Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2426 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 558 pages

Customer Reviews

The best essential oils reference book in the English language!
For owners of previous editions of the Essential Oils Desk Reference, this new and expanded edition will be a treat. The black and white photos have been replaced by full-color photos and this edition includes new essential oils from Ecuador.

For beginning oil users or for people who are ready to switch from recreational essential oils to therapeutic grade essential oils, the Essential Oils Desk Reference is the single best essential oils reference work in the English language, in my opinion. Medical doctors refer to the Physicians Desk Reference and serious essential oil users refer to the Essential Oils Desk Reference.

For the beginner or for people who have been buying other essential oil books, the 588 pages of this book can seem overwhelming at first. When I'm teaching people how to use it, I divide it into five main sections.
1. Introduction
2. Essential Oils and Essential Oil Products
3. Education
4. Health Issues and Essential Oil Recommendations
5. Appendices and Index
Most people use parts 2 and 4 most.

The quickest way to get started is to begin with the index and look for the essential oil or health issue that interests you. If multiple pages are given, look first for the page listed in bold.

People of all ages are using this valuable book. I know teenagers, moms, and even people in their 80s who refer to the EDR on a regular basis.

The EDR is based on the assumption that you are using therapeutic grade essential oils, so please do not try some of its recommendation unless the oils you are using are at least AFNOR or ISO certified. Therapeutic grade essential oils are ideal. If you are using essential oils that merely have "pure" on the label, you're doing so at your own risk.

I keep my hardcover edition of the EDR within reach in my office and the smaller spiral-bound edition in my briefcase. At the time of this writing, Amazon does not yet carry the smaller version of the new 4th edition, but they probably will very soon.

Here's the bottom line: In this single volume, you will find almost everything you want to know about safely using essential oils for yourself and those you care about most.

You also need the 3rd edition for the cancer protocols
This book is an essential Essential Oils reference.

Beware, however, that the 4th edition has dropped the cancer protocols that were in the 3rd edition (possibly due to government pressure).

The 4th edition does contain some updated information, especially in the areas of the newer blends of oils and newer products. It also has more illustrations in color.

But you also need the 3rd edition in order to have a complete reference.

just a few little inconsistencies
This is a very good detailed reference book for the use of therapeutic grade essential oils. It has information you won't get from the manufacturers of essential oils who are trying to steer clear of the FDA. However, there are some inconsistencies. There is a list of medical properties and then a list of what the oil is used for. The association between the medical properties and uses is rather vague at times. For instance, Cassia is listed as being anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-coagulant, but first on the list of uses is cataracts??? Also, wintergreen oil is recommended to not be used internally, but is in several products that are used internally. I have yet to find a safety warning about the overuse of methyl salicylate, so while this is a good reference it is incomplete.