375 Essential Oils

"This is a book for those who just want a little bit of info. It was a good starter book but I couldn't go very far with it."
~ Written on 2008-07-05

"This book is a wonderful reference book for the world of essential oils. It distills (pun intended) a wealth of information into a user friendly format. This book is not meant to be used as a guide to using the oils nor is it a recipe book for remedies. Ms. Rose has written other books to cover those topics. This book lists the plant name (common and scientific), counterindications (very helpful to have on hand!), color, scent and other necessary attributes to help the EO user understand the oils, where they come from (plants and geographical region), and uses. "
~ Written on 2006-01-20

"As I migrate further and further into the world of herbs and essential oils and learn more and more, I have discovered hydrosols. What, you may ask is a hydrosol? Quoting Kurt Schnaubelt's book MEDICAL AROMATHERAPY, which suggests aromatic hydrolsols are the product of the steam distillation process used to produce essential oils, Jeanne Rose, author of 375 ESSENTIAL OILS AND HYDROSOLS says the word comes from the Latin `hydro' meaning water and `sol' meaning (collidal) solution. Sol is also the name of the old Egyptian sun god and the root of the word solace, which hydrosols can provide along with their brethren the essential oils and herbs.

Rose includes photographs of a hydrosol still or `old spirit well' used to distill essential oil and hydrosols. In olden times these powerful substances were known as `sprits' owing to their magical properties and ability to heal and provide comfort as well as kill. Sol was also the name the alchemists gave gold. Was it gold the alchmists sought? After all, fluids that could cure as well as maim or kill must have been worth their weight in gold.

Rose says hydrolsols are being produced in the California wine country by wineries involved in The Aromatic Plant Project which sets an example for sustainable agriculture and respect for the environment. One of the things I best like about this book is that Rose discusses the habitat and environmental impact of each plant used to produce a specific oil/hydrosol. For example, if you use Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora) as a single or a blend, you are contributing to the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest, because wild trees in the forest must be destroyed to produce the Rosewood hydrosol/oil. On the other hand, you can go on using Frankincense (Boswellia carterii) without a care because the economies of Somaliland and Southeast Arabia produce this 5,000 year-old substance (used by the Egyptians to mummify bodies) in an environmentally friendly and agriculturally sustainable manner. For each oil/hydrosol verbotan for "green" reasons, Rose suggest an alternative substance.

In her appendix, Rose provides a list of sources (2000), including the Aromatherapy Plant Project in California (a non-profit resource that promotes American agriculture).
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~ Written on 2005-05-22

"I was disappointed with this book. I was looking for a book which would give in-depth discussion of the fragrances of various essential oils and perhaps some guidance as to how they can be combined to create new fragrances both for perfumery and aromatherapy purposes. But this book has relatively little on these subjects. If you want brief listings on many essential oils giving: name of plant, family of plant, growth habit, chemical components, aroumatherapy uses, and scent - a lot of information but presented only briefly and not in depth - then you might like the book. I should have been more careful (and used the 'look inside the book' feature) before ordering it and discovering that it wasn't suitable for my purposes. "
~ Written on 2005-05-10

"This is an excellent, cost-effective, professional-quality reference book for lay people just starting to explore the world of aromatherapy. Ms. Rose includes sections on latin names and botanical classifications, which are very helpful in understanding the provenance of the oils in the book.
The Guide itself is a pretty exhaustive list of oils, and includes the chemical components of each oil as well as descriptions of the oil's appearance and smell. Ms. Rose does not waste our money with full-page color plates of plants most of us are unlikely to ever see!
I also highly recommend Kurt Shnaubelt's "Advanced Aromatherapy" as a companion volume to this book. Dr. Schnaubelt explains more of the chemistry behind the oils and includes some safety information that is sadly lacking from Ms. Rose's book. Like one of the reviewers of one of her other books, I downgraded a star because of safety information that I felt was either incomplete or conflicted with other professional sources I have researched.
I also recommend Prima Fleur Oils, mentioned in her "sources" section, as an ethical and fairly-priced Essential Oil supplier. These days, everyone is selling essential oils and it's hard to know what kind of product you're getting. These guys are the real deal."
~ Written on 2005-02-22