The Botanical Formulator

Simple Methods for Making Premium Botanical Skincare

Make your own skincare that feels every bit as luxurious as the premium natural skincare brands. 

With simple methods and techniques developed over three decades of formulating herbal products, I'll show you how to turn your favorite herbal oils, botanical lipids and plant butters into premium skincare for face and body.  

Whether you are creating a solid facial serum for your own skincare routine or you make products to sell, The Botanical Formulator gives you the tools, recipes and methods you need to make premium natural skincare.

Enroll Now

If you've ever experienced a body scrub that left a heavy oily feel behind, an expensive facial balm that developed that weird grainy texture a few weeks in, or a body butter that melted and got soft and goopy in the summer heat, you might be thinking that natural skincare means accepting these less than ideal results.

This is a gap in technique, not a fault of the ingredients. 

Here's the thing, working with natural ingredients means adapting to the variation whether between two different batches of sea buckthorn oil, or between different types of plant butters.

Choosing highly refined and synthetic ingredients means you can skip this step and go right to predictable formulas that never vary. 

But since you are here, my intuition tells me you are looking for something more nuanced, rich and natural.

In Herbs & Oils you'll learn how to make silky wax-less facial balms, body butters that hold up as temperatures rise, body scrubs that wash off well, massage oils that soak into the skin and much more. 

All without powders, binders or additives.  

Make all-natural herbal and oil based skincare that stands out with unique, carefully chosen ingredients 

  • Transform your favorite herbs into botanical infused skincare recipes 
  • Master the techniques behind herbal balms, salves, facial oils, body butters and body oils
  • Learn how to infuse herbs for skincare and capture the oil soluble compounds plant brings to your formulations
  • Create facial oils, nourishing body oils, luxurious whipped butters and delicate botanical balms you'll be proud to use and share
  • Understand how oils, butters and waxes influence texture, firmness and skin feel so you can get the consistency you want every time
  • Move beyond simply following recipes and begin creating botanical skincare that's uniquely your own
  • Build the skills and confidence to think like a botanical formulator
Enroll for $197

7-day money-back guarantee 

Follow the recipe or create your own? 

Recipes are a wonderful place to begin, but understanding why a formula works gives you the freedom to make it your own.

In The Botanical Formulator, you'll learn how to choose botanical oils, butters, waxes and herbs based on texture, skin feel, stability, antioxidant content and the needs of the skin. You'll understand how simple changes to your ingredients can transform the finished product from a rich body butter to a silky facial balm or a lightweight facial oil.

Welcome to The Botanical Formulator

Learn the Methods Behind Premium Botanical Skincare

Herbal Oil Infusions

  • Transform fresh and dried herbs into potent infused oils for face and body care
  • Master traditional infusion methods, including solar, gentle heat and time infusions, so you can choose the best technique for every herb and project
  • Discover how different herbs bring their own unique color, scent and skin benefits to your formulations
  • Build a home apothecary of infused oils ready to use in balms and salves, facial oils, body oils, cleansing oils and countless other botanical skincare recipes

12 Herbs & Botanicals For Skincare

  • Study 12 herbs and botanicals for skincare including elderflower, rose petal, lavender, rosemary, calendula and more
  • Learn about the oil-soluble compounds in herbal infused oils and the skin benefits of each one
  • Get ideas for working with each herb and botanical in skincare formulas and medicinal preperations
  •  Includes notes on safety and dilutions for your herbal infused oils

Facial Oils & Oil Serums

  • Learn the art of formulating simple, everyday facial oils with herbal infusions and plant lipids
  • Understand the difference between facial oils, oil serums and solid serums, and how each brings something unique to your skincare ritual
  • Work with infused botanical oils and plant lipids to create potent and effective herbal and botanical facial oils and oil serums.  
  • Gain the confidence to begin creating facial skincare that's uniquely your own

Herbal Balms & Salves

  • Master the classic balm ratios behind traditional herbal balms, salves and lotion bars
  • Learn how waxes, plant butters and traditional fats work together to hold the shape and structure of your formula
  • Customize recipes working with the different melt points in plant butters and waxes to adjust skin feel and softness
  • Create your own herbal and medicinal salves with infused oils and therapeutic plant lipids 

Solid Serums & Fragrant Balms

  • Formulate delicate wax-free balms that melt on contact with the skin and absorb quickly
  • Learn how plant butters replace waxes to create soft facial balms and solid serums
  • Discover cooling techniques that produce smooth, silky textures without graininess or fractionation
  • Formulate your own solid serums, facial balms and solid perfumes

Successful Whipped Butters

  • Learn how to whip body butters to create light and airy textures textures that melt on the skin
  • Master the full technique: melting, cooling, whipping, and incorporating color or scent using natural oils, herbs, and pigments
  • Understand the limitations of shipping whipped butters in hot weather so that you don't end up with a costly mistake
  • Learn why whipped butters go rancid more quickly than traditional body butters and how to protect your formula with antioxidants to extend shelf life

Cleansing Oils & Exfoliating

  • Formulate your own cleansing oils that leave skin feeling clean, soft and nourished.
  • Create gentle facial and body scrubs using ground herbs, fine sugars, sea salts, clays and other natural exfoliants.
  • Learn how to create everything from a gentle facial polish to an invigorating body scrub.
  • Discover simple techniques for improving the wash off of your cleanser to minimize oiliness on the skin

Body & Massage Oils

  • Create nourishing anti-aging body oils with a dry finish that absorb quickly without feeling greasy or heavy
  • Know exactly which carrier oils to reach for based on skin feel, absorption, and skin benefits
  • Formulate massage oils with the glide, skin feel, and therapeutic benefits needed for full-body treatments
  • Blend economical everyday oils with high-performance specialty oils for professional-quality formulas

Body Butters 

  • Formulate rich nourishing body butters ranging from rich and nourishing to light and absorbent 
  • Understand why body butters melt, harden or become grainy, and how your ingredient choices can make all the difference
  • Discover simple formulation techniques that improve texture, stability and shelf life
  • Create your own creamy body butters with herbal infused oils and plant lipids

Formulators Reference Guide

  • Quick-reference charts for wax, butter, and floral wax melt points so you can choose the right ingredients for any texture.
  • Clear guidance on vitamin E and how to use antioxidants to support shelf life in anhydrous skincare.
  • Tools & equipment lists with the exact items that make small-batch making smoother, faster, and more accurate.
  • Measurements & equivalencies so you can convert easily between grams, ounces, milliliters, and drops without guessing.
“

I really enjoyed studying this course with Susan. It gathers together all the core information on getting to know the plant characteristics and chemistry of a wide range of oils and it provides helpful tips on how to formulate different oily products. The course has lots of valuable references, descriptions and comparisons. 

I liked the opportunity to study at my own pace. Some of the exotic oils sound wonderful and I hope to explore all the oils further!

Amy Scott

Bonus: Illustrated Herbal Oil Infusions

Value: $27

This illustrated guide shows you how to infuse oils with fresh and dried botanicals using time-tested methods. You'll learn how to choose the right oils for infusing and how heat, time, and solar methods each affect the final result. You'll be able to create beautiful infused oils to use on their own or in your balms, salves, and body oils.

Herbal & Oil Skincare

Bonus: Herbal & Oil Based Skincare Recipe Book

Value: $57

Inside the Herbal & Oil Based Skincare Recipe e-Book, you’ll find some of my favorite formulas including calendula and violet leaf salves, wild-weed balm, whipped body butters, massage oils, solid lotion bars. It’s a practical guide for creating balms, butters, oils, and herb-infused skincare with just carrier oils, plant butters, botanical waxes, and whole herbs. 

Herbal & Oil Skincare

Team

The Botanical Formulator

Simple Methods for Making Premium Botanical Skincare

  • 12 video lessons on facial oils, cleansing oils, herbal infused oils, balms, salves, body butters and whipped butters
  • Full materials review + melt points + ratios
  • Printable PDFs for your own studio notes
  • Lifetime access study at your own pace
  • Bonus: 33-page Herbal & Oil Based Skincare Recipe e-book ($57 value)
  • Bonus: Illustrated Guide to Herbal Oil Infusing ($27 value) 
  • Full 7-day refund if the course isn’t right for you

$

197

Check Out

7-day money-back guarantee 

“

The trees or bushes, seeds, fruits and flowers That we could capture in a human therapy with lipid oils. Let this sacred knowledge be shared and Susan your knowledge is vast on this subject. Great course to add to the holistic wheel of knowledge.

Janice Cyre

We're Susan & Olivia 

We’re Susan and Olivia, mother-daughter team passionate about helping you discover the vast and beautiful world of plant oils and lipid-based skincare.

Susan, researcher and author of Power of the Seed, brings decades of study, teaching, and hands-on experience with oils, butters, and botanical formulations.

Olivia handles the behind-the-scenes magic supporting students, managing the tech, and helping everything run smoothly so you can focus on learning and creating.

Together, we’re here to guide you as you explore the art and science of working with plant oils
creating skincare that’s simple, nourishing, and deeply rooted in the beauty of plants.

Happy making,
Susan & Olivia

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