Formulation Essentials: 

Oils, Butters and Waxes 

Updated Curriculum in 2024 – with NEW Lessons!

Knowing how to make safe and efficient products is an integral skill for any essential oil user – professional or not. How do you make sure your product is set to succeed and performs as you want it to? What do you do when you pour a liquid balm into a container to set – its surface smooth as glass – only to find later that it’s gone grainy or is dotted with hard waxy nubs? How to write a proper formula so that you never struggle to make that brilliant body butter again and again? Should you be adding essential oils straight into your bath salts? We will not only answer all of these questions, but help you find your own confidence in designing exactly the type of product you need. 

This course will set you up for success in your formulation adventures! Learn how to create consistent success, with oil-based products. 

2025 Cohort starting June 17, 2025 

Also offered as a part of our four-part Complete Formulation Program

Formulation Module 1

Payment in full
US$480
  • Paid in full – one payment.

Formulation Module 1

Payment plan
US$160/month
  • Three payments of $160 over 3 months.

Whether you’re an aromatherapy practitioner striving to create professional bases for your therapeutic blends, or a cosmetic formulator aiming to make luxurious products, this eight-week online certification course is for you.

During seven fascinating lessons, expert cosmetic formulator Lise Andersen will share her passion, know-how and professional techniques for creating silken whips, balms, serums, and more. You’ll explore the pros and pitfalls of several plant oils, waxes and butters, and discover how and where to procure the right equipment and fresh, raw ingredients.

There is also one lesson on Essential Oil Blending with Robert Tisserand. Offered in week two, Robert personally guides you in creating safe and beautifully scented therapeutic and cosmeceutical blends for adding to your formulations.

As well as gaining the proper methodology for custom formulating, you’ll get dozens of smart tested formulas, including essential oil blends designed by Robert. Stop relying on dubious DIY recipes that are potentially ineffective or unsafe, and confidently create your own sound formulations!

What You Get in Essential Formulation

8 WEEKLY LESSONS, Starting June 17, 2025
Eight live lessons with Lise Andersen or Robert Tisserand. 

Live Q&A SESSIONS
Eight live Q&A sessions, one after each lesson.

RECORDINGS
All live sessions are recorded for you to review and view in case you cannot join the live. 

PRINTABLE COURSE MATERIAL
Extensive downloadable handouts and course notes with links to additional research and resources.

DEDICATED GROUP DISCUSSIONS
Access to our private online forum to ask questions and interact with Robert, the TI team, and classmates.

ONGOING COURSE ACCESS
Ongoing access extended access for 8 weeks after the last lesson, and 6 months of view-only access. 

Plus You'll Get

A total of twenty individual tried and tested product formulations with detailed instructions.

Robert Tisserand’s six original essential oil blends, tested with Lise’s formulations.

An invaluable and comprehensive list of recommended suppliers for quality ingredients, tools, equipment and packaging. 

Tisserand Institute Instructor Lise Anderson

Lise Andersen

Formulator | Founder of LisaLise Pure Natural Skincare & Formulators’ Kitchen

A self-professed ‘green’ formulator, Lise works with luxurious natural plant-based ingredients – preferably as raw and unprocessed as possible. Entirely self-taught, she has years of experience in researching, testing, and developing cosmetics.

Lise is the author of several DIY e-books on making skincare and haircare products, herbal extracts, and more. She also offers consultation and bespoke formulation for beauty brands. Visit her blog where she journals her experiments and shares know-how on everything from making no-soap cleansers to pressed eye shadow.

Robert Tisserand

Author | Speaker | Founder of Tisserand Institute

Robert is one of the world’s leading experts in aromatherapy with over 40 years of experience. He is a speaker, educator, author, and consultant on the science and benefits of essential oils and their safe and effective application. Robert has inspired audiences in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Japan on topics ranging from the therapeutic foundations of essential oils to examinations on essential oils and the skin.

Robert wrote one of the first books to bring awareness to aromatherapy in 1977, The Art of Aromatherapy, and is a co-author of Essential Oil Safety (2nd Edition, 2014), a book that sets industry standards for the safe use of essential oils.

Full 2025 Schedule

Formulation Essentials (Starting June 17, 2025)

Weekly lessons are pre-recorded, and will release at or before 8am PST each Tuesday. We will host 4 live Q&A sessions, listed in red below, which begin at 10am Pacific time.

Lesson 1: June 17, 2025
Lesson 2: June 24, 2025
Live Q&A: June 26, 2025 at 10am PST
Lesson 3: July 01, 2025
Lesson 4: July 08, 2025
Live Q&A: July 10, 2025 at 10am PST
Lesson 5: July 15, 2025
Lesson 6: July 22, 2025
Live Q&A: July 24, 2025 at 10am PST
Lesson 7: July 29 2025
Lesson 8: August 05, 2025
Live Q&A: August 07, 2025 at 10am PST

Course Breakdown 
Formulation Essentials: Oils, Butters & Waxes

What you'll be learning over the eight weeks:

Lesson 1 - Formulation Basics
  • Evaluation of raw materials, including sourcing, storage and safety
  • Tips for procuring the right tools and equipment
  • The ins and outs of containers and packaging
  • The importance of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
  • Working with weight vs. volume and calculating percentages
Lesson 2 - Essential Oil Blending taught by Robert Tisserand
  • Essential oil scent profiles and affinities – or ‘what blends with what’
  • Considerations: nice scent or therapeutic efficacy? Can you blend for both?
  • Natural perfumery basics: top, middle and base notes in relation to volatility of essential oils, C02 extracts, absolutes and resinoids
  • The process: brainstorming, testing, reviewing and testing again
  • Blending know-how: measuring, melting, diluting, recording

Products: Essential oil formulations for scent and skin application

Lesson 3 - Formulating with Fatty Oils

Understanding skin lipids, and fatty acids as components of skincare

  • The differences between plant, animal and petrochemical oils
  • Pros and cons of using fatty oils for skincare and health (yes, there are cons!)
  • Combining the most effective fatty oils for different skin types
  • Making and ‘testing’ the final product

Products:

Basic Massage Oil (unscented nutrient-rich base oil)

Moisture-Rich Facial Serum for Dry Skin (EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Balancing Facial Serum for Oily Skin

Age-Defy Facial Serum for Mature Skin

Lesson 4 - Formulating with Waxes
  • Understanding the nature of waxes and their uses
  • Pros and cons of wax and oil-based products (balms and ointments)
  • Overview of main principles involved in making a smooth balm
  • Creation of balms for lips, face and body massage
  • Troubleshooting tips for wax and oil formulations

Products:

Basic Ointment

Luxurious Lemon and Rose Lip Balm (EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Cappuccino Lip Balm (EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Lesson 5 - Formulating with Butters
  • How to recognize natural plant butters
  • Pros and cons of using butters
  • Overview of main principles for formulating with butters
  • Creation of buttery balms and whipped butters for massage, hands and feet
  • Troubleshooting tips for using butters – including how to combat graininess

Products:

Calming Shea Butter Balm (Skin Repair EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Soothing Body Serum (Skin Repair EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Whipped Body Butter

Lesson 6 - Formulating Safe Bath Products

Introduction to surfactants: mixing oil and water safely

  • The challenges of creating and using bath products
  • Overview of main principles for composing and customizing bath oils
  • How to make bath bombs and salts with essential oils that safely disperse in water

Products:

Basic Bath Oil

Bath Bombs (EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Bath Salt Soak

Lesson 7 - Formulating Solid Skincare
  • Using emulsifiers in anhydrous products
    Creating anhydrous products that are activated with water
    Formulate a solid oil cleanser, in-shower lotion bar, and solid body lotion

Products:

Solid Oil Cleanser
In-shower Lotion Bar
Solid Body Lotion

Lesson 8 - Formulating Facial Masks
  • Understanding natural clays and their properties
  • How to ensure you’re working with the best raw materials
  • Creating clay masks with essential oils and hydrosols
  • How to incorporate fresh foods (avocado) for optimal results
  • Shelf-life and storage of fresh-made cosmetic products

Products:

Fresh Honey and Avocado Mask for Sensitive Skin

Deep Cleansing Mask (EO blend by Robert Tisserand)

Ultra Moisture Boosting Mask

When You Complete the Course

CERTIFICATION
Your certificate – issued by the leaders of evidence-based instruction – demonstrates your knowledge of safe and effective use of essential oil blends in anhydrous formulas, aqueous sprays, bath products and facial masks.

 

What previous students say about this course:

This course was so complete and easy to follow. I loved the live webinars with Lisa and Robert (Lesson 2) and appreciated the structured classroom, as I have discovered that I do best in this type of setting. Also, thank you so much to Hana for her support, input and knowledge for each lesson! ~ Darlene Sekijima

I so enjoyed Lise’s personality and the banter between Hana and Lise. I have a very high stress life, and many times Lise, and Lise and Hana put a smile on my face or made me chuckle when I needed it most. Better than CBD! ~ Sheila McKenna

I appreciated the passion that was put into the course. I stumbled across this by chance and I am so thankful I did. This has expanded my passion and knowledge about formulations. It has enhanced my learning about essential oils. I just want to thank you for offering this course and all that you do. I feel so confident having your institute as my education platform. I am a beginner but feel confident with your amazing education that it wont be long before I am a pro!! ~ Penny Ferguson

The personalized attention and friendly feel. Sometimes you feel like instructors are holding back their best secrets or knowledge. But I didn’t feel like that with either Lise or Robert. Lise was delightful. I felt like I could just pull up a chair with a cup of tea and we could talk formulations! Also being able to learn about blending from Robert was an incredible treat! I would love to have a larger course about that!! ~ Kristi Maxwell

I loved the way the information was organized and the depth of information. I can do some real formulating now- like a pro! I also just love the “freshness” of Lisa and Hana, and the calmness of Robert. What a great team! I also SO appreciate the ongoing feeling that I am dealing with experts when dealing with Tisserand Institute. Thank you! ~ Tina Hammer

I really liked that we had the options to view live or on our own time. This was amazing as my schedule is very volatile and I wasn’t able to be there at the scheduled time as I thought I would. I really like Lisa and thought she was a fun and engaging teacher. I like the video format as well, so that I am engaged visually and can listen, because if it’s just one or the other I find I get distracted too easily. I also liked that some basic formulas were provided to get beginners started with the types of formulas that they are not familiar with. ~ Michaela
Friendly and fun, very well explained. Loved the course – thank you ~ Lilly Zoch
I thoroughly enjoyed this class! Felt like I was right in the same room and also appreciated the candor and humor. There was so much valuable information given by both Lise and Robert.
Not one thing – EVERYTHING! with all my TI courses. Quality of course content, facilitators, teachers and their knowledge, teaching platform – everything! ~ Niki Klelin
The dynamic between Lise and Hana was wonderful — it caused this course to be fun, interactive and so engaging. I’d subscribe to their podcast, if they had one. ~ Rhonda M
I notice I have been mulling things over a lot from this course and that more has gone in than I thought. I’m having my own distilled understandings arriving – which is proof of quality education. Overall i think it was a very good course and that your online platform is superb – as good as any I have used. ~ Nigel Sutton
This is a rare opportunity to study with one of the world’s leading experts on essential oils – don’t miss this chance! Let Robert Tisserand guide you in creating safe and effective blends with parameters based on clinical trials and scientific research.

Ready to get started?

FAQs

Will there be notes for me to review?
Yes. Each lesson comes with printable handouts of the slides used in the lesson, and additional lesson notes. These are sent to you before each lesson and are for you to keep and refer to at any time.
I am a certified aromatherapist. Will I learn anything new?
Many of our students have commented that our courses helped them grasp what they learned elsewhere in more detail, or complemented their previous education. Some of our students are lifelong learners, and some are teachers.
I am new to essential oils. Is this course for me?
We will let one of our previous students answer this one:

“The information presented is appropriate for all levels, and although I am just beginning my aromatherapy journey it all makes sense.”

Will there be assessments or exams? What kind?
Each weekly lesson is followed by a multiple choice quiz, and there is a summary test at the end of each course. Passing both the weekly quizzes and the final tests is a requirement for certification.
When will the live Q&As take place?

See above in the course description for specific dates. All live Q&As are recorded and you can ask questions any time on our online platform.

Will I be able to ask questions?
Absolutely! In addition to the live Q&A sessions, you can post your questions in the dedicated student forums.
How long will I have access to the recordings?

You will have access to all the recordings and course materials for at least twelve weeks weeks after the last lesson. All the printable materials (notes, handouts, charts, etc.) are of course yours to keep for reference forever. You can also re-enroll into all of our courses for a flat fee of $50 – and enjoy the full access to tutors and fellow learners again. 

Do you offer continuing education credits?
Because we have students from all over the world and of many professions we are not able to offer credits for specific organizations – there are simply too many. However, we issue a confirmation of CE hours gained on the course that you can apply with your professional organization and will be happy to assist with any additional documentation.
What if I fall behind or cannot attend classes?
We have found that running classes on specific dates works best to help you finish a program. You join a class of students, and learn along with them. Many students help each other with queries, and of course our tutors are there too. That said, if you miss a few classes you should be still able to comfortably jump right back in and if you do fall behind you can request extra time. Of course this cannot be indefinite, but we do our best to help you get your certificate.