5.0 out of 5 stars Easy success with DIY body care

A.G. · January 28, 2013

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } Hands-down the best make-it-yourself nature beauty care book I've used. It's a great starter book.The Pros:The recipes use familiar measurements, the directions are easy to follow, and everything I've made from this book has turned out really well. The instructions are so much better than in The Other Beauty Book that I purchased that I'm using the directions from this book to modify the recipes from the other one, which are much harder to make but this book has shown me that it doesn't need to be difficult for a lotion to turn out really well.It covers a wide range of beauty products you can easily make at home with easy to acquire, non-scary ingredients. Most of the recipes are very practical and the selection of products isn't horribly skewed to one or two types of products (only 18 pages on masks, as opposed to 40!), and there's a wider range of skin cleansers than I've found elsewhere.A great feature is that each recipe lists several very important and useful details, including recommended uses, prep time, tools needed, type of storage container, and recipe yield. Compared to other natural beauty books, this puts it heads and shoulders above the competition. Seriously. You won't realize how important this is until you try to use the books that don't provide it!The Cons:The Table of Contents and Index are terrible - basically useless, a librarian's nightmare. The TOC does not list individual products, only chapters in which to find them, and even those subsections of each chapter are not listed with a page number/ The Index does not list products by name, or even keywords within product names; I have to flip page by page through nearly the whole book if I didn't write down the name and page of the item I want to make.This book needs a TOC and Index like those in The Joy of Cooking - far more cross-indexing is really needed and the titles of each product should appear in the TOC and in the Index, no exceptions. These are recipe books, after all, and should be produced as such. However, every other DIY body care book has the exact same problem, so I'm not knocking the ratings down for that. It's not the author's fault that the editor/publisher did a terrible job on front and back matter, right?

5.0 out of 5 stars this is making me a body care addict :)

p. · February 26, 2013

everything from the soothing colors, layout, and explanations make the book itself a real joy to read. her recipes are simple, diverse, and really good! i've tried the face scrubs, body washes and creams, lip glosses, and now i'm collecting the ingredients for a delicious-sounding 'love potion', which i described to a woman in the grocery store, so that even she wants to go out and get the book (i don't know if it was the recipe itself that got her or the idea of using it on her husband!).in one chapter, she gives a very helpful description of all of the ingredients that she uses in her recipes, what they do, what kind of skin (or hair) they're best for, and what possible substitutes can be used, which i find really helpful since i don't have every ingredient on the planet.in each recipe, she tells just how to make the product, what kind of skin it's best for, how to apply it. and how to store it. she also gives helpful hints on how to give these products as gifts, which has come in handy because there's no way i can use all the stuff i've made! my friends and family have all really liked what i've made for them too and eagerly ask for more--even my brothers! that's because the skin cream, for example, is much better than anything i've ever gotten in a store. this stuff is really hydrating and long-lasting, and you can scent it whatever way you like or not at all. in our cold dry winters, this is just the ticket.i was actually getting back online to see what other books stephanie tourles has written, but i thought i'd stop and write a product review first. as you can see, this has quickly become a really enjoyable hobby, and this book has made it easy to do.

4.0 out of 5 stars A big hit with my lovely lady

R.C. · December 5, 2012

My girlfriend has grown keen to the plastics and toxins and synthetic materials that are found in even top-tier quality make-up brands and shampoos and conditioners and air fresheners etc..... everything they sell to us has intentionally untested or poorly tested toxins in them these days.That said, my girlfriend has taken to concocting a lot of her own solutions for these problems and I believe this book was an excellent square #1 for her to begin that quest to conquer the toxins in our everyday lives.All I can really say is she has spent quite a bit of time with her nose in this book down in the kitchen mixing up essential oils and beeswax and vegetable glycerin and all manner of stuff to make new lotion bars and face toners. I get to play test subject sometimes and I am actually pretty impressed with the quality of the final product in these recipes. Beats the heck out of face-shriveling chemical scrubs and washes, hands down.Again, i haven't actively spent any time in the kitchen making the recipes within this book myself, but prior to this book neither had she and now she is cooking up a storm of products to replace all the crazy chemical goods that research has shown is not at all healthy for us, especially in the long term.This book is in no way all-encompassing and I would strongly recommend supplementing any body care book with other literature and opinions and points of view on account of the new field that this science still is. But if you are new to the practice of essential oils and organic body care, this book will definitely not waste your time.

Lots Of Good Recipes But Also Full Of Other Info As Well

P.H.S. · February 7, 2016

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } I purchased this book when I set up my business making natural soap and skincare. It’s a big book and there is so much information in it and it has lots of illustrations.There’s a lot of background information in the book which covers skin care and the type of skin you have plus recommendations on which are the best products to use. It also goes a little bit into nutrition and the way that can affect your skin.There is also plenty of data of the different ingredients used in natural skincare. Some of the ingredients such as borax aren't really used in the UK and are a bit suspect so you may need to do a bit more research before following some of the recipes.One thing you need to know if you are considering buying this book is that many ‘recipes’ are not what I would call recipes. There are many instances when you are ‘told’ to add fragrances/oils to pre-bought products such as baby shampoo. I did actually know this before I purchased the book but it was still worth the cost because of the other actual recipes that are in here.Most of the ingredients are easy to obtain but none of the sources mentioned are UK based, which I am. This isn't a problem though if you do a little online research.I bought this as a beginner and it’s still really useful to me several years later. Recommend for anybody interested in making natural products.

Just what I needed.

H. · May 22, 2012

I'm very allergic to some preservatives, the most commonly used ones, of course, and perfumes. I can buy some creams, lotions and potions, but it's always and adventure as companies reformulate their products, sometimes making a lotion which was wonderful last batch seem like a blend which includes fire ants in the new 'improved' version. Labels aren't always clear given the number of abbreviations and names under which preservatives are listed.This book gives me options. I can make what I cannot buy, even if I have to mail order some of the ingredients. No more walking down the drug store aisle, magnifying glass and list of preservative names in hand, looking for something unscented that doesn't include things that make my skin burn, itch and swell up.

Espera algo mais natural...

C.d.K. · June 9, 2015

... e também mais barato. A grande maioria das receitas tem óleos essenciais que são muito caros, se uma pessoa, como eu, que tem interesse em fazer produtos para uso pessoal, decidir fazer um creme simples vai gastar fácil R$100 em alguns casos calculei R$300.O livro é bem detalhado, mas esperava algo mais focado em ervas que em óleo e outros produtos industrializados.

One Star

P.T. · August 23, 2014

Not detailed process of making and recipe are missing in important ingredients.

The best book on organic body care.

S.O. · May 7, 2013

Well, I've buying some books on this subject and I must say this is the best one so far. You have simpler recipes which you can whip up with ingredients that anyone has in the pantry and you also have some more fancy concoctions. I love love love the "protection cream" (p. 220). This is a great book also because doesn't just have the recipes, it also has about 100 pages of tips, ingredients, etc, so you can make your own recipes.VERY IMPORTANT: this book does NOT give any soap recipes. Soapmaking is a very complex subject, and it would be impossible to just write a chapter on it. If you really are interested on soapmaking (as I am) buy the "Natural Soap Book" by Susan Miller Cavitch for a more comprehensive aproach or the "Handmade Soap Book" by Melinda Coss for a few fancy recipes (with pictures, but not all soaps are vegetable).