The Best Natural Homemade Skin and Hair Care Products: 175 Recipes for Creams, Balms, Shampoos and More

by Mar Gómez

Health-enhancing oils from around the world form the base for all natural cosmetics. With these easy-to-follow recipes and widely available natural ingredients, creating effective, soothing and above all natural creams, balms, face and body oils, exfoliating scrubs, shampoos, shower and bath gels and lip balms is easier than ever. Mar Gomez features really lovely oils such as monoi oil (a coconut and flower oil that is a staple in beauty and skin regimens in Tahiti), soy oil, nut oils (such as macadamia, almond and peanut), seed oils (such as sesame, hemp, pumpkin seed and flax) and some really beautiful exotic natural oils such as piqui, andiroba, prickly pear seed, tamanu and argan. All these oils have wonderful skin-care properties, and there are specific formulas for all sorts of skin conditions, from dry to oily, from acne-prone to wrinkled, from young to old. Each formula is very easy to make and only requires normal kitchen equipment and a good scale. There are formulas for anti-aging creams, firming recipes to fight against cellulite, freckle- and spot-removing oil, moisturizing facial wrinkle cream, anti-dandruff shampoos and many others. Making luxurious, heavenly-smelling homemade cosmetics is surprisingly simple and satisfying with this book.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 2015

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good book for a beginner. The author divides the recipes up into categories of the base oils, and gives an introduction for each going over the benefits of each. She touches on the other ingredients as well and what role they each fill. I guess I was a little disappointed, because some of the ingredients are still ones that are harder to find or have to bought from special stores, and I guess when I picked up the 'Natural Homemade' I was hoping to find recipes using more common ingredients. Still, if you're interested in this field, I think this is a good read - she offers quite a variety of recipes that touch on: simple moisturizing, acne, cellulite, lotions for sensitive skin, healing muscle strains and bruises, or simply for relaxation or energizing your mornings.

[Rebekka Steg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Suggests using citric acid or ascorbic as a preservative, which is dangerous. Both of those can help make a preservative work better, but can't on their own preserve a product, so this is dangerous. In addition the author lists them in "pinches" and doesn't specify how much that is. When making cosmetics all ingredients should be weighed, especially the preservative.

[Corinnagoodwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is amazing on how it is laid out, Simple and, Easy.
It makes me want to learn more about "black cumin" which I have never heard of but looks awesome.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea of making products from the scratch so this book caught my eye.

This book starts with the basics ... instructions on how to make and store creams, ointments, oils, shampoos and gels,

Then come the recipes under the headings of the oils ... flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil, grapeseed oil, hemp seed oil, shea butter, etc. The first page of each section describes what the oil is, its history and its benefits. Included with the recipes are:

* What it's best for (example - oily skin)
* Tips (example - apply in a circular motion)
* Notes (example - exact measurements are important when making skin and hair care products)
* Any cautions (example - don't use rosemary essential oil if you have high blood pressure or epilepsy)

Here's a recipe from the book if you have dry hair. Mix 1oz/30grams of hemp seed oil and 10 drops of tea tree essential oil into a small glass bottle and seal tightly. Shake to combine. Soak a cotton ball with this mixture and apply from roots to ends. Wrap your hair up in a towel and let stand for two hours, then wash as usual.

There are lots of beautiful full colour pictures throughout the book and the book is easy to follow.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2015/07...

[lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Each chapter was about one exotic base oil and recipes to make with that oil. The recipes were all overly complicated, all having about 15 ingredients. No one has the time or money to gather up all that stuff just to make a simple lotion that could be made with 4 ingredients.

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed browsing this book's recipes. A lot of ones for oily skin, several for oily hair, but it didn't many recipes for psoriasis. I look forward to trying a home remedy for winter dandruff, though!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

liked the recipes and the hints. hope to make some of these

[Natashya KitchenPuppies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love being able to make my own beauty products.

See my full review here - http://livinginthekitchenwithpuppies....