Book Review: Organic Beauty With Essential Oil by Rebecca Park Totilo

Organic Beauty With Essential Oil
by Rebecca Park Totilo
Publisher: Rebecca At the Well Foundation, Jan. 3, 2013
Print & ebook, 232 pages

This book couldn't have showed up in my life at a better time!  I was already turned on to essential oils and needed no more convincing of their effectiveness after my sister, who has been using them for several years, used them to help me through the several weeks my anxiety, depression and blood pressure meds were discontinued or curtailed after I lost insurance coverage a year ago.

These were the same weeks that the first and the worst of the shocks generated by the 'lifequake' I've been blogging about since Valentine's week last February were still rumbling through my life leaving upheaval in all environmental, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels.

She dabbed something called Serenity on my temples, neck, cheekbones and collar bones that had the power to bring me down from an hysterical crying jag and allow me to find peace in desperately needed sleep in under 90 minutes.  It contained Lavender among other things.  I continue to use it when stress is high and my meds are at low tide and it works so well I have hopes that I will someday be able to ditch the meds and depend entirely on it and other natural remedies for stabilizing mood.

Another one called Citrus Bliss she would put on a cotton ball for me to hold to my nose or lay on the keyboard where the heat from the computer would serve to release the aroma as I typed.  This would aid in waking my brain, brightening my mood and giving me energy more efficiently and lastingly than caffeine!  Then there was the Clove she gave me when my abscessed teeth flared up in late October--better pain relief than any drug.

With those three experiences behind me I needed no further proof that essential oils were essential to health and happiness when the blog tour invite for this book landed in my email.  I was excited by the blurb description and this book, unlike some, totally lived up to its blurb.  It is jammed packed with recipes whose names are drool worthy.

I suggest not reading this book while hungry.

Better than the recipes themselves are the charts and guides that give ratios and clarify principles that once understood can be applied in all similar recipes.  This is exactly the kind of thing needed by someone like me who hates to follow recipes (or crochet patterns) and would rather learn the basic principles and then create my own concoctions.

I was hoping to have mixed up and tried at least one recipe in here before time for the review but I didn't get to it.  The first things I want to make are a teeth cleaner and a mouth wash because I absolutely loathe the store bought ones.  No matter how much 'flavor' and cloying sweetener they add I can still taste chemicals so strong they gag me.

Setting aside the aroma therapy aspects, the concept of mixing ones own bath and body, and hair and skin care products is wildly appealing just for the ability to create a flavor combo you can't find in the store.  I've never seen a product that uses ginger for example but ginger is one of my favorite spices.  And what about Pumpkin Pie (my favorite dessert) as a body wash or shampoo?  Or Margarita as a mouthwash?  Or Coconut Lime as a facial cleanse?

The possibilities are endless and with  Rebecca Park Totilo’s guidance through the basics it won't be long before you can be cut loose in the garden of endless delights.


From the Publishers:

Organic Beauty With Essential Oil: Over 400+ Homemade Recipes for Natural Skincare, Haircare and Bath & Body Products

Looking for that perfect all-natural bath product?

One that will keep your skin looking great, is appealing to smell, has actual therapeutic benefits, and doesn’t break the bank? Well, here it is!

Sweep aside all those harmful chemically-based cosmetics and make your own organic bath and body products at home with the magic of potent essential oils! In this book, you’ll find a luxurious array of over 400 Eco-friendly recipes such as Exotic Patchouli Massage Oil, Zesty Banana-Lemon Foot Cream and Jasmine Bath Bombs filled with breathtaking fragrances and soothing, rich organic ingredients satisfying you head to toe.

Designed with the naturalist in mind, each formula draws from essential oils’ well-known skin rejuvenating effects, showing you how to best care for your unique skin and hair type using all-natural botanicals. Included you’ll find helpful tips and customizable recipes – all with step-by-step instructions – so you can have the confidence knowing which essential oil to use and how much when creating your own body scrub, lip butter, or lotion bar!

Discover how easy it is to make bath treats like fragrant shower gels, dreamy bubble baths, luscious creams and lotions, deep cleansing masks and facials for literally pennies using only a few essential oils and ingredients from your own kitchen with Organic Beauty with Essential Oil.

What they are saying:

“Smart and easy recipes.  Just love this book , makes life easy.  Good recipes to follow and also healthy.  So I don’t have to waste my money buying stuff full of chemicals. I just make them myself with organic ingredients”-Shirlmore, Amazon Reviewer

“I recently opened my own massage business. What I wanted to do was offer a service where I could use organic, soothing oils and lotions that would rejuvenate and refresh my clients all while allowing their bodies to absorb essential nutrients. Sure, I found products I could buy at stores that promised the same effects for a lot more money, but I would end up losing more then I was gaining.  Then I found this book. I don’t know what I would’ve done without it. It was literally everything I was looking for. I was able to create all different types of massage oils: lemon-aloe, grape-fruit honey, the list goes on!. The best thing was that all these ingredients barely cost me anything! And I have so much fun experimenting with different ingredients! My clients love it and my business is booming! Couldn’t have done it without this.”-DJesus, Amazon Reviewer

” I’ve recently been having an issue with my body lotion and the soap I’ve been using. Every time I would get out the shower I’d itch and it was because the soap was too harsh on my skin and would remove all the natural oil from my body!  Thank god for Rebecca Totilo. The best part is that the book doesn’t just stop at teaching you how to make your own soaps or body wash, you can also make your own mouthwash (the spearmint-aloe is INCREDIBLE) and lip balm! Literally everything that author Rebecca Totilo writes about are products that leave you feeling refreshed, clean and completed renewed! Now I’m itch free and loving my yogurt walnut facial scrub and my Rosewater night cream. Greatest book ever! Kid you not!”- Charlie “Reuben”, Amazon Reviewer

” How cool! Organic Beauty With Essential Oil made me a hero. My wife, who is into natural products and essential oils, has been hounding me to move away from “unnatural” remedies. Well…imagine her surprise when I came home with this book and was able to share with her some things she didn’t know. Now she’s confiscated the book and has fallen in love with the wealth of knowledge that is contained in the pages. Rebecca has a potential best seller on her hands and for those interested in a better life this is a must read!”-Chuck Gallagher, Amazon Reviewer

“This is a wonderful book and a superb guide to essential oils. The writer was very thorough and included recipes for skin, hair,mouth, feet, hands – let me say for every part of the body. The recipes are also easy to follow and come from things that are already in the home for eg., apple cider vinegar, mint leaves and witch hazel to name a few. I am new to making cosmetics so I wanted a book that would guide me to the use of the various essential oils – this book did not disappoint! All I wanted to know about essential oils was there. I can now tell the difference between fragrance oil and pure essential oil and also how to use them for my health and skin care. This book is a classic, a must have for everyone who wants to get in the organic skin care. Beautifully written and so easy to work with. It is one of my favourites.“-Esther, Amazon Reviewer

Rebecca Park Totilo’s flair and passion for life bursts into living color when she writes and speaks, as you will see in the visual way she presents herself.  She literally believes in the “show, don’t tell” principle in everything she does.  Becca has ministered to literally millions of people via television, radio and live appearances. She is an award-winning published author of over 40 books, including “Therapeutic Blending With Essential Oil”, “Heal With Essential Oil”, and “Through the Night With God.” Her credits include working as a contributor writer on two best-selling series (“Quiet Moments with God” and “Stories for the Teen’s Heart”) which sold over one million and five million copies respectively.  She is also a freelance writer for several national magazines include Christian Parenting Today, Discipleship Journal and Woman’s World.

Rebecca’s photography work has appeared in numerous national magazines such as Woman’s World, Sports Spectrum, Evangel, and Sharing the Victory.  But by far, her greatest accomplishment, if you asked her, is after a decade of rejection slips (with almost 150 in one year!), Rebecca hit it big in 1999, with over 13 books contracts, ranging from teaching curriculum to gift books and devotionals for adults.  Truly, its her grit determination that makes her inspirational writings draw such a mass market appeal.

Rebecca graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1986 with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Information Systems. In addition, she attended Faith Bible Institute in Richmond, Virginia for instruction in ministry and University of the Nations in Hawaii. She is also trained as a Clinical Aromatherapist and is an international educator offering online courses on the art of perfume-making and how to blend with essential oils worldwide on her website http://rebeccatotilo.com. Rebecca owns a cute soap boutique, Aroma Hut, near the beach in Florida where she practices as an Clinical Aromatherapist.

Rebecca won the Writer of the Year in Non-Fiction (National Writer’s Association)

Rebecca on:

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