Natural Body Basics: Making Your Own Cosmetics (Paperback)

~ (Author) "When buying natural ingredients, pay special attention to the labels on natural oils..." (more)
Key Phrases: solid beeswax grated, low widemouthed jar, rosehip seed oil, Add Vitamin (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A complete and comprehensive guide to making your own cosmetics with herbs, nutritional oils, clays and other natural products. Written by registered nurse and master gardener, Dorie Byers, this book takes you step by step from what you'll need to how to make your own natural cosmetics.

About the Author

Dorie Byers is a registered nurse, substitute teacher, and housewife.

She received her certificate in Master Gardening through the Purdue University Extension Service and has spent many years growing herbs and researching their uses. She also has earned a certificate in Herbal Studies from the School of Herbal Medicine in Suquamish, Washington. She is currently working on studies in herbal medicine through the Herbal Healer Academy in Mt. View, Arkansas. Dorie lives among her herbs in rural southern Indiana with her husband and son.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Gooseberry Hill; 1 edition (June 26, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965235300
• ISBN-13: 978-0965235303
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #729,320 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful recipe book, but . . ., January 17, 2002

By	Colleen R. Yeany "dream135" (Annville, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

. . . (and there is always a but), it is not for those whose ambitious beginnings fall to ruin at the thought of working towards their hobby goals. This book contains marvelous recipes, but one must want to make them quite a lot to search out a good portion of the ingredients. Perhaps my experience is singular, but my well-stocked natural food store had never seen witch hazel that was bottled pure and without accoutrements such as aloe. Other obstacles were present as I tried to gather necessary ingredients, and so my interest slowly waned. The book is, however, well written, concise, and with all the information needed to use it arranged neatly for easy reference. This woman knows her stuff. In the back of the book can be found a few reputable companies from which to mail-order your products if they are not readily available. Once again, this takes patience. One more word of caution: the book contains very few "food" recipes; that is, no "avacado and banana masks" or "pancake batter miracles." It is a book of traditional herbal extract or fresh herb recipes. I say this simply to make sure you buy the home beauty book you desire. So, in conclusion, if you are willing to work a bit more to have your homemade radiance and NOT eat it too, this is the book for you.

80 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wouldn't be without this book!, May 28, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This is the neatest book. I'm allergic to most face cleansers and mosturizers so now I make my own with essential oils and carrier oils, and this is the book that showed me how. There are many blends to use. Very easy to understand instructions. Just all out a fine book!

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice for beginners, but..., March 21, 2002

By A Customer

The recipes are okay if you're just starting out, but her creams tend to be high on oil and low on water. I find that the proportions in her cream recipes don't work very well for my skin (but they could very well work for yours. Everyone's different). For this reason, I didn't rate the book very highly. There is nothing here that you wouldn't find in other more comprehensive books (e.g. Earthly Bodies, Heavenly Hair by Dina Falconi). I was also mystified by Ms. Byers statement that facial steaming was bad for everyone (or something to that effect). It has certainly been wonderful for my skin, although obviously, it is not something I would do everyday. I've also read in Beauty magazines that many supermodels steam their faces regularly. For the amount of money I paid for this book, I felt I didn't get very much.