Make the BEST bubble bar recipe that will fill your tub with TONS of fluffy bubbles, just like a Lush bubble bar!
If you’ve ever been to Lush, then you know about their amazing bubble bars.
You are watching: Bubble Bar Recipe {As Good As a Lush Bubble Bar!}
Their solid colorful bars in bright colors smell absolutely amazing and make the best bubble baths!
You probably also know that Lush bubble bars aren’t cheap.
Each bar costs $12.95, which will last for just one bath.
You could try to split a bar in two to get two baths out of it, but they usually just crumble for me and make a mess.
What if I told you that you could make your own bubble bars with a simple bubble bar recipe that will make at least 10 bars for a fraction of the cost of buying them?!
These bubble bars make such wonderful fluffy, foamy bubbles that last and are so nice and relaxing!
Plus, you can customize your own colors, scents, shape, and size of your finished bubble bars to make your own fantastic creations.
Bubble bars make great gifts for friends, family, neighbors, and teachers.
Add them to a spa gift basket for a loved one, or just keep them for yourself and your family to make bath time more fun.
It just doesn’t get much more relaxing than a nice soothing bubble bath at the end of the day!
This bubble bar recipe is the perfect way to relax and enjoy some me time, just like with our homemade chai tea bath salts and bath bombs.
What is a Bubble Bar?
A bubble bar (also known as a bath truffle, solid bubble bath, or solid bubble bath bars) is basically bubble bath, but in solid form.
Lush sells amazing bubble bars that are brightly colored and highly fragrant, but that cost between $8.95-$12.95 PER BAR.
While I’m a huge fan of the Lush bubble bar, and have bought many over the years for myself and my bath-loving kiddos, they definitely do run on the expensive side!
Why Make Your Own?
- You can make your own with this bubble bar recipe for MUCH less!
- This DIY Bubble Bar recipe makes about 10 bubble bars, so you are getting a lot of bars that are perfect for your family. They make fun gifts too!
- These bubble bars work JUST like the Lush version, making lots of fluffy bubbles in the bath. Mine left an awesome pinkish purple color in the bath water too that I love!
- You are in control the ingredients going in, so feel free to use natural coloring and essential oils instead of other coloring and fragrance oils.
- Let’s be honest, bath time is so much better with lots of bubbles!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links, which means I make a small percentage of any purchase made at no extra cost to you.
Bubble Bar Recipe Ingredients List
Baking Soda
Baking soda reacts with the cornstarch to create foaming and bubbles.
If you use baking soda you already have at home, make sure it’s fresh and not old or it won’t be as effective.
SLSA
SLSA (Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate) is a natural, skin safe natural detergent that is derived from coconut and palm oils.
It’s a safe alternative to SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate).
This fine white powder causes the bubble bars to create those amazing foaming bubbles.
Be sure to wear gloves and a mask when using SLSA, as it is a very light powder that gets in the air easily when mixing.
I buy my SLSA from Amazon. This bag I have bought multiple times makes two full bubble bar recipes, which results in around 20 bars (depending on how you roll them out and how big you cut them).
Cornstarch
Cornstarch reacts with the baking soda to create foaming and bubbles.
If you don’t already have this in your cupboard, you can find it in the baking aisle at the grocery store.
Cream of Tartar
Cream of tartar helps to create big, beautiful frothy bubbles.
You can find cream of tartar in the spice aisle at the grocery store, BUT it’s much more expensive there.
I buy cream of tartar from Amazon, since I can get a MUCH bigger amount for my money.
Vegetable Glycerin
Glyerin is a clear natural liquid that is a wonderfully moisturizing.
You can find vegetable glycerin at Walmart, drug stores, and on Amazon.
Fractionated Coconut Oil
I used fractionated coconut oil, but you could also use sweet almond oil, castor oil, or another light skin-safe oil in this recipe.
The oil helps moisturize your skin to make it soft and smooth and helps to hold the bubble bar together.
Essential Oils or Fragrance Oil (Optional)
If you want your bubble bars to give your bath a scent, then you have two choices.
You can use essential oils, which are made from nature and plants, or you could use a fragrance oil, which is made in a lab.
A bubble bar could also be unscented, and would work just as well, it just wouldn’t have a scent in or out of the bath tub.
Coloring (Optional)
You also have options when it comes to coloring a bubble bar-
- Natural coloring- Powders or liquids that are made from nature, like indigo powder, madder root powder, etc.
- Mica powders– Brightly pigmented powders that have a shimmer to them.
- Food coloring– Gel colors or liquid colors. I used gel colors and they worked great, were very bright, and didn’t stain the tub!
- No color- If you don’t want to add any coloring, you could also just leave these plain white.
Supplies You’ll Need
- Two mixing bowls
- Measuring cups
- Mixing spoon
- Nitrile gloves
- Face mask
- Parchment paper or wax paper
- Rolling pin
Bubble Bar Recipe Video Tutorial
Before you make your bubble bars using this bubble bar recipe, be sure to watch our video tutorial below!
It shows you step by step EXACTLY how to make these fun bath truffles.
How to Make Bubble Bars
You can find the exact recipe amounts at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.
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Before making your Lush bubble bars, make sure that you are wearing nitrile gloves (usually blue or purple) and wearing a mask in a well-ventilated area.
SLSA is a very fine powder that can get stirred up easily when mixing.
It can make you cough and irritate your skin, so wearing gloves and a mask while making these helps with this.
Mix the Dry Ingredients
Add all of the dry ingredients (the SLSA, baking soda, corn starch, and cream of tartar) into a medium or large mixing bowl, starting with the SLSA first.
Mix all the dry ingredients slowly with a wire whisk or spoon so you don’t disturb the SLSA too much.
Mix the Wet Ingredients
Combine the wet ingredients (the glycerin and the oil) together in a separate bowl.
After mixing the wet ingredients, add them to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
You want the mixture to be nice and smooth with no clumps in it.
I found it was easiest to use my hands to mix (just be sure to wear gloves because of the SLSA).
Add the Coloring and Scent
Now it’s time to give your dough some personality with some color and scent!
To use two different colors like I did, then you’ll need to separate the dough into two different bowls.
Then you’ll add the coloring to each bowl separately and mix until the color is mixed in thoroughly.
If you want one half to be white, you don’t have to add any coloring. The dough is naturally a bright white color.
Coloring
The gel food coloring I used worked great and didn’t stain the bathtub or leave a ring at all.
For my first batch of bubble bars (the ones I shared in the above video), I colored them bright pink and white.
I used bergamot and cypress essential oils to scent the mixture, just like the Lush Comforter bubble bar.
For my second batch (the blue and white ones in the photos), I colored them blue and white.
I used patchouli, frankincense, and cinnamon leaf essential oils for scent, just like the Lush Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds bubble bar.
Coloring Options
- Gel food coloring (These ones are my favorite!)
- Regular food coloring
- Soap dye
- Mica powder
- Plant-based natural colors
Scent
I used essential oils to scent these bubble bars recipe because I wanted to use a natural scent.
Feel free to use fragrance oil instead of you would like.
You can also leave out the fragrance completely and still have an amazing bubble bath.
For my first batch, I used 40 drops of essential oil total (20 bergamot and 20 cypress), and I could hardly smell the finished bubble bars.
For my second batch, I used more essential oil and the smell was great!
If you do add more, be sure to follow safe essential oil dilution guidelines.
Use your own favorite scents and essential oil blends- lavender essential oil for a nice relaxing bath, citrus burst essential oil blend for a refreshing uplifting bath, etc.
Scent Options
- Essential oils
- Fragrance Oils
Roll Out the Dough
To keep my work surface as clean as possible, I rolled out my dough on a piece of parchment paper.
Choose the dough you would like to start with and place it down onto the center of the parchment paper.
Add another piece of parchment paper over the top to prevent the rolling pin from sticking to the dough.
You can also sprinkle on a little baking soda (like you would flour if you were baking) to help prevent sticking as well.
Press the dough down first with your hands to get it started, then gently roll out the dough so that it is nice and even and pretty flat.
Next, place the second half of the dough over the top of that.
Roll it out right over the top of the other color (with a piece of parchment paper over the top).
I made a long skinny rectangle for my pink and white batch (the batch I made the video for) that made good-sized bars.
This blue batch I made into more of a square shape. It just didn’t work as well as the pink and white batch because I rolled out the dough too wide and not long enough.
Lesson learned!
Think about how you’d like your finished bubble bars to be and roll out your dough accordingly (lots of smaller bars or less bigger bars).
Remove the parchment paper and use your fingers to press in any cracks or creases to make it nice and smooth.
Now it’s time to roll up the dough!
If you’ve made cinnamon rolls before, this is like making cinnamon rolls.
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You’re going to start on the short end closest to you and lift the parchment paper up to help roll the dough over itself.
Keep using the parchment paper to gently roll the dough, then use your fingers to press it together as you go.
If you see any cracks, just use your fingers to smooth it out.
I highly suggest you watch the helpful video I shred above that I made of the process so you can get a good idea of what this looks like!
Keep rolling and pulling the paper and use your fingers to make the roll nice and tight.
Once you get to the end, gently squeeze everything together so you don’t have cracks and you’re making your roll nice and tight.
Slice the Bubble Bars
I used a sharp knife to slice my bubble bars, but you can also use dental floss (like when cutting cinnamon rolls) if you’d like.
Slice your bubble bars as thick or as thin as you’d like.
I wanted mine somewhat thick, so mine were about 1 1/2 – 2″ thick.
Place your bubble bars on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet to dry.
The swirled colors are so cool and look so pretty!
This recipe makes about 10 good sized bubble bars, more if you make your bars smaller.
Time to Dry
Now it’s time to wait for the bubble bars to dry completely and get hard.
The waiting is the hardest part!
Drying time will vary depending on a few different factors.
These factors are how thick and big your bars are, if you live in a humid climate, the temperature, and the amount of glycerin added to the dough.
Don’t even think about touching these for at least 3 full days!
If they’re not completely dry and you touch them, they will crumble and you will ruin one of your precious bars (ask me how I know).
If you want to test one after a few days, then pick one of the end pieces to test by gently touching the bar with your finger.
You will know the bars are ready to go if they are completely hard.
I added more glycerin my pink batch, and these ones took about 6 days to completely dry.
How to Store Your Bubble Bars
Store your bubble bars in an airtight container and use within a year (if you can resist using them for that long!).
How to Use a Bubble Bar
Use one bubble bar for a bath with lots of fluffy bubbles.
You can also use half a bar per bath if you’d like.
You’ll get less bubbles that way, but you’ll be able to have more bubble baths.
Start your bath water running with warm water.
After you’ve got some water in the tub, crumble your bubble bar in your hand.
Slowly drop the crumbled pieces under the running water in your bathtub.
You’ll immediately see the water turn the color of your bubble bar and bubbles start to form.
I fill our big soaking bathtub with water and one bar makes plenty of fluffy foamy bubbles!
The bubbles last quite a while, which was lots of fun for the kiddos too.
We’re pretty obsessed with these Lush copycat bubble bars, and my family and I love to use them at bath time!
To see what all the bubbles look like, be sure to watch the video above that I made. It shows how to make the bars AND what all the bubbles look like in the tub!
Tips to Make Perfect Bubble Bars Every Time
- Make sure your dough is “wet” enough. If it’s too powdery and doesn’t stick together, add more glycerin. Just be aware that this will add more drying time to the bars.
- Keep mixing the dough so that color is distributed evenly and doesn’t have unmixed specks of color in it.
- Try to avoid making bubble bars on especially humid days, since they will take much much longer to dry out.
Fun Variations To Try
Love this recipe and want to make your own bubble bar version?
Here are some fun optional variations to try!
- Press the mixture inside a mold instead of rolling it to make molded bubble bars that are a specific shape.
- Add biosafe cosmetic glitter to your mixture or sprinkle on top of the drying bubble bars for a fun sparkly shimmer.
- Use an ice cream scoop to scoop your dough so that it looks just like real ice cream scoops .
- Use multiple colors of dough to make your own super colorful bubble bars.
I hope you enjoyed this bubble bar recipe and that you give these a try!
Just one bubble bar will make mountains of fluffy bubbles that are so relaxing in the bathtub after a long day. You deserve it!
Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Recipe
