This book presents the sciences of aromatherapy and Ayurveda in a format intended for use by Westerners. It includes a questionnaire to determine the Ayurvedic type--vata, pitta, or kapha--as well as descriptions of oils and recipes for their use.

Dr. Valnet is perhaps the father of modern aromatherapy. He spent more than 30 years investigating and applying his research on plant essences to medicine. He makes an impassioned plea for curtailing our use of dangerous chemical therapies and antibiotics and goes on to document through case histories and scientific explanations how the vital power of plant medicine can be used to prevent and treat disease.

This book was the first to focus on the profound spiritual and psychological benefit of essential oils. Building on the link between fragrance and mood, it enables the user to discover the ways to alleviate tension, anxiety, and depression through aromatherapy.

This book is beautifully illustrated and constitutes a nice introduction to aromatherapy and its relevance to modern life. While it offers a visual profile of 65 oils, it is actually organized by condition so that one can zero in on the use of oils for beauty and skin care or earaches or headaches. The safety guidelines are clear as are the instructions for use.

Wanda Sellar

Each oil is extensively categorized. There are descriptions of the aroma, chemical constituents, and properties of the oils along with a brief history and precautions for use. There is a glossary and blending chart for making products.

This book is absolutely beautiful! It takes one around the world, our precious planet, through gorgeous pictures of people and plants that stretch our sense of kinship with Nature. The photography is exquisite, just amazing, and portraits of the herbs inspire a desire to bond with the plant kingdom and the traditions of botanical healing.

This book has lovely pictures of the plants in their native habitat as well as close-up photographs of the plant parts used in herbal medicine and vials of essential oils that show the colors of the various oils. It is beautifully designed and illustrated and includes safety data as well as information on how to use each oil.

The author has made aromatherapy easy to understand, fun to learn, and interesting to apply. It contains plenty for the mind and soul: safety guidelines, descriptions of oils and their uses, recipes, and sources for obtaining products.

Chrissie Wildwood

This forerunner paved the way for a deluge of knock offs of the original classic encyclopedia of aromatherapy. This book was first to organize a myriad of aesthetic, commercial, therapeutic, and botanical information into one gorgeously illustrated and beautifully presented work.