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Confused about which skin care products to buy? Baffled as to what ingredients you’re plastering on your face, hair, and body? Stephanie Tourles, licensed esthetician and holistic skin care specialist, shows consumers how to achieve the best results for their individual needs through the use of natural products and healthy lifestyle choices in her book, Organic Body Care Recipes.
Tourles explains in detail the structure of skin, nails, and hair, as well as characteristics of dry, normal, oily, mature, and environmentally damaged skin, and the needs of each. Her recipes address which skin or hair type they’re recommended for—and she addresses that fact that, yes, many of us fall into multiple categories.
Though the book contains 175 homemade recipes, I found most to be too expensive to make. I was excited about preparing a simple formula for manual microdermabrasion—until I priced helichrysum essential oil. Many of the ingredients are also not readily available, though Tourles does include an index of suppliers where you can order online. There is a Suds-Free Herbal Hair Wash that I was looking forward to trying. Unfortunately I couldn’t find powdered bhringarah or brahmi, two of the components needed. However, there are still quite a few recipes that use simple ingredients such as ground oatmeal, powdered milk, and baking soda. Tourles also lists possible substitutions for certain essential oils and includes a dictionary of ingredients. You can go through the listing and put together your own homemade facial and body treatments instead of following her formulas. I wish that there were more substitutions included, though.
For those who are inclined to create the more elaborate recipes, she also includes creative gift and packaging ideas in each section, whether it be a facial scrub or toner, body powder, hand and nail treatment, or a multitude of other products.
Organic Body Care Recipes is a very comprehensive beauty care book that I recommend, even with the above limitations. If you still plan on purchasing commercially-prepared products, you’ll learn what to look for, and thus you’ll become a more educated consumer. For example, I learned that I personally should avoid facial steam treatments. You’ll also learn other beauty tips—like how exfoliating your lips with water and baking soda will make them look and feel healthier.
When I feel ambitious, I plan to make the Sensual Cinnamon Love Balm that can also be used as a lip balm and foot cream. Also, a more elaborate recipe that’s included in the same section is Aphrodite’s Lucky-In-Love Liqueur. Luckily, ingredients are readily available for both. The descriptions are just too tempting to resist.
