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Learn the process of making bath bombs, sourcing ingredients, and building a profitable business selling bath bombs.
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Ever sit soaking in a bathtub, marveling at the products that make a bath so enjoyable? Bath bombs (otherwise known as bath fizzies) come in a rainbow of colors, scents, and shapes, providing an indulgent bath experience. And, as it turns out, they’re easy to make.
If you’re creative and looking to turn a hobby into a business, bath bombs are also inexpensive to make and sell. A bath bomb business is the perfect low-risk idea for the first-time entrepreneur. There’s a thriving market for at-home spa experiences and room for newcomers if you find your niche.
The global bath bomb market is estimated to be worth $133 billion and is expected to grow into a $189 billion industry by 2030. Bath bombs are so popular, in fact, that there are millions of Instagram photos dedicated solely to these colorful creations.
Here, you’ll learn the process of making bath bombs, sourcing ingredients, and building a profitable business selling bath bombs.
Starting a bath bomb business has a few major benefits—namely, that you can make them in your kitchen with inexpensive ingredients and no machinery.
They’re also hugely popular. Bath bombs have become a worldwide trend in the past few years, and a mainstay in people’s self-care routines. And they’re showing no sign of slowing down: based on Google Trends, queries for “bath bomb” and related terms have steadily increased over that past five years.
In addition to being a lucrative market with surging consumer demand, here are a few other reasons why you should consider making bath bombs and cashing in on this trend:
From a product standpoint, bath bombs fall under two broad categories: cosmetics and drugs. Navigating what your product falls under can be tricky, but it basically comes down to what claims you’re making about your bath bombs. If you make any claims about mental or physical benefits, then they’re considered a drug. Otherwise, they’re considered a cosmetic product.
Most of the bath bombs we list below are considered cosmetics and are treated like soaps or lotions by governing bodies. If you plan on marketing your bath bombs for their medicinal benefits, your products must be FDA approved for effectiveness as well as safety.
FDA approval can be a costly and time-consuming process, but there are third parties that will take care of the approval process for you for a fee. And with the global wellness industry worth $5.6 trillion, it may be good business sense to invest in this type of product.
Requirements vary from country to country, so consult your local government for more information on how to register your cosmetic bath bomb business.
FDA approval can be a costly and time-consuming process, but there are third-parties that will take care of the approval process for you for a fee. Getting audited by the FDA can have serious legal and financial implications—not the hot water you want to find yourself in.
Now that you know this self-care trend has traction, let’s examine the common types of bath bombs that you can consider making, and the target markets you can sell to.
Most people are familiar with the classic bath bomb. These products are traditionally spherical in shape and come in a variety of colors and scents. They are considered mass-market products, and have a broad demographic of customers.
As if the soothing oils and intergalactic waters weren’t luxurious enough, some brands like to spoil their customers even more by adding jewelry to their bath bombs. Popular brands like Charmed Aroma and Fragrant Jewels are well-known for these products, and are a great gift for loved ones. These bath bomb brands typically target women and girls aged 16 to 35.
For the folks who love baths that are as sparkly as they are relaxing, glitter bath bombs are the answer. The addition of glitter or even crystals into these products has caught the eye of consumers—especially the growing market of consumers who believe that crystals have healing powers.
Once reserved for fringey New Age circles, crystal healing has become a billion-dollar mainstream business. Still, most of these products are sold to urban-dwelling women between the ages of 20 and 35, with a higher-than-average disposable income.
Other brands have chosen to think outside the box (or ball) by designing products in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Whether they’re intended as favors for a bridal or baby shower, a gift for a pastry lover, or fun bathtime for kiddos, there’s likely a themed product out there to meet any shopper’s niche demands. And from hearts to doughnuts to chill pills to Pokeballs, the only limit on the shape of your bath bomb is your imagination.
These bath bombs have been formulated with therapeutic grade essential oils. Distilled from the leaves, flowers, and seeds of plants, essential oils are used in bath bombs to target various physical and emotional ailments, like stress, dry skin, and digestive issues.
With the global wellness industry worth $5.6 trillion, it may make good business sense to invest in this type of bath bomb product. These bath bomb products have the broadest appeal in terms of demographics and the most profit potential.
Since aromatherapy is a type of alternative medicine that claims to have therapeutic benefits, the use of essential oils classifies these products as a drug, not a cosmetic. In this case, if you plan on marketing your bath bombs for their medicinal benefits, your products must be FDA approved for effectiveness as well as safety. We strongly urge you to not bypass this step.
Once you’ve settled on what type of bath bomb you want to make, it’s time to start making them.
Bath bombs are surprisingly easy to make and require only a few essential items. While you can switch out some of these ingredients to customize your bath bombs, the basic recipe for one batch of bath bombs calls for:
💡Tip: If you prefer unique shapes, you can opt to purchase silicone molds that are used for baking or for ice. These hold up well during the creation process, are easily cleaned, and silicone trays help you create multiple products in one batch.
It’s time to mix up your ingredients. You just need to combine the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls, then slowly combine them into a single bowl.
With the exception of the citric acid, mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
In another mixing bowl, pour all of the liquid ingredients and blend.
Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, and whisk to meld together. Slowly add in the citric acid and continue blending. You’ll probably notice a slight fizzing reaction because of the citric acid. No need to panic—this is normal.
Pack the mixture into your chosen molds very tightly. You can overfill the molds slightly and use a spoon or glass to press the mixture in as tightly as possible.
Pack the mixture with your favorite mold and place it in your freezer for an hour. Alternatively, you can immediately loosen the bombs from their molds onto wax paper and let them dry overnight. After drying or freezing, remove the bath bombs from the molds and ta-da!
If you choose to let them air dry, give the bath bombs a day or two to set completely before using them or wrapping them up. If you don’t plan to sell them right away, store them in airtight containers like plastic or glass Tupperware. Fresher bombs fizz and bubble more when dropped in a bath, so proper storage is integral to keep your inventory at its highest level of quality.
Note: Because bath bombs are crumbly in texture, molds with intricate designs and small pieces could break off. Testing and experimentation will help you figure out the best molds to use to achieve your desired results.
Now that you’ve perfected making bath bombs, it’s time to figure out your bath bomb formulations. Luckily for you, most of the ingredients you need can be bought at your local grocery store or in bulk online.
Long soaks in hot water open up our pores, which allows more ingredients to absorb into the skin. But this also means more ingredients can absorb into your bloodstream. Because of this, you’ll also want to research your ingredients and your suppliers thoroughly—especially if you’re using essential oils.
Whether you’re re-creating popular bath bomb recipes or coming up with your own unique blends, you want to be sure you’re making truthful claims on your packaging, and that the ingredients you’re using are safe. Here’s what to consider when sourcing ingredients:
These are just a few questions to help you get started. If you’re coming up with your own formulations, the learning curve will be steeper as you navigate how certain ingredients or additives behave together—especially if you’re using essential oils for aromatherapy bombs. In this case, you can hire a third-party to help you with the research and development process.
All your ingredients should be sourced with care, but it’s essential oils that you should be most discerning about. Not all oils are created with purity in mind and they’re not regulated by the FDA, so you need to be your own advocate when it comes to sourcing the good stuff.
Oils from disreputable sources may be cut with fillers, processed with chemicals, or just filled with “fragrance oils” that don’t have any plant benefits.
Here are a few things to look for when buying essential oils:
If you plan on buying essential oils in bulk from wholesale suppliers, you have to be thorough with your research. Here are a few tips to help you assess an essential oil supplier:
📚 Read more: How To Find a Manufacturer or Supplier for a Product
Once you’ve mastered your formulations, it’s time to start selling bath bombs online. First, you’ll have to think through how you’re going to handle areas like production, inventory management, and customer service. You want to nail down all the logistics before you launch your bath bomb business.
Once that’s all sorted out, your next step is to set up your store on Shopify. It takes only a minute to sign up for a free trial, and we’ll give you some time to play around before you commit.
You’ll want to choose a Shopify theme that puts photos first and displays your colorful bath bombs directly on the homepage. We suggest themes designed for beauty brands like Sense, Broadcast, or Prestige.
Finally, you want to make sure your product photos really pop. Bath bombs are extremely photogenic, so you’ll want to show off their colors, textures, and shapes with high-quality photography. And since the real magic of bath bombs is in their activation, also consider including videos of your products in action on your product pages.
Bath bombs are delicate and have a tendency to crumble if they’re not in the right conditions, so when you’re ready to package and ship your products, make sure you have the following:
Now, there are three things to keep in mind when labeling, packaging, and shipping your bath bombs:
Competing for attention in the beauty industry is challenging for emerging bath bomb businesses. The type of brand you develop will impact your upfront costs, your prices, your target audience, and your marketing strategy.
Still, there are some general tips and advice for getting more eyeballs on your bath bomb products. For one thing, bath bombs were made for social selling, so channels like Instagram and Facebook Shops and TikTok are going to be key for you.
You can use a variety of digital marketing tactics to drive traffic to your online store and specific product pages. Try some of the methods and tips below:
You don’t need to limit yourself to selling online—many makers also successfully sell IRL, too. Selling in person allows you to access a new audience and receive live feedback of your products.
In particular, market booths and pop-up shops give you the opportunity to have a temporary retail location without committing to high storefront rents and long leases. And selling alongside other talented crafters and DIY masters can serve up some serious inspiration for future products as well.
While selling offline may sound a bit intimidating, it’s simple to handle transactions while on-the-go by using a mobile point-of-sale system like Shopify POS. It syncs with your online store so your sales, inventory, and customer data is all up-to-date without any manual work on your end.
📚 Read more: Craft Fairs and Art Shows 101: Sell Products In-Person
The greatest thing about starting your own bath bomb business is how easy it is to expand your product line after your initial success. For budding beauty entrepreneurs, consider expanding from selling bath bombs to creating skin care, tinctures, soaps, and so many other lucrative products.
You can upsell your existing customers based on the scents they buy often, create treatment-centric care packages, and grow your business to new heights.
Now that you have a viable business idea and guidance on how to execute it, you can work toward building a long-term, sustainable income in the bath bomb industry.
Feature illustration by Alice Mollon Step by step illustrations by Brenda Wisniowski
Yes, selling your own bath bombs can be profitable! When selling bath bombs, you’ll want to spend time on your pricing strategy to ensure that your retail price covers your costs and accounts for margin (or profit).
You don’t necessarily need Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval if you’re making homemade bath bombs for cosmetic purposes. However, if your products make any therapeutic claims, you may require a license.
Whether you’re selling luxury bath bombs or green bath bombs, your business name should reflect your brand and be appealing to your target customer. Brainstorm words that describe your brand and products, or use a business name generator.
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