Formulating with Honey

In this class, you’ll explore honey and other bee-derived ingredients—their fascinating history, remarkable skin benefits, and how to successfully formulate with them in safe, effective and innovative ways.

Honey is a superb humectant, drawing moisture deep into the skin while delivering amino acids, antioxidants and natural enzymes that smooth, soften and brighten. Propolis, known as ‘bee glue’, is a powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial that calms irritation, supports skin repair and helps to protect against environmental stressors—making it an ideal ingredient for sensitive, stressed or acne-prone skin.

But while honey is full of benefits, it is also notoriously difficult to preserve in cosmetic products. That’s why we are especially excited about this class! Our professional cosmetic scientists have created honey-based formulations that have been independently tested through Preservative Efficacy Testing (PET) and passed at the highest level. We share the official test reports with you, giving you valuable insight and confidence in how to preserve your own honey formulations effectively. This is rare and highly practical knowledge for formulators, and it’s already generating so much excitement amongst our members.

In this class, you’ll discover:

• The properties, benefits and formulation guidelines of seven bee-derived ingredients: honey, propolis, beeswax, royal jelly, bee pollen, bee venom and honeyquat.
• Ethical considerations and sourcing tips for working with bee products responsibly.
• How to overcome honey’s preservation challenges, with proven real-world examples.
• Our recommendations for which bee ingredients are the most practical to use in natural formulations.
• How to include water-soluble honey in many different formulation types, including anhydrous products, emulsions, oily gels and oil-based balms.

You’ll receive five ready-to-use formulations created by our cosmetic scientists:

• Honey Glaze Mask – an indulgent oil-to-milk gel mask featuring a high percentage of honey for a super hydrating, honey-scented spa experience.
• Honey Moisturizer – a nourishing emulsion for the face and body with proven preservative efficacy.
• Milk and Honey Mask – a powdered mask to soften, soothe and hydrate.
• Propolis Purifying Serum – a light, clarifying serum for oily and acne-prone skin that balances sebum and provides hydration and gentle exfoliation.
• Honey Lip Balm – a rich, protective balm with beeswax and honey.

With each formulation, you’ll get the product development questions, formula, instructions, product specifications and substitution suggestions, so you can follow along and then create your own.

This class includes a beautifully designed PDF textbook to download and a detailed video showing our cosmetic scientist making the Honey Glaze Mask, which you can follow step by step.

Not a member of the Club? Join now and use your first month's credits towards Formulating with Honey.

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Formulating with Honey is a 100-credit class. Your membership includes 50 credits each month, giving you the choice to top up 50 credits ($57) for immediate access, or simply wait until next month and unlock it then.