Are you an at home mom cooking up your own skin care cremes and lotions? Are you a soap artisan looking for that special oil addition for your next batch of luscious soaps? Are you a massage therapist endeavoring to create a unique therapeutic blend for your clients? Are you a skin care professional curious about the effects oils with a distinct fatty acid profile has on the skin ? Or are you just interested in the health benefits of polyunsaturated vegetable oils in your diet? Then this book is for you. This portable, but comprehensive color illustrated reference is brimming with hard to find information that skin aestheticians, soap artisans, massage therapists, nutraceutical specialists and skin or hair care formulators will find indispensable. Each of the 172 oils in this book has a dedicated 2 page monograph which includes: • Botanical information, species, family, growth regions • Common names in several languages • Oil edibility and shelf life • CAS number • Iodine and saponification values • Phytosterol, carotenoid and tocopherol levels • Description and traditional or folklore uses • Color chart displaying the complete fatty acid profile • Color illustrations of the plant and oil color • Popular uses And if you are not sure what a fatty acid is or may have napped through high school chemistry, the glossary at the back of this book is an easy to read refresher. This comprehensive section outlines virtually any substance that nature can create in a plant which may find its way into a bottle of oil. Keep this colorful reference handy as you explore the world of natural oils and create your next personal care masterpiece.

A registered nurse for over twenty years, the author, a self professed 'fact ferret', began a journey of interest in natural plant based oils. During the following ten years, the interest became a research fueled fascination, culminating in a unique and comprehensive lexicon of natural plant oils and butters.