Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Over 600 Natural, Non-Toxic and Fragrant Recipes to Create Health - Beauty - a Safe Home Environment

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2 star:		(1)
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The first edition of this book came out in England in 1990 under the title The Fragrant Pharmacy. You only have to look at the contents and index to see it covers just about every aspect of aromatherapy, health and home. As a full-time professional aromatherapist it is my primary source of information, indeed, it is known "in the business" generally as "the bible of aromatherapy". I doubt there is an aromatherapist in the world who doesn't use this as their reference book, because it is profoundly practical - giving answers to questions you didn't think had any answers. Looking at the many books written after this, its clear where their ideas came from.
If you want practical advice, with detailed recipies and instructions, whether just for home use or professionally, this is the book you need. Every recipie that I have used from this book proved safe, and works, and I wouldn't say that about any other book on the market. I also know for a fact of several vets who routinely use the information in the animal chapter to beneficial effect. Check out her other titles, and you'll see this woman writes in depth - Fragrant Mind, Fragrant Heavens, Aromatherapy for the Healthy Child, Aromatherapy for the Beauty Therapist,and Aromantics (also known as Scents and Scentsuality). Worwood has done research on aromatherapy, and was once Chair of the Research Committee of the International Federation of Aromatherapists. She knows what she is talking about, having been a working clinical aromatherapist for years. In the aromatherapy world she has the highest respect because without her, well, what would there be ...?

I was first introduced to essential oils when I went for a massage. Soon lavender oil became one of my favorite oils. This book will help research these healing oils and find out which ones can benefit you. One thing you should think about is the source for your oils. Not all sources are created equal. For an excellent source for these health giving oils, look for Reference Guide for Essential Oils by Connie and Alan Higley. They have the best oils and have researched this subject extensively.

This book is a must have for any beginner aromatherapist. The content is arranged in a great way so that you can read cover to cover or simply the areas that pertain to your needs. I suggest cover to cover because there is a lot of good stuff in there. The instructions are very easy to follow and there is a wide range of ailments, conditions etc. that are included. I was mainly looking for new born baby related things and found a host of mixtures. I have tried a few of the recipes and they are great, my baby loves the baby massage blend.

Thanks Valerie for putting together this must have!

I have ordrered from Amazon all of the basic essential oils listed in this book and can't wait to start using them. I already had peppermint oil and have learned of several other uses for it.

The descriptions and uses of the essential oils is very complete in my opinion.
I only wish that the prescribed uses would involve a lower number of different essetial oils;seeing as the oils are very expensive.

I do like this book. I am using it as a reference to make different oil and essential oil mixtures for different conditions. I do wish the author would have stayed with more of the well-known and used essential oils. You do need numerous oils to make some of the recepies.I would recommend this book for a person with a big interest in Aroma Therapy and willing to spend the money to buy all the essential oils. All in all though a good book!

Easy to read, easy to follow, very fun making the recipes. I highly recommend this author. She knows her stuff and I will definately purchase her other books

I bought this book based on the good reviews of others on Amazon and while its not printed on nice paper it has hundreds of recipes - I highly recommend this book!

I agree with other reviewers that this book can be a bit complicated as sometimes you wonder if you use the mixtures as a massage oil, where to massage it, use it in a diffuser or on a cloth to inhale. But, all in all I liked the information provided.

I do not agree with the criticism that you need to buy hundreds of oils nor do I feel concern if she uses one particular oil too much ... I do not intend to use all the recipes as I do not suffer from every affliction listed in this book (and there are many), nor do you need to use every oil she suggests you use .. she offers many different recipe versions for different conditions, so pick the ones you want and avoid buying hundreds of oils :)

I do have a bit of a pet peeve when the listings in the index do not match the actual pages that the information is found on (not even close for many items in this edition of the book (1991) - I hope they fix it in the revisions)

"The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" by Valerie Ann Worwood is a must for every home! I simply love this book. In fact my copy is in great need of replacement from constant use. In 1997 I received a phone call from a man who wanted to know if I could develop a scent that would depict a particular subject to him. Then next thing I knew he was asking me to make some soap for him. A project I always wanted to do, but never ventured into. That led me to learning about soapmaking, which led me to learning about essential oils. Valerie's book was the first one I looked at and purchased along with 2 from Julia Lawless.
Because I knew nothing about essential oils, "The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" became my mainstay. Eventually, after learning more about essential oils, I ventured into the other books as well. Valerie's book makes learning about essential oils easy. Her book is easy to read, and easy for those like me who knew nothing at all, to learn and understand. This is an excellent book for beginners or those who are advanced in the art of essential oils as well.
"The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" will have those who like me had absolutely no knowledge of essential oils, using them in a matter of moments! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning what essential oils are and how to use them. Valerie goes into the usage for home, travel, emergency first aid, and the work place and gives formulas to make your own oils so you can put your newfound knowledge to work.