The Thaw

Wondering where we've been? Digging out from snow after snow after snow!

It's beautiful here in the tundra and all of that snow makes for a sore body. Mixing essential oils with epsom salts for a muscle loving soak is one of the best ways to thaw and rejuvinate.

A few notes for the wise: epsom salts dissolve in warm bath water, essential oils don't. Using essential oils neat on your skin could cause a burn, so be cautious when adding those drops of blissful oil. Essential oils done right are a beautiful thing!

The best way to spread the essential oil love in your bath is to add the essential oils  to your epsom salts before you put the salts into your bath. To do this, put 2 cups of epsom salts in to a container with a lid. Add the drops of essential oil throughout the salts, cover, and shake 'em up well. This will help to mix the oils with the salts and disperse them more evenly throughout your bath.

Optional adds: If you have something like liquid castile soap or liquid goat milk soap, you can also add this to the bath. If this crazy cold weather caused your skin to chap, you can also add a tablespoon of carrier oil to the bath.

You can use other salts, such as dead sea salt, or himalayan salt. We like to keep it simple and are looking for some muscle relief, so we use epsom salts.


Salts Bath
-2 cups epsom salts
-10-15 drops essential oil
-liquid castile soap (optional)
-1 T carrier oil (jojoba, coconut, etc. - optional) if your skin needs moisturizing too

Which oils do I use? 
Many people love the smell of Lavender in the bath. Peppermint can be uplifting and give your muscles some relief.  Eucalyptus provides stuffy nose support. Roman chamomile is calming. Wild orange puts in a spring in your step.

Not all oils are skin friendly. Learn more about each oil here.

If you're using a citrus oil in your bath, you only need a few drops. Citrus oils (most of which contain furocoumarins) are also photosensitive, and some are phototoxic. This can make your skin much more sensitive to the sun's rays (including tanning beds), which can cause burns when you're exposed to sunlight or UV light. Fear not, if you're in the tundra like us you won't see that ball of light for a few more months! Still, guard your skin (trust me, I tend to only learn the hard way).

Enjoy!






More info about using peppermint and eucalyptus with kids.