Product Description

A master herbalist's guide to natural personal care. Unlike conventional makeup-coverups, Dina's unique approach nurtures natural beauty and health. Chapters devoted exclusively to women, and also to the bodycare needs of men, teens, babies, and elders. Natural first aid, too. Includes 450 innovative formulas for essential products for face, skin, hair, hands, feet, mouth, and teeth -- more than a hundred of which can be made from basic household staples. Many recipes using healing herbs and aromatherapy. 256 pages, recycled paper/vegetable ink, illustrated, paperback.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43799 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 241 pages

Review
This book transcends the ordinary to the scented world of herbs so you can look and feel your best. -- Susun S. Weed, author, Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way

From the Author
I love introducing people to the art and science of home-crafted body care products. There are so many rewards: Most people rejoice in the new feelings of health and radiance they experience after using formulations made from healing and aromatic herbs. Some simply like the process of creating items for themselves and others that they thought had to be purchased ready-made. Others appreciate the fantastic financial savings. Then there are those who are taken with the minimal impact they are having on the environment. No matter what the motivations, the result is the same - an improvement in individual and planetary health.

Natural body care products, in contrast to commercial ones, are based on the philosophy of working in partnership with nature to support and nurture the body throughout its life cycle. The idea is to start with simple, pure ingredients that are as close to their natural state as possible. These are then combined according to their specific actions into formulas that enable the body to gently soothe, nourish and heal itself.

From the Back Cover
Dina Falconi believes that health and vitality aren't about masking "flaws" with cosmetics, denying the aging process, or living up to some standardized and unattainable concept of beauty. Rather, "beauty involves working in partnership with nature."

For 10 years, Dina has crafted bodycare produces infused with her herbal and healing wisdom. Here, for the first time, Dina reveals her techniques, which have been described as "anything, but garden variety."

More than 450 original personal care formulas including: facial care; eye care; lip, mouth and tooth care; hear and scalp; whole body treatments; hands and feet; natural first aid.

Everything is easy to make with Dina's comprehensive directions and details regarding techniques, ingredients and equipment. Look for the elementary "Basic Bee" formulas. Dina's recipes will also provide guidance in purchasing premade products.

Specialized formulas for women - breast message, pregnancy & birth, menopausal care; men - scents, shaving preparations, powders; teens - acne remedies, deodorants; babies - bath, diaper rash, sleep pillows; elders - hand & food soaks, facial care, pain relief. Plus gift ideas and more.

Customer Reviews

A HEAVENLY Book
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!

Great reference/resource!
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'd give it ten stars if I could!
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!