Page Street Publishing Homemade Perfume from Nature: Create Exquisite, Naturally Scented Products to Fill Your Life with Botanical Aromas

I'm a beginner in perfumery and this book is perfect for me. It's well written and well organised. Can't think of better beginner's book. If I finally decide to take a natural perfumery course, it will be with Anya.

This is not a technical book and you might not be able to make a professional grade fragrances after reading this book. But what it provides is necessary basics to get the journey started. The writing style is simple and is accompanied by some great photographs. At times it gets repetitive but then repetitiveness takes away the need of moving back and forth. Its an excellent coffee table kind of book which you can enjoy at leisurely pace and can learn the basics before moving on to more serious stuff.

Good book - happy I purchased - missing some information - e.g. be great to have a section on what flowers shouldn't be treated due to potential for poisoning etc. The print in grey is fantastically hard to read in low light - and so the graphic design of the book could be better thought through - looks nice, but not desperately practical. I'm not after pretty-ness in a book like this - just the substance of the topic.

I'm the perfume version of a home cook. I've been collecting rare oils and been blending my own fragrances for decades. I've read every book on natural perfumery, but I can say in complete honesty that I consider Anya McCoy to be the Julia Child of natural perfume. Her breadth of knowledge and expertise is unmatched: botany, fragrance blending, and now at last, creating perfume from your own garden. Do not be intimidated by some of the more laborious techniques. Start small! If you have a small patch of lavender you can create a lavender tincture that captures the soul of the flower. Amy's will guide you through each technique, and her sumptuous photographs will whisper that it is worth the effort.

I like this book pretty well. It is very easy to read. Nothing complicated. You can definitely read this and go make some perfume (liquid or solid), body butter, or scented powder. All of the standard techniques are described in plenty of detail to execute them without going to another reference. There are a few specific recipes, with plenty of guidance on starting from scratch. And there is enough theory that you can easily dive in and make up your own unique formula.One aspect that was a little confusing was the variety of techniques described - it wasn't quite clear to me when to select a particular technique to make a particular product - the information is there, but somewhat buries in each chapter. A table to help select one technique over another would have been nice. The book could also use a little more detail when it comes to the distillation process. It would have been helpful to cover the specifics for at least the setup the author uses herself. The other miss is a continued emphasis on keeping things clean, and then encouraging the reader to use wooden spoons in several of the processes. Wooden spoons have pores and fibers, which can harbor bacteria. So if you're going to make perfume, stay away from wooden spoons - stick with stainless steel and glass.All in all, a decent book. A good balance between theory and practice. Very practical. Several external sources are listed to purchase what you need to get started. If you're a cook that likes to mix and taste to come up with the perfect recipe, and you're thinking about making perfumes, this would be a great book for you!