Self-care and reflection: fall brings most of us back into the season's work and school routines--a good time also for a new hairstyle or a lifestyle improvement.

The number of books for African Americans that cover self-care issues always seems to be increasing. Recent offerings include an inspirational autobiography by a beauty products entrepreneur, a new book on hair, and a number of advice books for young adults, for whom little seemed to be available in the past.

The businesswoman Lisa Price is the creator and founder of Carol's Daughter, which produces and sells bath and body-care items through its store in Brooklyn, on its Web site, www.carolsdaughter.com and through body spas and salons in 14 states. She lectures on entrepreneurship at colleges and seminars. Her book, an autobiography and how-to, has recently been featured on NBC's Today show and other national television programs. The book includes recipes for body-care products and a resource guide on ingredients.

Success Never Smelled So Sweet: How I Followed My Nose and Found My Passion by Lisa Price and Hilary Beard One World/Ballantine, April 2004 $24.95. ISBN 1-400-06109-1

Lisa Price's success is more than sweet. It's life saving. The Brooklyn native who started her $2 million a year bath and body-care product company, Carol's Daughter with $100, says folks tell her that the indulgent scents of her lotions and bath salts helped them survive illness, homelessness, and hopelessness.

The autobiography written with Hilary Beard, a senior producer with NiaOnline.com, begins with Price's memory, as a five-year-old, of being spellbound by the scent and sight of a basketful of rose petals she carried during a wedding. In fact, Price loved the petals so much, she dropped only a skinny trail up the aisle; she wanted to keep the rest! The church rocked with laughter.

The book is written in a high-energy, conversational style. You can almost smell her rose-milk aphrodisiac bath wafting from the pages, washing over your skin, soothing away stress, and making you say "Aaahhh."

If you are looking for an "oh my goodness" moment, just read the "Self-Forgiveness Ritual." For Price, ideas often come to her in dreams. For example, when she was confused about exfoliating scrubs, she dreamt of an old Native American woman with a pestle and mortar, telling her to combine the dry ingredients first for best results. Price did it, and it worked!

Price, a wife and mother of two, launched her business from her Brooklyn home. In her kitchen, she mixed oils and scents herself, and then sold the products from there and from vendor's booths, before finally opening her boutique. Her line of products now draws praise from celebrities such as Erykah Badu and Vanessa Williams.

"People look at us and say, 'They have $2 million in sales and she's been on Oprah and she's huge,'" Price says. "But I'm going into my eleventh year. There was tons of sacrifice and working hard and long hours. I didn't take vacations and stood in the rain selling stuff from a card table."

Her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? "Go into it knowing it's not going to be easy," she says. "Be patient with yourself. Be patient with the small steps."

Elizabeth Atkins is a freelance writer and author who lives in Detroit.

ON BEAUTY, YOUTH AND LIVING The following were reviewed by Suzanne Rust, NURTURE editor for Black Issues Book Review.