Customer Reviews

Earthly Bodies & Heavenly Hair: Natural and Healthy Bodycare for Every Body

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is AWESOME! It is one of the better books I've read on the subject of natural skin/hair/body care with homemade products.

It's very informative,very well organized according to sections (Face Care, Body Care, Mouth Care, Hair Care, Healing Salves and Balms)with special attention given to men, women and different life stages. It's very thorogh.

Dina Falconi provides countless recipes for creams, oils, balms and lotions as well as what those products can do for you and for whom they're most useful (i.e. mature/dry skin etc.)

Not only are recipes provided, but basic recipes for salves and creams are also provided so you can incorporate oils, butters and waxes that you particularly like. Say you don't want to make a beeswax and canola oil based lip balm (which is one of the recipes) you can flip to the back of the book and learn the proper oil/wax proportions for balms and you can try something else instead.

Falconi also explains the benefits of certain essential oils, herbs, butters and oils which is also very beneficial to those just beginning to make personal care products.

A great book!

Like one of the other reviewers, I have suffered for years from eczema. Reading that the other reviewer's eczema improved after consistent use of the recipes in the book, I decided to purchase it. What a huge improvement! My hands used to get literally raw looking...so ugly it was embarrassing. After only six weeks or so, I have only a small patch of eczema left on one of my fingers but it, too, seems to be improving. Furthermore, this is at the time of year when my hands would normally be worse because I'm an avid gardener and gardening irritates the eczema. I have tried many different kinds of beauty products over the years, but they must have had some common ingredients to which I am sensitive. I can't say how grateful I am for this book!

I've only tried a couple of things from this book but they're terrific. I had been looking for recipes for hand lotion and tis has all sorts. There's not much in here regarding aromatherapy concepts - instead its a book full of recipes and concoctions. Looking forward to trying out the foot cream recipes. I also bought The Essential Oils Book to compliment this one.

I have struggled with eczema my whole life and just in the last year turned to herbal remedies to help. This book has been unbelievably helpful. Within weeks after using the recipies in this book to make my own natural lotions, shampoos, bath soaks, and cleansers, my eczema (which was at it's worst in many years) began clearing up. After a couple of months, it was almost completely under control. I never realized the extent to which the chemicals in commercial products aggravated my skin.

Not only has my skin cleared, but I love the relaxing bath soaks! I feel like a new person after soaking for a while with one of Dina Falconi's recipes. I'm also using the knowledge I've gained from this book to create my own customized versions of her recipes. I give this book my highest recommendation. Out of all the books I have purchased, this one is the absolute best!

I own a good number of homemade cosmetics books and many of them list some recipes that have some not-so-natural ingredients, like mineral oil and emulsifing wax. What I like in this book are the truly pure recipes and the amazing variety of them , respecting your age and your needs.And most of the ingredients are very easy to find in the health food store or over the internet.The design remember me of a antique herbal book.It is a very complete book, embracing the arts of herbalism, aromatherapy, natural healing,etc. A must have !!!

I've recently gotten into making my own lotions and potions because so much of what is on the market to buy is full of ingredients that are harmful for a body. Some recipes and procedures take more time than others but are so well worth it. I found this book quite by accident but now thank the powers that be for it. The ingredients and methods for mixing and fixing are simple enough for a beginner like me, but indepth enough to let me know why and how it all works. Herbs and oils are explained as well and as extensively as anyone could ask without going into too much detail and added information that I can't and probably won't use. I'd suggest this wonderful and informative book to anyone that in interested in making alternative products for body and hair care. They are truely wonderful. Out of the many books I own on this subject, this is by far the most comprehensive and concise one to have.

This is absolutely, by far, the best natural beauty care book I have found. I have searched extensively and care a great deal about quality, etc. The second best is Rosemary Gladstar's book for natural beauty care. But by far, get this one if you want the highest quality and most complete reference. I LOVE it!!!

Dina Falconi did a credible job of explaining plants, procedures and recipes clearly and thoroughly. The book contains very few photos and very little artwork; this may present a problem if you're a visual learner.

In the book, there is a wealth of information on infusions, tinctures and vinegars, as well as on how to use them. The book includes recipes to care for face, lips, mouth, hair, scalp and body. There are special sections on women, men, teens, babies, and elders, as well as natural first aid. I have been very pleased with all the recipes I've tried thus far.

What I didn't see but expected to be prominent was a warning section. Its absence is a serious flaw. Some of these preparations--particularly essential oils because they are so concentrated--contain inherent risks, and information on these risks should be a part of any book on herbal self-care.

Some of her recipes are risky. The Mountain Rose Herbs website (which Falconi lists in her resources) gives a list of warnings about essential oils. Some are labeled "Do not use at all, or under the supervision of a qualified expert." Among these is camphor. Falconi includes camphor in a cold sore lip balm and a liniment balm. Another is thuja. Falconi includes thuja essential oil in many different recipes, including the cold sore lip balm mentioned above, and states only that it "can be irritating to the skin" under her description of this essential oil. Yet another is penny royal; Falconi does properly state that this can bring on a miscarriage, but this information should have been given more visual weight. She does not mention penny royal essential oil in her section of general descriptions. The last essential oil in this "do not use" list that appears in Falconi's book is wintergreen, which she uses in a number of recipes and gives no warnings at all under her description. The Mountain Rose Herbs list gives other warnings about using other essential oils under certain conditions, and Falconi violates these sometimes, too. I'm not saying the list is definitive, but it certainly made me look twice at the recipes in this book. Find it at www.mountainroseherbs.com; click on "Products," then "Essential Oils." A link to the list is at the bottom of the page.

Because of glaring safety errors, I could not give this otherwise fine book a higher mark. Use it with great care!

As a natural cosmetic hobbyist, I have many books on the subject. This book stands out because of the easy-to-do formulas, the sheer number of formulas, and the explanations of ingredients. I also appreciated the fact that the formulas don't have a lot of ingredients. I found information that I had wondered about for years: the amount of vodka needed to preserve a high water content formula. I appreciated the source list and the layout. The line drawings added a nice touch to the text. I am happy with this purchase!

This is one of the best cosmetics books I ever bought. Theauthor did not hold anything back on how to make wonderful cosmetics.The recipes are easy to follow. You will be working with the bestingredients nature has to offer when making recipes from this book.There is a section at the end of the book giving instructions on basictechniques for making a variety of different formulas. Ingredients inrecipes can be substituted--you can create personalize cosmetics. Imodified recipes and the product turned out wonderful. I especiallylike the face creme recipes. My skin feels healthy and wonderfulusing these cremes. This book focuses on the most important herbs,essential oils, and natural ingredients specifically used for makinghealthy cosmetics. The author shared her knowledge on how to make thebest cosmetics. I'm thankful she wrote this book.