Review of Donna Maria’s “Making Aromatherapy Creams & Lotions- 101 Natural Formulas to Revitalize & Nourish Your Skin” -CONT-

The “exquisite aromatics” section and chart almost tempted me into buying just about everything listed, including the precious absolutes of Osmanthus, Carnation, Mimosa and Narcissus. (Then I realized these cost prohibitive lovelies wouldn’t pay my bills.)

The section on complementary materials includes profiles of 37 carrier oils used for skincare and aromatherapy purposes. It’s nice to see the Latin names for each one as well as general guidelines on how much to add to base blends. (I find myself referring to this section often.) She also offers information on optional natural ingredients meant to enhance your blends such as water-type botanicals/herbal infusions, along with natural colorants to replace synthetics.

There’s an entire chapter devoted to the skin and how to care for it where she explains how to perform a skin patch test and suggests researching essential oils before using them on the skin. (Wise words that all essential oil newbies should take to heart!) She also offers a chart with a dozen hydrosols to use as facial toners based on specific skin types and skin conditions.

Now we move on the fun stuff- how to actually make creams and lotions, along with a list of the equipment needed. (Thankfully there really aren’t any special items required outside of a scale). The descriptions of various emulsions and emulsifying agents were particularly interesting since they helped me understand what the ingredients of my natural skincare products are and why they’re included.

While I can understand the reasoning behind the choice to keep the ingredients completely natural, I have to admit I’m more than a bit put off by the complete omission of preservatives in the formulas (Donna Maria doesn’t recommend them at all because they’re synthetic).

An expert friend mentioned that omitting details about preservatives is a horrible gap in the information offered. Apparently there are many types of dangerous bacteria that can easily get started in homemade toiletries that aren’t visible to the naked eye, especially when working with water-type or water-based ingredients. If you’re interested in following some of these recipes, then this issue is absolutely worth checking into further.

The last half of the book is devoted to blends and formulas for just about any beauty purpose you can imagine. Lovely creams, balms, pomades, butters, elixirs, serums, masks, cleansers, scrubs and lotions, to name a few… most of which were interesting and inspiring to this homemade beauty products neophyte. (Almost like stepping into another world.) And for those interested in slathering themselves silly with things like cream cheese and tangerines, she also includes a section on how to use ingredients and foods that are commonly found in our kitchens as beauty treatments.

This book is utterly enchanting, but it isn’t going to be practical for everyone. I’d recommend it to aromatherapy enthusiasts interested in branching out beyond therapeutic/emotional uses of essential oils, along with anyone toying with the idea of making homemade beauty products for personal use.  

Stacey Miller is a certified aromatherapist through the Australasian College of Herbal Studies who is currently enrolled in an advanced clinical aromatherapy course taught by Martin Watt. She’s a confirmed bibliophile and aromatherapy conference fiend who lives in San Diego. Email her at stacey612@yahoo.com 

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