A necessary resource for anyone interested in alternative approaches to healing, this book contains more than 600 easy-to-follow recipes for essential oil treatments and aromatherapy.

A disturbing section was the one on pets. I would definately do more research before putting anything on a cat. Cats lick their fur and not all oils can be ingested. Eucalyptus is toxic if taken internally. There have been reports of Tea Tree nearly killing cats. In addition, they recommended adding tansy to a horse's feed to treat worms. Tansy is very toxic to horses and cows. People usually try to remove the plant from their pastures.

Last word. Do your research and don't just use one book.

279 of 287 found the following review helpful:


An Everyday Aromatherapy Encyclopedia.  Feb 04, 2001 By R. Hanger "I love science, learning, and appreciating others for who they are."
Valerie Ann Worwood's book "The Complete Book Of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy" is one of the most complete and down-to-earth books on the subject, especially for the beginer. If I were to teach a course on aromatherapy for beginers, this would be one of two main texts I would use, as it is so complete. Here writing style is very clear, easily understood, and enjoyable to read. No dryness here. She begins by discussing ten essntial oils as a "basic care kit," and explains how such oils should be used via an A-Z list of common household occurances. The list includes the following as some topics: -Abdominal pain. -Abraisions. -Black Eye. -Bruises. -Colds. -Fever. -Headache. -Hicups. As a matter of principle, she explains at the very begining of the book that the information contained therein is NOT intended to take the place of a Physician's care. Her chapters on Travel, Sports related injuries, and Beauty (3 chapters covering head to feet!), Maternity and Motherhood, Mens/Women's health (seperate chapters), and Aging are exceptional. She closes with chapters on aromatherapy for animals, and gardening; which I have not seen except in a work by Dr. Gary Young. The charts at the end of the book are indespensable, and complete as a ready quick refrance. Valerie's bibliography contains such authors as Belaiche; Gattefose; Valnet, Duraffourd, Lapraz; and Wells; shows that she is very well read as she is experienced. These authors are the very pioneers of the modern resurgence of aromatherapy, and should be read by all who desire to be serious students of the art and science that is aromatherapy. Those who may wish to criticize her lack of litterary sitations should go and read the works cited here, remembering that Valerie has over 25 years of practical experience as a student and practicioner in a country where aromatherapy is taken seriously, and all they will be left holding is empty litterary critique. Better still, they should utilize her book, and let experience speak for itself! My only sugestion for a revision would be an in-depth chapter on essential oil chemistry, and their interaction with the bodily systems. Otherwise, I consider this book to be amoung the best out there on the subject. It makes a great gift for all occasoins.

196 of 203 found the following review helpful:


indispensable!  Oct 19, 1999
This is the most practical aromatherapy book ever! I've finally found a book that gives actual formulas for all kinds of everyday health problems, plus others for serious health conditions I didn't expect to find in it. Every formula we (my friends and family) have tried works! It's like having your very own health care specialist on hand, and its become indispensable. And it's written like a friend talking to you. As well as all that, there are whole chapters on pets, gardening, cooking, children, babies, elderly, the home, work-related problems etc etc etc. This book has totally changed my life!!- and I feel FANTASTIC about it. What this book is not - a boring catalogue of details about essential oils, with no practical advice. This is the book for everybody. You'll wonder how you lived without it. It's given me control of my life. Feel stressed? Just look it up, put the oils in the bath and - hey presto - no more stress! A WONDERFUL LIFE-CHANGER!!

56 of 57 found the following review helpful:


Good book for humans but beware of the part on pets  Nov 13, 2005 By MechEngineer
I think this is a good concise book on essential oils (and I have many in both English and Italian, giving the aromatherapy perspective from England, North America, Italy and Germany). However, I caution you all to ignore Wormwood's advice on using essential oils on animals. Wormwood recommends the use of certain oils including tea tree oil, lavender and others on cats all of which are highly toxic to felines. Before buying this book, I had instinctively known to never use any essential oils on my two cats (I think mainly because whenever I would use tea tree oil or lavender on myself, they would avoid me like the plague). But when I saw these same oils highly recommended in Wormwood's book for use on cats, I foolishly thought that if it's in print, it must be true. So, when one of my cats got an abscess on her hip from a cat bite, I tried Wormwood's abscess treatment using tea tree oil (only a couple drops) on her. She frantically tried to get away from me as I tried to apply the drops and then within about 15-20 minutes, started acting very ill. Thank God I had the common sense to stop the treatment, did a search on Google and found out that in fact, tea tree oil as well as a number of other oils that Wormwood recommends are highly toxic to cats - their livers cannot process certain oils and become poisons in their systems. I've even read reports of kittens being killed from low dosage applications of tea tree oil. I would say this is a very good reference book for applications on humans but if you care about your pets, do more research on your own to find out the facts about using essential oils on animals. You might just save their life. If it hadn't been for the dangerous misinformation in the pet section, I would have given the book 4 stars.

41 of 42 found the following review helpful:


The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy  May 17, 2003 By Vicki Fotheringham "V. Fotheringham"
"The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" by Valerie Ann Worwood is a must for every home! I simply love this book. In fact my copy is in great need of replacement from constant use. In 1997 I received a phone call from a man who wanted to know if I could develop a scent that would depict a particular subject to him. Then next thing I knew he was asking me to make some soap for him. A project I always wanted to do, but never ventured into. That led me to learning about soapmaking, which led me to learning about essential oils. Valerie's book was the first one I looked at and purchased along with 2 from Julia Lawless.
Because I knew nothing about essential oils, "The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" became my mainstay. Eventually, after learning more about essential oils, I ventured into the other books as well. Valerie's book makes learning about essential oils easy. Her book is easy to read, and easy for those like me who knew nothing at all, to learn and understand. This is an excellent book for beginners or those who are advanced in the art of essential oils as well.
"The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" will have those who like me had absolutely no knowledge of essential oils, using them in a matter of moments! I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning what essential oils are and how to use them. Valerie goes into the usage for home, travel, emergency first aid, and the work place and gives formulas to make your own oils so you can put your newfound knowledge to work.

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