St. John’s Bath Bombs is a new independent business producing bath bombs made from locally sourced ingredients packaged in recycled issues of The Overcast!

From chokers to platform sneakers the ‘90s are in again, and the revival doesn’t stop at fashion: bath bombs are also back. The chain store Lush, known for their aggressive sales techniques, credits themselves with inventing the bath bomb in 1989. Bath bombs were explosively popular throughout the ‘90s and became a staple at stores that sell bath products.

St. John’s Bath Bombs offers the fragrant and fizzy bath bomb experience with a handmade touch. Owner, Kayla O’Brien makes bath bombs in her kitchen with the company of her pitbull, Duncan. She uses household ingredients and citric acid, an ingredient used to make the sour sugar coating on candies. A combination of citric acid and baking soda makes the bath bombs effervesce when they are submerged in water.

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O’Brien has fun coming up with the flavours for her bath bombs, so far they come in NL Blueberry, Coffee, Pumpkin Spice, Orange Crush, and Strawberry Seafoam. The Olde Republic bath bomb represents the flag of the Newfoundland Republic with a stripe of light pink and mint green separated by a white band in the middle.

St. John’s Bath Bombs also makes a Honey, Oatmeal, and Coconut Milk bath bomb for people with sensitive skin. O’Brien says there are more new flavours on the way.

O’Brien was encouraged to start selling her bath bombs by her brother who owns a small business called Shedmade. He sells rustic, custom-made furniture, all stained and assembled by him in his shed. Shedmade’s Instagram says, “Every piece is different and no piece is perfect.” A down to earth slogan that celebrates how flaws make handmade items distinctive and special.

O’Brien described how her brother convinced her to go into business selling her own handmade products, “I said ‘what if I don’t sell any?’ and he said ‘Sure by, you’re not selling any now’ so I launched my Facebook page and have gotten a good response so far!”

O’Brien is currently selling her Orange Crush bath bombs for ten dollars and donating half of the proceeds to the Montreal SPCA to put toward legal fees as they battle the city’s new Breed Specific Legislation to ban pitbulls.

O’Brien’s post about helping the SPCA fight the controversial ban with bath bombs is being warmly received on Facebook. The post features a picture of Duncan, wearing a rainbow bandana and giving the camera puppy eyes over a bowl of bath bomb ingredients.

St. John’s Bath Bombs are available at Whink! on Water Street and at local markets and craft fairs. O’Brien will have a booth the Fall Craft Fair on November, 5th at the Knights of Colombus Hall and she invites customers to stop by and learn more about how the bath bombs are made.