The Best Bath Bombs of 2024

The LifeAround2Angels set is our Best Overall pick because it left the best impression without leaving a hole in the wallet: pleasant but not overpowering smells, fun colors, plenty of fizzy frothiness, a moisturizing formula, and a reasonable cost-per-unit if you buy in bulk. You can buy them in gift sets of 12, eight, or four, or buy them individually in two different sizes. (We purchased the popular 12-piece gift set that’s available on Amazon so I would have my pick of fragrances.)

I could smell the various aromas in the box when it arrived, but none were unpleasant or overpowering. Though they come in one big box, the bath bombs are wrapped individually in tissue paper with a sticker that tells you their name, and none of them broke in transit. They looked very pretty with their different colors, all nestled in a bed of raffia. The LifeAround2Angels site claims each bomb is made with “natural ingredients," such as baking soda, citric acid, shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil, epsom salt, kaolin clay, and cosmetic skin-safe colorants.

Because I had so many scents to choose from, I closed my eyes and picked "Angel," a blue sphere with a little bit of gold glitter that smelled of flowers. The bath bomb’s size was a little smaller than a golf ball and it fit well in the palm of my hand. As soon as I dropped Angel in the hot tub, it fizzed for about two minutes and the water turned a marine blue. Once the bomb fully dissolved into the water, the flowery scent faded to a mild fragrance and the water felt moisturizing on my skin.

After my bath was over, I emptied the tub and the blue dye gurgled down the drain leaving no stain or residue on my tub, bath pillow, towel, or me. Though it left my skin feeling pretty soft, the fragrance didn’t linger on my skin at all, which I appreciated because I was going to bed and didn’t want anything to distract me from my beauty rest.

I didn’t know what to expect from the Prima Bath Gem. I mean, it’s a cube and most of the other bath bombs are spheres. What trickery is this? But I was not disappointed. My skin is normal (as opposed to oily or dry) for the most part, but ashy is not the look I’m after so I am always looking for new ways to stay lubricated. This bath bomb made the water feel oily, as if I had added some of my essential oils to the water.

The fragrance was more earthy than perfume-y, which makes sense because its ingredients include eucalyptus, meadowfoam seed, and safflower oils, camphor, and lavender, among other things. I unboxed the Rubik’s cube-sized bomb, then dropped it in the hot tub. Lots of fizz! Then, I immediately felt the water change in texture—as the oils dispersed, it felt slick. The eucalyptus cleared my nasal passages and the lavender lulled me into a nap. Luckily I had my pillow and nowhere I needed to be.

When I woke up about 20 minutes later and drained the tub, I noticed the oils left behind residue, as I expected because I’ve added oils to baths before, but a basic cleaning with Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Multi-Surface Everyday Cleaner got rid of the slickness. (And it may not have accumulated as much had I not let it sit so long.) The smell lingered, but wasn’t overpowering. I was also greasy afterward, which was fine with me, but this may be a deterrent for people who haven’t spent their entire life’s existence covered in petroleum jelly, cocoa butter, coconut oil, shea butter, and various other emollients in an effort to avoid ashy skin.

I am basically a child trapped in a GenX body, so of course I had to try Da Bomb Bath Bombs, each of which have a small trinket inside. Jumps up and down while clapping. I picked "Unicorn," which they describe as a rainbow sherbet bath fizzer.

I popped it out of its pack, gave it a sniff—mild but pleasant, like a berry popsicle—tossed it in the water, and waited for the magic to happen. It fizzed a lot, but the water didn’t change colors as I’d expected it to because of the bomb’s swirly pink and blue exterior. Instead, the water stayed clear.

I turned away for a minute and when I turned back, my brief disappointment about the color disappeared because there was a little unicorn ring in my tub. My brain is a sieve so I had already forgotten about the whole "fun surprise inside" feature of this bath bomb and, for a split second, wondered how a unicorn ring got to the bottom of my tub. But I caught up pretty quickly, slipped the ring on my finger, and have been wearing it ever since. If you have a kid, are a kid, or are a kid at heart like me, you might bathe your way through all of these bombs to get other goodies … not that I am thinking of doing that or anything.

Once my bath was over, there was no residue in the tub and no lingering smell. The ingredient list (sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, PEG-8, fragrance, blue 1 lake, red 27 Al lake) isn’t as long for this one and it doesn’t include the oils many of the others do. My skin also didn’t feel very moisturized, especially compared to how it felt after I soaked with the Prima, our pick for dry skin. It was, however, a big bath bomb (about the size of a baseball) so it dispersed well throughout the water and I felt like I was getting my money’s worth. Plus, unicorn ring. This one was fun, the surprise was a nice twist, and I have another in my cart right now.

The white, oblong-shaped Ouai Chill Pills come in a big jar and are much larger than any actual pill, as one of them covers most of the palm of my hand. I dropped only one in the water, as directed, and it fizzed strongly for about two minutes before resolving to flat, still water. The water itself didn’t change in appearance, which didn’t surprise me, as the pills are white. I didn’t notice a change in texture either.

The smell was soothing (ingredients include jojoba seed, safflower seed, and hemp seed oils) and that made for a relaxing bath. There was no residue left on my skin or the tub post-soak, but the aroma lingered for at least an hour afterward, which I enjoyed but it may bother smell-sensitive people.

The cost for a jar of six "pills" may seem pricey, but after doing the math, I found that the cost per bath is less than what you’d typically pay for an individually sold bath bomb from other brands, including ones on this list.

I wanted to try the Capri Blue bath bomb because the brand’s "Volcano" candle is my favorite fragrance ever. It’s a mix of tropical fruits and citrus and I never even burn them because I don’t want to use them up.

The single bath bomb is about the size of a tennis ball, and as I unboxed it, I inhaled—ooh la la! It smelled so good!—then tossed it in the water and jumped in after it. The fragrance is strong with this one (ingredients include coconut oil, shea butter, gardenia Florida fruit extract, citral, limonene, and linalool), which I love, but it may be too much for people with sensitive noses. Aside from the expected fizz, of which there was a moderate amount, the Capri Blue had no dyes or flower petals or any other bells and whistles. It rested on the laurels of its signature fragrance. It dissolved quickly into the water and left no residue on me or the tub, but the smell lingered on my skin and in the bathroom. The many fans of the "Volcano" fragrance, myself included, may consider that a feature rather than a bug.