Genius Hour #3: Doing Some Acid

     So the first trial I did in my experiment was with switching (or trying to switch) the citric acid in the recipe. My boss suggested a sort of "Pinterest hack"she found where the citric acid is replaced by the drink mix Crystal Light. After this I also realized that the first ingredient in Crystal Light was citric acid. So, there goes that idea. Also, not to mention that when trying to make the bath bombs they fizzed out in a super gross way and it was super chunky and the lemon scent was way too powerful.
     Because this test was a resounding failure, I'm going to try and switch the acid in the recipe with another weak acid to see if the effects of that are any different. I'm currently in a position where I'm trying to figure out which new weak acid I should replace citric acid with in the new recipe, which I'll probably do tomorrow and see how that goes, stay tuned.

Genius Hour #2: Background Research

     For those who are unfamiliar, a bath bomb is a form of body product used when taking a bath. The purpose of a bath bomb is for it to fizz out, soften the water, release a nice scent, and have products which are good for the skin. They have had an increase in popularity throughout the years through companies such as Lush, the founders of the bath bomb, who have sparked the fizzy craze worldwide.
     I have my own company which I run out of the store I work at (The Funky Bubble Bath and Body) called Taylor's Tubs. The basic ingredients I use for my bath bombs are as follows:

• corn starch 
• baking soda
• citric acid
• dead sea salts
• water
• essential oils 
• coconut oil 
• food coloring

     Each of the ingredients plays an important role in the end reaction of the bath bomb. As previously stated, bath bombs are traditionally placed in water to form their reaction. The reaction is an acid/base reaction with citric acid as the weak acid and baking soda as the weak base. The corn starch plays a role as a mediator if you will, for this reaction. The reaction between the acid and the base produce the CO2 bubbles which are responsible for the "fizz" of the bomb. The small bit of water that is included is just to function as an adhesive. Ideally, the bath bombs should be powdery but should have enough wet ingredients mixed in that it can still be easily packed together. Of course, if too much water were to be added, the reaction would occur prematurely and the batch would be defective. The equation for the reaction is as follows: 

NaHCO3+C6H8O7→CO2+H2O+Na3C6H5O7

(the seven pasted in weirdly, don't mind that)  

     The rest of the ingredients (dead sea salts, essential oils, and coconut oil) are all there simply for the effects they had on the body and the overall aesthetic of the bomb. Essential oils and food coloring are relatively self-explanatory: color and scent of the bath bomb. The dead sea salts I use are Ahava Deadsea Salt in the scent "Natural". The product claims it can help the body with "relaxation, easing muscle tension, and softening your skin".* Coconut oil has also been a rather trendy and useful skincare product, especially as of late. Coconut oil helps the skin retain moisture, helps protect the skin from microbial infections, repairs skin, softens skin, slows the aging process, among many other great properties. For these reasons, it makes perfect sense as to why it would be included. 

     In this experiment, I will be running trials to see how the bath bombs made with my usual recipe compare to recipes with ingredients replaced with alternatives. I'll be trying to replace the citric acid, baking soda, dead sea salts, coconut oil, and essential oil (all in separate trials, respectively). So stay tuned to see if I can make any alterations to my current bath bomb recipe!

Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sudsy-science-creating-homemade-bath-bombs/
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_p105.shtml#background
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/oils/coconut-oil-for-skin.html
(also, I quoted the back of the Ahava cointainer for the salts) 

Genius Hour #1: Let's Get Down to Business: How I regularly make my bath bombs

Hi there. My name is Taylor Bouchard, and if you were unaware, I have one of the best jobs ever. I've been working at The Funky Bubble Bath and Body for the past year and it has easily been the greatest job I've ever had.

Look at that cute little apron, I'm such a happy camper

Okay, so recently, my boss decided that we should make and sell our own bath bombs. And with that, my job got a little more exciting. With my Genius Hour project, I will be taking different ingredients in the bombs and changing them out to see the effects. However, we must have a control to compare this to. That's why this post is being made: to show you how I usually make the bath bombs. Consider it as my "control group" I suppose. 

I have my own logo so like...it's pretty legit

I start out with my dry ingredients. In one bowl I'll combine baking soda, corn starch, citric acid, and Ahava Deadsea Salts. 

In a separate bowl, I'll combine water, essential oils (since I am making Creamsicle scented ones at the moment, I combined half orange with half almond scents), and coconut oil. If I'm using an oil without color I'll add a few drops of food coloring in, too. However, as you can see, the orange I was using was super orange so that wasn't really necessary. 

After both bowls are well mixed, I'll pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients slowly and combine with a whisk until the mix is evenly covered in liquid ingredients and can be packed together. 

After this, I will pack the mix into a muffin tin and let it sit overnight. 

If I really want to, I'll decorate the bath bombs using sugar decorations and candy pens. 

Then, I'll wrap and label all the bombs, and put them out on the shelf in the store. 

All background research and information on why these ingredients are important are soon to come!