More than just a shampoo making class: how our course helped Cortney to launch her all-natural haircare and skincare business

How a course in making natural shampoos and conditioners helped Cortney to launch her own brand.

Cortney, founder of Wilder and graduate of our Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation, and Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation has created an inspiring beauty brand that places environmental ethics at its heart.

Natural shampoo and conditioner

Wilder is an all-natural haircare and skincare company offering a raft of sustainable self-care products, including the delicious-sounding Refreshing Eucalyptus Lemon Lime, and Floral Geranium Jasmine solid shampoo and conditioner bars. Yummy!

Cortney’s journey began with a passion for science and the natural world. After spending several years delving into the restorative and regenerative powers of essential oils, Cortney had her first child, and this propelled her into investigating the ingredients of conventional skincare and haircare products. Cortney shares:

“I became very aware of the products that I was using on myself and my daughter. I was also looking for a way to pivot my science and teaching background into a career that would feed my passion and creativity in a different way.”

Sustainability and innovation

Cortney rapidly developed an interest in creating her own products, and deliberately chose haircare because she felt it was a market with more opportunity, less competition and with plenty of room for innovation.

We’re very inspired by her ambition, drive and determination to create a brand that matches her values!

“The most exciting experiences in formulating haircare are the endless possibilities through experimentation, and the challenge of meeting the needs of the customer.”

Cortney started out by creating products that suited her own hair needs, preferences, values and lifestyle: essentially she was her own first customer! This is a great approach, and in fact it’s one we recommend if you don’t have a specific target market or customer to begin with.

Her focus on innovation is key, particularly as sustainable haircare is currently an emerging market. For example, trend experts say that Generation Z expect all products to be inherently sustainable and designed with purpose.¹

Learning how to formulate your own natural shampoos and conditioners from scratch, like the professionals do, is something we really focus on in our Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation.

It’s not enough to be able to follow a recipe – you need to understand what the natural ingredients for shampoos and conditioners are, what their purpose is in the product, and how to combine them in the correct manner in order to create the product you are seeking. With loads of specific shampoo making classes AND conditioner making classes, as well as all the theory you will need, our courses will put you on track for your own amazing journey of creating natural shampoos and conditioners!

Cortney shares:

“A tip I have for aspiring formulators is to start formulating! Get the basic ingredients and experiment: these are the times that I learned the most. Identify a problem you want to solve, and begin to create the solution.”

Learning how to make your own natural shampoo and conditioner with us

Cortney researched her options and decided to study with the School of Natural Skincare because of the built-in flexibility we offer.

“The idea that I could access all of the resources online and experiment in my own kitchen really worked for my schedule!”

We also encourage all of our formulators to join our online student support community, as sharing in the community helps everyone learn.

“Even if I don’t have a question, I still read the questions of the other students to see their challenges or observations.”

We have student support groups for all of our courses, staffed by our formulation tutors and open to everyone enrolled in those courses! We encourage sharing knowledge, experiences, successes and failures and always love to hear what amazing products our students have been creating!

Join the natural and organic haircare revolution!

The organic movement is rapidly expanding and is now part of the mainstream for good reason. We’re excited to welcome students who place importance on making organic shampoos, conditioners and other haircare products to join our growing global tribe.

As Cortney has experienced, being part of our community of like-minded passionate natural and organic beauty lovers can make a huge difference to us all.

Our Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation teaches students to create natural shampoos, conditioners and hair styling and treatment products from scratch, like a professional. 

From here our students are able to design their own complete range of haircare products tailored to suit specific and different hair types and conditions as well as according to their deepest values and beliefs.

We’d love to welcome you to our growing global community of passionate natural and organic beauty lovers!