Iho Skin
founder: Emma Bitove
course: Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation + Diploma in Beauty Brand Business Management
Graduation year: 2022
location: Canada
Hero product: The Solution
Brand overview
For Iho Skin founder and Formula Botanica graduate Emma Bitove, creating a skincare brand began with a challenge she had experienced for years: acne.
Emma developed acne at a young age and continued to experience it into adulthood. After trying numerous skincare products and visiting dermatologists, she became increasingly frustrated – not only by her skin concerns, but by how complicated skincare routines could feel. That experience inspired an idea: could she create a more streamlined approach to skincare, with a versatile product designed to address several everyday skin concerns without relying on an extensive multi-step routine?
Determined to turn that idea into something tangible, Emma enrolled with Formula Botanica, where she developed her formulation skills while experimenting with and refining her own ideas. She graduated in 2022 with both the Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation and the Diploma in Beauty Brand Business Management.
One of Emma’s earliest formulation lessons ultimately played an unexpected role in the development of her brand.
“The first thing I learned how to formulate with Formula Botanica was a bi-phase cleanser, and that actually inspired the formula for my first product.”
That inspiration eventually became The Solution, Iho Skin’s hero product and the culmination of Emma’s ambition to create the streamlined skincare product she had once been searching for herself. While the formulation Diploma gave Emma the technical skills to develop her products, studying Beauty Brand Business Management helped her tackle another challenge: turning a formulation into a viable beauty business.
“The course in Beauty Brand Business Management really helped me gain so much insight and made me feel more confident as I navigated the skincare market.”
Emma also valued being able to connect with fellow formulators through her studies, describing the Formula Botanica Online Classroom as “a great tool for connecting with other students”.
Today, Iho Skin reflects the idea that first motivated Emma to start formulating: skincare doesn’t necessarily need to be complicated. By turning her own experience with problematic skin into an opportunity to learn, formulate and ultimately launch a brand, Emma created the kind of streamlined approach to skincare she had been looking for herself.
