15 milestones in 15 years of the School of Natural Skincare

In celebration of the School’s 15th anniversary in 2025, we’re so proud to reflect on and share 15 incredible milestones we’ve experienced!

Read on to discover when Gail and Gareth met, how the School started, how we transformed from running in-person classes to teaching online, which course we created first and much more.

1. Where it all began

In 2010, after completing a sustainable living internship in New Zealand the previous year, Gail took a leap of faith and started the business! In March 2010, after finalizing her formulas, she received her Cosmetic Product Safety Reports (CPSRs) for her first collection of skincare products and launched her natural skincare brand, Goodness & Wonder.

In April 2010, after studying for several years, Gareth qualified as an IEB Certified Aromatherapist.

In April of 2010, Gareth qualified as an IEB Certified Aromatherapist.

2. Teaching in-person classes and workshops

Gail ran her first in-person skincare-making workshop in May of 2010 in Bristol, UK, and in November of the same year, Gail and Gareth met—the start of a beautiful partnership!

We discovered a shared passion for teaching in-person classes and dedicated much of 2010-2013 to teaching in venues around the UK. We loved seeing students’ joy as they discovered the process of creating skincare and how proud they were of their creations. Imagine our delight to see that some have since established their own award-winning brands.

Gail created our new website, and the School of Natural Skincare was born.

When a student traveled all the way from the Philippines to attend a class, we knew then that we had something truly special and began to build our business with a global mindset.

3. Quitting our jobs and first online courses

2013 met us with some major new creative energies—some we had planned and hoped for and others happy surprises! In May 2013, we launched our first online course, which would eventually become our Certificate in Making Natural Skincare Products–still one of our bestselling courses.

A video from 2013 from our very first online course!

We were so committed to building the School of Natural Skincare that we quit our office jobs in the summer of 2013. More than a few people thought we were a little crazy, especially since we had just discovered that we were expecting our first child!

4. Going global: Becoming experts at teaching online

In our naivety, we had organized to teach an in-person class when our daughter was just 6 weeks old! The class was a success, but we soon realized it was too much of a juggle to care for a baby and keep teaching the way we had been.

So, from 2014 onwards, we doubled down on our online teaching.

Teaching online turned out to be a wonderful experience. More and more students could join us without needing to travel, and we could work around the unpredictable schedule of a baby.

Our students asked for a more advanced course that would teach them to formulate skincare products from scratch, and we were excited to offer it at last! Two months after releasing our Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation, we welcomed the first 80 students to the course.

By 2016, after just six years of operation, the School of Natural Skincare had students in 50 countries, and by 2019, this had grown to students in 130 countries worldwide. Today, in 2025, we have students in more than 150 countries!

5. New tutors, advanced courses and a growing family

Cosmetic Scientist Chandni Patel joined our team early in 2016, bringing with her much expertise from the beauty industry. She supported students with questions that arose during their studies and worked on new course materials, including our Advanced Certificate in High-Performance Serum Formulation.

Our identical twin boys were born in November 2015. For several months, we had three children under two years of age—and not much sleep!

6. Accreditations and certifications

Between 2016-2017, we focused on building a business aligned with our ethics and values. This led us to become an accredited ethical business with the Ethical Company Organisation.

Accreditation by the CPD certification service followed, showcasing the high standard of our online teaching. All our courses have since been accredited – a testament to the quality of our teaching.

7. Tina joined our team, and we created our Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation

Cosmetic Chemist Tina Svetek joined us in 2017, bringing exceptional expertise in skincare and haircare formulation. A key member of our team, she shares her passion through our Formulators’ Forums and Tutor Q&As, making complex concepts accessible and inspiring our students. Her dedication and guidance enrich our courses and empower the next generation of formulators. We’re incredibly grateful to have her.

Tina spent much of 2018 formulating haircare products. In July 2018, we launched our Diploma in Natural Haircare Formulation, our first course focusing exclusively on haircare. Students of the course have gone on to formulate beautiful haircare products and launch successful haircare brands, including Curl Love and Beaute Blossom.

8. International bestselling book

In May 2019, we were excited to release our book, The A-Z of Natural Cosmetic Formulation, co-written with Tina Svetek. It was an international Amazon bestseller in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia simultaneously and has more than 500 5* reviews to date!

We wrote the book to dispel common myths and to give people the correct foundation of knowledge to support them on their formulation journey.

Also, in June 2019, we got married!

9. Entrepreneur of the Year and Best Online Organic Skincare Formulation School

In October 2019, the School of Natural Skincare was honored to win the Health and Beauty Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This award recognized entrepreneurs making a meaningful difference in health, beauty, and wellbeing. It was the perfect way to kick off our 10th anniversary celebrations in January 2020, marking a decade since Gail and Gareth founded the School.

Many awards have followed since then, including Best Online Organic Skincare Formulations School 2020, Online Natural Skincare Formulations School of the Year 2021, Online Natural Skincare School of the Year 2022 and Best Online Natural Skincare School 2024!

10. Office and cosmetic lab

In June 2019, we finally got the keys to our beautiful office in a gorgeous village in Devon, UK and established our own in-house cosmetics lab.

Our team grew, and for the next few years, we worked hard updating our flagship courses, including filming hundreds of video tutorials and product-making demonstrations.

11. Preservative Efficacy testing

Having our own lab enabled us to enhance our testing protocol. In 2020, while most people were at home baking sourdough and banana bread, we doubled down on Preservative Efficacy Testing (PET). We have since sent hundreds of products to a specialist microbiological lab. The test results prove the effectiveness of our preservative systems, meaning our students have the reassurance that they are learning best practices from safe and effective formulations.

12. Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation (Third Edition)

Our flagship Diploma in Natural Skincare Formulation had a complete makeover, and we released a brand new edition in 2020. Featuring new formulations, new step-by-step product demonstrations, PET reports and much more, it’s the all-in-one course that helps our students formulate stunning skincare products and launch their own beauty brands!

13. Natural Cosmetic Formulation Club

In 2021, we were so thrilled to open the doors to our membership, the Natural Cosmetic Formulation Club. The Club is full of exciting hands-on masterclasses created by our cosmetic chemists, helping our members advance their expertise, innovate with new ingredients and create all the incredible natural cosmetics their heart desires!

14. New cutting-edge courses: Makeup, Soap and Zero Waste Diplomas

Between 2022 and 2023, we created three new innovative Diploma courses: Diploma in Zero Waste Skincare and Haircare Formulation, Diploma in Soap Making and Diploma in Formulating Natural Makeup and Advanced Color Cosmetics.

Through our complete suite of courses, our students can now learn to formulate every type of cosmetic product, and we are a global leader in cosmetic formulation education.

In 2022, we welcomed Dr. Nicole Vorster to our team as a course tutor. Nicole is a distinguished chemist with a profound passion for education and formulation science. With her wealth of knowledge, Nicole provides invaluable support to students during their studies. She offers guidance and expertise in our regular Tutor Q&A, presents at our Formulator Forums, leads live teaching sessions and marks course assignments.

15. New website and 15th anniversary!

Our brand new website went live in 2024, and we couldn’t be more pleased with it!

That brings us to 2025, the 15th anniversary of the School of Natural Skincare, a milestone we are thrilled to celebrate.

Our school continues to innovate, with new classes and formulations developed each month for our Natural Cosmetic Formulation Club. We are also busy behind the scenes creating a new community app for our students and Club members—watch this space for news later in the year.

Thank you for joining us on this journey. We are eager to see what the next 15 years will bring!

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