Rosemary Shower Steamers (Grapefruit and Cedar, Makes 12)

Rosemary shower steamers are made for slow mornings. Rosemary smells green, herbal and a little piney, like a garden after rain, and it has a clean, clearing quality that sits somewhere between eucalyptus and lavender. On its own it can be a touch sharp, so this recipe pairs it with grapefruit for brightness and a little cedarwood to hold it in the steam. The steamers are white rounds flecked with finely ground dried rosemary, which looks lovely in a jar and adds a faint scent of its own.

If you are new to steamers, start with the shower steamer recipe, which walks through the basic method in more detail.

How do you make rosemary shower steamers?

1Gather the ingredients

Use dried rosemary from the spice aisle, not fresh. Fresh needles carry moisture and will start the fizz in the bowl. The fresh sprigs are only for smelling as you blend.

2Grind the dried rosemary

Grind a teaspoon of dried rosemary until the needles are broken into small flecks. Whole needles are sharp and poke out of the finished tablet; ground ones sit flat and look like green speckles.

3Whisk the powders and rosemary

Whisk the baking soda, citric acid and cornstarch for a minute, then stir in the ground rosemary so the flecks are spread evenly.

4Add the oils

Add thirty drops of rosemary, twenty of grapefruit and ten of cedarwood, a few at a time into different spots, whisking between each. Cedarwood is thick; warm the bottle in your palm if it drips slowly.

5Mist, then press into the mold

Mist with witch hazel, two sprays at a time, until a squeezed handful holds. Overfill each cavity, press hard with your thumb, top up and press again.

6Dry and store

Dry for 24 hours, unmold and seal them in an airtight jar. Rosemary and cedarwood keep well; the grapefruit fades first, so use them within two months for the brightest scent.

What does rosemary essential oil smell like?

Herbal, fresh and slightly camphor-like, with a woody, piney back note. It smells like the herb, only sharper and cleaner. There are a few types sold, and they differ. Rosemary with “camphor” or “ct. camphor” on the label is the strongest and most medicinal. Rosemary “ct. cineole” is closer to eucalyptus and very clearing. Rosemary “ct. verbenone” is the softest and sweetest, and the one to choose for the herb without the sting.

For steamers any of them work. If you find this blend too sharp, the cheaper camphor type is usually the reason.

Rosemary blends to try

Keep to sixty drops and swap any of these into step 4. Rosemary Mint: 30 rosemary, 15 peppermint, 15 lemon, crisp and awake. Rosemary Lavender: 30 lavender, 20 rosemary, 10 cedarwood, a softer evening version. Rosemary Eucalyptus: 25 rosemary, 25 eucalyptus, 10 lemon, a strong steam-room scent. Rosemary Orange: 30 sweet orange, 25 rosemary, 5 clove, warm and wintry. More combinations are in scents and blends.

Who should avoid rosemary oil?

Rosemary is one of the stronger oils, so a little care helps. Traditional aromatherapy guidance suggests avoiding it if you are pregnant or have epilepsy, and going gently if you have high blood pressure. If any of those apply, ask your doctor first or choose a softer scent. It can also be too much for young children, so keep these for adults.

As with other strong oils, keep the bathroom door closed while a steamer is fizzing if you have cats or dogs, and store the jar out of reach.

Why add ground rosemary at all?

Mostly for looks, and a little for scent. The essential oil does almost all of the work in the shower; a teaspoon of dried herb adds only a faint, warm note of its own. But the green flecks tell you at a glance what is in the jar, which matters when you keep several scents on one shelf or give a jar away. They also make a plain white tablet look homemade in the good sense.

Keep the amount small. A teaspoon per batch is plenty. More than that and the flecks start to collect on the shower floor as the steamer dissolves, which means rinsing bits of herb towards the drain. If that bothers you, leave the herb out entirely and the recipe works exactly the same.

When do rosemary steamers work best?

In the morning. Rosemary is a scent many people associate with getting going, and it pairs naturally with a quick, warm shower before work. Put the steamer on a high shelf where it catches splashes rather than a direct stream, so it lasts the whole shower.

For more herbal and fresh scents, see the rest of scents and blends.