# Could you replicate the Dead Sea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-replicate-the-dead-sea/378006 "2006-10-26T17:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JcMjesusX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e79b87/32.png) [@JcMjesusX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcMjesusX)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-replicate-the-dead-sea/378006/1 "2006-10-26T17:50:39Z")
Well, I helped this lady jump her car the other day when I got out of work. She worked at the mall, and when I saw her again she was working. She was Isreali, and she showed me some of her skin care products. I told her I have psoriasis, and she told me that people used to go to the dead sea all the time for that. She offered me Dead Sea Minerals for 30 dollars, she said it would last me a year. Now here are the questions. Have you heard of such a thing? If I used it, and it worked, would it be possible to replicate to a certain degree the Dead Sea in, say, my bathtub? Forgive me if that sounds like a stupid question, ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-replicate-the-dead-sea/378006/2 "2006-10-26T18:22:43Z")
Well, one of the reasons it helps skin conditions is the lower altitude absorbs more of the sun’s rays, a feat which would not be replicable in your bathroom unless it’s indoors 😉 Re: the chemical mix, it’s mostly [Magnesium Chloride and Potassium Chloride](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_sea#Chemistry_and_health_effects) with a high concentration of Bromine. Now all those are uncited in the Wiki link but I do remember the mention of MgCl and KCl in the PBS special on the Dead Sea. Don’t know if those are the chemicals that give it its supposed health effects, but isn’t Magnesium a common bath salt? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-replicate-the-dead-sea/378006/3 "2006-10-26T19:19:23Z")
I do not know about replicating the Dead Sea in your bathtub but i see no reason why you couldn’t add various junk to the water till you got, in effect, Dead Sea water. That said I am a huge fan of aloe vera gel. Go to your local pharmacy and pickup a tube. Go for the stuff that is like 99% aloe vera without scent and the like. Shouldn’t cost more than a few bucks. I’ve seen it clear up all sorts of skin issues. I cannot guarantee it will work but it’s simple enough and cheap enough to be worth a try I think. As always a talk with your doctor is probably best. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-replicate-the-dead-sea/378006/4 "2006-10-26T19:27:29Z")
Take your laptop with you, use a wheel mouse and you can do the Dead Sea Scroll. Thanks, I’ll be here all week! ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2006, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-replicate-the-dead-sea/378006/5 "2006-10-26T22:57:26Z")
Sure you could replicate it if you knew all the chemicals, their percentages, and could acquire them. But I can report, from experience, that it tastes terrible, and several years after bathing in it, I still get ingrown hairs periodically.