Herbal Baths and Soaps

You can enjoy the luxury of bathing with herbs by simply steeping dried herbs in the bathwater. Not only will they make your bath more fragrant but they can also make it more invigorating or soothing. Virtually any combination of dried leafy fragrant herbs-or any single herb-can be used for an herbal bath. The secret  is to tie the herbs in cloth. This keeps them from clinging to your skin and the sides of the tub and from clogging the drain.

Another way to use herbs when bathing is to incorporate them in soap. Ordinarily, soap making is a time-consuming process, requiring the cautious handling of a caustic ingredient. But an array of delightfully scented herbal soaps can be made by simply melting bars of plain soap, adding the herbal ingredient, and remolding them. Essential oils are the easiest addition, but you can also mix in such traditional ingredients as oatmeal, almond meal, lanolin, cold cream, or honey to change the texture and feel of the soap.

Some ingredients commonly used for herbal baths are listed below. Select about a cupful of any of these in dried form, mixing and matching from different categories as you please. You may want a combination that emphasizes floral and other sweet-smelling ingredients, or you may want one that has a cleaner or more bracing scent. Even when stressing one category, however, it is often best to add an ingredient or two from another category just to obtain a more interesting aroma. Once you have found a mixture that you like, prepare a large quantity and keep it ready for use in a large, attractive jar.

Sweet and fragrant. Chamomile (Roman or German), elderberry, linden, lavender, and rose flowers and angelica, rose geranium, and rosemary leaves.

Stimulating and clean-smelling. Basil, eucalyptus, peppermint, and thyme leaves.

Spicy and citrus-smelling. Balm, lemon verbena, and southernwood leaves. Strips of fresh lemon and orange peel can also be added.

Mix the ingredients together, crushing them slightly to help release their fragrance. Put the mixture in the center of a piece of clean muslin about 9 inches square. Bring the edges of the muslin together to form a sack around the mixture and secure it with a string or a rubber band. Hang the bag from the bathtub tap. Using hotter water than usual, let the water run over the bag as you fill the tub. Then drop the bag in the filled tub and let it steep for 5 minutes or until the water is cool enough for you to get into it. You can leave the bag in the tub while you soak and bathe.

Herbal bath oil

• 4 parts safflower, olive, corn, or almond oil
• 1 part oil of bergamot, thyme, cloves, lavender, or eucalyptus
• 1 part vodka

Put all the ingredients in a bottle that can be capped tightly. Shake well before using. Add 1 teaspoon to the bathwater.
The oil will make the tub slippery. Make sure that you use a rubber bath mat, and get in and out of the tub carefully.
Almond oil is the most pleasing ingredient, but it is much more expensive than the others.

French bouquet soap

French Bouquet Soap Traditional savon au bouquet, or perfumed soap, can be varied by changing the scenting ingredients. Besides the oils and waters suggested below, oils of bergamot and cinnamon are favorite additions. If you have no soap molds, use custard cups, food molds, or similar containers.
If you want to color the soap, blend a few drops or shavings of candle making dye into the melted mixture.

• 14-16 ounces unscented hard white soap (castile soap is excellent)
• 1/4-1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon each oils of clove and thyme

Grease soap molds with petroleum jelly. Grate the soap and put it in a heavy enameled saucepan. Melt it over low heat, adding just enough water to keep a sticky film from forming on the pan. When the soap is smooth and about the consistency of whipped cream, remove it from the heat. Let it cool slightly, stirring to keep it smooth; add the aromatic oils. Pour the soap into the molds and cover them with a heavy cloth or cardboard. Remove the soap from the molds after 24 hours. Put the cakes on a rack in a dry, well-ventilated spot. Leave them for 3 or 4 weeks to dry and harden. The harder the soap gets, the longer it will last.

Orange blossom or rose soap. Omit the water and essential oils. Stir 1/3 cup orange blossom or rose water into the soap as it melts.
Oatmeal soap. Thoroughly blend 2/3 cup of regular uncooked oatmeal into the melted soap along with the scenting ingredients. Oatmeal is beneficial to the skin and makes the soap mildly abrasive. Almond meal and bran are two other abrasives you can add to beauty soaps.
Other variations. For a smoother texture, add a couple of teaspoons of cold cream, beeswax, lanolin, glycerin, or aloe vera gel. Melt beeswax or lanolin first in a double boiler. A couple of teaspoons of honey will make the soap less alkaline and less harsh. A teaspoon of lemon juice will make it more astringent.

• HERBS FOR BEAUTY
  • Herbal hair care
  • Herbal skin care
• HERBS FOR KIDS
• HERBS FOR WOMEN
• HERBS FOR MEN
• HERBS FOR DOGS
• A GARDEN OF HEALING HERBS