Customer Reviews

Making Aromatherapy Creams and Lotions: 101 Natural Formulas to Revitalize & Nourish Your Skin

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I received the book "Making aromatherapy cream and lotions" as a gift, and I was very excited at first, but this has got to be the most frustrating book on the subject I've seen so far. If you make the mistake of judging this book by it's covers, it looks like a basic book on the subject--the back cover proclaims that in five easy steps you will be able to make the recipes. This is very misleading; I have made creams and lotions before, and I can honestly tell you that although the basic concept is easy, this book uses mostly very hard to find ingredients and is completely impractical for the home hobbyist. This book is basically for someone that has access to very obscure ingredients, and I'm not talking about essential oils, but the "basic" ingredients the author uses to formulate her recipes. Most of these items you are not going to be able to find in your local pharmacy or health food store, and if you do manage to find the ingredients on-line, be prepared to spend a lot of money. Another major problem with this book is that everything is measured in grams or occasionally ounces, but the amounts are so small, that the average home kitchen scale, like the one I own, is not capable of measuring accurately. To really measure the ingredients accurately, you would need an expensive digital scale that will measure by individual gram increments (not 5 gram increments like some inexpensive models)--as I said, not for the home hobbyist. Even the title of the book is misleading--there are not even close to 101 recipes for creams and lotions, there are approximately 20. The rest of the book has cleansers, fruit masks, balms, etc., as well as a lot of information on the different ingredients and stories about home businesses (this is the best part of the book). Many of the recipes contain perishable ingredients and have to be used right away or the author recommends making them fresh every day. The back of the book "bio" mentions that the author "...is also a Washington, D.C. attorney." I'm not an attorney, but I don't have the time to make these recipes every day, maybe this woman does. My suggestion is if you are a beginner or just looking to expand your basic repetoire, try any of Janice Cox's books. She has hundreds of recipes on all kinds of toilletries that are easy and fun to make with items you already have at home or you can easily purchase at a health food store, and will not frustrate you to no end.

As the owner of a home-based Bath and Body Products business, I am always on the look out for new recipes to try, adapt, etc. Although there are some fabulous sounding recipes in this book, the use of hydrosols, Sea Berry and Rose Hip Seed Co2 (had never heard of them before, ever) make them way too complicated and expensive for someone who just wants to learn how to put together some simple cosmetics at home. Some of the ingredients, waxes in particular, I'd never even heard of. Perhaps someone living in the U.S. would have an easier time acquiring the "exotics," but my excellent Canadian suppliers do not sell them. I also am not keen on her use of Borax in recipes as it can be a sensitizer for some people and there are gentler preservatives on the market one can use. I can't say I'm completely disappointed, but a strong word of caution to those thinking that they'll find easy "first timer" recipes in here -- they won't.

It took me less than an hour after receiving this book to realize that most of the cream and lotion recipes are impractical for me to do. Not only that, the author seems to favor the use of highly processed ingredients. She appears to be far more concerned with the texture or appearance of her creams than with their being as unprocessed as possible. As I read through the book, I found myself wondering how in the world anyone with a life could find the time to hunt down all the ingredients (many are quite exotic, and she doesn't suggest substitutes), let alone prepare them. I was quite disappointed. There are many easier-to-procure-ingredients which will be just as therapeutic for the skin. The description on the back cover is definitely misleading. Most of the creams and lotions are time consuming to prepare and simply not practical (and definitely NOT easy!). I decided to return the book 1 hour after I received it from amazon. The two stars in my rating are for the presentation (it's a pretty book).

I've read dozens of books over the years that use the same types of natural ingredients. Donna Maria has uncovered and made available the newest aromatheraputic technologies for the home nuetricutical maker. Some folks have had trouble locating ingredients perhaps like CO2 extracts, hydrosols, and waxes. In the years since the book was first published, these ingredients flourish on the internet...there's not one I haven't been able to find. I'm so excited to have a new direction to experiment with for facial and body preparations.

The book is presented in several sections. The first section details useful essential oils and extracts(like Sea Buckthorn Berry), many nutritious plant oils(like Tamanu Oil), and finally emulsifying and thickening agents (like Vegatable Emulsifying Wax).

Then come the recipes. The first recipes are for creams and lotions. These recipes appear to be Donna Maria's favorite. The only trouble I had with the thickened creations was the addition of some not so natural emulsifying ingredients I would choose not use (such as Vegatable Emulsifying Wax). I would however use the beeswax formulas. Donna Maria states herself that "as much as the addition of these ingredients increase the aesthetic appeal of a product, it does nothing to treat the skin." Thus the next section:

Skin Elixers. Wonderfully nutritious aromatheraputic concoctions to feed your skin and psyche. These are the 50/50 oil and water recipes. How can you resist recipes like "Dry Skin Sundae" and "Dew Drop"? This is my favorite section, even though there were more recipes for dry skin than my oilier skin.

And as wonderful as the elixers are, there's more. The final section covers Aromatic Beauty Foods. The fruit-on-your-face kind of recipes with ingredients like Soapwort Root, Clays, EOs, Honey, Mango, Oats, Hydrosols...the list goes on.

This is my new favorite skin care recipe book... I like to try the newest ingredients that research is bearing out to be greatly beneficial for the skin. Even health-food store brands can't begin to touch the quality of these elixers. Be good to yourself and "Feed Your Skin".

I loved this book. I'm a soapmaker and sell at Farmer's Markets. I like to provide my customers with other things then soap.

This book is full of no fail recipes. Donna uses a lot of exotic ingredients (which are not hard for me to find, but may be hard for others).

I've tried three of her recipes and each has been unique. As I worked through the recipes, I found I had gained a more complete knowledge of how the process worked. Using the recipes was like a course on lotion and cream making.

I sell one of her creams and one of her balms at the market they do very well for me. Once you get a knowledge of the ingredients you're working with, it's easy to make adaptions to suit your needs.

I wish she's write another book. This one is a keeper, I have two copies for myself.

I'm an avid toiletry maker and have almost every book that there it is on the subjet, but when I receive my copy of Making aromatherapy creams and lotions, I got a book that stands up from the rest. Donna Maria writes with a friendly and refreshing voice, the information is provided in a well-organized format that the readers will find useful and inspiring.

This is not the typical book with the same recipes over and over and minimum variations to make it interesting. Donna Maria gives you the whole picture, so that you can create your own. To me that is this is the most valuable tool on designing custom skin care products. The possibilities are endless and there is so much pleasure in discovering them by ourselves.

I recomend this book over any other toiletry making books.

Maria Jasnoch

I am writing to post the one flaw in this book, though I agree with all the rave reviews and think of this book as my favorite. I've made lotions, balms and soap for years and have many suppliers. If the ingredients are out there I can usually find them. The author uses some ingredients that one must be VERY motivated to find...even though I scoured every supplier she lists in the back, I still could not find tragacanth and acacia powder. TWO FULL DAYS I spent on the internet looking until they were found. The recipes are wonderful, but be prepared to spend big $$ on the exquisite aromatics, even wholesale and in small quantities; these are THE most costly of essential oils. The worth and benefits of these costly oils is not something just anyone can appreciate; can be too cost prohibitive for gift giving or sale.

This book is not for a novice. I have been making soap for family and friends and I have quite an array of fixed and essential oils but I find many of the key ingredients are hard to find or are very expensive. She uses absolutes, hydrosals, and expensive essential oils like roman chamomile.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money or are new to making homemade cosmetics, do not buy this book.

I have access to a portion of the ingredients these recipes call for, but I have to work my [rear] off searching for them, then mail-ordering them, then trying to not faint at my credit card bill. None of this is unfamiliar territory as I'm a soapmaker who dabbles in other toiletries; not a stranger to procuring esoteric ingredients in other words. But this book is beyond impractical for anyone who wants to simply get their feet wet and try to make lotions or creams. When you put "101" on a cover it implies this is "everything you ever wanted to know but didn't know to ask", but this book falls short of that implied claim. Including substitutions for ingredients would have earned this book an extra star, maybe two. As it is, this is like the Martha Stewart of toiletries books, you wish you could make these items but you can't.

I was very disappointed in this book. Every recipe contained at least one ingredient that was difficult to find or has to be special ordered. Many of the ingredients can not be found at your local health food store or pharmacy and this became very frustrating as I made my way through the book and realized I could not make any of the recipes. I do not recommend this book for the creative hobbyist. However if you are serious about toiletry making and are willing to put forth the effort and time to find and pay for unusual essential oils, hydrosols, and other ingredients go ahead and risk buying this book. Otherwise leave it alone.