Adrian White

Herbalism by Adrian White is a fantastic resource for those just getting into herbalism. White touches many of the cornerstones of herbalism (energetics, formulas, preparations, and including plants into your life holistically) while still putting her own spin on the book with personal anecdotes and herbs that are meaningful to them.

Most of the plants included are found in North America so if you are looking to learn more about herbs from other continents this would not necessarily be what show more you are looking for.

The one thing that I wish would have been handled differently was the essential oils. White admits that she is not an expert on them, so I wish when she did include them she would have done more research or contacted an expert.
In one formula it calls for ⅓ of a cup of dried lavender or essential oil. If I was new to herbalism and knew nothing about essential oils I would think that ⅓ of a cup of lavender essential oil could be used in place of the dried flower. This is not recommended at all… that much essential oil would be unsafe. First the assault on your sense of smell would be horrible and then ingesting that much would not be good for you.
And there’s another recipe that just says essential oil, no recommendation of how many drops.

I am a certified aromatherapist via the Aromahead Institute, and through my studies there and elsewhere over the past 20 years, I would not recommend any internal use of essential oils. They are wonderful for skin care or to inhale the scents to help medically or just for enjoyment, but if you want to consume it, eat the actual plant instead (dried or fresh) or use a food grade oil approved by the FDA to add more flavor to your baked goods. show less