My Experience with the European Institute of Dermo-Cosmetics Course

I write so you share. Thank you.

I’ve travelled to Villarreal (Spain) for a fantastic natural skincare course by the European Institute of Dermocosmetics. The course took 3 days and I do feel I’ve taken the knowledge I have of natural skincare to the next level.

View from the European Institute of Dermocosmetics in Villarreal, Spain.
Outside the Institute.

I’d been wanting a course that would explore all the different hiccups I’ve encountered over the last 12 months. And I have encountered many! This course managed to solve a lot of my problems when making natural skincare. I would have not been ready for it before, but it came at the right time, like everything in life.

The room where the course took place.
Plenty of ingredients to play with!
Preparing a formula for one of the products.

The laboratory is a great place for learning. I acquired all the necessary skills to handle more sophisticated material than what I have at home. We organised the work accordingly and I got to prepare formulas that were very different to what I learnt at Naturally Thinking the previous year.

We explored the nature of the different ingredients: aroma, texture, cosmetic properties and physicochemical properties. We learnt techniques, materials and formulas I wasn’t familiar with which was very exciting. Included were, of course, quality control, stability and preservation.

An innovative and inventive way of getting extracts from the plants. On the photo you’ll see we extracted from the chamomile plant.
The teacher’s own distiller. He perfected it over the years.
Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) ready for distillation.
Here you can see the essential oil floating on top of the hydrosol.
Plant material after distillation.

The intensive three-day course at the HERBAVIVA laboratory near Villareal is the only course that offered me the opportunity to learn from plant to product. Basically, we harvested the plant material, extracted the active ingredients and created our formulas using the hydrosols, essential oils and actives that we extracted ourselves.

Usually people buy cosmetic ingredients already prepared or ready for the formula to be mixed together into a lovely product. We actually went out into the garden and had the opportunity to see the plant alive and ready to be cut for distillation. What an honour!

Not a great pic, but you get the idea : )
Some of the products we created: a facial toner.

Check out the video from the 3 day course below.

Overall, a wonderful experience. I was most definitely ready for the next level and this course totally offered it. My idea is to keep doing courses and learning so over the years my knowledge, experience and expertise can help others via the products I make and the info on this website.

Patri xx

Patri Hernandez, CHC, Certified Health Coach & Certified Organic Skincare Alchemist
One day, during my menopausal rollercoaster, I had a spiritual awakening that connected me so deeply with nature, I thought I might sprout leaves. Suddenly, natural ingredients became my obsession—like an addiction, really. My body was magnetically drawn to them, and it wasn’t long before I found myself knee-deep in essential oils, herbs, and all things organic.

From there, it was a slippery slope (a delightfully scented one) into organic skincare formulation. The intoxicating aroma of essential oils, the thrill of crafting something pure with my own hands—I was hooked. It wasn’t enough to just use these natural wonders; I had to create them, surround myself with them. Now, I live on a piece of land where I grow my own organic fruits and vegetables (when the weather isn’t playing tricks on me), and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When people ask what I do, I like to think about the view from my window—the endless sea—and say, “I live the life dreamers dream of.” It's All about the richness of living in harmony with nature. Watching others turn to natural ingredients because of something I shared with them—that’s my proudest achievement.

Oh, and just to keep things interesting, I’m also a bit of a nerd. I love computers, software, and all the techy stuff that seems like it wouldn’t fit with my earth-loving, oil-sniffing lifestyle. But hey, who says you can’t have the best of both worlds?

My ultimate goal? To help people kick the commercial product habit and embrace the natural, the organic, the truly nourishing. Life’s too short to settle for anything less.

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