Easy Evergreen Forest Bath Salts

Our natural health and DIY herbal journey includes using as many locally foraged resources as possible. So, as tree farmers, evergreen trees are high on our list of resources! But this simple bath salt recipe is also perfect for reusing your holiday decorations including Christmas trees and evergreen wreaths in the New Year.

For these forest bath salts, I was focused on the analgesic (pain-relieving) properties of the Pinaceae family. Pine and Fir are both in the Pinaceae family. So the salts, needles, and oils were all focused on working together to soothe sore muscles, aches, and pains while relaxing the body and mind.

I’ve also found that forest scent profiles are well-suited for masculine-approved products! {smile} My guys love the smell of woods and wild things and the freshness of anything that smells like the outdoors.

In this project I used clippings directly from our Fraiser Fir Christmas tree, stripping the needles off the clipped branches with my kitchen shears.

Fraiser Fir needles are soft and very small, so I did a little bit more chopping with a kitchen knife, but not much. They didn’t need it. Larger evergreen needles, like White Pine, could have been cut into smaller pieces with the shears or a kitchen knife.

The salt base in this recipe is a basic, unscented Epsom Salt–also known as Magnesium Sulfate. Epsom salt is a secret weapon in soothing sore muscles and joints, as well as relaxing the body and aiding sleep with the high absorption rate of magnesium.

Both pine and Epsom salts have antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. These properties help wash and soothe tired, sweaty, and weather-beaten skin and pores. If you know someone who works hard outdoors, this recipe is perfect for them!

When it comes to oils, I kept it very simple. I used a few tablespoons of calendula-infused sweet almond oil (which I always have on hand now) as a base and mixed in 6 drops each of clove, cedarwood, and chamomile. Clove is a well-known pain reliever. Chamomile is a gentle skin and body soother, and sleep aid after a long day of work. Cedarwood adds some additional evergreen anti-inflammatory benefits. I’m not as well-researched in aromatherapy benefits, but apparently cedarwood also has strong restfulness aromatherapy benefits too.

Combining the oils this way helps them mix more evenly when added to the salts later and will help the essential oils adhere to the salts when dissolving in warm bath water rather than skimming the top of the tub. When the oils were mixed, they were added to the combined dry ingredients.

I used simple plastic jars for my home salts because they look so pretty all by themselves!

Epsom salts hold up well stored right in the bathroom, as long as you put the top back on. That’s not always the case with homemade bath products! They can be sensitive to moisture. But if you use a different type of salt–dead sea salts for example–be aware that you might run into clumping from moisture. So you might want to change your storage plans.