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The Home Apothecary: Cold Spring Apothecary's Cookbook of Hand-Crafted Remedies & Recipes for the Hair, Skin, Body, and Home
With the resurgence of small-batch, locally crafted boutiques and brands that mimic heritage brand ideals, today’s consumers are looking for a product with an emphasis on locally sourced production and ingredients. They are already stocking their pantries and fridges with natural, whole foods and relying on real ingredients for better health. The Home Apothecary offers fresh ideas for caring for the body on the outside, too. It features a bounty of recipes: more than 75 original, natural, and absolutely chemical-free body care products from face masks to bug repellent to soothing lotions. Cold Spring Apothecary’s nationally recognized green-luxury beauty and home goods formulas will be taught in such a way that readers will soon be experimenting on their own.
163 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
42 people are currently reading
707 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 6, 2013
I make all our soaps, lotions, and salves for our family. I strive to keep our home product usage as natural as I can. The Home Apothecary is a great addition to my collection of books on herbs, essential oils, and home remedies!
I really wish I could show you the inside of this book. The photography is gorgeous, the layout is beautiful, all in all it's a very well put together book. Very clean, very crisp presentation. Did I mention I love the photos?!?!? Most of my books have only hand-drawn illustrations of the plants, if any pictures at all.
The Home Apothecary is geared more for the beginner to intermediate practitioner, with a lot of explanation on uses and preparation techniques. I really appreciate there's not only sections on herbs, essential oils, carrier oils, preparation techiques, and recipes; there's also a glossary, an appendix, index, and a resources page! And it's very reasonably priced! If I saw this in the bookstore, I don't think there's any way I could have passed it by!
There are a lot of recipes in here I plan to try for myself - some I've already tweaked for my own needs, and it's given me fabulous ideas for different herbs/essential oils to try!
***Reviewed by Anne for New Age Mama. Complimentary copy received.
I really wish I could show you the inside of this book. The photography is gorgeous, the layout is beautiful, all in all it's a very well put together book. Very clean, very crisp presentation. Did I mention I love the photos?!?!? Most of my books have only hand-drawn illustrations of the plants, if any pictures at all.
The Home Apothecary is geared more for the beginner to intermediate practitioner, with a lot of explanation on uses and preparation techniques. I really appreciate there's not only sections on herbs, essential oils, carrier oils, preparation techiques, and recipes; there's also a glossary, an appendix, index, and a resources page! And it's very reasonably priced! If I saw this in the bookstore, I don't think there's any way I could have passed it by!
There are a lot of recipes in here I plan to try for myself - some I've already tweaked for my own needs, and it's given me fabulous ideas for different herbs/essential oils to try!
***Reviewed by Anne for New Age Mama. Complimentary copy received.
January 15, 2014
Often times we have heard how a person who battled an ailment or condition made a drastic change in his/her lifestyle, and as a result, was cured. Such is the case of Stacey Dugliss-Wesselman, author of The Home Apothecary. Dugliss-Wesselman struggled with adult acne and found relief by switching from over-the-counter chemical laden treatments to natural, homemade products. It was during this time that she began more in-depth research about natural products and decided to stop using store-bought items such as shampoo, etc. Dugliss-Wesselman begins her books by giving a brief overview of what an apothecary is and how long they have existed. Apothecaries are people who combine herbs, minerals, and other natural ingredients to cure a condition. Apothecaries can be traced back to biblical times and still exist today.
The Home Apothecary gives instruction on how to get started on becoming your very own apothecary. There are many numerous things you would need to accumulate before beginning, including herbs, essential oils, fruits, flowers, butters, oils, wax, and powders. Equipment such as a grinder, mortar and pestle, scale, double boiler, and other items will also be needed. A lot of these items such as herbs and oils can be purchased in a store, but it will be more affordable and fresher if you grow them yourself.
Dugliss-Wesselman continues her book by sharing various techniques on creating infusions, decoctions, tinctures, syrups, ointments, etc. The second half of the book is filled with numerous recipes for various conditions. Some recipes that caught my attention were the face cleansers, acne toner, lip balm, teas, throat lozenges, teeth-whitening treatment, and carpet deodorizer. Looking over the recipes, I see that there are several that would make great affordable gifts too!
I had already begun making some of my own homemade products such as toothpaste and deodorant, but reading this book has gotten me even more excited about trying out others! Not only is it safer, but it really is more affordable than chemical and even organic products. I hope that I, along with many of you, will greatly benefit from making the switch from chemical to natural products. Thank you, Fair Winds Press of Quayside Publishing Group, for allowing me to review this book.
The Home Apothecary gives instruction on how to get started on becoming your very own apothecary. There are many numerous things you would need to accumulate before beginning, including herbs, essential oils, fruits, flowers, butters, oils, wax, and powders. Equipment such as a grinder, mortar and pestle, scale, double boiler, and other items will also be needed. A lot of these items such as herbs and oils can be purchased in a store, but it will be more affordable and fresher if you grow them yourself.
Dugliss-Wesselman continues her book by sharing various techniques on creating infusions, decoctions, tinctures, syrups, ointments, etc. The second half of the book is filled with numerous recipes for various conditions. Some recipes that caught my attention were the face cleansers, acne toner, lip balm, teas, throat lozenges, teeth-whitening treatment, and carpet deodorizer. Looking over the recipes, I see that there are several that would make great affordable gifts too!
I had already begun making some of my own homemade products such as toothpaste and deodorant, but reading this book has gotten me even more excited about trying out others! Not only is it safer, but it really is more affordable than chemical and even organic products. I hope that I, along with many of you, will greatly benefit from making the switch from chemical to natural products. Thank you, Fair Winds Press of Quayside Publishing Group, for allowing me to review this book.
September 14, 2021
Pretty neat book for ideas for home remedies! It has anything from Hair treatments, to bug bite remedies and to cleaning products!
I’m definitely going to try some of them out! Instead of wasting money to buy products that will help with things like curing a headache or cleaning the kitchen, most of the ingredients are stuff already in your kitchen or things you can buy at your local farmer’s market or local grocery store! This book is really great for anyone willing to try out Zero Waste Living, which I also want to try to do more of, which helps make us more eco friendly, and save the planet! Definitely recommend!
I’m definitely going to try some of them out! Instead of wasting money to buy products that will help with things like curing a headache or cleaning the kitchen, most of the ingredients are stuff already in your kitchen or things you can buy at your local farmer’s market or local grocery store! This book is really great for anyone willing to try out Zero Waste Living, which I also want to try to do more of, which helps make us more eco friendly, and save the planet! Definitely recommend!
March 6, 2017
Mostly aromatherapy. Not much information on herbs
September 28, 2022
A nice book, more beauty and house cleaner recipes than anything else though, but a good comprehensive book on techniques and ingredients.
February 10, 2025
Quick and easy read but most recipes are more complex for my needs.
September 15, 2013
I'm a total make-up/ beauty product junkie. I just love it! I'm also interested in using more natural ingredients. As much as I love all of my lotions and potions, I realize that some of them have some pretty icky ingredients. Here's where "The Home Apothecary" comes in! This book is jam packed of not only a really vast list of natural ingredients and what they do but it also a bunch of recipes for making remedies and body care products and it's awesome.
This book was really fascinating to me. As I think I've mentioned before, I have a little garden at my house, that I absolutely love. With this year being our first full year in the house, it was the first time that I had a chance to pick out plants to plant in my garden. I did it really haphazardly. If it was pretty, I put it in. As far as herbs go, if I liked it or it sounded interesting, it went in. After reading "The Home Apothecary," there are so many more things that I want to plant next year so that I can make more of the recipes in this book with my own plants, which would be so cool!
Some of the ingredients in this book would be very easily accessible at a grocery store or a good, robust health food store. Other ingredients may be a little harder to come by but that's what the internet is for.
The methods for making the recipes go from the very easy to intermediate or hard. Although with a little practice, the recipes look like they'd be accessible to just about anyone. Overall, I know this is a resource that I will be going back to over and over again.
This book was really fascinating to me. As I think I've mentioned before, I have a little garden at my house, that I absolutely love. With this year being our first full year in the house, it was the first time that I had a chance to pick out plants to plant in my garden. I did it really haphazardly. If it was pretty, I put it in. As far as herbs go, if I liked it or it sounded interesting, it went in. After reading "The Home Apothecary," there are so many more things that I want to plant next year so that I can make more of the recipes in this book with my own plants, which would be so cool!
Some of the ingredients in this book would be very easily accessible at a grocery store or a good, robust health food store. Other ingredients may be a little harder to come by but that's what the internet is for.
The methods for making the recipes go from the very easy to intermediate or hard. Although with a little practice, the recipes look like they'd be accessible to just about anyone. Overall, I know this is a resource that I will be going back to over and over again.
July 3, 2013
Recently I've been into natural remedies so winning this book was like winning a lottery. The book includes a vast number of different kinds of home remedies from every type of skin care to body care to hair. I love the fact that it also includes recipes for home cleaning as well as insect deterrents. I highly recommend the book for anyone who is into natural way to take care of skin, hair and body.
July 8, 2013
I was very excited to receive this book. Anyone who is interested in more natural products will love this book. The cucumber eye gel recipe is fantastic. I look forward to trying more of these wonderful products.
July 7, 2017
After taking out over 20 library books on the "how to" aspects of making your own balms, salves, bath products, etc., this one is the best of the bunch, in my opinion. Will use regularly.
June 3, 2024
Interesting recipes, theory.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews