Aubrey Hampton is obviously an herbal genius. He goes so deeply into detail about herbs, herbal formulations, scientific properties of herbs and chemicals, how to create your own herbal skin care porducts, and the chemical mess that has infiltrated the cosmetics industry that I have no doubt he is, by far, the top organic herbal cosmetologist in the country, if not the world.

This is one of those must-have books to keep handy around the house. There is so much useful information in it, including a dictionary of common cosmetic chemicals and an encyclopedic chart of herbs, but that only scratches the surface. This book was written by the founder of Aubrey Organics, one of my favorite natural companies. Though it is a tad out-dated (over 10 years old), much of the information used in natural, herbal skin care has been around for thousands of years, and so there is no loss of modernity there. I have found that some of the newer petrochemicals and synthetics might not appear in the chemical dictionary, but many of them do, obviously having been in use in the cosmetics industry for quite some time now.

Though Aubrey tends to lean on the "preachy" side, he is so knowledgeable that I excuse him that tendency. I find it quite interesting to hear his theories on our society and how we came to be so chemical-dependent.

The pages on Aubrey's Natural Method of Hair and Skin Care alone are priceless. I have found dramatic improvements to the appearance of my skin, a reduction of wrinkles, and an overall "youthful glow" using just a handful of herbs and oils and a little bit of care.