Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: The complete guide to the use of aromatic oils in aromatherapy, herbalism, health and well-being.

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Was recommended this book by a friend. It's the most complete one I've seen! Very good for reference too. It's so easy to understand what can be mixed with what and how to use the oils and even extract the oils!
I'm a beginner at all this but this is a great alround book! The only down side I would say is that I use another book to make sure that the plant I want is correct for there is no colour in the pictures.
Hope this helps. Take care all!

Have just started aromatherapy and was given this book as a Christmas gift last year and already it has many thumbed pages. Very good background information, concise, readable descriptions, not to mention terrific and informative illustrations. A must for beginners and experienced therapists alike

This book is wonderful, very user friendly detailing every type of essential oil you'd like to mention, giving all the scientific properties as well as everyday usage. It gives the history of Aromatherapy at the beginning amoungst plenty of other interesting information. It also has glossaries at the back which are so helpful. Fantastic! This is my bible and I carry it around everywhere!

I'm attending an evening class in aromatherapy and this book was recommended by the teacher. It has a nicely designed cover, and the typeface inside is clear and easily readable. It's designed as a working tome, and indeed I keep refering to it. The main body of the book is an alphabetical listing of oils, sometimes accompanied by a black and white line drawing of the plant in question. Each description is in a set pattern for quick reference and as well as telling you what it looks like and where it grows there is a lot of other info about how it is extracted what it's actions are, how to use it, any safety concerns etc. There's an interesting introduction for those of us new to using oils, a therapeutic index, a glossary and other good reference material. Possibly the only book you'll need for using aromatherapy in the home, unless you want to develop a much deeper understanding or skill, e.g. train as an aromatherapist. A really nice book to hold and flick through.

If you are studying or practicing aromatherapy or have an interest in the subject then this book is a must for your book shelf. All the most used oils are listed alphabetically and everything you need to know including contraindications. I will be using this a lot.

Great to reference oils but says very little else. It mentions nothing about top, middle and base notes which you would need to know when using and blending oils for aromatherapy or for use in massage, perfumes, creams etc. Its more of a reference book to where the oils come from, their latin name etc (although you'd have to look elsewhere to see which note the oil falls under)than a practical guide.

Having read this book i would definately rate it as an essentail for any one who has a serious interest in aromatherapy or wishes to study it.Each oil has a whole page dedicated to it, with all the information you could need about it on there, in clearly marked groups, which contain everything from cautions to exraction methods. A definate must have!!!!!!!

it would be a good study book but does not give reference to ailments/illness and the use of essential oils for this. there is a lot of emphasis on the history and derivitives of the oils and little/no reference to the general use of oils for everyday problems such as colds/flu.

The book covers everything from the extraction of oils to exploring the properties of the most commonly used oils in aromatherapy. Concisely written, the book provides a comprehensive resource that you will find yourself turning to for guidance again and again. Highly recommended to new comers to the art of aromatherapy as it covers a wide range of material that is useful for those just starting out.

Although this book appears to be comprehensive and authoritative, there are some major factual errors. In numerous places Lawless has clearly looked up the chemical properties for the whole plant and listed those as the properties for the essential oil, despite the fact that the properties may be very different. EOs are very concentrated mixtures of just a few of the chemicals contained in the whole plant and in some cases the therepeutically active chemicals are not contained in the EO at all. In other cases the extraction process for essential oils causes chemical changes such that the EO contains completely different chemicals to the original plant material.

Generally the book is adequate and I have seen little that would actually cause problems, however the basic lack of understanding gives me cause for concern and as a result I would not recommend this book.