The 12 Best Bath Salts for a Truly Relaxing Evening

editor@purewow.com (PureWow)

At the end of a particularly stressful day, there’s nothing quite as relaxing as lighting a few candles and taking a nice, hot bath. While bubbles and shower bombs are a great touch, if you really want to elevate your soak session, you’re going to want to throw the best bath salts into the mix. Different types claim to have different benefits, but we’re here to help you narrow down the best ones for the ultimate routine.

What Are Bath Salts?

Unlike many bubble baths or bath bombs, bath salts are made from either Epsom salt (aka magnesium sulfate) or different types of sea salt with beneficial properties. They typically dissolve into the hot water, transforming it into a spa-like experience.

How to Use Bath Salts

While the directions for each brand will be a little different, typically, you should add a few handfuls of bath salt to a tub filled with hot water and let it dissipate. But don’t overdo it: You don’t want to oversaturate the water and end up with salt crystals you’ll have to wash out later. You also don’t want to add so few that you can’t experience the benefits of the salts.

What Do Bath Salts Do?

Bath salts do much more than make your tub smell good. According to experts, the magnesium of epsom salt itself may be able to infiltrate the skin to relieve chronic low back pain and headaches, boost your mood and relieve anxiety. Some even claim that it can reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and all-cause mortality.

Other ingredients found in bath salts, such as lavender, rose, chamomile and aloe, which may have anti-inflammatory properties, offer additional advantages that include everything from detoxifying the skin to soothing sore muscles. Plus, you can even add essential oils to them for various aromatherapy benefits. Talk about the perfect way to treat yourself after a long day!

To help you figure out which ones to add to your next bath, we’ve done the deep research into the claims (and even tested some brands ourselves) to find out which ones are actually worth buying. Here are our recommendations.

The Best Bath Salts at a Glance

RELATED: 12 Products That Will Transform Your Next Bath Into a Self-Care Ritual

1. Dr Teal's Pink Himalayan Mineral Soak

Best Overall Bath Salt

Pros:

  • Inexpensive

  • Pure Epsom and Himalayan salt

Cons:

  • Scent can be overwhelming

Dr Teal’s is a big name in the bath salt game. While it may not have the most aesthetically pleasing packaging, the overall quality of this soak is all the reason people need to keep coming back to it again and again for their bath needs. This blend, in particular, is ideal for restoration after a long day. It features Epsom salt for soreness, pink Himalayan salt for recharging and bergamot and orange essential oils for stress.

$13 at Amazon

2. Lord Jones High CBD Formula Bath Salts

Best CBD Bath Salts

Pros:

  • Infused with CBD

  • Effective ingredients

Cons:

  • Pricey

With its blend of pink Himalayan salt, arnica, Epsom salts, calendula petals and essential oils, this bath salt mixture is all about deep relaxing—each jar contains 240 milligrams of broad-spectrum CBD that will transport you to the land of the chill. One of our writers, while first skeptical of how effective the CBD would be in bath salt form, is now enamored with this find and says it can calm her down in just two minutes. Now, that’s something we all need!

Buy It ($65)

3. Royal Chef House Himalayan Pink Rock Salt

Best Himalayan Bath Salt

Pros:

  • 100 pure Himalayan salt

  • Mineral rich

Cons:

  • Extra-coarse texture

For the most natural soak, you’re going to want a bath salt in its purest form. This one is made up entirely of 100 percent natural Himalayan salt, which has detoxing, hydrating and relaxing properties. It’s so pure, in fact, that you technically could use this stuff for cooking, though we recommend saving it exclusively for bath time. You can add as much or as little as you like to your tub, depending on how much detoxing you need.

$20 at Amazon

4. Aveda Stress-Fix Soaking Salts

Best Bath Salts For Stress

Pros:

  • Exfoliates like a scrub

  • Decreases stress

Cons:

  • Expensive

These bath salts from Aveda were designed with stress in mind. They’re packed with lavender, lavandin and clary sage essential oils that will make your tension slip away as you soak. They also contain organic sugar for some additional exfoliation during your bath. The best part, however? The relaxing scents will linger on for hours post-tub for a calming effect that lasts well into the night.

Buy It ($44)

5. Tree Hut Shea Moisturizing Epsom Salt

Best Moisturizing Bath Salts

Pros:

  • Inexpensive

  • Shea butter for moisture

  • Smells good

Cons:

  • Bags don’t zip easily

Not only should a bath salt relax you, but it should also give your skin some much-needed moisture instead of drying it out. This one from Tree Hut is quite popular for these purposes, as it contains shea butter for added hydration. It also features nourishing coconut and lime extract, which will also leave you smelling incredible for hours on end.

$7 at Amazon

6. Green Canyon Pink Himalayan Bath Salt Gift Set

Best Bath Salt Gift Set

Pros:

  • 3 different salt options

  • Pure Himalayan salt

  • Foot lotion and essential oils included

Cons:

  • Small jars

Sometimes, it can be hard to choose what you want out of your bath salt. Should it be extra relaxing? Detoxing? Simply smell good? With this bath salt gift set, you won’t have to choose. It features pure Himalayan salts infused with lavender, green tea and rose, plus a foot lotion and rose essential oil for the ultimate at-home spa treatment. It also makes for a great gift for anyone who could use some additional self-care in their lives.

$20 at Amazon

7. Indie Lee I-Recover Body Soak

Most Splurge-Worthy Bath Salts

Pros:

  • Also works as body scrub

  • Clean ingredients

Cons:

  • Expensive

The Indie Lee I-Recover Body Soak may be pricier than some of the others on this list, but you do get more bang for your buck with it. It dissolves like a soothing bath salt in the water, but also works as an exfoliating scrub to remove dead skin. It's made with clean ingredients, such as magnesium sulfate, coconut oil, Dead Sea salt and Himalayan salt, plus puff-reducing rosemary, calming lavender and acne-improving sage to give your skin a serious refresh.

Buy It ($42)

8. Herbivore Natural Soaking Bath Salts (CALM)

Most Calming Bath Salts

Pros:

  • Vegan and cruelty free

  • Two types of salt

Cons:

  • Only four uses per bottle

Stressful day? The Himalayan pink salt and Pacific sea salt found within this Herbivore bath salt aim to aid in muscle relaxation, while ylang-ylang and vanilla essences go to work calming the nervous system. The result? A feeling of pure euphoric bliss once you leave the tub.

$18 at Amazon

9. Pursoma Digital Detox Bath Soak

Best Detox Bath Salts

Pros:

  • Free of BPA, parabens, sulfates, and phthalates

  • Draws out toxins

  • 30-minute bath session

Cons:

  • Single-use

For a more serious soaking session, this Pursoma Digital Detox bath soak will take you to new heights as you put down your phone and dive into a 30-minute bath. It contains sea salt to stimulate circulation and ease sore muscles as well as French green clay, which is meant to soften your skin and draw out toxins. The detox doesn’t end with the bath, though: The brand advises you to lay under a blanket immediately afterward to sweat out even more gunk.

Buy It ($34)

10. Coach Soak: Muscle Recovery Bath Soak

Best Bath Salts For Athletes

Pros:

  • Energizing citrus oils

  • Designed to speed up muscle recovery

Cons:

  • Smell can be strong

An intense workout session calls for some serious attention to one’s muscles. You can forget the ice bath, though: This comforting bath salt mixture has energizing citrus essence to wake you up. It also features magnesium flakes, mineral-rich dead sea salts, vitamin C crystals and pure essential oils—ingredients that are said to reduce inflammation and speed up the post-sweat recovery process.

$25 $23 at Amazon

11. SheaMoisture Relaxing Mineral Soak Bath Salts

Best Bath Salts for Sensitive Skin

Pros:

  • Gentle enough for sensitive skin

  • Cruelty free

  • Shea butter for added softness

Cons:

  • Smaller bag

This mineral soak just might be the ultimate relaxer. It has pink Himalayan salt and Fair Trade shea butter for extra hydration, as well as soothing clary sage and neroli oils to send you into a deep state of relaxation. The bag is on the smaller side, but you only need a couple of small handfuls to get the job done.

$11 at Amazon

12. Dove Renewing Care Foaming Bath Salts

Best Foaming Bath Salts

Pros:

  • Budget-friendly

  • Creates bubbles

  • Fresh floral scent

Cons:

  • Fragrance lingers in the tub

Want the benefits of a bath salt but the foaming fun of a bubble bath? Look no further than these Dove bath salts. With rose, peony and jasmine petals, this pick will have you feeling like you’re being enveloped in a field of flowers as it soothes your tired, sore muscles. Both sulfate-free and paraben-free, this plant-based option creates a light, bubbly foam while naturally moisturizing your dry, rough skin. As an added bonus, the bottle comes from 100% recycled materials.

Buy It ($6)

RELATED: How to Make a Himalayan Salt Bath in 5 Easy Steps

PureWow may receive a portion of sales from products purchased from this article, which was created independently from PureWow's editorial and sales departments.

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