Whole Beauty: Daily Rituals and Natural Recipes for Lifelong Beauty and Wellness

by Shiva Rose

After giving birth to her first daughter, Shiva Rose was diagnosed with life-threatening autoimmune conditions. In order to combat her illness, she completely changed her lifestyle—she started growing her own food, surrounded herself with nature, incorporated meditative rituals into her routine, and began her journey to heal from the inside out. This inspired her to start her beauty blog, The Local Rose, and to create her own all-natural, nontoxic skincare products. Now, for the first time, she has gathered years of research and application in order to present Whole Beauty, a manual meant to inspire women—especially those who are trying to revitalize their health—to live mindfully and holistically through beautification, nourishment, and self-love and to generate a sense of peace, calm, and balance in their lives.

There are over 40 recipes for face masks (such as Venus Beauty, made from oat flour, raw milk, sandalwood powder, and crushed rose petals); moisturizing creams (such as Plumping Goddess Nectar, made from avocado, banana, honey, and yogurt); hair rinses (using apple cider vinegar, water, and lavender or rosemary essential oils); and tonics (using pure natural rose water). The book also includes beauty rituals to incorporate into one’s everyday life: how to mindfully take the time for self-care, tips on using crystals, beauty foods, ways to slow down (such as kundalini yoga and tea ceremonies), how to tap into nature, and more.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Lifestyle, Self Help, Spirituality, Reference

224 pages, Hardcover

Published April 3, 2018

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this three times cover to cover, made several of the recipes and did some of the self-care suggestion in the first week I bought it. I'm a bit obsessed and truly inspired. After reading this book, I've started to live life more intentionally and treat myself like the goddess Shiva Rose says we are meant to be.

In a previous review written by someone else, the book was given a bad review because it wouldn't go well with Christian beliefs. I'm Catholic and saw this book as very educational. I personally wouldn't follow any of the rituals like the Yoni egg, praying to the various gods listed, etc., but it was interesting to read about other religions and cultures.

Shiva does make a point that her rituals are merely examples and she encourages us to eventually make our own rituals suitable to our needs.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whole Beauty is a gorgeous book written by an absolutely gorgeous woman. The idea of creating self-care rituals (pranayama practice, massage, and dry brushing) and making my own bath and beauty products is so appealing, and then I look at the ingredient list...

Making your own products is so delightfully "zero waste," but I can't be arsed to order the various herbs, oils, etc., nor can I be arsed to set aside the time to indulge in face steaming and such.

Yoni eggs and alters... this may be a bit too woowoo for me.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three words: enlightening, spiritual, strange

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much of this book is typical holistic wellness advice, and it might be useful for someone just beginning their journey into natural health and beauty practices. However, there are pretty egregious overtones of privilege and cultural appropriation. Want to feel beautiful? Pray to Lakshmi or Freya and make altars to them! Want delve deep into meditation and stillness? Adopt sacred Chinese tea cultures and officiate tea ceremonies for your friends! Um, it doesn’t. Work. That. Way. (I don’t even need to write this since you already know it, but knowledge and background in a particular culture or religion, prayer and ceremony is completely hollow.) Also, for the record, there’s really no way a yoni egg can “balance your hormones” or regulate your cycle even if you are using a crystal one with magical properties. 😂

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, helpful book on creating a wellness focused lifestyle. With a grain of salt, I love how gorgeous and simply explained it is.

[Irida · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to thank the publisher, Artisan Books, and netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this beautiful book. The book is well written and beautifully presented, with beautiful photographs and page layouts
This book is much more than the title prescribes, it is more than recipes to make wholesome skin care products. It deals with beauty of the whole woman, body mind and soul. This book is an awakening to the importance of self care which is more than buying and using the right cosmetic products. The author, Shiva Rose provides the ingredients of how to achieve not only outer beauty but also inner beauty through traditional practices, such creating rituals for oneself fused with mindfulness practices, yoga and meditation and nutrition, resulting in complete nourishment.
Women often put their own needs aside to care for others. I truly enjoyed reading this book, I just felt so special and beautiful reading this book and realize that I need to practice more self-care.
I could feel the passion, and beauty of Ms, Shiva through her words.

I think that every woman can read this book and find something useful,. This book us a great gift for women.

[Victoria Peipert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the idea of this book and even some of the practices/rituals and recipes. My struggle with it is the vast array of items needed (I live in LA and have never heard of some of these ingredients!) since that makes it feel pretty isolating and hard to achieve. I also thought it was a bit far reaching in some of the claims she made.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous book that speaks to ritual and renewal. I only rated it thee stars because it seemed unattainable. Too many ingredients; she talks of picking up everything on her walks and room in a house for multiple alters and crystal collections and spices and... almost made me exhausted at the thought of buying it all. But it is stunningly beautiful.

[Jennifer Cottrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the concept of rituals for myself. For so long, I felt a little selfish by taking any real amount of time for me and my quality of life suffered as a result. The author helped me to embrace the virtues of taking care of myself and therefore being a healthier person than I was before!

[Elizabeth Ruth-Abramian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found lots to admire and try in Whole Beauty for what’s new in beauty care. Shiva Rose’s instructions are simple and elegant for making beauty products you can put together at home. Thus, enhancing your natural beauty is now quite accessible.

Shiva Rose’s Whole Beauty (Artisan, a division of Workman Publishing, 2018) is a collection of beauty formulas, exercises and lifestyle attitudes on the best ways to care for your own natural bounty. Shiva Rose is the owner and designer of Shiva Rose beauty products made of 100% purely natural ingredients. Her beliefs stem from actual experience with flowers, essences, oils and fats. She says our bodies need intimate contact with unadulterated plants to get healthy and maintain a beautiful presence, inside and out.

Yet the detail in Whole Beauty is helpful on a spiritual as well as physical level. It extends to essential oils and the effects they have on the inside, not just the outside of you that everyone sees. You’ll acquire a knowledge of essential oils and your chakras, as well as which essential oils are best for your dosha or the type of constitution you currently have.

You can surround yourself with natural products, from the ones in your medicine cabinet to your kitchen and home.

Read about Shiva Rose’s Golden Milk recipe, on my website.

[Juli Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whew! What a load of shallow, pastel-colored, balderdash! I have a medium-high tolerance for the woo-woo stuff, but this was too much even for me. It only took leafing through the book for one minute to correctly guess the author's Santa Monica location. This is a loosely compiled collection of blog nonsense that blatantly encourages cultural appropriation (the author's cultural origins are mixed, but there is no conversation about the potential problems of a white audience adopting the South Asian and Indigenous American traditions that she uses). The lack of scientific understanding here is staggering, including encouraging raw milk use with no mention of the illegality in many states or possible health dangers AND the inclusion of a toothpaste recipe with (count them) 20 drops of cinnamon essential oil in it! I put two drops of that stuff in my bath once and paid for it dearly; a mouthful is a great way to set yourself up with some major oral burns. In addition, the fluffy, "yoni power" brand of fake feminism peddled here is essentialist and trans-exclusive. Not for me in the slightest.

[Montana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot, it motivated me to use more of the beauty products I have around and to use them mindfully as an act of self care and appreciation of my body rather than just 'slathering it on' as she says.

Shiva sounds like a beautiful soul who turned her negative situations into positives.

The only reason this book is not a five star is because a lot of the products she recommends are pricey (although this is not marketed as a budget beauty book to be fair) and some of the rituals such as an evening bath every night are a luxury few have time for. I feel maybe Shiva should have acknowledged her privelege a bit there.

Overall this book has inspired me to create face and hair masks using natural ingredients again, establish new rituals and inspired me to connect with my spirituality.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book itself has a lovely layout. Very soothing and pretty. However, it does reek of privilege and money. A lot of the ingredients mentioned are not easily obtained by the everyday person. There is mention of quite a few things that are cultural appropriation which left me feeling uncomfortable. I wasn't a big fan of the section on using essential oils because there is contradictory information on whether they are even safe to use. Also adding essential oils to water does not make the resulting liquid a hydrosol. I have to say that there are better sources of information than this book so not even sure if it's worth keeping this book on my shelf.

[Bethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the book as whole is very aesthetically pleasing, the imagery and layout is beautiful.
I loved the book and cannot wait to try some of the recipes yes some of the ingredients seem a little bit bizarre and may be hard to come across but I'm sure I will be able to find alternatives and that's the beauty of it the recipes aren't there to be followed by the word we can all adapt, add and take away what doesn't serve us or what we wish to see.
A great book for anyone starting out on their holistic health and beauty journey as it covers most basis

[Brona Molnarova · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pleasant book to own and leaf through. The content is not very in-depth, but it is a good mix, introducing a wide variety of holistic self-care practices. If someone gave me this book when I was a teenager or just getting interested in skincare and makeup, I'd probably pee myself with happiness.

[Christina Guadalupe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes and thoughts as how to carve a sacred space and make time for yourself. Love that she is a single mom and brings that aspect of making time for oneself with the business of life. Setting an alter or spiritual place in the home is a great anchor for centering and making time for the devine.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had hoped for more recipies - it feels a little like borrowing from every tradition with little sense of cohesion except for a personal sense of wellbeing and beauty.
beautiful layout and pictures - but ingredients that did not feel easily accessable

[Chanel Chapters · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the practices in here are great
However the authors stories reeked of wealth and privilege which was off-putting - I mean not all of us can hire master craftsmen from small villages in Japan to come to our home to build traditional tea houses

[Robyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

nah sis

[Bode Cauthon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a gorgeous book that truly resonated with me. This is one I will pull off the shelves again and again.

[Amy Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

what an awesome book! It had a lot of really good information and things to try!

[Sunny P · Rating 1 out of 5]

You want me to stick what? Where?

[Justene · Rating 5 out of 5]

So in love with this, am about to read it again

[Hillary Arrieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved many of the recipes I tried from this book. Very inspirational!

[SGB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures, very educational, lots of nice recipes. I really enjoyed this book. I consult this book regularly for some inspiration.

[Linda Mora · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book, perfect for women.

[Dallas Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Rituals, practices, and being more present in nature have made me see the world with new eyes. I’m not sure if I would have really felt the bliss of that sunset in my former life. I realized that to see and feel the magic around us is truly what it means to be content and fulfilled."

This book was absolutely beautiful! What stopped me from giving it a 5 star was that there were a few practices that didn't resonate with me - specifically goddesses and chakras. Otherwise, it was wonderful to see how simple practices can be made into holy ones.

Natural medicine/alternatives will always appeal to me, and I'm so grateful to have read this!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

While absolutely beautiful, this book is definitely for women with a holistic view. I really enjoyed the tea ceremony parts, along with the whole mindset of the book, which is basically "take care of yourself." It was fascinating, though some of it was a little took "hokey" for me.

Thanks, NetGalley.

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too woo-woo for me even though I am familiar with most of these practices. "I live in California and collect everything from the wild and love the traditional practices because I live in the west without taking into account the repression in these very societies."

The book is designed very prettily though.

[Kirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book!