Tourles - Organic body care recipes: 175 homemade herbal formulas for glowing skin & a vibrant self

175 Homemade Herbal Formulas for Glowing Skin & a Vibrant Self

Stephanie Tourles

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by
publishing practical information that encourages
personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Deborah Balmuth and Elaine M. Cissi
Art direction and text design by Mary Winkelman Velgos
Cover and concept design by Stewart A. Williams
Text production by Liseann Karandisecky
Illustrations by Kathy Bray: 11; Alison Kolesar: 7, 14, 209; and Laura Tedeschi:
36, 46, 47, 60, 63, 65, 67, 71, 72, 75, 77, 78, 81, 83, 85, 86, 89, 90, 92, 125, 172
Author photo by Janice Semprini
Indexed by Index Arts

Text 2007 by Stephanie Tourles
Illustrations 2007 by Kate Quinby, except as credited above

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The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

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Printed in the United States by R.R. Donnelley
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tourles, Stephanie L., 1962

Organic body care recipes / by Stephanie Tourles.
p. cm.

Rev. ed of: The herbal body book. c1994.
ISBN 978-1-58017-676-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Beauty, Personal. 2. Herbal cosmetics.
I. Tourles, Stephanie L., 1962 Herbal body book. II. Title.

RA778.T64 2007

613.488dc22

2007009814

To my Willy

Heres to the second half of our lives.

May our love blossom and flourish, being as

sweet and succulent as a handful of fresh-picked,

shiny black huckleberries in August.

Contents

To all the gardeners; herbalists; aromatherapists; biologists; landscapers; farmers; cosmetic chemists; elders of the past; and even the plants themselves, my lifelong teachers of the green world who have shared their wisdom with me over the years: Without you, this book would have been impossible and my green soul would not be fulfilled.

I am also eternally grateful to those of you who have been my cosmetic guinea pigs over the years friends, family members, and complete strangers who have allowed me to apply my new personal care concoctions to your faces, arms, legs, hands, feet, backs, and hair, and who have given me in return valued feedback toward the perfection of my formulations. Practice makes perfect, so the saying goes and some of you knew when to tell me that an experimental cream, mask, or massage oil was either far from perfect or that it was positively perfect and produced the desired result. I made meticulous notes of your observations, good and bad.

Speaking of far from perfect, I remember the dreaded blueberry-mask experiment of my early years: This sweetly fragranced fruit mask, high in beneficial antioxidants and supposedly pampering to the skin, turned a work associates skin supremely soft and also, regretfully, a lovely shade of pale blue! At least she had a sense of humor thank goodness! Live, learn, and laugh, I say! Without everyones comments and patience I could not have gained the knowledge necessary to become the natural cosmetic chemist and holistic esthetician that I am today. I thank you all.

Did you know that women use an average of 12 personal care products daily? And men arent far behind, with about seven in their daily routine. Each day we use soap, body scrub, lotion, face cleanser, toner, night cream, shave cream, after-shave balm, sunscreen, makeup, and deodorant, so its important to know whats coming into contact with our skin. Remember: Your skin eats or, more accurately, absorbs.

The official term for the process of absorption of substances via the skin is transdermic penetration. All topical substances can either penetrate or affect the skins surface. To what degree depends on the particular substance, molecular size of the ingredient(s), temperature, and the condition of the skin at the time of contact.

If youre having a hard time believing that your skin can actually absorb some of the ingredients from your favorite body product, then you have only to think of three popular drugs that are transported into the bloodstream via a topically applied patch: nicotine used for cessation of smoking, hormones for birth control, and nitroglycerin for angina pectoris.

As a licensed esthetician and holistic skin care specialist, my focus is on educating individuals so that they can realize their highest health and beauty potential through the use of natural skin and body care products and vitalizing lifestyle habits. I want my clients and readers to become active participants in their own well-being.

In my years of experience, I have worked with a wide range of commercially prepared products, including high-end preparations and natural products from health food stores and wellness spas. Many of these skin and body care preparations, even the so-called natural ones, contain highly toxic and irritating ingredients. Frequently, Ive heard from both clients and my readers who have endured allergic reactions or other skin sensitivities resulting from their use of these often costly and often synthetic products.

But if potentially irritating or harmful chemicals and artificial colorants and fragrances can be absorbed by your skin, then so can highly beneficial natural ingredients, which can promote beauty and wellness.

In this rapidly advancing technological age of skin and body care, you can visit your local medical spa and choose from a dizzying array of youthifiers. A few of the products and services offered might be pharmaceutically enhanced cosmetics; laser skin resurfacing; acid-based skin peels; microdermabrasion; surgical face and body reconstruction; permanent hair removal; application of permanent eye and lip liner and brow color; intense pulsed light for acne treatment; or an injection cocktail to temporarily remove this, that, or the other wrinkle.

While these technological advancements do have their place, they shouldnt prevent us from taking control of our own bodies. These quick fixes do not come without some pain, risk, or high cost. Nor do they offer an everlasting cure-all to our perceived physical or emotional shortcomings.