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Go Inside Josh Ray's Bath Lab, the One-Stop Shop With Bath Bombs and Body Care For Every Body

May 24, 2023

Josh Ray wasn't sure if anybody would be interested in his homemade bath bombs, but a surprising amount of Etsy sales led him to become a full-time creator at his Bath Lab in Knoxville, Tennessee.

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Photo: Sarah Busby

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, A Man and a Tub

Josh Ray was at a party with friends when he first had the idea to make bath bombs. With the 2017 holiday season looming, making bath bombs seemed like a great way to give meaningful gifts. He also opened an Etsy store and posted his bath bombs for sale during the holidays.

The interest was so large that Josh was able to start the Bath Lab, a body care shop in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Josh creates a variety of bath and body products.

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Photo: Sarah Busby

Cute Butt, Lumberjack Daddy

The Bath Lab's signature peach scent was once called just "peach," but Josh changed it to "Cute Butt," which is a cheeky reference to how the peach emoji is often used in texting vernacular or online to symbolize the buttocks.

“We’re a fun, colorful company; we’re going to have a fun name for it," he said.

The jokes continued as other scents got names like "Lumberjack Daddy," which Josh describes as smelling of "crisp cedar wood, exotic amber and a hint of orange."

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Photo: Sarah Busby

A Soap by Any Other Name

Seasonal scents at the Bath Lab include "Zombie Brains," a citrus raspberry blend for Halloween, as well as "Reindeer Poop" and "Cozy Weather" in the winter.

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Photo: Holly Rainey

So Much to Choose From

Since its beginnings as a bath bomb shop, the Bath Lab has expanded to include body scrubs, soaps, bubble baths, candles, wax melts and a variety of seasonal products with fun colors and catchy names.

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