Have a question? Here are our answers to your most frequently asked questions
If you have a question about a specific course we also have an FAQ section on each course page, so do be sure to take a look there.
Are the courses accredited?
Yes! Many of our courses are accredited by the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Certification Service.
The CPD Certification Service is the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors. They are a globally recognized institution and accredit courses by prestigious organisations including the University of Westminster and the London School of Economics – and ours, too!
The CPD Certification Service assesses each course individually, evaluating the quality of training materials and learning activities against the highest standards.
We are delighted to have passed the formal and impartial CPD accreditation process carried out by the team of experienced assessors at the CPD Certification Service.
The courses that currently carry the accreditation are: the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation, the Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation, the Diploma in Formulating with Natural Surfactants, the Advanced Certificate in High-Performance Serum Formulation and the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products. Accreditation is a lengthy process and we in the process of having our other courses accredited, too.
You can see our Accreditations and Memberships page for more information on our professional memberships and accreditations.
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 on one of the Tutor Q&A posts.
When you have worked through the lessons you can take the end-of-course quiz or complete the assignments. On successful completion you’ll be issued with your Certificate of Completion.
Are there any assignments? Will I get a certificate?
This depends on which course you take. The Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation, Diploma in Formulating with Natural Surfactants and Advanced Certificate in Natural, High-Performance Serum Formulation courses each require you to submit a set of assignments. These assignments are straightforward to complete once you have studied the materials. Once these are marked by our Cosmetic Scientist you’ll be issued with your course certificate. The Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products and Certificate in Preservative Free Face Mask Formulation include an end-of-course quiz. Once this is passed you’ll be issued with your certificate. All of our
I live in Australia/USA/India/ _______ (insert country here). Can I still take the course?
Yes! All our training programs are fully online and consist of a variety of materials including online training videos, audio classes, downloadable workbooks and worksheets and an online student mastermind group. Our courses are designed to be taken from home from anywhere in the world and the products we make meet global quality and safety standards. We’ll provide information on ingredient suppliers in many different countries and will guide you to the relevant regulations wherever you are based, too. We have over 5000 students in 120+ countries so you’ll be joining a thriving community of global students when you join!
Why are your prices in US$? How much will the course cost in my currency?
We are an international school with students worldwide. US dollars are the most widely recognized and accepted currency. You can check the exchange rate for your local currency using an exchange rate website such as xe.com. You can enrol using a credit or debit card or
What's the difference between the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products and the Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation?
The key difference is that the Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products teaches you how to make products using lovely natural ingredients following our recipes and the Diploma teaches you how to design your own recipes and unique products.
The Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products is almost like an introduction, ie here’s what you can do with natural ingredients and here’s how. We provide 120+ recipes for you to follow.
The Diploma takes it *much* further. It teaches you how to get from a blank sheet of paper or an idea into a product and to create your own unique line of natural and/or organic skincare products.
It is is designed specifically for those of you who wish to design a range of professional products using your own recipes plus 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.
You’ll learn about a much wider range of ingredients and in greater detail: more carrier oils, butters, waxes and essential oils and an introduction to cosmeceuticals and active botanicals (high-performance skincare ingredients). Instead of following our recipes/formulations, you’ll discover the art of creating your own professional formulations designed to suit your skin type of that of your customers.
The end result is a range of beautiful, unique high-performance products designed specifically for your customers or yourself.
For more guidance, see Which course is right for me?
How do I access the course once I have signed up?
At the time of enrollment you’ll also create a student account for our online classroom. Then, as soon as you make your payment, you receive instant access to your course. You can get started right away! You can log into the classroom as many times as you wish and with our useful course tracking system you’ll know exactly where you finished last time and where to start this time.
Do you send us any materials or ingredients?
We will make suggestions on the materials and ingredients that you may like to purchase and where to buy them from. We have
What do I do if I can’t buy ingredients/raw materials locally?
1) In many cases you can use a substitute ingredient. It’s very easy to substitute ingredients such as carrier oils, essential oils, butters and waxes. We have written an article that gives you some tips on substituting ingredients which you can read here: How to substitute ingredients.
2) You can order from overseas. In the case of specialist ingredients like emulsifiers and preservatives you may have to order from overseas. Many suppliers based in the USA, UK and Australia will ship overseas. You’ll find a comprehensive supplier list included with the course.
3) Other suggestions are to search online using the INCI name, ask other students inside our student Facebook group and sometimes food-grade ingredients can be used eg baking soda/bicarbonate of soda are also cooking ingredients.
What help is available if I need it?
Our courses are primarily designed for self-study. They take a very thorough step-by-step approach and each module builds on the next. Therefore as you progress through a course you’ll gain the skills and knowledge needed to create your products or your brand. When you sign up to a course you also get to join our private online student community (hosted via Facebook) to meet and discuss with other students, who have lots of knowledge, expertise and ideas to share.
In addition to this each course has either a weekly or twice weekly tutor Q&A session where our experienced tutors will answer any questions you have related to the course you are studying.
Could you give me an idea of the costs for equipment and ingredients I would need to buy to complete the course?
The amount you spend is up to you, you really can spend as little or much as you like. We recommend that you spend time first learning about different ingredients using the workbooks we provide, and creating your formulas (recipes) on paper before rushing out to buy lots of ingredients. This means that you won’t waste money on things you don’t need and you will buy the ingredients best suited to the type of product you want to create. Of course if you want to go ahead and buy lots of different ingredients you can, but it certainly isn’t necessary. In terms of equipment you will need some good digital scales, a thermometer and a few other things which are mostly basic kitchen or lab equipment that can be picked up inexpensively online. Here is a sneak peek from our Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products that goes through the equipment you’ll need: The equipment you need for making natural skincare products at home.
How long will I have access to the course?
In addition to accessing your course through our online
Are there set lessons to do on specific days or can you do it in your own time?
Our courses are self-study, self-paced courses so you can study at a time that suits you and complete the course as quickly or slowly as you wish. All the lessons are prerecorded so they are available for you at any time.
I don’t have any experience, is the course still suitable for me?
At present the courses we have on offer are suitable for beginners or those with some experience. Joining a class as a beginner is a great place to start as it will ensure that you learn the correct way to design and create products so it is a great way to begin your journey with making products!
Where is the School based?
Our business is registered in the UK and this is where our Directors and many of our team are based. We also have tutors and team members around the world, in the USA, Europe and the Philippines. You can read more about our team here.
The School of Natural Skincare is a trading name of Goodness & Wonder Ltd, Company Registration Number: 8844378. Registered address 432 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8TX, UK. VAT registration number GB204082453.
As we are an online school we are international and we teach students from every continent. To date we have have trained over 5000 students in 120+ countries!
How can I get in touch if I have a question?
If you have a question about which course is right for you then please send an email to hello@schoolofnaturalskincare.com. We’ll respond as soon as we can. Please note: we don’t answer individual questions about recipes/formulations or ingredients from non-students. Instead, we provide a wealth of useful information on our blog so we suggest you take a look here.