We couldn't share the story of Briar Winter's bathtub-inspired business without offering a DIY recipe for making a healing tub soak of your own. Briar generously shared the step-by-step for creating one of her favorite full-body soaks.
Read on, and most important, get thee to a bathtub.
Photographs by Erin Boyle.
Above: Briar generously walked us through the steps of blending a custom bath salt (full recipe below).
Above: Briar blends ingredients with a mortar and pestle. The key, she says, is to blend the ingredients in the order listed below.
Above: A drizzle of apricot oil to pull everything together.
Above: Briar spoons her salt blend into a muslin bag. Rather than sprinkling her tub with the blended ingredients, she places her filled bag underneath the running tap of the bathtub to infuse the water and dissolve the salt. The extra step saves her from having to scrub the tub post-soak.
A Warming Winter Body Soak from Marble & Milkweed
In the following order, blend together in a mortar and pestle:
- A small handful of whole green cardamom pods
- A handful of dried rose petals
- About 1 cup of your favorite bathing salt (Briar loves Himalayan pink salt for this)
- A teaspoon or two of your favorite carrier oil (Briar suggests apricot kernel, sesame, melted coconut, or jojoba)
- A few drops of essential oil (says Briar: Start with just a couple drops and then smell the blend for balance, keeping in mind that the scent of the oils will bloom in the warm water of your bath and gently scent the surrounding air)
- A small spoonful of dried, powdered ginger (Briar: "Very warming for this time if year, and it complements the scent of the rose and the cardamom")
After the mixture is blended, spoon it into a small fabric/muslin bag. As an alternative to using a mortar and pestle, cardamom pods also can be crushed with a rolling pin and the remaining items blended together in a bowl. But Briar reminds us, "There is something so nice about the ritual of blending everything to release the scents with the mortar and pestle."
See Shopper's Diary: Marble & Milkweed for the full story on Briar's online shop.
Inspired to elevate your bathroom experience? See 5 Favorites: Plants for the Bath and World's Best Plant for a Bathroom.