DIY Bath Bombs Recipe {Donuts With Sprinkles & Frosting!}

If you’re looking for a FANTASTIC DIY bath bombs recipe (just like LUSH makes)…you’ve come to the right place! We’re going to show you how to make bath bombs step by step! We’ll also show you what is quite possibly the COOLEST bath bomb ever! It looks so good you could eat it!

This unicorn inspired donut bath bomb recipe makes a great DIY gift or unforgettable party favor that you can make in bulk. I gave these DIY bath bombs away as small birthday gifts to my girlfriends through out the last few months. I stored these donut bath bombs in clear cello bags adorned with pretty ribbon and gift tags until I needed them.

I really love how these turned out…we used lots of pretty pastel colors and unicorn sprinkles to give it a unicorn theme. But you could make a version that is mermaid themed (with mermaid sprinkles), or Harry Potter themed (with Harry Potter sprinkles)…it’s all about the colors you choose and the sprinkles you use. Because of the warm vanilla sugar scented oil we added, they smell just like donuts!

If you’re a seasoned soap or bath bomb maker you’ll probably have much of what you need already in your stash (with the exception of the donut mold and unicorn sprinkles) but if you’re new to DIY bath bombs there are some supplies you’ll need to get.

You can use these supplies again and again to make an array of cool bath bomb recipes (in other words these are common ingredients for ALL bath bomb recipes). You can substitute organic ingredients which are readily available on Amazon these days too.

You can also add small trinkets to your bath bombs as an added surprise- just make sure that the trinkets are very small. For this particular bath bomb recipe you could add small unicorn trinkets to the soap frosting in between the donut halves. When the bomb goes into the bath and fully dissolves there will be a special surprise waiting in the tub!

Okay, lets make this DIY bath bombs recipe the easy way! I highly recommend that you read through the instructions several times and make sure that you have everything ready to go.

DIY Bath Bombs Recipe Supplies:

• 2 c Baking soda
• 1 c Citric acid
• 1/4 c Fine grain epsom salts (you can grind down large grain also)
• 1/4 c Bubble cake hardener
• 1 tbsp Shea butter
• 1/3 c Coconut oil
• 1 tsp Polysorbate 80
• Pink mica, purple mica, and blue mica color additives (we used mica from this cheap Amazon kit)
• 3 drops warm vanilla sugar scented oil (substitute any fragrance you like here)
• Donut bath bomb molds or silicone donut molds might work
• Spray bottle filled with rubbing alcohol
• 1 large and 3 small mixing bowls
• Wisk

Donut Bath Bomb Frosting Supplies:

• 3 ounces melt and pour shea butter soap base
• 1 tbsp Vegetable glycerin
• 6 ounces foaming bath whip
• ½ tbsp cream of tartar (as required)
• Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
• Flat scraping spatula
• Star Icing piping tip, 3 piping bags (everything can be found in this cheap Amazon Kit)
• Rainbow unicorn sprinkles

How to Make Bath Bombs That Look Like Donuts!

Step 1: Combine Dry Ingredients

Gather all of your ingredients from the supply list and let’s get started! In a large mixing bowl, combine the baking soda, citric acid, bubble cake hardener and Epsom salts.

Whisk all of these dry ingredients together to fully combine them. Note: If you live in a humid environment (or your ingredients have been sitting for awhile) you may want to sift the dry ingredients to remove the ingredients of any clumps.

Step 2: Combine Wet Ingredients

Take your coconut oil (which is usually solidified) and melt it in a pot over a stove top (on low heat) OR you can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds. It melts quickly so you don’t need much heat applied.

Combine coconut oil, shea butter, polysorbate 80 and warm vanilla sugar scented oil into one bowl and mix well to combine all wet ingredients.

Step 3: Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients

Add the combined wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and mix well with your hands to break down clumps and fully combine the ingredients. You’ll know that it’s perfectly mixed when you can press it into your hands and has the consistency of wet sand.

How it all works: The coconut oil works as a binder. This ensures that your donut bath bombs won’t crumble the moment you pick them up. The shea butter (a popular skin care additive) adds even more stability to your bath bomb and makes your skin feel silky smooth. 

Polysorbate 80 helps the coconut oil disperse more evenly in your bath water and most importantly it makes the bath bombs bubble and fizz! Polysorbate also helps prevent mica coloring from sticking to your tub.

Step 4: Add Coloring

Now we are going to add that AMAZING mica color to our wet+dry mixture. Separate the wet+dry mixture evenly between 3 small mixing bowls.

To the first bowl sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of the purple mica. In the next bowl sprinkle the pink mica. In last bowl, sprinkle the blue mica. Mix in the colors until you have even distributed the color throughout the mixture. If you want more color, just add more mica powder until you achieve the desired color.

Grab your donut bath bomb molds and arrange/layer the 3 colors in your mold in any way you like. Be sure to completely fill the donut mold to the absolute top and press down firmly to remove any air pockets.

Allow your donut bath bombs to dry for about 24 hours. To remove them, gently tap the side of the mold to release the bath bombs from the mold.

Step 5: How to Make Soap Frosting

Before you start making the frosting part of this donut bath bomb recipe it is helpful to have your piping bags ready to go. Later on you will need to pipe/work quickly before the soap frosting sets.

Prepare one piping bag with a star tip. You’ll also cut off the tips off of two other frosting bags so we can swirl two colors together later in the tutorial.

Okay, now let’s make that soap frosting! Place the melt and pour soap in the microwave and heat in 30 second intervals until fully melted. Between each interval you will want to give it a stir.

Combine the foaming bath whip, the melted soap and shea butter in a mixing bowl and beat on low until the bath whip has softened and begins to thicken.

Add the glycerin and mix again. The mixture should look like cake frosting but if it doesn’t you can add small amounts of cream of tarter until it has the consistency of cake frosting.

For our DIY donut bath bomb we used two soap frosting colors and combined them later in the process (in our piping bags).

If you want to do this you will first split the frosting into 2 bowls…then you add desired colors (we did white and pink but you can choose whatever colors you want). If you just want one frosting color you’ll just sprinkle some more mica powder into the entire soap frosting mixture and mix to combine.

If the frosting mixture thickens too much fold in a small amount of warm water (do not mix).

Step 6: How to Frost Your Donuts

Working quickly you will add the pink soap frosting into the piping bag with the cut off tip. Do the same for the white soap frosting. Take both of these piping bags and insert them into the piping bag with the star frosting tip you prepared earlier.

Quickly work to frost bath bombs and adhere each donut half together. Add rainbow unicorn sprinkles if desired. If you want to add the small unicorn trinkets we talked about earlier as a surprise you should tuck those into the soap frosting between the two donut halves now!

You can also frost the tops of the donuts and add sprinkles if you like (I don’t think there is any such thing as too much frosting and too many sprinkles)! You can see some examples of how we decorated our unicorn themed donut bath bombs below.

Allow the soap frosting to harden for about 24 hours before use. You can store your DIY bath bombs in an airtight container for up to 6 months until ready for use or gifting! Make sure you keep this up high and away from small kids. These bath bombs look LITERALLY good enough to eat but they are not for kids!

Homemade bath bombs are easy to make once you get the basics down. You can make memorable DIY gifts, party favors or fun self care items for yourself or your kids. You can make organic, custom made bath bombs to make or sell. The limits are your own creativity!

I hope you enjoyed our DIY bath bombs recipe! We love making DIY gifts here and I hope you will check out some of our other DIY gift ideas below!

Whiskey Infused Maple Syrup DIY Gift in a Jar

Washi Tape Photo Frames Make A Memorable Gift

Spiced Apple Cider Mix DIY Gift in a Jar