This course is suitable for formulators of all levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced. Some experience of making or formulating skincare products is beneficial but not essential. The course builds your skills, knowledge and confidence by starting with simpler formulation types and progressing to more complex ones.

For students who are already skilled skincare formulators, this is your opportunity to branch out into a completely different field of cosmetics. By learning to formulate color cosmetics you’ll develop a completely new and unique skill set. This will include a detailed understanding of color theory and how to create pigmented products in a wide range of formats – sticks, creams, pencils, mousse, balms, liquids and powders.

The course focuses on natural ingredients and the vast majority of the ingredients used are naturally derived and COSMOS approved. This means that the example formulas can be certified by major natural and organic standards. You can choose to use organic ingredients if you wish to formulate organic cosmetics.

We use mineral pigments in the course which are nature-identical and approved for use by natural and organic standards such as COSMOS. You can read more about mineral pigments here.

The Diploma in Formulating Natural Makeup and Advanced Color Cosmetics covers a wide range of product types, from simple straightforward formulations to complex ones. We suggest you follow the modules in the given order, so your knowledge and skills will progress gradually before advancing to more complex products.

As part of the course you receive a comprehensive global supplier list, featuring hundreds of cosmetic suppliers from all around the world. Additionally, we provide a list of suppliers of the specialist materials and packaging required for color cosmetics. We give plenty of guidance but there isn’t a set supply list, which means you can choose which ingredients you wish to buy.

We aim to choose ingredients that are easy to find, and many easy to obtain ingredients feature on the course. Some of the more advanced products require specialist ingredients that are not as widely available. Depending on where you are based you may need to order them from overseas suppliers that ship internationally; we also give ideas for substitute ingredients. If you have difficulty obtaining ingredients for a specific product, you could choose to make a different format of that product instead, for example a blusher stick rather than a mousse blush. There are lots of options to choose from within the course.

Yes, all of the products can be made using vegan ingredients and we include many vegan formulas, including vegan mascara and vegan lipstick.

Yes! The course is a fully online training program hosted in our online classroom. It is 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. We have students in over 150 countries so you’ll be joining a thriving community of global students when you join!

Yes, when you have finished the course there will be several assignments to submit. These are straightforward to complete and based on the material covered in the class. On successful completion, your course certificate will be issued.

Now! You can get started with the course right away.

The course is a self-study, self-paced course so you can study at a time that suits you. All the lessons are pre-recorded, so you don’t need to worry about joining us at a set time.

A variety of formats are used, including comprehensive and beautifully designed course textbooks (provided as PDFs), video demonstrations, worksheets, quizzes and activities.

Most of the products on the course can be made with some basic kitchen/lab equipment. Here is a list of the equipment that you should consider using:

• Protective clothing including gloves and a dust mask.
• Electric herb or coffee grinder, or a mortar and pestle, for preparing pigments and powders.
• A double boiler, water bath or hot plate for a source of heat.
• Pyrex bowls or glass lab beakers.
• Two thermometers.
• A stick blender (immersion blender).
• Small beakers/weighing boats/pipettes.
• Measuring spoons (the following sizes are useful: 1⁄8 teaspoon, 1⁄4 teaspoon, 1⁄2 teaspoon, 3⁄4 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon – where 1 teaspoon equals 5ml).
• Mini-scoop (0.05ml).
• Small spatulas.
• Digital scale (0.01g precision).
• pH strips (or meter).
• Small jars (to store powders and pigment mixes in).
• Makeup packaging for finished products.

Two pieces of (optional) specialist equipment you may require are:

• Pressing tools such as a clamp or small tamper tool if you wish to press your powders.
• Lipstick mold for making lipsticks with a tapered end.

More details and supplier suggestions are included in the course.

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 xe.com or another currency converter.

We are very proud to have a team of qualified, experienced, professional cosmetic scientists supporting our students. They are here to help you with questions or doubts about ingredients, formulas, methods and guidelines pertaining to your specific course. You can ask them your questions in our weekly Tutor Q&A, hosted in our online platform.

If you are a member of our Natural Cosmetic Formulation Club and have already completed Formulating Mineral Makeup, then yes, you can continue on to Formulating Advanced Natural Color Cosmetics. You can use your credit allocation to purchase the five modules of Formulating Advanced Natural Color Cosmetics from the courses dashboard.