Good Clean Beauty: Over 100 Natural Recipes for a Glowing, Beautiful You

Awesome Book!

Ok, first impression is that this book has some gnarly early 90's vibes to it. The photos look like 80's leftovers and the quality of them isn't that great. The color palette used in the photography really doesn't appeal to me, but that's just my personal opinion. Moving on, this book is great- the ideas and options of being able to make all of this from home is empowering and just dang fun. They give suggestions of materials to use, but also give alternatives if you don't have something like a double broiler hanging around your kitchen. I was able to make a couple of these from stuff I already had in my home, so that's a bonus. With that in mind, it's basically all of the DIY pinterest beauty hacks in one book. Most of the recipes are pretty simple. I've tried versions of some of them before and they didn't turn out great at all; I'm optimistic but hesitant to try some of these out. The names of each recipe are definitely original, but almost overkill with the trendy jargon of today's youth. But hey, I'm all for our young women going more natural with their beauty products so if this speaks to them, I think that's wonderful. This would be a fantastic gift for a teenager who doesn't want to ruin their skin and hair with today's chemically laden beauty products. It definitely has a feminine feel, but I believe that young men could definitely benefit from some of the recipes in here.

What I love about this book? Everything!This book is great for anyone who wants to start making their own beauty products and even for those of us who have been making our own for a while now.To start with- the authors. On the front of the book, it states they are founders of DaBomb. A little researching and I learned you can buy their products at many recognizable stores across America. The authors started their business when they were 12 and 14. Pretty impressive.The book- it contains recipes for hair, body, make up,eye shadows, body and skin care. The book opens with a short section about the ingredients and the benefits. The descriptions are short, to the point and very helpful so you know why you are adding what you are adding to a recipe. It tells you about the equipment and supplies you may need. Nothing major- besides the containers (one can easily substitute containers they have on hand), many of items are already in the kitchen.The recipes are simple. The ingredient lists are simple and most of them short. Many of the ingredients I have on hand. The step by step instructions are also simple and short. In most cases, when something besides a spoon, bowl and container are needed, it is a double boiler and a blender. It doesn't need to be a heavy duty blender either just a regular kitchen blender.I made a lip scrub and a hair hydration spray in less than 20 minutes. It took me longer to gather and clean up than the actual recipe itself. There is a face mask made of fruit that I had on hand in the kitchen. All I had to do was buy a small container of yogurt.The lip scrub is super easy. Simple ingredients. The hair hydration spray I added a few drops of lavender in place of the one they suggested.I love that the recipes are customizable. The authors give modifications to change up the original recipe. With a little practice, one can easily swap out an ingredient for another ingredient especially when you learn what the ingredient does. One ingredient that I am more curious about is Mica powder. There are quite a few recipes that call for it. From hair to make up.

I have one or two books on the topic of natural beauty and have browsed a few more. There is not one single one in which I have learned less, and not even because I have read those books but because these "recipes" are mostly adding a drop of fragrance oil to a a nut butter, or mica to an herb or vegetable powder. I rated it 2 stars because it is not as good as the average book on the topic. If I were baldly honest I would rate it one star as the least educational of any I have seen. It is a good lesson in how far marketing and jargon can take you.While there are several good books I can recommend which willl teach you how to make a cream or lotion, this one has you melt down shea or avocado butter, add a drop of fragrance and ta-da. But, that actually is not a skin cream or lotion. It is a fragrenced butter. I will not deconstruct their recipes here but to say that they fall into two categories, add a drop of fragrance to a natural oil or butter (or even mix them) and addd an herb or powdered dried vegetable to some mica powder. Nothing here is revelatory, or innovative or even par with ancient guides which are available for free, having been written a long long trime ago.Most of the descriptions are misleading, at minimum. Some are just banal. (like using calamine for it's intended use). Like the current offerings on any drug store shelf, they rely heavily on aloe vera (which is NOT anti-aging but has long been used to treat burns) and is cheap, and consequently readily available. Coconut oil is fatty, and also cheap, one drying the other moisturizing. I live in the tropics and have both in my yard, in fact weekly fill my green waste bins with them. They are abundant to the point of being weeds in certain regions. They also have well known uses which go back in ethnic folk lore a long way, and have since been packaged and sold in various preparations with companies which tout their (dubious) benefits. It seems they are this year's thing. I apologize if this sounds jaded but having lived in the tropics for 30+ years, none of this is novel but for the marketing.The book is bright and colorful and looks like a Klutz book for teens. I picked it up hoping to learn something new, even a tip on preparation, but sadly did not come away with a single new bit of knowledge. I have been interested in making my own bath products since I first walked into Neal's Yard apothecary as a kid, undoubtedly the inspiration for Lush and the Body shop which were just down the road, and many years later, for a couple of kids who mixed up bath bombs in their basement using someone else's recipe... because all of those companies were making them before they were born.

So many things to make all sorted by category. Great value, tons of information well laid out and easy to read.