Of all the courses we offer, our most popular courses and quite possibly the ones we get the most questions about are the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products and the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation. Both are excellent courses (if we can brag a little!) and both will set you on the path to creating amazing, effective, and safe natural skincare products. Both will help you understand the process of creating products, cover a range of ingredients, and are presented as interactive, multimedia online courses for easy access, anywhere in the world.

We’re here to help you decide!

Start With The End Goal

Much like the process of developing an effective and personalized formulation, beginning with the desired end result in mind can help you narrow down whether the Certificate or Diploma is the best choice. You are, in a sense, formulating your own perfect results as you embark on your studies!

What is it you wish to accomplish by taking a course from us?

In the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation, we cover:

• How to create your unique brand based on your identified values and goals
• Inspiration for nailing your brand’s specific niche
• Exploring the key elements that create a winning brand identity
• How to identify and target your ideal customers
• Which products to develop to meet your target customers’ desires
• How to use a product development brief
• Perfecting your formulations so they’re consistent every time at any batch size
• How to evaluate and test your products
• The legalities of selling in the USA, Canada, UK, Europe, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand
• And more!

Match your Interests with your Skill Level

While many of our students intend to develop natural skincare businesses at some point, all of our students are interested in learning how to create the very best natural skincare!

Whether you have a general interest in natural and organic skincare, or have been struggling to find solutions for a specific skin challenge or concern, both the Certificate and the Diploma will get you on your way to making amazing, effective, hand-crafted products.

Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation 

How in-depth do you want to go?

Our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation is a more in-depth course that will take your skills to a deeper level. It teaches you how to develop an idea from a blank sheet of paper to a formulation and finally, to a finished product that is totally unique and customized. It is designed specifically for those of you who wish to design a range of professional products using your own recipes, and gain a solid foundation in the business skills you need: creating a brand, meeting the needs of your ideal customers, the legalities of selling, and more.

How big a range of ingredients do you want to work with?

Compared to the Certificate course, the Diploma course covers a much wider range of ingredients and in greater detail: More carrier oils, esters, butters, waxes, humectants, essential oils, emulsifiers and preservatives, vitamins, botanical extracts and cosmeceuticals (high-performance actives.) You’ll discover the art of creating your own professional formulations designed to suit your skin type or that of your customers. The end result is a range of beautiful, unique high-performance products designed specifically for your customers or yourself.

Which learning style do you prefer?

Additionally, there’s a slight difference in approach to learning between the two courses. The Certificate course covers the principles, starts with following recipes, and provides a foundation to make substitutions if you wish. The Diploma course has a more detailed, deeper approach to understanding theory, using our customizable formulation templates and formulation examples in order to create your own.

Depending on what kinds of products you’re interested in making, and whether you’re more comfortable working from recipes or learning how to develop formulations from scratch with our support, you can begin to determine which course might be the best fit. Do you want to work from our provided recipes and build your confidence with the basics, or do you want to go deeper and learn to formulate a range of professional-quality skincare products for yourself or your business? The choice is yours!

Investing in Your Future

In addition to your level of experience and immediate goals for study, your long-term plans also will help you choose the right course for you.

Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation 

Bundle Up and Save with our Beginner to Formulator Program

If you find that you’re still uncertain about your long-term plans, or you can’t choose between the two courses we’ve got you covered!

• Start with the Certificate, and gain a comprehensive introduction to some amazing natural skincare ingredients: carrier oils, butters, waxes, emulsifiers, preservatives, essential oils and more.

• Learn both the practice and the theory of making a wide range of luxurious products, and build from the 120+ recipes we provide, adapting to suit your own needs

• Then, move onto the Diploma, and take your skills to the next level. You’ll learn about a much wider range of ingredients and in greater detail, including an introduction to high-performance skincare ingredients, cosmeceuticals, and active botanicals.

• Using what you’ve learned, you’ll discover the art of creating your own professional formulations designed to suit your skin type or that of your customers.

• And, you’ll gain access to two supportive online communities, filled with students and skincare professionals who can help you as you develop your dream skincare business.

Still have questions? 

We invite you to take a look around our Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products curriculum, as well as the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation curriculum, to make your best and most informed choice.

Or, get in touch with us! We’d be happy to set you up with a free trial of each course, to see what the best choice for you might be. (But you need to get in touch for that, so don’t be shy!)

Curious about the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products?

Wondering if it might be the right choice for you?

You’re in good hands! If you want to know what people are saying about our beginner’s certificate course, then you’ve come to the right place!

What makes this course special is it started out as a live, in-person class that Gail and Gareth ran for many years. The benefit of this? The material was tried and tested in a live classroom setting hundreds of times! The order of the topics has been carefully designed so that you build your knowledge as you go. We’ve anticipated all the questions you might have, before you have them. We also added some of the hands-on activities into the online course to an add an experiential element to your studies.

In 2014, when a student travelled over 10,000km (nearly 7,000 miles) to join our live class, we knew it was time to make it available online so it could be accessible to everyone who wanted to join it. It has since become a fully accredited, multimedia online course, and we’re so pleased to hear every bit of positive feedback from our students.

While many of our students come to the certificate course with some experience in DIY skin care, the only thing you really need to get started is interest and a willingness to learn and try!

The Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products is useful if you want to create products for yourself, family, and friends and primarily follow recipes rather than creating your own. You will gain a good foundation of knowledge of different types of products and different ingredients, when and why to use preservatives, emulsifiers, and antioxidants, and you’ll get lots of recipes to try out and adjust to suit your preferences.

After the certificate course, you may go on to try your hand at more in-depth courses, seek out new ingredients and techniques, or even become inspired to develop plans for your own skin care brand!

Here’s what they have to say!

What motivated you to take the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products course?

What challenges were you facing before you started the course?

How did the course help you overcome these difficulties? What can you do now that you couldn’t do before?

What did you enjoy about the course? What was most useful?

We think our courses speak for themselves, but hearing how our satisfied students expanded their knowledge, improved their skills, and even established their own brands never gets old! If you want to know more about the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products, then we encourage you to come and read more about what the course has to offer you. It’s a wonderful choice for beginners who are interested in making wonderful, effective natural, organic products for yourself, friends and family using tried and tested recipes, adapting them to suit your own preferences, and having the confidence and knowledge to sell them in the future.

1) What will the course teach me?

This accredited online course will teach you to make your own natural and organic cleansers, toners, moisturizers, creams, lotions, balms, body butters, serums, masks, scrubs and more!

For a limited time you’ll also receive 4 free bonus classes with your enrollment. This offer ends of 1st February 2019.

The full curriculum can be found here: https://www.schoolofnaturalskincare.com/certificate-in-making-natural-skincare-products/

2) How long does it take to finish the class?

The Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products is our shorter beginners’ course. The time it takes to complete the course really depends on how many products you want to make. You can make as many or few as you like! There are nine Modules and you’ll probably need to allow two to four hours per Module to understand the theory, complete the exercises and practice making a few products.

There are no live classes; everything is pre-recorded so you can study at a time that is convenient for you. You can work through the course as quickly or slowly as you wish.

If you want a longer and more in-depth course then you may wish to consider our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation.

3) How much is the course? Do you offer a payment plan?

The enrollment fee is US $297. We don’t offer a payment plan for this course.

4) Is the course accredited?

Yes! It is accredited by the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Certification Service: https://cpduk.co.uk/

5) When can I enroll?

Enrollment is open year-round. However, if you’d like to receive our four special bonus classes for free then you have until 1st February 2019 to enroll.

You can enroll here: https://www.schoolofnaturalskincare.com/certificate-in-making-natural-skincare-products/

6) What are the bonus classes and how can I get them?

Until 1st February 2019 you’ll receive four bonus classes when you enroll on the Certificate course.

These bonuses are:

Natural skincare recipes for mother and baby

Make amazing baby products with recipes for:

• Baby bump butter
• Nappy balm
• Baby oil
• Baby powder.

Simple and effective aluminium-free deodorant recipes

Avoid aluminium deodorants and harsh baking soda deodorants with our recipes for:

• A gentle baking soda deodorant
• A baking soda-free deodorant

Baking soda is an effective, natural ingredient for deodorants because it has a very high pH that prevents bacteria growing and reproducing on our skin as we sweat. The downside of this high pH is it can be irritating for some. This is why in our recipe we added a couple of (secret) ingredients that have a soothing and anti-inflammatory effect on the skin so you can benefit from the effectiveness of baking soda without the irritation!

We also include a recipe that uses a completely different deodorizing ingredient so you can steer clear of baking soda! What is it? You’ll have to read the eBook to find out!

PLUS we’re going to teach you:

• How to make your deodorants in two formats: a balm and a stick.
• How to make your deodorant stronger if you wish.

Bath Products eKit

Make a range of relaxing and luxurious bath treats including:

• Bath melts and bath bombs
• Bath creamers and truffles
• Fizzing fairy dust and aromatic bath soaks!

Amazonian Oils and Butters

Discover a range of exotic Amazonian oils and butters to enhance your skincare products that:

• Help maintain skin elasticity and integrity.
• Restore the lipid layer of the skin.
• Prevent transepidermal water loss.
• Protect the skin cells against photo-oxidative damage.

Make gorgeous products with these three recipes:

• Murumuru Peppermint Lip Balm
• Buriti Rose Body Butter
• Passion Fruit Orange Body Oil

You can only access these four bonus classes when you enroll on the Certificate course by 1st February 2019.

7) How does studying with you work?

Studying online is easy and convenient. You can study at your own pace from the comfort of your own home (or office/library – wherever you wish!).

As soon as you enroll you receive access to the course inside our online classroom. There you’ll find the whole curriculum laid out for you. We provide a variety of study materials – written lessons in beautiful downloadable pdfs, video demonstrations, audio lessons, downloadable worksheets, reference charts, activities and quizzes.

You’ll meet your classmates and tutors in our private student support group (hosted in Facebook). There you can chat to other students 24/7 and if you have a question for a tutor you can ask these each Monday on our Q&A post.

When you have worked through the lessons you can take the end-of-course quiz. Once you have successfully completed the quiz you’ll be issued with your Certificate of Completion. You can retake the quiz as many times as you need to.

8) What is the format of the course?

The course includes a variety of materials: beautifully presented recipes files and written guides, practical video demonstrations, audio lessons, quick reference charts and worksheets.

We also include some “Getting to know your carrier oils/essential oils experience weeks” where you’ll get to know these ingredients first hand by experiencing them for yourself. These are live and interactive weeks run by our tutors in our student Facebook group.

You also have tutor support available when you need it and you’ll become part of our private student community.

9) How long do I have access to the course?

You have access to the course inside the online classroom for 18 months. You can also download and save the documents on your own computer forever. If you want to renew your access to the classroom this is possible for a small renewal fee.

10) Can you go back to view the videos and information after you finish?

Yes you can revisit all of the material as often as you like, even after you have finished the course. We recommend that you download the course materials to your own computer so you can use them after your course access has expired.

11) How do I get my certificate?

There is a quiz to complete at the end of the course and when you have completed that you receive your certificate by email straight away. You can retake the quiz as many times as you need to.

12) Do you include how to make bath bombs?

For a limited time we are including our Bath Products eKit as a free bonus when you enroll on the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products! This includes how to make bath bombs and much more! This is available until 1st February 2019.

13) What equipment do I need to get started?

In terms of equipment, you don’t need anything expensive. You can start with simple kitchen/home lab equipment. For example, you’ll need:

• Digital scales.
• Simple glass lab thermometers.
• Some way of creating a double boiler for example jugs/heat-proof beakers and saucepans.
• An electric stick blender.

We have an article and video here that shows you the equipment you need: https://www.schoolofnaturalskincare.com/equipment-you-need-making-natural-skincare-products-home/

14) What raw materials/ingredients do I need?

In terms of ingredients we recommend that you start off simple! With just a handful of ingredients you can make many types of product. We suggest you begin with inexpensive carrier oils that are still very beneficial for the skin. This means as you are practicing and learning you won’t waste expensive ingredients.

So it’s probably best to start with:

• 1-2 emulsifiers.
• 1 preservative.
• 1 antioxidant (Vitamin E).
• 2 stabilizers (cetyl alcohol and xanthan gum).
• 1 humectant (glycerin).
• 1 wax (beeswax or a vegan alternative).
• A few basic carrier oils (eg sweet almond, sunflower, apricot kernel).
• A few specialist carrier oils (eg avocado, macadamia, rosehip, raspberry seed, evening primrose).
• A few butters (eg shea and cocoa).
• A few essential oils (the course covers 14 essential oils in depth – you could start with 3-5 of these).

There isn’t a set list of materials that you need. We suggest that you read through some of the recipes and decide what you’d like to make. You can also look through the ingredient charts to see which oils sound appealing to you. Then you can order your ingredients accordingly.

Don’t get overwhelmed – keep it simple! You can always add more ingredients to your collection later.

15) Where can I buy my ingredients?

There are many excellent suppliers of cosmetic ingredients. We provide a very extensive supplier list within our courses that covers suppliers in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, UK, USA, Canada and more.

The Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products uses easy-to-source ingredients and it’s likely you’ll be able to find what you need in your country. Depending on where you live you may need to order emulsifiers and preservatives from overseas if you wish to use those approved by natural/organic certification bodies. Many suppliers ship internationally.

16) Can I see what other students have said about the Certificate course?

Sure! We recently compiled student feedback in this article: What Students Are Saying about the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products.

17) Will this course teach me how to start my own skincare brand or formulate products from scratch?

No. The Certificate course will teach you how to make products by learning the principles behind each product type and following our recipes (adapting them if you wish). If you want to learn to formulate skincare products from scratch then our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation would be a good choice for you.

The Certificate course is not designed to help you create your own skincare brand. That’s what we cover step-by-step in our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation.

The Certificate course can certainly be the first step you take towards starting your own brand or formulating your own products but you will need to complete our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation afterwards.

18) How is the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products different to the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation?

The Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products is our beginners’ course and useful if you want to create products for yourself, family and friends and primarily follow our recipes rather than creating your own. You will gain a good foundational knowledge of different types of products, when and why to use preservatives, emulsifiers and antioxidants and you’ll get lots of recipes to try out. By the end you’ll confidently be creating a range of natural or organic skincare products for face and body including creams and lotions, cleansers, toners, serums, body butters, lotion bars and scrubs.

Our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation takes your skills to a the next level. This more advanced course will teach you how to formulate your own products from scratch, rather than following our recipes. This means you’ll design a unique product by identifying who the product is for and the benefits you want it to offer. You’ll then use our guides and templates to help you choose your ingredients and create a unique recipe/formula. We cover a wider range of ingredients and also help with business essentials such as creating a brand and selling your products legally. If you want to start a brand or sell your products then the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation is designed to help you do that.

Many students only take the Certificate course as that helps them achieve their goal of making products for themselves and their friends and family. Many also start with the Certificate course and then move onto the Diploma course to help develop their skills further. Some students who already have some experience with making skincare products only take the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation.

19) Can I buy both courses – the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products AND the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation?

Yes you can – and we have a special offer for you if you do!

For a limited time when you enroll on the Certificate course you’ll be invited to enroll on the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation with a saving of $100 and receive our Guide to Formulating with AHAs and BHAs for FREE!

To take advantage of this offer:

1) Enroll on the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products.

2) Check your emails for the invitation to enroll on the Diploma special offer – but hurry, this will only be available for a limited time!

(If you don’t see the email please check your spam/junk folder or contact us at hello@schoolofnaturalskincare.com).

Any other questions?

Email us at hello@schoolofnaturalskincare.com. We’ll be happy to help.

Ready to enroll?

You can enroll here: https://www.schoolofnaturalskincare.com/certificate-in-making-natural-skincare-products/

We look forward to welcoming you!