Product Description

Neal's Yard Remedies, the well-known natural health and beauty chain, is experienced in making products that are simple, natural and practical, and which do not contain industrial chemicals. "Recipes for Natural Beauty" contains over 90 recipes to make at home, together with health hints and a comprehensive glossary of commercial ingredients. For anyone who wants to manufacture their own toiletries and cosmetics, this book is the perfect companion. Originally published in 1997 and since completely revised and redesigned, it is now well-established in its field.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #341605 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

Customer Reviews

Overall a thoroughly enjoyable book...
I've really enjoyed reading and making some of the recipes in this book. All the information you need is layed out clearly. The book includes information on how to make tinctures, decoctions etc. There is also a good glossary for any questions and lots of recipes - the sections include hair, skin, eye, mouth & ear, hand, foot and body. It might end up costing you a bit in ingredients since you'll probably want to make most of the recipies in here.

An excellent resource
This book is a little gem, for both beginners and experienced home beauty-crafters alike. Out of all the herbals and natural beauty books that I own (and I have a truckload) I find myself referring most to this one and "Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal".

Recipes are simple, and are explained clearly, with many photographs. One thing I particularly like is that there are recipes for products to be used immediately, like an avocado face mask, or things that will keep for up to six months, like the mandarin lip balm. The ingredients are not esoteric (unlike those called for in some books) and the recipes themselves are clearly categorized and easily accessible. All in all, a worthy purchase if you want to create some of your own scrumptious beauty treats.

More health care than recipes
I bought this book hoping to find a good selection of recipes for natural toiletries, although there are many recipes in here for various parts of the body there aren't enough within each particular section to be able to find something that suits your needs. Recipes for natural beauty discusses some of the methods used in making natural beauty products, particularly how to use essential oils and herbs, however the book it's is more of a guide on beauty discussing why our skin may become damaged and what you can do to improve skin using natural remedies.
The book is very heavy on the use of essential oils, which are used in most of the recpes that means many of these recipes you could conjure up yourself quite easily without having to buy a book to assist you. The most noticeable feature of the recipies in this book are that they are heavy on use of essential oils that could prove pricey, more so as the book doesn't really discuss the harmful effects of these oils, simply mentioned them in the glossary near the end of the book.
I think this book is less of a guide to making your own beauty products and more a guide on the uses of essential oils on the body, as such it should be marketed as a book on essential oils rather than on making cosmetics, it did not really aid me in making my own toiletries although it does serve as a relatively basic guide on use of essential oils in toiletries.