How very glad I was to see this book as I am quite the home-recipe/do-it-yourself kind of gal. That said, there were several off-putting items here, and the first is, in my opinion, a doozy:
1) In the early chapters where the author gives her arguments as to why the beauty business is bad and why all natural products are good, her arguments really push the line. They're so extreme that it discredits her as a source of information. For example, she lists diatomaceous earth (DE) as a "naturally unnatural" beauty product because it is an ingredient used in dynamite and cat litter. Well did you know DE also has many reputed health benefits and is a supplement that many people take orally on a daily basis to lower cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, as a supplemental source of silica (which most people are deficient in) among many other things?
Her scathing comments on the various types of fats and other substances used in beauty products and how the companies obtain these ingredients are just as disappointing. Yes, the truth behind where some ingredients come from (and the beauty industry is NOT alone) IS tragic, but there are also many highly ethical and responsible companies within the beauty industry as well. Furthermore, there is just as much finger pointing that could be done towards many of the ingredients the author lists for her recipes. Have any idea of how much death and destruction occurs with "harvesting" (and I mean that in the broadest sense) and making harvestable land for exotic oils (including the suspension oils she uses)? For that matter, where does your calcium or long chain fatty acid/OMEGA supplement come from? Some are ethical, but many are not.
Some of the things she lists like bull's semen, which was a luxury fad (hair treatment) at certain very trendy European salons for a few years, she makes seem an epidemic where there's now no commercial product safe from bull semen, placenta and foreskins. The truth is that whether it's right or wrong to use these ingredients in beauty products, most people are not able to afford the extreme luxury products that contain these types of ingredients in them. Rest assured, your bottle of Pantene, though full of "cones" and other frowned upon chemicals by many in the "all natural" set, it is free of bull's semen.
And some of the items she lists in the "ingredients to avoid at all costs"? For example, thimerasol: yes, it is an organomercury compound that has been called into question in recent years for it's use as a preservative in vaccines. Since, it has been removed from most vaccines administered to pregnant women and infants. This compound has been used in vaccines since around the 1930's and is also found in small quantities in eye, nasal and other type products because of its anti-fungal and antiseptic properties. The author references thimerasol in regards to its use specifically in mascara and states, "This dangerous chemical found in your go-to tube can even cause brain damage."
I do wish that thimerasol was NOT used in mascara but it is applied to the hair shaft (dead tissue) and the most likely complaint from those who are sensitive is that mascaras with this compound may cause some localized skin irritation. I dare the author to find a single case of human brain damage caused by the use of MASCARA containing thimerasol. This is the kind of sensational reporting that causes people to become grossly misinformed and state as fact something that is only minimally accurate and not even of marginal value because of it's complete lack of proper, comparative context.
These are just a few of many of her flawed arguments. It's like saying, "BEWARE, the water in your drinking glass will kill you!" The statement is minimally accurate - ingestion of excessive amounts of water can cause a condition called hyponatremia which is the result of very low electrolyte levels that can cause brain swelling (among other things) and eventually death. Yet I could never get away with the above statement and not be laughed out of the room.
But I digress. I will conclude simply by saying the author's accusatory tone and poorly positioned "proof" in her opening chapters (which is really just an angry rant blasting the beauty industry as opposed to logical/valid argument) makes her seem at best, too lazy to do real research and consequently report contextually accurate facts or at worst, a sensationalist bent on spreading ignorance. Either way, her credibility is lost.
2) The actual recipes are fine and ingredients are easily obtained. That said, there's nothing ground breaking here. I do wish there was more consistency in the author advising which mask or lotion, etc was good for a given application. Is the honey mask good for dry skin? What mask will be good for redness, etc. Some recipes include this advice, others just give the recipe with no other information. For example, I know that lemon juice can be drying on the skin. In addition it can cause sensitivity to sunlight, but this information was not included. Thankfully, I know this but not everyone who reads the book will. How much is too much (or too often) with the recipes that contain lemon? Are there other ingredients that should be used with caution? What if I get some of the lotion that contains frankincense oil into my eyes? etc...
Finally, I thought the current price of the book ($7+) quite extraordinary especially taking into account that a portion of the recipes are ones that can be found for free at various places on the internet or Youtube.
My constructive criticism is over a piece of work that exhibits possibilities and I certainly commend any effort towards conscientiousness and "natural" living. With some re-work of the earlier chapters and enhancement of the recipes, this could be a four or five star read. However, in its present state, I just can't recommend this one. The first few chapters made me so angry it aged me ten years and the recipes, though fine, were mostly common and quite lacking in helpful advice.
