An Introduction to Formulating Cosmetics (Formulating Course 2026)
- taralee
- Apr 22
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 23
What is a Cosmetic?
“Substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created synthetically.
Cosmetics have various purposes, including personal and skin care. They can also be used to conceal blemishes and enhance natural features (such as the eyebrows and eyelashes). Makeup can add color to the face, enhance features, or alter appearance to resemble a different person, creature, or object” - Wikipedia
DIY Skincare is Easy, until it’s not…
1 cup of white granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup of olive oil can make a great diy body scrub. Combining different natural oils like grapeseed oil, safflower oil, rosehip oil to make your own face and body oils is so fun and easy to do. Melting together butters blending and whipping them together with natural oils can feel so rewarding to make.
But, what if you want to add in a fragrance oil?
What if your body butter feels to greasy?
What if you want to try making a face wash or something more advanced?
Quick Intro
Cosmetics are made using a digital scale to accurately weigh each ingredient. (Cups,tsp, are not okay!)
Ingredients are weighed out in Grams.
Your recipe will always be different depending on the batch size, but your formula will always be the same.
You do not start out with a recipe, you start with a formula, choose your batch size, and you use that formula & batch size to calculate your recipe.
Percents, Grams, Batch Size & Formulas - Hope you enjoy Math
First, write a formula(or use someone else’s), choose your batch size, then use that batch size and formula to calculate your recipe.
In the world of cosmetic formulating, we don’t measure ingredients using cups or tablespoons.
We use Percents.
But of course, you can’t physically measure a percent, so we have to turn the percents into physical measurements, such as grams. That way we can weigh out each ingredient using a digital scale.
Why we use Percents?
It is the universal method for formulating cosmetics.
Keeps track of ingredients potency.
Allows us to easily scale up and down our recipes.
Tells us exactly how much of each ingredients we are using.
Makes creating adjustments to the formula super easy
—Every formula must add up to 100%
How Percents Turn into Recipes
Your formula should ALWAYS add up to 100%
Your formula always stays the same no matter how much product you are making.
Once you have your formula, you need to decided how much product you want to make.
If you want to make 1,000 grams of your product, then that means your Batch Size is 1,000 Grams.
Now let’s turn this formula, into a 1,000 Gram Recipe
Easy Body Scrub
79% sugar
5% rosehip oil
15% safflower oil
1% fragrance oil
First, figure out what 79% of 1,000 is.
You can do this by either, googling “what is 79% of 1,000?” Or
You can move the decimal in 79. up two spaces. Which would be (0.79) & multiple 0.79 by 1,000
0.79 x 1,000 = 790
This means 79% Sugar for a 1,000 gram batch would be 790 grams.
Repeat this for each percent until you have your recipe complete.
Easy Body Scrub Recipe (1,000 Gram Batch)
790 g sugar
50 g rosehip oil
150 g safflower oil
10 g fragrance oil
Recap
Formulas are written in percents.
Batch size is total amount of product you want to make.
You use the formula and batch size to calculate your recipe.
All Formulas must always add up to 100%.
Where to Start???
Start with making anhydrous products.
Make products that do not need a preservative
Start with products you can make instead of products you can’t make.
Beginner Advice
Do no jump into making every product at once
Take it one step at a time.
Try other peoples formulas before writing your own.
Do not jump into formulating with actives.
Pick formulas with minimal ingredients to recreate.
Have patience. Your formulas will fail, A LOT! This is normal. Keep trying. Every small detail matters.
Formulating VOCAB. For Beginners
Anhydrous - Contains no water (Butters & Oils)
Aqueous - Contains Water
Active - ingredient effecting the skin by helping in improve a skin condition or concern. Examples, Retinol, Alpha Arbutin, Vitamin C, Kojic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Lactic Acid, Glycolic acid, Hyaluronic Acid, Etc.
Batch Size - Total amount of product you want to make.
Carrier Oil - a plant based oil used to dilute essential oils.
Emollient - help soothe and soften skin. They essentially fill in gaps in the skin to eliminate that dry or flaky skin. (Ie.Plant oils like jojoba oil, olive oil, coconut oil, hempseed oil, sunflower oil, etc. Emollient esters like caprylic capric triglyceride, isopropyl myristate (IPM), Coco Caprylate/Caprate, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, squalane, Dimethicone, Cyclomethicone, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, and many other butters, the list could go on and on.)
Emulsifier - an ingredient that blends/mixes oil and water together and keeps them from separating. (Oil and water do not mix, so you need an emulsifier to keep them together) (ie. Glyceryl Stearate SE, Emulsifying Wax NF, Polysorbates, PEG-100 Stearate, PEG-40 Stearate, etc)
Humectant - Water soluble ingredients that help hydrate the skin. (ie. Glycerin, Hyaluronic Acid, Propanediol 1,3, Propylene Glycol, Urea, Sorbitol, Alpha Hydroxy Acids, etc.
INCI (pronounced - inky) - Stands for “International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient”. The required standardized naming system for ingredients on labels.
Lipid - water insoluble ingredients that are often waxy or oily. (Ie. plant oils, butters, waxes, fatty acids etc.) lipids offer components to the skin like fatty acids, ceramides, triglycerides, etc to moisturize & replenish the skin along with preventing trans epidermal water loss (TEWL)
Occlusive - creates a hydrophobic barrier (water hating) over the skin and helps block trans epidermal water loss. No these do not clog pores. (Ie. Petroleum Jelly, Mineral Oil, lecithin, Lanolin, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, caprylic capric triglyceride, squalane, & waxes like Bees Wax, Candelilla Wax, Sunflower Wax, etc. again the list can go on and on.)
pH - the acidity or alkalinity of a product. Ranging from 0-14. Many ingredients are pH sensitive. Anhydrous ingredients/products do not have a pH, but water based products do. Ours skins natural pH is around 4.5 - 5.5
Preservative - added to cosmetics to prevent spoilage caused by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. (Cosmetics us a blend of different preservatives to create a ‘broad spectrum preservative’
Solvent - an ingredient used to help dissolve other ingredients into something. For example an ingredient might no fully mix into water, but if you mix it with a solvent like glycerin first, it will easily mix into water.
Viscosity - a fluids resistance to flow. (Ie. Honey has high viscosity & water has low viscosity.)
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