SKIND Lab · The Natural Skincare Formulation Program

Go beyond following skincare recipes. Learn the science, ingredient knowledge, formulation principles, and product development considerations behind creating botanical skincare products with purpose.

Developed by Nadia Tamara Lee, holistic skin health expert and founder of the former Cheri Mai Skincare collection.

8 Comprehensive Modules | Self-Paced Learning | Lifetime Course Access

Recipes give you one product. Method gives you a product line.

You can find a skincare recipe almost anywhere.

But understanding why ingredients belong together, how a product is intended to perform, and what makes a formulation appropriate for professional use requires a deeper level of knowledge.

For skincare practitioners, that understanding can strengthen how you evaluate products, interpret ingredient lists, and make informed decisions for your clients.

For aspiring skincare founders, it provides an essential foundation for developing a product collection rather than relying on recipes without understanding the decisions behind them.

SKIND Lab brings botanical skincare formulation, cosmetic science fundamentals, and real-world product development into one structured educational program.

You don't need to own a skincare brand to benefit from this knowledge.

You need to understand the products you're working with, recommending, or planning to create.

Before SKIND Lab, there was Cheri Mai Skincare.

I began developing my former botanical skincare line with four products. Over seven years, that collection expanded to 29 products, with editorial exposure in Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Glamour across six issues.

What made that journey especially meaningful was my work with clients.

As a skincare professional, I used products from my collection alongside facial treatments and personalized skincare recommendations. I observed improvements in skin hydration, texture, brightness, the appearance of uneven tone, and comfort.

Those experiences helped shape the way I thought about ingredients, skin suitability, and product development.

But building a skincare collection also introduced me to the responsibilities that aren't always visible in a finished bottle.

Ingredient sourcing. Formulation decisions. Product consistency. Packaging. Inventory. Costs. And the difference between developing one product and managing an entire collection.

I eventually stepped away from production to focus on further education and developing professional training programs. Cheri Mai Skincare is no longer in production, although I intend to revisit the brand when I'm ready for larger-scale manufacturing and international distribution.

Today, I'm bringing the formulation studies, historical product materials, and professional lessons from that experience into SKIND Lab.

This is the knowledge behind the collection, now brought into the classroom.

Estheticians & Skincare Specialists

Understand botanical ingredients and formulation principles at a deeper level. Strengthen your ability to evaluate professional skincare products and explore developing products for your treatment room or future retail collection.

Holistic & Wellness Practitioners

Expand your knowledge of botanical skincare ingredients, product suitability, and formulation considerations so your recommendations can be more informed and aligned with your professional scope of practice.

Educators, Nonprofits & Training Organizations

Explore structured skincare formulation education for students, trainees, or professional development programs. SKIND Lab can support curriculum planning and group learning, with organizational teaching permissions arranged separately where applicable.

Aspiring Skincare Brand Founders

Move beyond collecting DIY skincare recipes. Build a foundation in cosmetic formulation, ingredient functionality, product development, sourcing, packaging, and the commercial considerations involved in creating a skincare brand.

SKIND Lab is designed to develop your understanding of the decisions behind botanical skincare products.

Throughout the program, you'll explore:

• Ingredient functionality and cosmetic formulation principles

• Botanical skincare product categories and historical formulation studies

• Product suitability, preservation, stability, and quality considerations

• Formulation documentation and batch record concepts

• Packaging, labeling, and supplier evaluation

• Inventory, product costing, and commercial planning

• Original formulation compared with private-label development

• The foundations of developing a cohesive skincare product collection

The program also includes downloadable learning resources and professional templates to support your studies, including formulation documentation, batch records, inventory planning, and costing exercises.

The goal isn't simply to finish a recipe. It's to understand the decisions behind it.

Not every skincare professional wants to launch a brand.

Some want to understand the products they already use more deeply. Others want to develop professional treatment products, explore retail opportunities, or eventually create a skincare collection of their own.

Both pathways benefit from formulation education.

A product idea is only the beginning.

Before a skincare product can be offered commercially, its intended use, quality, safety, stability, labeling, manufacturing arrangements, and applicable regulatory requirements need to be considered.

SKIND Lab introduces these professional responsibilities so students can approach product development with a clearer understanding of what comes after the initial formula.

It is an educational foundation, not a substitute for laboratory testing, regulatory compliance, or commercial manufacturing expertise.

Holistic skin health expert with 25 years of experience across aesthetics, makeup artistry, holistic nutrition, Ayurveda, aromatherapy and product formulation.

SKIND Lab opens the formulation notebook behind her skincare brand, Cheri Mai Skincare. You learn from formulas that have been made and used, not theory alone.

It also pairs naturally with psychodermatology: understand why skin responds to stress and emotion, then create the products that support it.

SKIND Lab · Formulations by Cheri Mai Skincare