Made a black bath bomb for my first bath bomb, but most stayed on top ?

[Nyctangel]

So I did my first experiment with bath bomb today.

While the bath bomb looked and smelled great, results in the bath tub weren't that great and since I'm a big bath bomb noob I made observation all along the process to see how I can improve them. I came here so maybe I could have some pointer to help me perfect my recipe !

So, the recipe I used goes like this:

The recipe I used:
1/2 cup of baking soda
1/4 cup of citric acid
1/4 cup of cornstarch
5ml of tartar cream
5ml of eco glitter
15ml of Almond oil
5ml of Midnight mystery fragrance oil
5ml of Black oxyde with 3 drop of blackurrant soap coloring
+-10ml of witch hazel
made two small bath bomb, put in the fridge at 5am, got it out at 6 am.
Results:
First look : Look really great, hard enough, good texture and smell good, glitter doesnt feel too much, maybe add a bit more if I want a more dramatic effect, hold well and color is perfect.
In the bath tub:
Pro: Good fizz, smell really good and have a black blanket shimmery look on top of the water.
Con: Oily texture, most seems to stay on the surface of water, doesnt mix well with the water, stick to skin with a oily texture. I had to rub with soap to get it out. Water is a white/grey-ish color.
Aftermath: Stick to bath but mostly stick to soap scum, used a bit of hertel and a sponge and cleaned out well, took 5 minutes.
My skin feel smooth and hydrated tho, smell real good too.
What I want: I want a darker water (Black Water, maybe add more soap colorant next time and less black oxyde) I want it to feel less oily (Maybe too much almond oil?) and mix better with water. Wait with polysorbate 80 to arrive to make more test.

So yeah I ordered some Polysorbate 80 to see what it does, that might help with the fact that most of the bath bomb stay on top, also thinking about replacing the cornstarch with arrowroot powder (I also heard about kaolin clay ?) I see some of you lady talking about SLSA, what does it do?
I made a imgur album of most of the process to give you a idea on what would be the best.

https://imgur.com/a/qoPfHxA

Thanks a lot!

 

[BattleGnome]

Your on the right track. Make your next batch with the polysorbate and see if it does what you want, I’m betting you’ll be close.

I can’t say much about your “fancier” ingredients, my last batch of bombs was plain citric acid and baking soda. Adding in arrowroot powder or clay will change the water feel. You’ll have to figure out what you like.

I’m a bit too brain dead to explain SLSA fully (I don’t use it). It mostly adds bubbles/foam but isn’t considered “natural” if that’s a concern

 

[Megan]

I have come to the conclusion that if you want a dark color in your bath bombs, you cannot use starch as it will make the water "milky"

 

[atiz]

Poly 80 will definitely help with the oiliness.
Unfortunately I can't really help with the other ones, since my bath bomb is much simpler (basically just baking soda, citric acid, cream of tartar, and epsom salt). If you would like to color your water (instead of just having a "blanket" on it), you may want to try some lake dyes; they have worked quite well for me, and in my experience they also don't stain the tub.

 

[Nyctangel]

I have come to the conclusion that if you want a dark color in your bath bombs, you cannot use starch as it will make the water "milky"

Oh really? Guess i'll try the next bath and use the arrowroot powder instead of the corn starch and see if it make a difference, thanks !

Poly 80 will definitely help with the oiliness.
Unfortunately I can't really help with the other ones, since my bath bomb is much simpler (basically just baking soda, citric acid, cream of tartar, and epsom salt). If you would like to color your water (instead of just having a "blanket" on it), you may want to try some lake dyes; they have worked quite well for me, and in my experience they also don't stain the tub.

Ohh thats a nice option, i'll wait for the poly 80 and the 4 different type of dye I have at hand (Activated charcoal, soap dye, black oxyde and black mica) and if nothing satisfy me i'll go with the Lake dye !

Your on the right track. Make your next batch with the polysorbate and see if it does what you want, I’m betting you’ll be close.

I can’t say much about your “fancier” ingredients, my last batch of bombs was plain citric acid and baking soda. Adding in arrowroot powder or clay will change the water feel. You’ll have to figure out what you like.

I’m a bit too brain dead to explain SLSA fully (I don’t use it). It mostly adds bubbles/foam but isn’t considered “natural” if that’s a concern

Yeah, I might eventually try SLSA but I saw some using it talking about the nice foam but it isn't super easy to access here (Or I don't know how to easily get some without spending too much) so i'll leave that on the side for now, thanks !

 

[Megan]

To test it, dissolve some arrowroot in a glass of water. It will probably still be milky. Arrowroot is another kind of starch.

 

[Nyctangel]

To test it, dissolve some arrowroot in a glass of water. It will probably still be milky. Arrowroot is another kind of starch.

Yeah I guess, to be fair I dont mind some milkyness, even if it make it some kind of milky black haha

 

[Complexions]

It's about a month later, not sure if you got the poly 80 in or not to try it out. The poly 80 helps the oils emulsify in the water rather than just float on top. The colorant was floating on the top with the oils, then sticking to the tub afterwards. Poly 80 helps with that too. As far as the water color, if you want the water to be colored too, you need to use dyes or lakes. The micas and oxides color the bomb nicely and float around in the water but doesn't actually color the water if that makes sense. I use equal amounts of poly 80 as the oil I use. This also means I don't need as much binder as I am adding an additional liquid. Usually just a few sprays of alcohol is all I need to get my mix to the right consistency.

SLSa can make foam as the bomb fizzes and is usually what helps cause the "bath art" on the surface of the water. It also slows down the fizz so the bomb takes longer to fizzle out.

Hope that helps some!