2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really DOES use ingredients you actually have in your kitchen, Oct 18 2010
This review is from: EcoBeauty: Scrubs, Rubs, Masks, Rinses, and Bath Bombs for You and Your Friends (Paperback)
Again, we need the ability to give half stars, because this book should be a 4.5. (Jumping by 20% each time is just too much!)
So...yes. This book really does contain recipes that you'll be able to make the minute you receive the book, unlike many books of toiletry recipes. You can't make ALL of the recipes without a trip to the grocery or drugstore, but you'll be able to find *something* you're interested in that you can try right away. I was. I really like the 'No More Cottage Cheese Thighs' scrub (The stupid names are a drawback...there's no way I'm putting that on the jar label. Goofy and a waste of space. I found them a bit juvenile. But you can just choose your own name, it's not like it affects the use of the product!) All it is is 1 cup of coffee, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sea salt and a 1/2 cup of almond oil. (If you know about toiletry ingredients you can easily adjust the grind of the salt to be finer for sensitive skin, or the oil to be heavier or lighter for your skin type, but this particular recipe is pretty multipurpose, good for almost everybody.)
I hate the taste of coffee, but love the smell, so this is a wonderful thing to slather on the legs and butt (the gathering area for cellulite, which this targets through increased circulation and the toning effect of caffeine on the skin) in your morning shower.
There are lotions, creams, soaps, shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, bath bombs, deordorant, a natural nail polish...too many things for me to remember. Not all are totally from scratch. A few, like soap, rely on a purchased soap base, dressed up with natural additives so you can tailor the soap/shampoo/etc to your own hair/skin/etc. I think that's fine...this isn't meant to be an advanced book for people who want to make their own soap from scratch...a process that will require you to dedicate several hours of active attention (and then weeks of curing time, though that's just waiting.) That's not what I wanted from this book, so I wasn't unhappy that it was absent from it. If that IS what you want, don't buy this book...get one dedicated specifically to soap-making. (And good luck to you; I tried it once, and my soap REALLY didn't turn out.)
Not all of these recipes will be useful to any one person, but many recipes can be altered simply by swapping out one ingredient for another so that you can tailor the item to your needs (dry skin likes a heavy oil like olive, for example, whereas oily skin is better with something really light, like jojoba.)
Summary: I found this book fun and easy to use, and the recipes are generally pretty inexpensive to make...and you'll probably have enough of the necessary ingredients to make several of them immediately. If you would like to know more before buying, go to my profile...you can contact me through it to ask any question you like. I'm happy to answer...I always have this book out to be browsed through. :)
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