Review of Green Beauty Recipes by Julie Gabriel

Green Beauty Recipes is the latest book by author Julie Gabriel. An extension of her first book, The Green Beauty Guide, Green Beauty Recipes is an indispensable collection of not only recipes, but also instructions, explanations and helpful hints for creating your own collection of skin care, hair care and body care products. Julie gives everyone the confidence to get in the kitchen and create their own beauty! Perfect as a gift for just about any woman.

Green Beauty Recipes is 232 pages packed full of DIY beauty. The first 32 pages are instructions on how to safely create your products, with clear instructions on sanitizing. The descriptions are clear and easy to understand, and Julie even includes some of her favorite websites she uses to purchase the ingredients used in the recipes she provides.

Julie also breaks down some of the ingredients you'll find on products in stores that, in her opinion, are ingredients to stay away from. Julie says, "If you can't pronounce the ingredient, don't put it on your skin."

It's tempting to jump right into the recipes, but these first 32 pages are essential to the book and the success of the recipes Julie supplies to us. Most of these recipes would easily rival any of the expensive brands on the shelves. We're not talking all simple scrubs or soaks, either. This book contains real recipes for products you could easily purchase.

Speaking of recipes, there almost 200 pages packed with them. The recipe categories are:

• Cleansing
• Toners
• Moisturizers
• Masks and Scrubs
• Sun Care
• Baby Care
• Body Care
• Hair Care
• Bath Treatments

Who doesn't love a little creative time in the kitchen with skin-loving ingredients turned into a skin-soothing DIY treatment? There is no shortage of recipes in this book! Some of them are a more advanced than others, but all very attainable to everyone who can follow a recipe.

Here are a few recipes pulled right from the book.

Lemon Exfoliating Peel

Coffee Cellulite Mask

Almond Milk Toner

See all of the recipes Julie Gabriel has shared with About.com: Skin Care.

Sometimes the idea of creating your own skin care recipes can be daunting, and you're left wondering if what you are creating will really do anything for your skin or hair. Will it actually benefit your skin or have you just wasted time and made a mess. You won't get that feeling from Julie's recipes and instructions because she literally tells you what the ingredients in the recipe will do for your skin, body or hair. You'll see how you should store it, and how long it will last.

She also takes it one-step further and states what kind of skin type should be making the recipe and sometimes what skin type should skip the recipe. With this info, it's easy to see if the recipe is right for you.

The vast array of recipes is astounding, and they don't sound cheesy or cheap. Quite the contrary, actually. They sound succulent and pampering. It really makes you wonder, "Do I really need to spend $60 on a moisturizer when I can make my own?" According the Julie, the answer is no! Get in the kitchen and make a small batch for winter and a different batch for summer.

And we love how all of Julie's recipes sound like something a trendy boutique would carry. You'd spend a lot of money if you bought these products retail, yet, she shows you how easy it is to do it yourself for yourself.

Julie is only going to include things in her recipes that are absolutely known to be skin-friendly, healthy and eco-friendly. No fragrance oils - no artificial anything.

Most of her recipes include essential oils that can be dangerous if used incorrectly, though Julie does give good guidance and direction in using them.

But because of the fact that in some recipes she uses ingredients such as essential oils, hydrosols and other uncommon ingredients, the chances that you'll find them local are probably unlikely. This means ordering ingredients online. Julie does share her favorite online websites in the end of the book to make this easier for you to do.

This book makes you look at the ingredient list, question some of the ingredients, and ask yourself why you can't try to do it yourself.

We love this book and read every word cover to cover. How we wish it had images of some of the finished recipes, however. It's fun to create products and get that feeling of accomplishment that goes along with it. It's a book that won't hide on our bookshelf because we'll be too busy finding recipes that work best with our skin. It has a top spot on our holiday gift list this year.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.