Essential Oils Handbook: All the Oils You Will Ever Need for Health, Vitality and Well-being

This is a beautiful, well-researched book. (Although it has 288 pages, it is small in size, so don't be alarmed when you get the package.) The book is divided into two parts: Part One: The Power of Essential Oils -- covers what they are and how they're produced, safe usage of them, basics on how to blend them, and how to use them (including massage, baths, inhalations, vaporizers, compresses). Part One takes up about 1/4 of the book. Part Two: A Guide to the Oils -- this section covers each oil in a little more detail. The oils are not arranged alphabetically as you'd expect, but are sorted into categories such as Muscle Treats (those best for muscles), Skin Enhancers (best for your skin), Easy Breathers, Warming Stimulants...ending with Uplifting Aromas. Each of these categories contains the profiles of 5 to 13 essential oils. For instance, the Warming Stimulants section contains info on these oils: cinnamon leaf, West Indian bay, cubeb seed, black pepper, and clove bud. Part Two takes up most of the book. Then on each oil profile page, there are these small sections: 1) a summary of how the oil is extracted, where it is produced, and notes about the scent 2) Safety First -- any safety concerns for that oil 3) Supporting the Spirit -- "this oil encourages creativity" or "this oil renews energy levels" 4) Easing the Mind -- "to calm irritability, use 4 drops of this oil in a warm bath" 5) Healing the Body -- "to clear sinusitis, try an inhalation of 2 drops laurel and 2 drops lemon" This book easily gets five stars for being an excellent resource for those new to working with essential oils. However, if you have years of experience working with essential oils and already create your own healing blends, I don't think this is the book for you. It's beautifully laid out, has a table of contents and an index so you can find what you're looking for -- it just doesn't offer any new/detailed information. One thing I would have liked to have seen is a list of therapeutic properties for the oils (e.g., lavender has analgesic, antidepressant, antiseptic, and antiviral properties). I LOVE her Skin Mousse recipe in this book! It's perfect for sensitive skin.

What a handy resource to have! First of all, the size is small, but it's a well made small book. The pages are heavy weight & the cover is laminated. The font size is small, too, but it did not effect my ability to read it. I do have to wear readers to read anything these days as it stands! There are lots of photo images which I love! The page layouts are very attractive. You do have to open the book very wide in order to fully read everything. I am afraid that over continued use, this could effect the spine and the gluing. I did take a picture of the inside of the book so it can be seen. The information in the book is wonderful! There's an index which is very useful, too. There is also a Table of Contents so you can easily find the Essential Oil that you are looking for directly. The sections are color coded. If you are looking for information on using Essential Oils to help with breathing, then you go to the section called Easy Breathers. Then within that section, each 2 page layout is about a different Essential Oil and how to use it to help with breathing. Within each section, they are not in alphabetical order, which if they were, it might be more helpful. For each oil, there is safety information, recipes for blends using that oil, basic information on the plant it is derived from, and how to use it for spirit, mind, & body uses. I consider myself a beginner with Essential Oils and I find this guide book to be very thorough and helpful!

I am new to the world of aromatherapy and this book seems to be a good starter. It is not too wordy nor overwhelming. The author pretty much gets to the point which I really appreciate. She goes over the different carrier oils, the essential oils and has several suggestions for each, safety issues, and the different usages. I did not give it 5 stars because the book is small and the binding is tight, reading this book is somewhat uncomfortable to the hands . Also, if it had a little more detailed information on the oils, that would have been great. Otherwise, it's a good reference to keep on hand and great for beginners.

I'm so glad I added this book to my essential oils library. When I read that it was recommended by Robert Tisserand, I knew it would be a good one. Be aware that it is small in size....but really packed with information. As you can see in my photo, it is the size of my hand, but it's about an inch thick, so chunky. :) The author starts off with some basic information: what are essential oils; what oils can do; how are they produced; some good safety information; safety for pregnancy, babies, and children; some scientific information about how oils work in the body, and how to blend. She discusses carrier oils; how to make a mousse; how to give a massage; how to use oils in the bath, in inhalers, and in a compress. She then discusses 88 different essential oils. Each one has info how they can support the spirit, how they can ease the mind, and on how they can heal the body. Safety info on each oil. Then she includes 2 recipes to use each oil. (Each recipe includes only oils she discusses in the book...so you actually get more than 2 recipes that use each oil....they just may be on another page with a different oil....but can be located in the index). She uses low, safe dilutions. The oils are categorized by "Muscle Treats", "Skin Enhancers", "Easy Breathers", "Warming Stimulants", "Immune Boosters", "Hormone Harmonizers", "Nerve Relievers", "Digestive Soothers", and "Uplifting Aromas". So you can look up specific oils in the index, or you can just go to the section you need help with and browse the oils in that area. I might not recommend it for your very first book (I might recommend The Complete Aromatherapy and Essential Oils Handbook for Everyday Wellness by Purchon and Cantele for a first book), but I am very glad to have this on my bookshelf. This is a real review. I didn't get anything for it. I just really liked the book. :)

I'm not sure what I was expecting with this book but it's small. This book offers a great overview (in a nutshell) of all areas of essential oils and carrier oils. This would be a great beginner book but that's about all. If you are looking for a gift idea for someone new to essential oils, I would recommend purchasing a bottle of essential oil and attaching it to a copy of this book.

Great little book. I like books that are direct and to the point, this book is one of those. It gives you an overall leason on how to use the oils, what to use the oils with, and how to mix the oils together. Then it has each oil listed on an individual page, giving a discription of that oil, what they can be used for, along with what oil it can be mixed with. The book is small and will fit in most purses. I can take it with me into the store (where I shop for oils)that way I can read as I shop making sure that I am getting the correct items. The book also touches on the dangers of the essential oils, especially to children and expecting mothers. All in all this is a great book for beginners or people who have been using essential oils along time.

There were quite a few negative reviews on this book about the writing being too small, but I would recommend that you not rule it out. I would say it is at maybe a 9 font. Since most documents are written at a 10 font, I did not have a problem with it. Also, keeping in mind, this is a reference book, not a novel, and that I would only be looking things up here and there and reading for only a few minutes at a time, I didn't think it would be a problem. It has almost all my oils, many of their uses, and easy recipes to blend remedies for common ailments. It is a good book for anyone getting started with the basics of Essential oils.

This is a very, very informative, excellent book; I truly will use this for reference forever! The information is invaluable and in-depth, even more than I had imagined when I was considering this book for purchase, very concise and written very seriously to alert you to all possibilities when using essential oils. I did see the photo of the book as the woman is holding it in her hand (it looks small), however...I did not consider the fact that the print would be so VERY SMALL and it is in a very fine/thin font (the ONLY reason I rated it 4 stars and not 5). Being the age I am, I do have some vision issues (Walgreen Cheater Readers), nothing more serious than that. So, what I am trying to say is that if you have trouble reading fine, fine, tiny print...this may not be the book for you but it is worth squinting through to educate yourself on essential oils!

This book includes everything you need to know about the essential oils. History, Use, How to get the oils on your own or purchased. It is full of wonderful content that is very helpful to the individual that is into essential oils. It also has formulas for mixing the essential oils so you can get the best results from them. I have tried some of the bath formulas and they work wonderful to relax you.

Great little book and that was the first surprise. Somehow I expected a book about 10"x8" and it was literally a handbook the size of my palm! Don't be put off...the contents far outweigh the physical dimensions of this book. Written in easy flowing language (rather than some jargon or techno-speak)it covers everything from a comprehensive yet concise listing of each of the essential oils - their derivation, uses, benefits and suggested blends for various medical or psychological conditions as well as covering what is aromatherapy?, what aromatherapy can do, how essential oils are produced, how to use essential oils and the difference in the different carrier oils. Furthermore, the layout is enhanced by the use of lots of colour photographs which break up the text effectively. There is even a short section on massage with photos to help guide you and Jennie Harding does not forget to put in a chapter on safe usage since certain oils can produce undesirable effects. A very informative book for the layman,equipping you with enough knowledge to make the use of essential oils part of your daily life. Enjoy!

Fantastic!! Thankyou, received it, and the book is awesome!!

This book was recommendedn to me, it may be a small sized book but its easy to carry around with you, very cheap considering the amount of useful information in there, it's like a mini encyclopedia, and lots of extra useful tips on how to use the oils, which are listed in groups of what they are used for.

I got this book from the library at first. There is some great information in it which prompted me to buy it, even though I found the font too small. Imagine my surprise when I received a book even smaller than the one at the library, by a few inches. I will need a magnifying glass. It's a tight book to open as well. Good information, but bad planning on the publisher's part, even with progressive lenses. What were they thinking? Maybe some older, wiser folks should be on staff.