Review: "Green Beauty Recipes" by Julie Gabriel

Overwhelmed by the sheer abundance of beauty products available in stores today? I know that I am- I've tried many, many different cleansers and beauty products in the past. For some reason I have yet to find one on the shelves that really works for me. Either the product is too harsh for my occasionally sensitive skin, or too mild for my occasional acne. Plus, when I'm looking for an organic skin care product, it's hard to tell which products are actually organic, and which ones just say that they are. According to Green Beauty Recipes, "Today, a company can call its products "natural," even if they contain only 0.01% of natural ingredients!" (page 2).

As a solution to this common dilemma, Julie Gabriel has put together Green Beauty Recipes, a book containing over 250 natural and organic beauty recipes. She offers insight into the process of creating organic beauty products, how to store them, and the best techniques to use them. The book includes sections on making your own cleansers, moisturizers, toners, facial masks, baby products, body products, sun care products, hair care, and even bath treatments! She even includes recipes for how to make products for the man in your life.

Julie Gabriel offers up not only recipes, but a wealth of information regarding the making of organic beauty products. She spends time explaining the basics of making organic beauty products at home, including how to sterilize your work area in an organic way, how to effectively package your product, and how to add organic preservatives if your products are being given as gifts or will be stored in a warm climate. Each section begins with information about the product and how best to use it, goes on to provide a multitude of recipes for products that will help you achieve the beauty goals that you want, and concludes with a list of very simple products that can be used on their own to provide results (ie. using sea salt as a body exfoliator, or using full-fat milk as a quickie facial cleanser).

I really enjoyed looking through the pages and pages of recipes, and marking the ones that I'm interested in trying. Some of the recipes require very specific organic ingredients, and some recipes can be made with the products that are commonly found in most household kitchens. Green Beauty Recipes can be useful in a variety of ways. I plan on trying some of these at home for my personal use, and I also plan on whipping up some of these to give as gifts at Christmas. Making several of them and putting them into pretty containers would make a great gift basket! These would also be fun to make at a girl's night in. Gather all of the recipe ingredients ahead of time, invite the girls over, and start making your own organic beauty products!

Green Beauty Recipes is available from Julie Gabriel's website, as well as Amazon.com. It will be making its way to local bookstores soon! Be sure to check back tomorrow, as I will be reviewing a product from Julie's organic beauty line, Petite Marie Organics, and I will be giving away a product from the line as well!

Recommended to: Those who are looking to make organic beauty products at home, both beginners and those with some experience
Challenges: 2010 100+ Reading Challenge, New Author Challenge 2010

Thank-you to the author for providing me with this review copy in exchange for my honest review.