This book is very, very good. It covers a hell of a lot of common complaints and what you can do to treat them yourself. The book is easy to understand, with simple recipes that anyone could blend.

The author has researched her subject well, and even though I know quite a bit about aromatherapy through courses and other books, this book is one of the best that I have come across and I enjoy using it on a regular basis.

This author has also written The Fragrant Mind, which is another fantastic book, this time dealing with emotional problems. This pair of books should be found on the shelf of every parent because between the books, the oils, laughter and consideration every family should be able to deal with life's problems.

The author has also written a Fragrant Sensuality. I haven't bought that one yet . . . but I soon will!


Brilliant book   June 25, 2004
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

I love this book! I bought it as I wanted to try and use aromatherapy to boost my eldest son's morale and make him feel better about himself (he's dyslexic and has a lot of down days at school). This book was much better than I expected. It's well written; the author really knows her subject and must have spent many years researching it. It's simple to understand and easy to follow the recipes given.

The author has also written The Fragrant Pharmacy which is about using the oils for medicinal purposes. This is also a great book and I can't recommend the pair of books any higher!

I'm looking forward to buying more essential oils so I can have fun mixing them with the aid of these two books!


Rather dour reference book.   July 24, 2003
 10 out of 14 found this review helpful

A thorough grounding in how essential oils can have a positive impact on our mental and emotional well being. The bulk of the book is a directory split into two sections. The first is an A-Z of emotions and the oils that can be used. The other is a list of oils and their personalities, categorised by human personality groups., e.g florals, fruities, seedies, woodies,etc. Mandarin, for example, is a fruitie and is gentle, kind and loving. It can be used to counteract depression and grief while being soothing, calming and refreshing. There then follows two pages describing the mandarin person.
The first half of the book explains what we know about the workings of the brain and the mind-body connection. This is followed by the nitty-gritty of how to use and blend oils. This is a great reference work, but for some reason it left me a bit cold. It has an `American' feel, there are lots of cases from the authors' experience and she is very keen on recipes for blending and the detail put into the oil personality types gets a little tedious. My aromatherapy teacher has recommended I read Tisserand for his lyricism as well as his knowledge!


An excellent aid for both medical staff and patients   July 24, 1999
 30 out of 32 found this review helpful

As an aromatherapist working in both in-patient and community psychiatry, this book gives an invaluable insight into how aromatherapy can aid the mood in conjunction with orthodox medication. My copy of The Fragrant Mind has done the rounds with many of the psychiatrics and nursing staff. So much so, that I haven't seen my copy for a while! After reading this book many of the staff have taken a keen interest in aromatherapy - much to the pleasure of the clients, who have found the service so stress reducing that they would like aromatherapy available 24/7!