, fragrances, additives, and techniques now. That's awesome!

I recently got some kaolin clay from BB and am going to try that!

EDIT: Whoops, double post. Sorry about that...

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Olivia :)

THE BATH BOMB SAGA!!!! LOL.....I'm seriously going GRAY hahahahahaha. I don't get it. It's so strange, seriously! Olivia, I noticed you said "floatability"....when you say yours float....you mean they bob around on top of the water, all that...bottom line, yours don't sink to the bottom, correct? I really feel like I've tried EVERYTHING....now I'm wondering if it's drying time. I am just so confused. Also, what size are your bombs? I've been using the 2.75 inch plastic ones from Wholesale Supplies...I have the BB stainless ones as well. I need to get this down or I'm gonna freak out!!!

WOW...I think a BOMB went off in my head lol....sorry guys, Olivia every question I just asked in my last post has already been discussed or answered on this VERY THREAD. My bad.