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While this video may be titled Aromatherapy, it’s as much about self-massage as it is about treating yourself with essential oils. Valerie Ann Worwood is an excellent guide to the benefits of aromatherapy–using scents to soothe and heal–for the whole family, and the sections on how to give yourself a massage are alone worth the price of this tape.

Worwood begins with the mixing of oils. The video sleeve contains a guide to which oils work for specific desired results (for instance, lemon oil is good for the body and soul, for use as a sedative, and for increasing concentration), and she mixes a few concoctions to illustrate. She then moves on to first aid, healing cuts and burns, stimulating aching feet, and helping a young child fall asleep. Next is aromatherapy in beauty regimes. The face massage is soothing, and she claims it will help release tension, increase circulation, improve texture, and revitalize the face. Scents in baths and showers follow, and then the section on stress, tension, and self-massage. The self-massage is demonstrated slowly enough that it’s easy to follow. Who needs a masseuse? With Worwood as a guide, you can calm the aching muscles of your shoulders, neck, arm, breasts, hip, back, and bottom all by your lonesome (note: there is a bit of nudity in the demonstration). She finishes the video with environmental perfuming–scenting your living space. Warning: after viewing this video you may go overboard on purchasing the oils. But at least you and your home will be pleasingly aromatized. –Jenny Brown

From Library Journal

There are plenty of good books on herbs, and some of them devote a chapter to essential oils, but there’s nothing comparable to Worwood’s work. Her premise is different from other herbalists–she believes that the most effective way to use herbs medicinally is by external application or inhalation. Both methods allow the essential oil to enter the bloodstream without passing through the digestive tract. Her grasp of basic physiology is somewhat confused, but there’s nothing dangerous in her suggestions. (Worwood runs an aromatherapy clinic in England and conducts research on aromatherapy.) Her book prescribes oils for everything from basic first aid and treating common ailments to natural cosmetics and body care, fragrance for the home and office, and cooking with essential oils. A good addition to alternative medicine collections.See also Susanne Fischer-Rizzi’s Complete Aromatherapy Handbook , LJ 7/91.–Ed.
- Katharine Galloway Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

Essential oils are one of the world’s great untapped resources. This complete volume explains how to incorporate these ancient medicines of the earth into everyday life for personal care, physical and mental health, and a safe home environment. It gives more than 500 recipes using essential oils as alternatives to often toxic human-made health, beauty, and cleaning products.