The Natural Beauty Workshop

The Natural Beauty Workshop is Featured in the New Publication: Business Technology

From Nature With Love and The Natural Beauty Workshop is featured within the new 258-page book, Business Technology: A Guide for Midsize and Small Business by Michael W. Johnson.

We're honored to be selected as the blog highlighted within the "Business Networking & Showcasing Through Blogs" section of the book:

I am still in the midst of reading through this informative book, and am already finding it to be a nice foundation for small businesses that want an introduction and fundamental grasp of the technologies and resources that can help within all areas of their business processes.

Business Technology: A Guide for Midsize and Small Business Author: Michael W. Johnson Publisher: WAIN Technologies LLC Copyright: 2009 ISBN: 0615299210 / 978-0615299211

A special thank you to author Michael W. Johnson for featuring the Natural Beauty Workshop. For more information about Business Technology: A Guide for Midsize and Small Business, please visit the book description on Amazon.com.

Facial Exercises for Natural Beauty

This video may seem a little funny, but Jack LaLanne was really on to something here.  Facial exercises are a great way to combat the signs of aging in an all natural way.  There are many quick, simple exercises that can keep your face, neck, and throat firm and toned.  The addition of aromatherapy, acupressure, and massage can help you create an all natural anti-aging routine.  Check out the following book from our Online Bookstore to learn more about how exercise, massage, aromatherapy, and acupressure can be used to keep your face healthy and youthful.

Facelift At Your Fingertips by Jean-Pierre Cousin

Web Description:

For thousands of years, the healing practices of acupressure and aromatherapy have helped promote healthy, vibrant skin. Now, you too can benefit from their combined effects - Pierre Jean Cousin shows you how. Nourish your skin and add glow to your complexion at little cost with this complete, holistic approach to skin care.

Requiring just a few minutes a day, this easy-to-follow massage sequence combines the benefits of acupressure with aromatherapy to help prevent the onset of aging. Learn how to protect, nourish, hydrate, detoxify, and tone your particular skin type, and in time, even reduce wrinkles. Give yourself a home spa treatment with homemade recipes for facial masks, tonics and creams using essential oils, clay, nuts, fruit and honey.

Pierre Jean Cousin, M.B.Ac.C. is an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist who specializes in skin and facial problems, which he treats with a combination of acupuncture, herbal medicine and aromatherapy. He has pacticed for 20 years.

Bath Bombs by Eleaine Stavert

We've added another sensational book to the Online Bookstore at FromNatureWithLove.com.  Bath Bombs, by Elaine Stavert, is a complete guide to making Bath Bombs in any shape, size, color, or scent.  The beginning of the book includes several chapters that go over important ingredient information and technique, including descriptive photos of the trickiest stages of the Bath Bomb making process.   The book also includes 30 unique Bath Bomb recipes that use a wide variety of ingredients.

While the book includes plenty of info on making Bath Bombs in fun colors and scents using synthetic ingredients, it puts a very special focus on creating all natural Bath Bombs as well.  The book highlights the use of Bath Bombs in aromatherapy and features ingredient profiles on a wide range of Essential Oils and all natural Herbs and Botanicals.

In addition to offering loads of info on Bath Bombs, there is an entire section of the book that discusses blending custom scents.  This well presented crash course in aroma building walks you through using top, middle, and base notes, getting to know your fragrances, and of course, blending!  The author provides a few suggestion blends, then thoughtfully includes blank pages for the user to track their own blends.

Bath Bombs were my very first introduction to handmade bath & body products, so they will always hold a special interest for me.  Perhaps that is why I can't seem to put this book down!  While I'm sure that my personal attachment has a little to do with it, I'm sure the real reason is that Bath Bombs by Elaine Stavert is well put together, full of information, and contains pages and pages of gorgeous photos.

Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles

Stephanie Tourles, author of The Herbal Body Book, A Spa of Your Own, and Naturally Healthy Skin, has graced our shelves with yet another of her wonderful books.  Organic Body Care Recipes features a whopping 175 recipes for all natural skin care.  There is a great variety of recipes including cleansers, toners, serums, body oils, bath recipes, scrubs, and more.  My personal favorites from this book include her Lemony Whip Cleansing Cream, her Crazy for Coconut Balm, and her whimsically named, "Too Sleep Perchance to Dream" Balm.

Organic Body Care Recipes begins with a crash course in basic skin care knowledge, touching on physiology, skin and hair types, and the importance of skin care routines.  The book also includes a thorough introduction to basic ingredients and techniques.  This thoughtful introduction makes the book user friendly even to those who are just beginning to make their own natural products.  Throughout the book, Tourles also makes plenty of references toward important subjects like shelf life, essential oil safety, and sustainable resources.

I found Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles to be a great read, and I'm looking forward to making many more of her all natural skin and body care recipes.  Have you made anything using this book?  Please feel free to comment, and share your story!

Carrier Oils for Aromatherapy & Massage

Have you ever wondered what makes an Oil light or heavy, or why one may be considered superior to the next?  Carrier Oils for Aromatherapy & Massage by Len Price is a detailed guide to working with a wide range of standard Vegetable and Carrier Oils and can help answer these and many other common questions.  Carrier Oils for Aromatherapy & Massage begins with a very interesting chapter called, "The Nature of Fats and Oils".  In this chapter the author carefully explains the basic components and characteristics found in all Fixed/Carrier Oils.  Price also explains the difference between Fixed Oils and other closely related or associated ingredients such as Essential Oils, or liquid waxes.  The chapter then takes a detailed look into some of the most common methods for oil production, explaining in great detail the difference between Cold Pressing, Conventional Refinement, and more.  The author takes time to explain these processes while describing the benefits and drawbacks of each.

In the next chapter, "Chemistry of Fixed Oils", Price gives the reader an education in the components and behavior of Fixed Oils, touching on subjects including Essential Fatty Acids, Saturated and Unsaturated Fats, Hydrogenation, and more.   This detailed look inside Carrier Oils continues in the following chapter, "Fixed Oils and Skin Penetration", concluding the educational preface of the book.

This education into the nature of Carrier Oils is followed by over 40 incredibly detailed Carrier Oil profiles.  Price lists a useful range of the most popular and notable Oils including favorites such as Sweet Almond Oil, Coconut Oil, Rosehip Oil, and Jojoba.  Most profiles include information on the plant's origin, the oil's cosmetic, therapeutic, and medicinal uses, as well as an insight into the oil's chemical components.  The Carrier Oil Profiles are followed by a Glossary of Terms, several handy tables and additional profiles, and a detailed index.

Carrier Oils for Aromatherapy & Massage is an incredibly educational text which would be helpful to almost any skin care enthusiast or professional.  Formulators, Massage Therapists, Aromatherapists, or Soapmakers  could equally benefit from the information contained in this book.  Though Carrier Oils are essential components in most skin care recipes they are rarely written about with such detail or insight as they are in Carrier Oils for Aromatherapy & Massage.  For me, this is an indispensable handbook in the creation of natural skin care recipes.

Secrets of the Spas

Catherine Bardey's book, Secrets of the Spas, is a fantastic resource for the home spa practitioner.  This book includes seventy five bath and body recipes, many of which incorporate fresh ingredients.  Secrets of the Spas is conveniently categorized by the types of treatments offered; body, face, hair, hands and feet.  It even includes a chapter of spa cuisine recipes, making this book a great tool for throwing home spa parties or indulging one's self with  the total spa experience.  If you tire of treating yourself, the author provides a listing of twenty professional spas nationwide.

Throughout Secrets of the Spas, Bardey supplies a wealth of information on the ingredients in her recipes.  There is no shortage of variety of ingredients either.  Recipes feature a generous sampling of specialty oils, as well as herbs, grains, and fresh produce.  Each chapter is complimented by a series of tips, facts, and spa trivia.  This is more than a simple recipe book.  It is a crash coarse in natural skincare!  At the end of the book you will find a detailed glossary, as well as conversion tables, tool and equipment overviews, and brief sections regarding use of essential oils.  The author touches on safety, proper use, and also provides a list of popular essential oils along with their uses in the home spa.  There is a similar section for carrier oils.

I should also mention that this book is filled with gorgeous photography.  While I generally believe that the content of a book is more important than its pictures, there is something to be said for the pleasure that is added by photography to the overall experience of this book.  The images in Secrets of the Spas are nearly as inspirational as the recipes!