Return to Beauty: Old-World Recipes for Great Radiant Skin [Hardcover]

Narine Nikogosian (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 10, 2009

Return to Beauty offers regimens made from fresh ingredients that can be found right in your kitchen. With recipes for winter, spring, summer, and fall, you can look beautiful throughout the year. Narine Nikogosian's natural and inexpensive products can be whipped up in less than ten minutes. Have a jar of honey in your pantry? Mix it with a few crushed walnuts to create a sensual, aromatic scrub for oily skin. Use dabs of cottage cheese to lighten undereye circles, or almond oil to rehydrate cracked lips. Narine also provides recipes based on astrological signs, such as for Scorpio, a Gracious Grapefruit Mask made of grapefruit, egg yolk, and soothing honey to rejuvenate your skin even after a late night.

Narine is from a long line of Armenian women who have been harnessing the powers of nature to create everlasting beauty. For the first time, she reveals her secrets so that you can have star-worthy skin.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"My wife brought this book home -- for herself. But I read it. Now I know why my wife is so beautiful! It was a great read." -- KIRK DOUGLAS, Academy Award-nominated actor

"Narine's facials are like therapy. You lie on the table, and when you're finished, you look glamorous and younger than when you walked in." -- Anne Douglas

"Narine is in a league of her own as an expert and purveyer of old world European skin care formulations. Each recipe featured in this inspirational book becomes a "gourmet feast" for every kind of complexion and best of all custom tailored to your astrological sign. No wonder this wiz of skin care has been a Superstar Facialist at my spa for close to two decades, with everyone clamouring for her magic touch." -- OLE HENRIKSEN, founder, Ole Henriksen Face/Body spa and skin care line

"Narine's Eastern European traditions land softly on my coca-kissed skin giving me a flawless fresh face. Her recipes for unforced beauty keep all skin types glowing from the inside out. -- Alfre Woodard, actress

About the Author

NARINE NIKOGOSIAN trained in nursing with a concentration in dermatology in her native Armenia and Russia before coming to the United States. In the U.S., she ran the successful Starface salon in Glendale, California, and later built a well-respected reputation as a talented aesthetician at Ole Henriksen Face and Body on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Her clients include many of Hollywood’s top stars.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439126062
• ISBN-13: 978-1439126066
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Beauty, Grooming, & Style > Cosmetics

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't give everything away but does give a lot December 1, 2009

By jumpy1

Format:Hardcover

Finally, a skin care book that gives some real spa recipes for toners, cleansers and masks. I'm not saying she gives away the store by any means, but there are a lot of basic recipes in here that if you read through the whole book you'll see a pattern that will help you make up your own, based on your particular skin issues. I've been reading reviews of other skin care books that have a problem with non-vegan recipes and there are plenty of vegan recipes here. (though there are a lot with dairy, eggs and honey - you can always use almond milk instead of milk though) I like to make up my own products and whenever I buy products I try to approximate them myself at home (to avoid the additives even the good ones use, like spermaceti) and the information in this book really rounded out some of my questions. She starts with basic recipes for things by season (for the way each season affects your skin) and then by sun sign with some good ideas for the various personalities, like how to unwind and pamper yourself and body care recipes for the typical issues for each. Then she has general recipes for breakouts, hair care, hands and feet, really good toners and lotions for pregnancy (e.g., stretchmarks), and finally, how to give yourself a real facial, step by step. I thought the ones for men, even though there were only a few, were particularly interesting. I have a couple of Janice Cox's books, and Pratima Raichur's book and I think if you have just this and Pratima Raichur's Absolute Beauty, you have quite an arsenal of info on natural body care.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book! January 24, 2011

By Tasha Cole

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Return To Beauty is a excellent book to create your own beauty recipes! The book is divided up into 6 parts.
Part 1) Seasons
Part 2) Sun Signs
Part 3) Simple Solutions
Part 4) Pregnancy
Part 5) How To Give Yourself A Facial
Part 6) No Frills For Men

Narine Nikogosian starts her book out with a wonderful although quick introduction, allowing the readers a peek into her philosophy about natural skin care. The photos in the book are just lovely! I have two other beauty recipe books (see bottom of review) and neither of those books have a single photo! The beautiful photographs are definetly a bonus treat, as well as the way the recipes are displayed, using larger print than the other two books that I own (and love).

The most important aspect that makes Return To Beauty a excellent book has to be how EASY the recipes are! I have had to buy sticky notes to add to so many of the recipes so I can find them again quickly. The recipes use everyday items you probably already have in your kitchen.
Mayonnaise
Lemons
Yougurt
Cottage cheese
Honey
Butter
Milk
Salt
Tea bags
Olive oil
Eggs
Flour
Vinegar
Juices
To just name a few...and some of the ingredients I didn't have and had to purchase are:
Vodka
Cognac
Almond oil
Shredded coconut
Sparkling mineral water
Rose oil
Cornstarch
Cherries
Heavy cream
Figs

There are so many recipes that just use two or three simple ingredients and not one of the recipes requires very much effort at all! The alcohol recipes center on facial toners and masks and require very little alcohol so I just bought the tiny travel bottles and they last a long time.... It's a wonderful book that I have loved using and I highly recommend it to others of all ages!!

The other two books that I own and love are:
The Beauty Cookbook: 200 Recipes to Make Your Kitchen Your Spa -- for Your Face, Your Body and Your Hair
And
Babushka's Beauty Secrets Read more ›

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Inner Radiance, Outer Beauty December 25, 2009

By Julie Clayton VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I once read that you should never put anything on your skin that you wouldn't also put into your mouth. Well, this book is nothing but mouth-watering skin care recipes that are quick and easy (often only two or three ingredients), and many of the ingredients are already in your kitchen. They require a little more effort than store-bought beauty products, however, since they have to be kept refrigerated and made frequently. Personally, I find this a small price to pay for the benefit of natural skin care--chemical-free and nutrient-rich.

And, although I can't state with scientific certainty that the recipes actually reduce lines or make my skin healthier, I can say that I feel so much better making and using my own beauty potions that my inner radiance comes through and this is what people notice. Yes, I understand that beauty is more than skin deep, but we women know that if we feel good, we look good.

Return to Beauty is nicely presented and easy to use. It includes step-by-step directions for giving yourself a facial, as well as recipes specific to the seasons, skin types, and sun signs; simple solutions for skin, hair, and nail care; pregnancy skin care--there is even a short section on skin care for men. If you're ready to invest a few extra minutes of your time and energy into feeling and looking good, try some of the recipes and see the results for yourself. You're worth it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Return to Beauty November 1, 2010

By katalind

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I'm really glad I purchased this book. I have a lot of make your own beauty product books that promised to have recipes for skin care with ingredients right out of the kitchen, and they did but failed to mention all the other exotic ingredients that I'd never even heard of that had to be added in with it. This book however made that promise and didn't fail. I got the book and made a mask the same night and have bookmarked others I want to try, and guess what? I already have everything I need right in my kitchen! This is the first book of this kind that I'll really get a lot of use out of.