Plant-Powered Beauty

Very intensive cookbook for making mainly plant-based skin care products for face and body, hair care products and other cosmetics.

The recipes are sometimes easy, but mostly pretty intricate, and sometimes even intimidating. This is for someone who is going all-in on making their own cosmetics, not really for the dabbler.

The thoroughness continues in the six pages of notes, very complete glossary, and resource list (for sourcing your ingredients).

Perfect for the person who makes homemade versions of everything!

This book is the end all, be all of personal beauty. Anything you want to know about essential oils, herbs, ingredients, lotions, and really anything that you put on your skin, is in this book. It's really an encyclopedia of knowledge and includes also great recipes for anything that you'd buy at Lush or a favorite beauty-seller. As a librarian I admit, it's a book that you first check out from the library, and then purchase for your home collection.

What a helpful book! I came across this at the best time as I've recently been considering making my own cosmetics to have more control over what goes in them (and maybe save some money). The beginning half of the book instructs on how to read the ingredient lists of mass produced cosmetics and gives descriptions of the natural ingredients that can be used (oils, clays, infusions, etc) which is great for someone who isn't too familiar with natural cosmetics. The book also contains a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves regarding equipment - I was pleasantly surprised to find I have quite a few of the must-haves. The latter part of the book contains recipes to try. They are pretty straight forward and I've had good results with the face masks. I'll be branching out after a trip to our local natural foods store. The recipe index at the make is a great feature, making it easy to find exactly what you need. I highly suggest this book if you're looking for guidance on making your own body products.

An absolutely beautiful, informative book. Can't wait to add a physical copy to my shelf.

WOW this book is thorough! I have some experience with making my own skincare, but even I was not aware at exactly how many carrier oils there were...seriously...if you ever wanted to know all the various natural things that can be used in skincare this is a good guide and one I want a hard copy of once it is in print. This book definitely focuses on the how to and ingredients than the specific recipes, which is fine by me since I would want this book as more of a reference than a 'cookbook' style book.

The pictures are beautiful and the instructions clear, this is such a good resource!

I've become more conscious of what is in the products I use, so was really excited to see a book showed a multitude of ways to use and create plant-based beauty products. Plant-Powered Beauty is extremely detailed and informative. Not only does it go into what each ingredient is and what they do, it also gives recipes for you to try at home.

Highly recommend for anyone who cares about the products they use and for those interested in discovering a possible new hobby.

'Plan Powered Beaty' is a perfect book for people who avoid artificial beauty products and want to lead a conscious lifestyle using what nature gave us. The book has over 50 DIY recipes that will help you create lots of beauty and wellness products which apart from being environmentally friendly are also vegan. I'm really looking forward to making my own beauty products!

Very informative book about creating your own beauty products using natural ingredients. The recipes are extremely easy to follow. I already had an interest in essential oils and diy beauty so I would definitely buy this book. It’s a great tool for beginners.

Plant-Powered Beauty by Amy Galper; Christina Daigneault is a lovely and informative read that I will go back to again and again. Full of insightful information. I love the recipes in this book and have used many of them

If you are looking to improve your beauty treatments, and want to know exactly what is going onto your skin and body, this is a great reference book to add to your library. Plant-Powered Beauty is written by Amy Galper and Christina Daigneault and this will be the type of resource that can help you grow into your love for working with natural ingredients. The photography included in this book is stunning, and it gets you so excited to use the natural options that they introduce to us.

Ingredient Charts
One of the most helpful things in this book are the Beauty Ingredient Charts which include information on things such as; carrier oils, herbal infusions, butters, clays, exfoliants, herbs and spices and more. Each chart contains full 2 page spreads and tells you all the important information that you need to know. I am still in the beginning levels of making natural products, and the way that the information is presented is easy to understand and arranged in alphabetical order so a particular item is very easy to find. What I am even more excited about is that there is a lot of room to grow with this book, and as I progress in skill level I will still be using this as a go-to guide!

Beauty Tips
Another great feature of this book are special pull outs for a Beauty Tip! arranged throughout the book. These include tips for how to use products, suggestions on selecting the right ingredients, the benefits of the ingredients, and even historical references. Look for these tips shown off by pretty purple corner graphics. I have already learned so much just by reading these quick tips.

Recipes
Of course the highlight of the book is the section of recipes which include more that 50 plant-powered beauty options with easy to understand instructions. As I looked through the recipes I found a lot of variety in skill level and ingredients needed. So I looked for a good for recipe for me, which would use ingredients that I could easily get at my grocery store. I am already a huge fan of using essential oils, so when I found the recipe Fresh Anti-Inflammatory and Brightening Facial Mask and it needed just strawberries, honey and German chamomile essential oil I knew that I had found my first plant-powered beauty recipe to try. It took less that 5 minutes to make and it was so fun to put on. I am already getting started on the herbs I want to grow this summer, so I'll be including lavender, chamomile and mint so I can try out the recipe Fresh Herb and Flower Facial Steam (I can't wait!). There are recipes for so many beauty options; cleansers, masks, scrubs, moisturizers, lips balms, gels, even a makeup remover. I think I'll have a lot of fun in the upcoming months trying out these recipes.

This book is a great resource for anyone who wants to improve their beauty routine and feel confident about what exactly is being used in each and every recipe. I hope you enjoy this naturopathy resource for years to come.

This is positively lovely- chock full of information about skincare, how it works, what goes into it and most importantly, how to make your own. I already have an interest in medicinal herbs so this was a beautiful addition to my collection and introduced me to some deeper thinking, particularly about essential oils, blends and the effect of certain ingredients on the skin. Perfect for anyone with even a mild interest in this area!

Wow! The pictures are beautiful and the ideas are delightful. There are major details about plant-powered beauty in this book. Whatever you want to know, need to know and didn't know you need to know about the subject is included. It is a perfect guide! You will learn so much and have many options of what you want to do or make. Tips are helpful and everything in this book is useful.

I've read a few all-natural beauty books and this is one of the best so far. I like how it explains "How the skin works" since that's not something we think of in general. It's not an overall science-y book (yay!) and breaks down how to take care of different skin types (I focused on the dry, aging, and mature skin type) and the difference in extraction of plants. This is a great resource book that I'd need to revisit on occasion since it has so much information!

If anyone is looking for a book that is a simple, comprehensible guideline about natural ingredients for your body and health, this is what you should add to your collection! This book is perfect for any beginners wanting to get into natural and organic health products. There are recipes, tips, and guidelines about products most people don't think twice about when buying certain products. I love how precise the information is and I would recommend this to anyone wanting to make better choices in cosmetics. I will be adding this to my collection!

I love how they expose ingredient lists on everyday products. Our skin and overall health is so important and I'm glad that people are banding together to make healthier decisions. #Imhereforit

Thank you NetGalley and BenBella Books for letting me read this book! ♥♥

Plant-Powered Luxury:

Have you ever been pampered in a natural beauty spa, enveloped by the beautiful scents of carefully selected essential oil blends? This is what you can recreate in your home by using the recipes in this book. I have been interested in aromatherapy and making my own skin care products for over 30 years and I can say that this book is a gem. The authors use only the best ingredients in their formulations that turn out very luxurious products. For example, yesterday I made the Moisturizing Body Oil for Super Dry Skin and it feels and smells fabulous. I applied the oil after a shower this morning and it absorbed into the skin quickly and smelled amazing. Now, after a whole day, my skin still feels silky soft. All recipes are listed by volume (tablespoons, teaspoons, drops), which makes measuring very easy. There is really no need to measure more precisely. Do not believe you cannot afford all the fancy ingredients used in this book. It is not a big deal to start out with a few high quality ingredients and build from there. Also,if you do not have a particular ingredient at hand, the informational ingredient charts make it easy to switch out ingredients that have similar properties. I am happy I found a couple of oils and botanical ingredients that I have not tried yet and cannot wait to use them in my own body products. I also like that the authors recommend to the readers to use their own intuition and come up with their own recipes. Amy Galper and Christina Daigneault truly are experts in their field who have put a lot of thought into their formulations. For me, there is something deeply satisfying about making my own beauty products. I like this book so much that I bought the kindle version of it although I have already received a free electronic copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. In my opinion this book deserves 10 stars. Go and buy this book! You will not regret it!

Incredibly detailed and very helpful! Well formulated recipes, focused on sanitation and proper use, and gave a lot of very informative charts on ingredients. For a person who suffers from side effects to chemicals from pretty much every beauty products ,like myself, this book is a little treasure.

There are a lot of people out there who are doing research into what all consumers consume at any given time. It is for those people who make a conscious effort to keep an eye on what goes into the products on their shelf.This book is like that big encyclopedia that used to be an investment (at least that was the case at my home) which was to be brought down from the shelf to give a detailed answer to what we wanted to know before Google came. This is a very extensive book. It has possibly all the information one would ever need to curate completely natural and homemade beauty products. By beauty products, I do not mean makeup but cleaning, cleaning and probably cheering as well. It looks like a very involved process to get the end results and I would assume someone with a strong will, and a big kitchen, time and interest would devour the book.

It is a very well presented book of all the exhaustive information(with some very nice pictures) we could ever want in terms of plant powered products.I really enjoyed the content, and maybe, just maybe I can rouse myself to try out a couple of the recipes.

The first half of this book really lay out terminology and what all the various words on products mean. It de-mystifies the list of ingredients on the back label. They discuss the differences in processing plants (cold-pressed, enfleurage) and even goes in depth about the layers of your skin, what they do, and what you may wish to achieve by making your own beauty products. Their essential oil section is inspired. They go through what part of the plant is used for normal oil production, method of extraction, and therapeutic actions. They cover similar categories for wax, butters, clays, exfoliants, oils, etc. Pretty much a dictionary for anything you’d want to put into your products (that’s natural).

The second half of this book is the recipes. It covers cleansers, masks, scrubs, moisturizers, and treatments. It is a really fun and inspired book that really gives all the information about questions I’ve asked, and then even delves into questions I never thought to ask. The recipes are fun, but I will say this is an educational read and I may never even get into the making! But a fun read.

Having dabbled in the art of making salves and skin care products since my childhood, learning about herbs and essential oils at my grandmother's kitchen table, I was sceptical when I opened this book.

Then I was surprised at the detailed information the book contains. From learning about what the label of your store bought beauty product contains, to what properties a wide range of natural ingredients have, to which ingredients and materials to use in your own, home made beauty products, and how to avoid germ contamination in your kitchen.

This book introduces the art of making your own skin care products to the novice "kitchen apothecary", as well as contains information for experienced crafters in this field.

This book gave a lot of detailed information and helpful hints as well as how to do information. I loved the thoroughness.

Plant-Powered Beauty by Galper and Daigneault is your handbook to beautiful skin without the harsh chemicals and byproducts you may find in drugstores and expensive makeup shops. This book teaches you how to make your own masks, serums, cleansers, moisturizers, and much more using the powerful benefits of natural ingredients. Best of all, you can do it yourself from home!

Included are over 50 recipes for you to try that are for your skin, hair and scalp! It is also a great resource guide to essential oils. Especially if you are a newbie like me, who doesn't know the benefits of each type of oil. Along with beautiful photos and detailed instructions, this is the perfect handbook for all your natural skincare needs.

Plant-Powered Beauty is a beautiful book. It's aesthetically pleasing like every Pinterest board you follow, every Instagram you wish was yours. However, unlike Pinterest and Instagram, Plant-Powered Beauty is jam packed with interesting and verified information. Their list of sources is long and strong, and their recipes tried and true.

The introduction to their book alone taught me more than I ever thought I needed to know about reading beauty labels. Once inside, I focused most of my intentions on the synergy oil recipes, because they were so methodical in their translation. I feel truly empowered by this book to make my own oil synergies and experiment with topical skin care potions and serums. I'm a total dummy when it comes to DIY, so their charts and step-by-steps made it so easy to believe I can do this on my own.

Great book There's a lot of recipes for skin, hair, and body using natural ingredients. The authors have really done their homework. The recipes look easy to do. All the things you need including tools are listed. I think it's a wonderful look for all those who want a natural, fresh beauty regimen. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation otherwise.

Great book with really clean and effective recipes. I love knowing what goes into the products I use and this way, I actually pick all of the ingredients myself. Excellent book for anyone needing a comprehensive book of everything you need to know about making your own beauty products.

I received a ARC of this book for review . My opinion is my own.
I have been using natural homemade skin care for many years with natural ingredients. I was thrilled to receive this book for review but found it does not transfer well to PDF and I was unable to read most of it. What I was able to read was informative and helpful . I appreciate the information on the various carrier oils and how to incorporate low price ingredients into our home beauty products.
Once you begin making your own products you will never go back to using chemical based drugstore products. This is a great guide for a beginner as well as someone like me that has been making their own face products. i found it well researched and full of useful information as well as recipes.
I do recommend buying this book as it does not transfer well to PDF and does not work on Kindle. It is a book to keep in your personal library so you may refer to the recipes .

If you love a higher end beauty regime, cooking and are nerdy enough to enjoy an indepth exploration of the why as well as the how, Plant-Powered Beauty is amazing! I was excited that this wasn't just an introductory book with simple avocado facial masks but a book with advanced methods and recipes that require reading, planning and are definitely not cheap to make but are more affordable than some of the commercial versions of what the book offers.


I received the book through Netgalley and don't love this style of book in a digital edition because I did find myself having to click back and forth to read the reference tables on ingredients. Based on this and because of the reference nature of the book I would recommend the physical edition because the book is amazing but suited more to a physical copy.

You’d almost think I was on a DIY trip, the way I’m reviewing two beauty guides in a row! This is actually rather serendipitous; I’d requested both, just in case I didn’t get approved for one, and ended up with both. As it turns out, they complement each other rather well. So let’s not dilly-dally any further and get on with the post!

“Plant-Powered Beauty” is an amazing, in-depth resource for anyone wishing to learn the behind-the-scenes science of creating not only your own beauty products, but your very own recipes. Ms Galper and Ms Daigneault, certified aromatherapists, spend the better half of the three hundred-odd pages of this book giving you all the tools you will ever need to do exactly that. As you would expect, you begin by examining the skin. What is it, what does it do, and how does it do it? You’ll learn all about components of skin care, how to combine them in which format to arrive at a desired result, and you will find out how to prepare and store your recipes to get the most out of them. When I said ‘the better part,’ I was not kidding. Part 1 of the book ends roughly in the middle of it, but all throughout this first, as well as the remaining, half you’ll see info boxes and whole pages with additional information inserted. You are in good hands here! One little quibble I have is with the section “Nice to have equipment”: in a setting where hygiene is of the utmost important, bottle brushes are not a pleasant afterthought but essential. They are dirt cheap, too, so there is no reason at all not to add them to your at-home beauty laboratory.

Part 2 begins on page 153. This is where you can begin making products with some 50 recipes, from face cream and body butter to hair treatments (including pomade, although fans of a certain film are left in the dark how this compares to Dapper Dan), deodorant, mouthwash, bug spray, pain relief gel, and massage oil. There is quite a variety! I particularly love the final recipe section, Mind-Body Care, which includes aromatherapy bath tea bags, various salves, roll-ons, and even inhalers for those moments when you’re desperate for some serenity. Please note that some recipes call for honey or beeswax, although there is a discussion on how to substitute different plant-derived waxes, at least. One thing I found a bit odd was the fact that the introductory notes to the recipes come after the list of equipment and ingredients needed. I prefer the actual recipe body to be as uncluttered as possible, but I realize not everyone cares.

Finally, there is a fairly extensive resources list, lots of notes referred to in the text, a glossary, an index, and a separate recipe index (super helpful!). If you want to develop your own body care recipes, this is definitely the guide for you. Do realize, though, that because you’ll possibly be making your own herbal infusions and other vital parts of your recipes, you will need to plan ahead, possibly even months ahead. If you’re just looking for some quick ideas you can whip up for an impromptu spa day, you would be better off with the book from my previous review.

“Plant-Powered Beauty” is published by BenBella Books. I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

This is a great book. The authors really know their stuff, and they walk the reader through every step of the process. There are incredibly detailed sections on each ingredient that goes into the recipes, such as the differences between various butters, grains, fruits and vegetables, carrier oils, clays, waxes, essential oils and herbs and spices. There is a section with essential oil synergies for various skin care needs, which are then added as needed to the diy projects. The book has a great section on ensuring that your workspace is sanitary and each project has an expriration date. I actually tried out one of the recipes,the Dreamsicle Whipped Body Butter and it is to die for. The smell is intoxicating and the texture is perfect. I also want to try the lotion bars, herb and flower facial steam and blemish gel. There are tutorials for making your own powders from dehydrated fruits, making infused oils and making homemade almond milk. This is truly an amazing book with so much information.
I was given an advance reader copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book, as I've always been interested in aromatherapy and in making homemade beauty products. This is a great guide to use to make your own products, or be more educated when purchasing store products. I'm especially excited about the body butters. Those looked so sumptuous!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from BenBella Books for my unbiased opinion of the book. I fell in love with this book! This is just what I have been looking for to solve my skin issues. I have very sensitive skin. I have been trying to get away from processed foods and all-natural ingredients from the food I eat and my skincare. I tried the Fresh Anti-Inflammatory and Brightening Facial Mask, Balancing Facial Scrub, and Sensitive Body Cleanser. I cannot wait to try all the recipes. The products that are mass marketed are full of so much stuff this book will help me get away from all of that!!! Anyone trying to live a less processed life when it comes to your beauty products this book is for you!

I’ve read many plant based books, but none like this one. Very interesting, informative, easy reading and a great reference book. Definitely a book I can read over and over.
The authors put a lot of time into making this a great book. Loved the format, illustrations and inspiration. I can’t wait to get some of the ingredients and get started on the road to healthy, plant based beauty...

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PLANT-POWERED BEAUTY is a comprehensive guide for using natural ingredients to make plant-based skincare and beauty products. Includes more than 50 easy-to-follow recipes to concoct such homemade goodies as Almond Milk Face Cleanser, Choc-o-Mint Lip Balm, Vitamin-Rich Hair Boost Scalp Serum, and Quick & Fresh Cucumber-Thyme Body Scrub.

Chock full of tips and guidance from two seasoned aromatherapists and natural beauty experts, this wise guide shows readers how to make sense of beauty labels and ingredients, while helping them make more informed decisions about the products they already use.

PLANT-POWERED BEAUTY is a beauty itself as it returns us to a more natural beauty stance based on plant-based healthy selections. 5/5

Pub Date 06 Mar 2018

Thanks to BenBella Books and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are fully mine.

#Plant-poweredBeauty #NetGalley