As the owner of a home-based Bath and Body Products business, I am always on the look out for new recipes to try, adapt, etc. Although there are some fabulous sounding recipes in this book, the use of hydrosols, Sea Berry and Rose Hip Seed Co2 (had never heard of them before, ever) make them way too complicated and expensive for someone who just wants to learn how to put together some simple cosmetics at home. Some of the ingredients, waxes in particular, I'd never even heard of. Perhaps someone living in the U.S. would have an easier time acquiring the "exotics," but my excellent Canadian suppliers do not sell them. I also am not keen on her use of Borax in recipes as it can be a sensitizer for some people and there are gentler preservatives on the market one can use. I can't say I'm completely disappointed, but a strong word of caution to those thinking that they'll find easy "first timer" recipes in here -- they won't.

I've read dozens of books over the years that use the same types of natural ingredients. Donna Maria has uncovered and made available the newest aromatheraputic technologies for the home nuetricutical maker. Some folks have had trouble locating ingredients perhaps like CO2 extracts, hydrosols, and waxes. In the years since the book was first published, these ingredients flourish on the internet...there's not one I haven't been able to find. I'm so excited to have a new direction to experiment with for facial and body preparations.

The book is presented in several sections. The first section details useful essential oils and extracts(like Sea Buckthorn Berry), many nutritious plant oils(like Tamanu Oil), and finally emulsifying and thickening agents (like Vegatable Emulsifying Wax).

Then come the recipes. The first recipes are for creams and lotions. These recipes appear to be Donna Maria's favorite. The only trouble I had with the thickened creations was the addition of some not so natural emulsifying ingredients I would choose not use (such as Vegatable Emulsifying Wax). I would however use the beeswax formulas. Donna Maria states herself that "as much as the addition of these ingredients increase the aesthetic appeal of a product, it does nothing to treat the skin." Thus the next section:

Skin Elixers. Wonderfully nutritious aromatheraputic concoctions to feed your skin and psyche. These are the 50/50 oil and water recipes. How can you resist recipes like "Dry Skin Sundae" and "Dew Drop"? This is my favorite section, even though there were more recipes for dry skin than my oilier skin.

And as wonderful as the elixers are, there's more. The final section covers Aromatic Beauty Foods. The fruit-on-your-face kind of recipes with ingredients like Soapwort Root, Clays, EOs, Honey, Mango, Oats, Hydrosols...the list goes on.

This is my new favorite skin care recipe book... I like to try the newest ingredients that research is bearing out to be greatly beneficial for the skin. Even health-food store brands can't begin to touch the quality of these elixers. Be good to yourself and "Feed Your Skin".

This book is not for a novice. I have been making soap for family and friends and I have quite an array of fixed and essential oils but I find many of the key ingredients are hard to find or are very expensive. She uses absolutes, hydrosals, and expensive essential oils like roman chamomile.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money or are new to making homemade cosmetics, do not buy this book.

I don't understand how anyone interested in cosmetics wouldn't love this book. It was delightful, and so informative! It is so much better to make your own than buy the commercial products. Some ingredients in the book are difficult to find, but not impossible, and not really that expensive when you consider the cost compared to the quality.

My thanks to the author.

Donna Maria's book was fairly informative as to properties of various ingredients she uses in lotion making, but I concur with all other reviewers who said it was frustrating. The formulas in the book are made from obscure ingredients, most of which need to be purchased online, are very costly, or need bulk purchases. She measures everything in grams, which I can do, but with my old scale could not. I'm an experienced soapmaker for many years, and so I am very familiar with many of the ingredients and processes she uses. I was hoping for more information on preservatives ( a very hot topic when discussing "natural" cosmetics.). I also noticed, after making 4 creams from the book, that while she calls some of them lotions, every one I made was a very very thick cream. Nothing I could pump from a bottle. They felt nice, but not a lot of variety as to consistency.