New Mexico company Great Face and Body peddles Bathing Bad, bath salts tinted to resemble the crystal meth in the cable series Breaking Bad (as ShortList Magazine put it, “Just Add Walter”).

It’s a cute idea, but an 8-oz bag goes for 16 bucks, which is a fairly ridiculous markup (in their defense, the label states that part of the proceeds go to charity). Bath salts are absurdly cheap easy to make at home.

Ingredients

1 C Epsom salts
1 C sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 C rock salt
1/2 C Borax (optional)
1/4 tsp glycerine (optional)
Essential oil of your choice (see note below)
Blue food coloring

Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the glycerine, a few drops of essential oil, and a few drops of food coloring. Stir or place in a container with a tight-fitting lid and shake until thoroughly blended (if you’re making a large batch, you can mix with a heavy-duty mixer too; a hand mixer isn’t powerful enough). Continue adding essential oil and food coloring a few drops at a time until you’re satisfied with the color and scent.

Package in a ziploc bag. If giving as a gift, attach a label with instructions to add about 1/2 C to a bath; if desired, use the graphics program of your choice to add additional images and text to the label. You can print out the labels on precut stickers to make it easy to prepare several bags at a time.

A note on essential oils: Not all essential oils are suitable for use in this project, since some can irritate skin. Also be sure to take allergies into account if giving the salts as a gift.

Try different combinations of these:

• Refreshing – Sandalwood, cedarwood, lavender, vetiver, or jasmine
• Romantic – Rose, geranium, jasmine, ylang-ylang, or clary sage
• Invigorating – Cypress, fir, juniper, lemon, nutmeg, orange, grapefruit, spearmint, or peppermint
• Relaxing – Chamomile, geranium, lavender, jasmine, or sandalwood

(via Blame It On the Voices)