The Bloodbath Bodywash is by far the hardest DIY I have ever done. It’s complicated, it requires a few special ordered ingredients, you’re going to have to pay close attention to the chemical compounds of what you put into your mixture, and odds are, it’s not even going to work the first time you make it…
Yeah, long story short, this recipe sucks.
But…it looks so good when it works, that I’m still going to publish it here and say, hey, if you want to take a stab at it, then be my guest.
Yes, it’s finicky. Yes, it’s a huge pain in the ass. Yes, odds are you’re going to end up spending way more than you really should to make this (if you decide to do this recipe the chemically hard way), but it’s also fascinating to watch it all come together (when it works!) and the end result is actually pretty fantastic as both a body wash and a shave gel.
I’m also going to say that if you read this whole post and then decide at the end, “hell no, that shit’s stupid complicated,” that I promise not to pass any judgement on you and will even give you a simple version you can do that takes a fraction of the time and a fraction of the expensive ingredients (I’ll post the how to do that at the very end.)
I’m also going to remind you all that you’re adults and that the ingredients listed in the “hard version” are chemical compounds intended for professional, commercial grade cosmetics…which means, in short, don’t be a dumbass with them. The Nom and I (and Lucifur) are in no way responsible for any issues you run into by the improper use or handling of these chemicals. While they are considered “safe,” we would strongly encourage you to take reasonable precautions when handling them including not eating them, inhaling them, or using them in any way contrary to their intended purpose. If you have further questions about their safety and proper usage, I would suggest checking out the website Making Cosmetics.
Also, just as a reminder, these links below are affiliate links and will take you to Amazon.com. You can read my whole disclosure here.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to making this stuff the hard way.
You’re gonna need:
- 1 cup distilled water – room temp or just slightly warm
- ¾ teaspoon Carbomer 940
- 3-4 drops Triethanolamine
- Red McCormick liquid food coloring
- Black liquid food coloring
- Brown gel food coloring
- ½ teaspoon sodium chloride free shampoo
- Vegetable glycerin
You’re also gonna want some blood bags to hold this all in when you get done.
When I first started this project I wanted to create a DIY that was fun and easy. Ha ha…well, luckily for you all, I not only managed to completely shoot that plan out of the water but dragged it to shore, beat it senseless, dug a shallow grave and buried it there.
So how did this whole simple DIY go so far south?
Because I’m a picky bastard who wasn’t satisfied with some of the crap I was finding on Pinterest.
This project has been about 3 months in the making…with multiple attempts and varying successes and failures.
First I tried the “melt glycerine soap and mix it with Castille soap and add a little this and that and some essential oils.” That resulted in a mixture so caustic that I had a red rash on the inside of my arms for 3 days (not to mention hot pink skin on the palms of my hands because it took so much red to get it to turn the right bloody color that it ended up super-saturating the liquid.) Side note, I’m not a fan of castile soap.
NEXT!
Then I tried a recipe that called for egg whites, essential oils, aloe gel, and xanthan gum (among other ingredients). That resulted in a mixture that, once it hit the hot water of my bath, essentially became a gluey omelet.
NEXT!
Then came the attempt with gelatin. That mess turned into a brick of red goo.
NEXT!
Then came the attempt with pre-existing shower gel, which I admit, turned out pretty well, but made me feel like I was cheating you guys of a truly DIY experience (I’ll give you those instructions at the very end if you want to do things the easy way…)
Finally, after literally 20 failures (and I mean that literally…I tanked this project at least 20 times), I sat down and really looked at what I was trying to do.
This jug is a collection of all the failures I’ve had so far (with the exception of the egg white one…that was just nasty.)
What I ultimately wanted was a DIY that was not only unique, but allowed us to create a gel-like substance that was thick like actual blood, looked like actual blood, flowed like actual blood, but that foamed when mixed with water (but not too much foam) and left the skin soft and clean. Is that really so much to ask?
While I was achieving what I wanted with the foaming and the color, I was seriously lacking the thick gel-like quality I wanted. So, I turned to the internet…and discovered Carbomer 940.
Carbomer 940, sometimes also called Carbopol, is a polyvinyl carboxy polymer crosslinked with ethers of pentaerythritol and is primarily used in cosmetic applications as a viscosity enhancer or gelling agent. In other words, it’s a powder that when mixed with the right activating ingredients, creates a thick, clear, viscous, snot-like gel. Odds are if you check the ingredient list for most styling gels or lotions, you’ll find Carbopol in there.
When you get it, you’ll see it’s a fine white powder. In order to properly use it you’ll have to not only hydrate it (that’s what our distilled water is for) but also “activate it” by mixing it with triethanolamine. Triethanolamine (TEA) is added to raise the ph of the distilled water which in turn causes the carbom to absorb the water, creating a super thick gel.
I bought some through Amazon and played around with it and was absolutely astounded by how easily and quickly it gelled…and how beautiful and clear the end results were. YES! This was what I wanted.
My first attempt to combine all my previous attempts with this new Carbopol miracle were short lived when I discovered something fascinatingly depressing.
Sodium (aka salt) completely deactivates Carbopol. In fact, not only does it deactivate it, but it instantly liquefies it.
Go ahead, try it yourself. Mix up a batch of Carbopol with TEA and then add in some sodium. The whole thing will collapse into a puddle before you even manage to stir it five times.
So why is this fascinatingly depressing? Because it turns out sodium in one form or another is in just about everything I wanted to mix up our bloodbath with.
It’s in shampoo.
It’s in shower gel.
It’s in body wash.
It’s in gel food coloring.
It’s in EVERYTHING.
So, back to the store to look for all natural, sodium free…well, anything (and that means looking for stuff that’s sodium chloride free, sodium citrate free, essentially anything with the word sodium in it is gonna ruin this stuff).
No luck at the local grocery store. Everything there is sodium packed.
The health food store, however, was a different story.
I managed to find several viable options to add to our mixture to give us the foaming we wanted as well as bring a light scent to the end result.
I ended up using an all-natural shampoo product called Griffin Remedy that’s sold in bulk at our local Co-op. Plus it smelled pretty. Yay.
You still with me? Still onboard for this disaster of a project?
Okay, then…let’s get to making it.
The first thing you need to do is hydrate your carbomer 940. Mix your ¾ teaspoon with a cup of distilled water.
It HAS to be distilled water. This stuff is so finicky that any additives in the ways of heavy metals or minerals normally found in tap water can throw it off. Of course, you may be living in an area with really nice clean water, in which case I say go ahead and try it. If you’re from somewhere with iffy water, or you just flat out don’t want to take the chance this recipe won’t work, I suggest the distilled water.
Sprinkle your powder on top and then gently agitate it with a spoon to get it all damp. Then hit it with an immersion blender for at least 60 seconds to get it all mixed in.
Allow this mixture to rest for about 30 minutes. When you come back you’ll notice your carbomer bits have swollen and turned translucent, but the mixture is still pretty watery. That’s okay, we’ll fix that later.
Next, you’re going to want to add in your red food coloring…but before you do, READ THE INGREDIENT LIST. Surprise surprise, Wilton red gel food coloring lists sodium citrate as an ingredient (it took me three tries before I realized what was going on. Everything would be great and then I’d add in my red food coloring and the whole thing would liquefy).
Interesting thing…McCormick red liquid food coloring does NOT contain sodium…so you’ll want to use that stuff. Add in enough red that you get a nice rich color but not so much that it becomes hyper-saturated (you don’t want to dye your skin red when you use it. The goal is to get clean with this stuff, not dirtier.)
Next, you want to add in a touch of brown color. Unfortunately, my grocery store doesn’t carry a sodium free brown food coloring, so I did end up using a tiny amount of Wilton brown gel. Yes, it does list sodium benzoate on the ingredient list, but we’re using such a tiny amount that it won’t cause the liquifying reaction I experienced with the larger doses of the red. Seriously, go super light with this. Maybe just a dip with a toothpick…
Finally, you want to add in half a drop of McCormick liquid black food coloring…which also includes sodium benzoate, but as with the brown, we’re adding so little it shouldn’t matter. If your mix won’t gel, you’ll know you added too much…but you won’t know until later, which happened to me time and time again…so yeah, good luck with that (remember, the easy version is at the end of this tutorial!)
Once you add in your colors, mix it all really well and drizzle in your ½ teaspoon of sodium free shampoo. This will give us the foaming action we want as well as give you some nice cleansing properties to your body wash…and if you find a good smelling one at the same time…well, then you’ll smell pretty when you’re all done.
Mix that all in, stirring thoroughly but not too vigorously…you don’t want your blood to be too foamy when you add in your TEA drops.
Drip in 4-5 drops of your TEA and then mix well. As you mix you’ll notice your blood going from a runny liquid state to a thick gelatinous state, almost like magic! It’s really pretty impressive and a lot of fun to watch the change happen. It doesn’t take long, only about 30 seconds or so.
Ideally, you want your mix to be thick like a gel, but not so thick that it’s almost a solid. The perfect mixture should be just about the same viscosity as cool (but not cold) honey. If your mixture is too thick, carefully drizzle in just a tiny amount of vegetable glycerine to help thin it down (but not too much or your mixture will get too runny). The glycerine will not only thin down your gel but also adds moisturizing properties to your final product.
Once you’re happy with your gel, transfer it to either a squeeze bottle or the syringes that came with your blood bag kit and fill your bags. Each batch will make about one bag or so, depending on how carefully you measure everything.
At this point it’s possible your blood will have a slight “pinky” tinge to it as a result of all the bubbles that are in it. This is natural, and pretty much unavoidable as we’ve done so much mixing…even the most careful mixing will still result in some bubbles. Set your filled blood bag for a day or so to allow any air bubbles you mixed in to rise out, leaving you with a thick, oozy, dark red gel that works amazingly well in the shower as a body wash and shave gel.
(the gel on the left is newer than the gel on the far right…you can see it’s lighter from the air bubbles that are still present in it. As the bubbles settle out, it gets darker)
And if you want to see the video tutorial of this entire process, I’ve got the video here:
So what about the people who don’t want to go online and order things like carbomer 940 and TEA and spend hours looking through natural health food stores for sodium free stuff?
Well, then all you’re gonna need is some bubble bath (any kind), some red, brown and black food coloring, a little water, a package of gelatin powder, a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin and a teaspoon of sugar.
Boil a cup of water and add it to your gelatin powder and glycerin and stir until dissolved. Mix in your sugar and again stir until completely dissolved. Add in a cup of bubble bath (I prefer Mr. Bubble’s Bubblegum pink, it’s got good bubbles and it smells yummy) and about 6-8 drops of red food coloring. Add 1 drop of brown and ½ a drop of black for a good deep blood red color.
Transfer this to a bowl and allow to chill (it may or may not gel depending on what bubble bath you use). If your mixture gels, simply run it through a food processor. You’ll end up with a thick-ish gel that should be fairly easy to inject into your blood bags.
But hang on, if it’s that easy, why did I go through all the trouble with the Carbopol and the TEA and all the rest of the crap that we just discussed above?
To be honest, I have no clue…but to me it was a ton of fun and I learned a lot about what actually goes into making commercial grade cosmetics.
Am I switching careers and embarking on a dark path of beauty products?
Hell no.
But for this one DIY, it was fun to experiment…
And along the way, I stumbled onto some other amazing things that I’m really really excited to share with you that I swear will be much easier than all this was…and will result in some equally incredible products that I guarantee you will be pretty damn incredible.
Good luck with this one, and if you do end up making it yourself, let me know how it goes. I’m curious to hear if anyone else gives this a try.
And now that you know it’s out there…have fun finding Carbopol and sodium in EVERYTHING!
For more fun bathroom DIY projects, why not check out these other projects?
Brainwashed Fizzing Bath Bombs
Nice information I will surely follow the instruction and use it for the next halloween. Thanks:))))