Courses
Find the course that matches where you are in your journey
Every course here is built around understanding, so you come away able to design and troubleshoot your own products and explain what's going on inside them.
Some are broad foundations, some focus in on a single type of product, and wherever you are right now, there's a sensible place to begin.
Some formulators start at the beginning.
Others join at the point where their current knowledge runs out.
Both are the right places to start.
New in 2026
Each course now comes with Ellie, my dedicated, trained Custom AI Tutor. In some courses, she is found in ChatGPT (a free account is required), in others, she is within the course.
Your learning path
Left to right is the natural build, but you can start wherever you like and take any course on its own. Find where you are and go from there.
The four courses
Entry
Balms, Butters & Beyond
Bridge
Oil Meets Water
Flagship
Pro Formulator Path
Certificate
Stability & Testing
Independent
Spotlight
Product-focused courses
Standalone courses you can take at any point, whenever a particular product type is calling you.
FLAGSHIP COURSE FROM $XXXX
Pro Formulator Path
This is the full foundation, and the one to choose if you already know you want to take formulation seriously.
It runs from aqueous systems through emulsions, surfactants, gels, exfoliants and preservation, all the way to skin health and going pro, with three AI tools built in.
By the end, you'll be writing your own formulas and able to explain every decision, every path, which is the part that actually makes you a formulator.
BEST FOR: serious formulators at a transition point who want a complete foundation rather than one product type.
Explore the Path
ENTRY COURSE $XXXX
Balm, Butter and Beyond
The place to start if you've never formulated before. Anhydrous work is relatively forgiving; there's no water to preserve, and not a great deal that can go wrong. But it is also the place where you start to understand the importance of skin feel and texture. It's where you learn to actually read a formula and understand why each ingredient is in there. You'll build the thinking on which everything else rests, without the pressure of a formula that can split on you.
BEST FOR: Complete beginners who've never formulated before.
BRIDGE COURSE $XXXX
Oil Meets Water
A short course for the point where formulation gets genuinely trickier, which is the moment water enters the picture.
Emulsions bring in water activity, preservation, emulsifier ratios and stability, and there's a reason this is where a lot of people come unstuck. I take it at a pace that assumes you have the basics but not much more.
What you pay here counts toward the Pro Formulator Path if you decide to continue.
BEST FOR: Formulators with the basics down who are ready to tackle emulsions.
SPOTLIGHT COURSE $XXXX
Solid Shampoo Bars
Three different methods of shampoo bar formulation taught in enough depth that you can design your own from scratch.
We look at what makes a shampoo bar stand out, what suits different hair types, and why a bar that feels lovely in your hand can still turn to mush in the shower when the structure isn't right.
By the end, you'll know which method to reach for and why.
BEST FOR: Anyone drawn to hair care, including complete beginners and brand owners.
SPOTLIGHT COURSE $XXXX
Solid Cleansing Bars
Surfactant-based cleansing bars for face and body, with two methods and a troubleshooting section for when things misbehave.
The tricky part with cleansing bars is balance, strong enough to actually clean but gentle enough that skin doesn't feel tight and stripped afterwards.
That balance is what you'll learn to design for.
BEST FOR: Formulators with a little experience who want to work with surfactants.
SPOTLIGHT COURSE $XXXX
Solid Moisturising Bars
Waterless moisturising products, call them lotion bars, body butter bars or solid moisturisers, with 2 approaches set side by side.
They behave very differently in the heat and on the skin, so a lot of this is learning which structure gives you the feel you're after without the thing ending up greasy or grainy.
BEST FOR: Anyone interested in waterless products with little to no experience.
SPOTLIGHT COURSE $XXXX
Pressed Serums
High-performance anhydrous facial serums built around concentrated botanical actives.
The word "advanced" here refers to the ingredients, not the skill level, so beginners are very welcome. What you'll pick up is how to work with actives at percentages that actually do something, without the serum turning greasy, hazy or unstable on you.
BEST FOR: Formulators moving beyond basic moisturisers into targeted, active-rich skincare.
CERTIFICATE COURSE FROM $347
Cosmetic Stability
For anyone selling, or getting ready to. This is where you build proper testing protocols, catch the problems before your customers do, and come away with stability data and expiry dates you can verify if anyone asks.
In all honesty, it's the least glamorous part of formulating yet quite possibly the most important.
BEST FOR: Formulators who are selling or planning to sell their products.
Not sure where to start?
If you've never formulated before, Balms, Butters & Beyond is where I'd point you, since it builds the thinking everything else rests on.
If you're comfortable with anhydrous products and ready for emulsions, Oil Meets Water is your next step, and what you pay counts towards the Pro Formulator Path if you decide to carry on.
The Spotlight Courses sit alongside the main route, so reach for one whenever a particular product type is calling you.
About Formulator Hub
Learn to formulate cosmetics from the ground up. Understand your ingredients, build formulas that hold together, and know what to do when something doesn't behave.
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