In our courses in general we always focus primarily on natural ingredients and use close to 100% naturally derived or COSMOS-approved ingredients. In the Advanced Certificate in High-Performance Serum Formulation, the vast majority (around 90%) of ingredients we use are naturally derived and permitted by the major natural and organic standards such as COSMOS. We include a wide range of natural emulsifiers, solubilizers, gums, thickeners, carrier oils, esters, fragrances, botanical extracts, humectants, antioxidants, and other active ingredients.


In the Advanced Certificate in High-Performance Serum Formulation, a small number (around 10%) of the ingredients we include are synthetic. We have only chosen synthetic ingredients with close ties to nature, for example, they exist in nature but are made synthetically or are “nature-identical”. Two examples are niacinamide (Vitamin B3) which is often used in natural cosmetics as it does exist in nature but the ingredient is made synthetically and peptides which are not permitted in natural/organic certifications because they are made synthetically, even though they only contain naturally occurring building blocks (amino acids).


We have included these ingredients as we wanted to include a wide range of the most popular and effective active ingredients. Our chosen ingredients have a specific benefit/activity that is very important in high performance serums, but can’t be found in any natural form/source. Any ingredients that are synthetic are clearly marked as such in our course materials, giving you full knowledge and complete control over what you use in your formulations. 


We like to put the power and the choice in your hands! So you can absolutely take the course and create formulations that are 100% natural or organic or suitable for COSMOS certification if you wish. 


Of the 236 ingredients included in the course only 10% are synthetic. 18 of these are active ingredients (we include a total of 75 active ingredients). 

These are:

  • Allantoin (humectant)
  • Urea (humectant)
  • Glycolic acid (AHA)
  • Malic acid (AHA)
  • Alpha lipoic acid (antioxidant)
  • Vitamin A (retinol, retinal, retinyl palmitate)
  • Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide)
  • Vitamin B5 (Panthenol)
  • Some Vitamin C derivatives (Sodium ascorbyl phosphate, Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate)
  • Kojic acid
  • Arbutin
  • Peptides (Matrixyl 3000, Matrixyl Synthe'6, Syn-ake, Argireline NP).


To get a taste of the Advanced Certificate in High-Performance Serum Formulation (3rd Edition) course and the materials included you can sign up for a 7-day free trial of the course here, There is no obligation to buy the course: https://school-of-natural-skincare.thinkific.com/enroll/558725