Review by Sharon –
If you’re looking for a well rounded book about all-natural beauty, I’ve found it. Simply stated, ‘The Holistic Beauty Book’ by Star Khechara will give you all of the basics you’ll need to understand the skin, create good health, and easily create your own all-natural beauty recipes.
Ms. Khechara begins by letting us know why we need to avoid the harmful chemicals typically found in today’s standard beauty products, and why we need to bring the fresh healthy ingredients into our lives. She explains the jargon that companies use to fool the public into thinking some products are natural, even though they are not. Then she lists which ingredients to avoid and why. She then goes on to explain what good terms to look for when shopping for truly natural beauty products. Her explanations are right in line with ours, and it’s a pleasure to read information that correlates with what we know to be true.
The next chapter is about essential oils, infused oils, and even teaches you how to make your own scented oils. But before the main bulk of the beauty recipes begin, the book delivers a factual chapter about the skin, how it works, as well as how products work with it. There are some wonderful no-nonsense health tips here. And we all know how beauty is directly related to our overall health, so this chapter makes good sense. And to send the message home further, the next chapter gives some wonderful food recipes that are chocked full of nutritious items. From ‘Breakfast in a Glass’ to ‘Sexy Ice Cream’, these are creative recipes that you’ll be sure to enjoy.
After you’ve learned the ‘whys’, next comes the ‘Potion-Making Basics’ in chapter 6. This is where we learn everything there is to know about preparing your formulas, including health and safety issues, the various types of ingredients you’ll be working with, the equipment you’ll need, and even what types of packaging you’ll want to have on hand.
Then we move along to everyone’s favorite part… the recipes! This book is so well organized as we go from ‘The Face’ to ‘The Body’ to ‘The Hair’ and move straight through to chapters like ‘Bathroom Bliss’, ‘Baby & The Bump’, ‘Chocolate Potions’ and end with ‘Love Potions’. Along the way there are exotic and unique recipes that you’ll thoroughly love!
You’ll enjoy reading this book. The author writes in a friendly and off-beat way that makes the flow of the book quite humorous at times. For example when she discusses the benefit of using a deodorant, as opposed to an antiperspirant, she says, “We should no more stop our bodies sweating than put a cork up our bottoms!”. What a visual! But the logic is there. Why would we want to stop our sweat glands from doing what they were designed to do?
The book ends with resources for suppliers and reading recommendations, as well as useful websites. With all of this information in one book, I know that you will want this one on your shelf. This would also be a great book to give someone that you want to turn on to the world of all-natural beauty care. It’s informative AND entertaining. And with recipes like ‘After Eight(ish) Chocolate Mint Scrub’, ‘Hair Guacamole’ and ‘Twinkle Toes Foot Scrub’… how can you go wrong?
Here’s what Chelsea Green Publishing has to say ~
The Holistic Beauty Book – Over 100 Natural Recipes for Gorgeous Healthy Skin
The how and why of making your own cosmetics.
Do you:
Worry about chemicals in your cosmetics?
Want to use only the very best, fresh, handmade holistic potions?
Want to use ethical and environmentally friendly products?
Have sensitive skin and need very pure potions?
DIY skin care is fun, easy, and empowering. The Holistic Beauty Book is packed with safe, 100 percent natural, organic, eco-friendly skin-care potions you can make at home that are gorgeous yet affordable.
Use vegan/vegetarian ingredients that are organic, local, and fairly traded.
Make plain base creams/ointments from scratch for herbal/aromatherapy use.
Stop using skin-damaging and environment-damaging chemicals.
Make wonderful soothing potions for pregnancy and baby care.
The author includes recipes for lip balms, face creams, body butters, massage bars, bath melts, scrubs, cleansers, baby care products, moisturizers, facial toners, masks and packs, and much more.
About the Author:
A holistic practitioner, Star Khechara teaches workshops on how to make your own 100-percent natural, earth-friendly skincare potions and offers skin-health consultations and a potionmaking service for those who want individual formulations. Her business, Flowr’d Up, is an ethical practice that focuses on sustainability and protecting the environment, actively supporting fair trade, organics, local growers, and reusing and recycling. She lives in the UK.
Price: $14.95 (at Amazon)
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
