Customer Reviews

The Directory of Essential Oils: Includes More Than 80 Essential Oils

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This is one of my favorite and most referenced handbooks for essential oils. It is designed for one who knows at least a little about aromatherapy, and plans to be working with the oils. Warning: the drawings on some of the pages may be offensive to some, depicting a witch with an herb popularly used by witches at one time, and people not fully dressed on others. I value the book for it's wealth of information, and ignore some of the illustrations.

Two pages are devoted to each of the essential oils, which are in alphabetical order. Near the title of each oil there is a chart listing the plant/part (plant as in "tree", and part as in "leaves" or "fruit"), Latin name, family, note (top, middle or base), planet, and means of extraction. There are several categories that describe each oil. Aroma describes the kind of fragrance; "features" tell about physical characteristics of the plant, and where it is grown, and such. A section called "History and Myth" tells about how the oil was used historically, and any myths associated with it. The chemical constituents, oil properties, and any precautions are listed. Three sections are devoted to telling how each oil may effect the mind (as in being a sedative), body (as in helping to regulate women's cycles), and skin (as in reactions to say, oily or sensitive skin). The last heading on each page is "blends" which lists other essential oils which blend well with the one under discussion.

There are several helpful resources in the back of the book. A glossary gives a short definition of oil properties, and lists the oils with each property. A blending chart is included, categorizing the oils by what they are (trees, flowers, spices, etc.) and telling what commonly works well together. Another chart lists the oils under which skin types for which they would be most helpful.

This book is definately a must for anyone studying or wants to know more about essential oils. I used this book as a bible during my Diploma of Aromatherapy course, and I still find it a valuable tool for this modality, as it covers everything from where the plant originates from, its chemical properities, effects on the mind, body, skin, blending. I highly recommend this book for any aromatherapy enthusiast. A must on the bookshelf.

I am very happy with this book. It has two pages on each oil describing the aroma, a description of the plant, the history and myths, chemical constituents, uses, precautions, and other oils it blends well with. At the back is a glossary, a blend chart, which catagorizes the types of oils, and a skin type chart. I have found it easy to use, and helpful in my home creations.

This book is great! It covers most of the oils any one would use and some you may never have heard of. I really like that it includes the note( top middle base) for each oil as well. This is a must have book that you will use often.

The book was not comprehensive. Simply a brief history and overview of types of uses. The author does not delve into HOW to use the oils (ingestion, inhalation, topical, dosage). Quick and easy read.

I liked this book a lot. It's good to have if you're interested in aromatherapy.

This book is not super-comprehensive, but is a good overview with lots of neat details regarding the oils it includes. However, I ordered this for a Christmas present and got the other things I ordered at the same time, but DID NOT recieve this until after Christmas. Very disappointing.