Formula Botanica mid-year celebration: What you achieved so far

We’re only halfway through the year here at Formula Botanica, but our international community has already made such huge strides that we wanted to share some of our students’ and graduates’ successes with you!

From new enrolments to launching skincare brands and opening labs, to winning awards and getting featured on national TV, 2025 is already proving to be an incredible year for our global community.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate and celebrate just how far some of you have come in the first six months of this year!

New indie beauty brands

It’s always a special moment when a Formula Botanica graduate announces the launch of their brand. This year, we’ve seen a flurry of new names added to our graduate gallery – each one reflecting the vision, hard work, and passion of our graduates. Here are just a few of them:

• ÈYÍ DÁRA: Ganiyat Salami launched her beauty and wellness brand ÈYÍ DÁRA in January of this year. The name, a Yoruba phrase meaning “This is good,” reflects the brand’s mission to provide a breath of fresh air for high-achieving, health-conscious women with natural hair.
• Mollia Natural Cosmetics: Gagyi Blanka also launched her brand in January! Mollia Natural Cosmetics is a Romanian-based brand fuelled by a passion for pure, natural skincare and haircare. The brand’s mission is to offer high-quality, eco-friendly products that capture the essence of natural beauty and simplicity.
• Nana Latta Skincare: Laura Majieva is another graduate who launched in January. Nana Latta Skincare combines ancestral wisdom with modern holistic skincare practices. The brand, named after the Chechen phrase for “Mother Earth,” draws inspiration from Laura’s heritage and her deep commitment to creating pure, gentle skincare products for her family.
• Serene’s Chandlery: After four years of studying at Formula Botanica, Serena Bath co-founded Serene’s Beeswax Chandlery, a successful business focused on sustainability and ethically sourced beeswax to support bee populations. Serena has had a passion for beeswax for the past nine years, and now that she has graduated, she can do what she loves.
• Ireora Skincare: Katina Walker also launched Ireora Skincare with three products, inspired by regenerative farming practices. She credits Formula Botanica with allowing her to turn her passion into reality.
• Oatberry: Nikolai Krivolutski shared some exciting news: after 5 years of trial, error, passion, and many late nights of formulating in the Lab, Nikolai launched Oatberry on May 2nd, proving that natural ingredients can pack a serious punch.
• BIOYOND Natural Skincare: Last but certainly not least, Svetlana Suranova is ready to scale up after years of formulating, testing, refining, and pouring her whole heart into her brand, BIOYOND Natural Skincare, a Canadian-made, small-batch brand focused on natural performance, real results and elegant simplicity. Well done, Svetlana!

Each of these brands is proof that it is possible to learn to formulate safe and effective natural skincare/haircare from home, without any prior experience, and successfully launch a beauty brand.

If we’ve mentioned you in this list, keep us updated on your successes, as we love to hear from you and feature you on our content! If you haven’t, make sure you reach out!

Global impact & milestones

This year, our graduates haven’t just launched brands — they’ve created waves across continents. Here are just a few of our graduates’ successes:

• Kezzia Albrechtsen-Williams, Formula Botanica graduate and founder of Kadee Botanicals, expanded her impact by launching Incicellar, a small ingredient supplier brand dedicated to supporting other indie formulators. If you’re a UK-based formulator looking for niche ingredients, look no further!
• Agapi Sikkim Skincare, a woman’s skincare startup founded by our graduate Rinzing Choden Bhutai, was valued at over $1 million this year! This is an inspiring example of what’s possible when passion meets purpose.

This goes to show how many doors open to you once you’ve graduated from Formula Botanica. Launching your own brand is just one of many exciting paths you can take. Check out our Diploma in Beauty Brand Business Management to discover where your journey could lead next.

Awards, media features & events

We’ve also loved seeing our graduates get the spotlight they deserve this year:

• Ellowyn Isaacson of Ayéya was featured on The Today Show in the US, showcasing black-owned brands that give back. What an amazing achievement!
• 7 Hopes London, a contract manufacturer business founded by our graduate Hazem Elsawaf, received an award for excellence in indie beauty. Well done, Hazem!
• Poojah Bhimra participated as a brand for the Vogue Beauty and Wellness honours, a first-of-its-kind awards by Vogue India! How amazing is that?
• Mel Driver was profiled in her local newspaper — a brilliant example of how community-level visibility builds trust and recognition.
• Edrice Angry attended Luxe Pack in Los Angeles, a major global event for packaging and branding in the beauty industry. Edrice is also a regular at our student support sessions, and we love how committed she is to her studies! Some of our team even had the pleasure of meeting her in person during a visit to Los Angeles this year.

And let’s not forget the kind, inspiring words our graduates share with us, like those of Shagufta Saleem, featured here — a wonderful reminder of why we do what we do.

Student wins that made us smile

Some of our favourite moments so far this year have come from you — sharing your wins, your excitement, and your joy in learning:

• A beautiful certificate selfie by Natalie Horler in December last year reminded us how proud our students feel when they complete a course.
•  New student celebrations, like Maddalena Ghayyoori joining the community.
• Enrolments in the International Skincare Entrepreneur Program, with excited new students like Cindy and Jennine taking their first steps into the world of organic skincare formulation. They’ve got an amazing journey ahead of them!
• A special shoutout to our formulation tutor, Brooke, who recently celebrated five years of working with Formula Botanica on LinkedIn! Brooke’s journey is truly inspiring: she began studying with us at just 14 years old and eventually joined our team full-time after graduating as a student herself.

What’s next?

With six months still to go, we know there are even more brand launches, breakthroughs, and bold moves ahead. But today, we’re taking a moment to celebrate.

To every student, every graduate, and every member of our global community: thank you. You are living proof that anyone can formulate — and that when we lift each other up, there’s no limit to what we can create together.

What’s been your biggest win so far in 2025? We’d love to hear from you — share it with us in the comments below or tag us on social media using #formulabotanica.

Inspired to start your own formulation journey? Explore our award-winning free and paid online courses and become part of a global community and movement that’s reshaping beauty, one formulation at a time.

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Ariane Triebswetter

Ariane is Formula Botanica’s Content Creator and an active member of the student community. She has worked as a professional journalist, blogger, copywriter and editor before joining Formula Botanica full-time in 2024.