Make Your Own Bath And Body Powder - It's Easy

Bath Powder

Two cups of arrowroot powder, or a blend of corn starch 50/50 with rice flour (found in Asian markets, as arrowroot is found in an herbal store or online).

1 cup rose/pink clay (can sub. kaolin white clay if you have that instead). Cosmetic grade ONLY, ask if you have to and demand proof.

1/2 cup powdered rose petals (if you've got the rose petals, not the powder, run them through a blender or use a mortar and pestal to powder/pulverize them) Strain if they're not totally powdered. Organic is best.
 
3 tablespoons of silver or gold or a mixture of the two, cosmetic grade mica, if you don't want the shimmer, as you'd be using the pearlized micas, leave this out. Cosmetic grade also, ask if you have to - demand proof.

7 drops of rose absolute oil, (I use rose centafolia absolute, which is technically not a true essential oil due to the distillation method, but one can also use rose otto, steam-distilled or another choice of an essential oil) - put these drops on a cotton ball, NOT directly into the powder mixture.

Leave the cotton ball in for the next step.

Mix all together and then gently sift it through a metal strainer, making sure there are no clumps. Set in large (think canning-type) glass jars, for about a week - sniff, the scent should be there and the clumps should not. Remove cotton ball. Put into powder shaker containers and enjoy.

Sources I use for ingredients:
Powder shakers, rose petals/red,  - http://www.elementsbathandbeauty.com
or, I think these folks still have them - http://www.soapersupplies.com (clays and micas also)
Baking soda, Corn starch, Rice flour - grocery store.

Substitution: Try Oat Flour if you can find it. Oats are great for dry, flaky skin.
Micas - my supplier here has changed, but wherever you get these, they *must* be cosmetic grade! Don't want shimmer? Leave them out.
Rose absolute, www.av-at.com, or other source that's been tested for purity.
I've in the past, listed www.essentialoils.org as my source for oils and it is one of them, but it's also for resellers, which I just went back to the site to read, and as I'd been a reseller for so long, I still buy from there, but I also still buy in bulk.

Questions - please ask. I can also, as I do make different scents, always sticking to purre, tested aromatherapy oils, post in the comments, variations, as I realize that not everyone wants to smell like a rose.

mn - 2009