Customer Reviews

Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start by saying I love this book! Finally a complete guide that is easy to read and affordable. The descriptions, explanations, and step-by-step preparation methods are written for the novice and are easy to follow. I especially like the quick reference on page 30 outlining the basic essential oils. I copied it onto a piece of bright purple paper and put it on my refrigerator for easy reference. The book is full of them, and I think they're wonderful to use in concocting new, safe and different aromatherapy mixtures. Likewise I enjoyed the herbal, aromatic recipes in chapter ten. I would have liked, though, to have seen photos or drawings of some of the major herbs and procedures described throughout the book. Since I am just beginning in my studies in aromatherapy, it would have been nice to have a visual reference to look to after reading about a specific herb's positive attributes and usage. That said, Kathi Keville and Mindy Green have done a remarkable job of translating the seemingly enigmatic language of aromatherapy. The charts in chapter four are especially helpful. Now lavender oil has become a relaxing addition to all my baths!

I would highly recommend this book. I attended one of Kathi's workshops on using herbs and essential oils for first aid and she is a wonderful teacher. I subsequently bought her book (one of the many she has published) and have found them easy to read and very informative. I have made at least 10 of her essential oil recipes for myself, my friends and my family with terrific results. I recommend this book for both experienced aromatherapists and novices alike. It also makes an excellent gift!

This is a very practical and sensibly written book that touches on every aspect of Aromatherapy and leaves you with a clear understanding of essential oils without getting too lengthy or technical. Occassional anecdotes make reading this book more interesting and the many charts make things easy at a glance. This is a great book for beginners and the more experienced as well.

This book gave suggestions for using both herbs and essential oils in health and beauty applications. It covered the use of herbs and essential oils in massage, in cooking, and in making perfume and beauty products like lip balm, lotions, daily skin care, shampoos, and so on. They gave enough scientific and detailed information that a person could safely and competently make their own mixes to achieve a desired effect. In the back, they also included quick-reference charts covering what essential oil was good for what. Overall, it covered a wide variety of information in good depth.

The authors kept to a fairly scientific approach to essential oils. Some books view essential oils in a mystical way, like they are a magical source of healing or courage/love/etc. potions. In my view, essential oils are simply naturally-derived medicines, and very effective ones at that, so I appreciated how they approached essential oils.

My one "complaint" is that the section detailing what each essential oil could do listed so many things for each oil that I couldn't believe they all did practically everything (at least, that's what it looked like on first reading). I wanted to know what each oil really did do, not all the uses people have ever used it for. So I bought "Advanced Aromatherapy" Kurt Schnaubelt, which clearly explains a number of scientific studies on what various essential oils do. That's the book I primarily refer to now, and it's always been correct.

So, if you're interested in learning more about essential oils, this is a great starter book. I'd also recommend "Advanced Aromatherapy" Kurt Schnaubelt.


Review by Debbie from Different Time, Different Place (differenttimedifferentplace. blogspot. com)

The volume contains very valuable aromas for
the home, bedroom, job, gym and personal fragrances.
Some important applications are as follows:

o ants- camphor, pine and peppermint
o clothes- lavender and sage
o hair- lavender, eucalyptus, oregano, peppermint, thyme
o garden- garlic, anise, basil and chamomile
o circulation-ginger, lemon grass, eucalyptus
o oils for blood vessels (chamomile, lemon, cedarwood)
o sports massage oils are clove, basil, cinnamon and sage
o gym oils are peppermint,camphor and eucalyptus
o antiviral oils are bay, eucalyptus, garlic, black pepper,
clove buds, lavender, sage and thyme
o fragrance oils are lavender, lemon balm and peppermint
o hair growth (Vitamin E, ginger, peppermint, basil )
o colds and sinus- eucalyptus
o ear infections (lavender, tea tree oil
o fevers- lavender

This book is a treasure chest of information on fine oils.

As a beginner to aromatherapy I found that this book was an excellent starter book that doesn't over simplify techniques, but is still easy to use and enables you to understand and apply the methods. The book is layed out very well. Each oil is described thoroughly by origin, family, extraction, medicinal action, cosmetic/skin use, and emotional attributes. The reader will learn the many different uses of aromatherapy. The book also reviews safe use of aromatherapy. I highly recommend this well written book for anyone starting to use aromatherapy.

I learned about the first edition of this book from an aromatherapy instructor at the California Institute of Herbal Studies when it first came out in 1995, so I immediately picked it up and had been constantly referring to it ever since - that is... until the second edition came out in 2008. Since then I've passed the 1st edition along to a friend and have continued to enjoy the 2nd edition of this great resource.

It's a wealth of information and it keeps revealing itself to me as time goes on. The learning about this topic just never stops. It has wonderful history and folklore; provides great recipes and suggestions of applications for a myriad of purposes; teaches safety guidelines & precautions; has some chemistry, psychology & physiology aspects; covers perfumery and ayurvedic aromatherapy, and much more. Every library on this subject matter should have a copy of this book for reference. It is obviously written by a person of much wisdom and experience.

I am just beginning to play with aromatherapy and while this book has a lot of useful tips and recipes, I don't like the way the chapters are set and always have to refer to the index to find what I'm looking for. For example, nausea is in the Women's Health section that seems to relate to morning sickness. Nausea is not solely a woman's problem.

A very well written primer with a lot of good information on various aspects of essential oil uses. It covers some nice history of perfumes, psychological aspects of aromas, and fair information on essential oil chemistry.

Got this gift for a friend who is interested in essential oils. She loves it!! It came quickly and in great shape.