I have imagined writing this post so many times that it feels strange to finally be here, with an actual date to share and an Amazon page where the book can already be found.
If you follow me on Instagram or receive my newsletters, this probably doesn't come completely out of nowhere. I have talked about this book many times over the past months, shared little glimpses behind the scenes and mentioned small decisions that slowly turned an idea into something much bigger than I had originally imagined.
So in a way, many of you have already been beside me while this book was taking shape and I love that this moment can be shared with you too.
Now I can finally say it properly:
Save the date: November 26, 2026
How to Formulate Natural Cosmetics: A Practical Course and Reference Guide for Making and Customizing Your Own Cosmetics will be released on November 26, 2026.
Until now the book still felt like something living mostly inside my computer and my little WonderLab. Suddenly it has a cover, a real Amazon page and a date when it will officially become something other people can read, study and keep beside them while formulating.
That feeling is difficult to describe, especially because this is something I have dreamed about for a very long time.
Why November 26?
I could have chosen many different dates, but 26 has always been my number because I was born on January 26.
Then there is this particular year, 2026, the year in which this book is finally becoming real and also the year my grandmother Ella turns 100 years old.
A century is such an extraordinary milestone and it makes this year even more meaningful to me. So, when I had to choose the day when this enormous project would officially leave my little WonderLab and make its way into the world, November 26 simply felt right.
I later realized that November 26 is also Thanksgiving Day in the United States this year, which looks like another lovely coincidence. This book carries years of curiosity, learning, teaching and creating, but also many conversations and exchanges with the people who have followed Lily in WonderLab along the way. This book is for you and also thanks to you, for your curiosity, your trust, your encouragement and for giving so much meaning to everything I share.
That is why November 26 now feels even more special to me.
What have I actually been creating all this time?
From the very beginning, I knew I didn’t want to write a book that was just a collection of cosmetic recipes.
Of course there are formulas inside it, and plenty of them, because making cosmetics is where all the theory becomes tangible. But I wanted the formulas to teach something, I wanted you to understand why an ingredient is there, what happens when a percentage changes, why one ingredient belongs in a certain phase, how texture can be adjusted, what can go wrong and how to begin thinking about the reason behind it.
The book gradually became what I define as a natural DIY cosmetics course in book form.
The lessons follow a progression, beginning with simpler formulations and gradually introducing new techniques, ingredients and formulation concepts. Across the practical lessons we work with toners and water based cosmetics, gels, face and body oils and serums, botanical extracts and infused oils, salves, lip balms and lip treatments, body butters, scrubs and creams.
Along the way we explore percentages and grams, phases, solubility, pH, preservation, oxidation, texture, ingredient functions, sensory qualities and the little formulation choices that can completely change the final result.
There are foundation formulas to learn from, experiments to try, customization ideas, troubleshooting guidance and exercises designed to help you stop for a moment, observe what is happening and understand why.
This was very important to me because I don't want the book to teach you simply how to reproduce my formulas. I want it to help you understand them, so that little by little you can begin making choices of your own.
I want you to look at an oil and think about how it might change the skin feel of a formula, understand why a gum behaves differently when its percentage changes, recognize whether an ingredient belongs in the water phase or the oil phase, and know why preservation or pH cannot be treated as an afterthought.
And when something goes wrong, I want you to have enough understanding to begin investigating what might have happened instead of immediately feeling that the formula has simply “failed.”
This is one of the most fascinating parts of formulating cosmetics… learning to observe and understand what is happening inside the beaker in front of us.
A course, but also a book to keep beside you
I also wanted this book to remain useful after you finish reading it for the first time.
Alongside the lessons, there are advanced recipes and reference information that you can return to when you are working on your own formulas, and I have created a collection of extra resources to accompany the book too.
These include practical tools such as the Ingredients Tracker, the Formula Percentage & Batch Size Calculator, My Cosmetic Ingredients Encyclopedia, printable reference tables and other resources to help you organize your ingredients, study formulas and continue building your own WonderLab with more confidence.
You will also find links to video demonstrations connected to some of the techniques covered in the lessons, as sometimes seeing a texture change or watching a process happen makes everything much easier to understand.
I wanted the book to sit somewhere between a course, a practical reference guide and the kind of book you can keep close while working on your own. Something you can read from beginning to end, but also return to when you want to check an ingredient, try a new recipe, revisit a technique, test an idea or understand why a formula is behaving in a certain way.
Ebook or physical book?
The book will be available both as a Kindle ebook and as a printed paperback, and I think it is worth explaining the difference because the learning content is the same, but the experience is quite different.
The Kindle edition contains the complete lessons, formulas and explanations, and it is especially practical if your priority is reading, studying and having all the information easily accessible wherever you are.
Because Kindle books use a flexible format that adapts to different screens and reading preferences, you can change things such as the text size and other display settings. This makes the ebook very practical, but it also means that it cannot reproduce every page exactly as I designed it for print.
And one useful thing to know if you have never bought a Kindle book before: you do not need to own a Kindle device. You can read Kindle books using the free Kindle app on compatible phones, tablets and computers, and Amazon also offers browser based reading.
So if you already know that you prefer the digital edition, the Kindle book can be preordered now and it will be released on November 26.
[Preorder the Ebook on Amazon]
And then there is the printed book...
The printed edition has become almost a project inside the project because I wanted it to carry the full visual atmosphere I had imagined while writing the book.
I have spent a great deal of time working on the pages, photographs, formulation boxes, exercises, references, little decorative details and the way the information sits on the page, because I wanted the book to feel beautiful without losing its practical side.
I imagined it open beside a scale while someone is making a formula, full of little notes and bookmarks after months of use.
The large printed format gave me the freedom to create that experience in a way that a reflowable ebook naturally cannot reproduce. The ebook gives you the course and the knowledge inside it, while the printed book adds the complete visual world around that content.
So if you already know that digital is your preferred format, you can happily preorder the ebook now… but if you are still wondering whether you would prefer the Kindle edition or the printed one, I would actually suggest waiting just a little longer before deciding, because my first physical copy is already on its way to me and I really want to show it to you properly.
I have put so much care into the printed version that I think it is worth seeing it first with the size, the photographs, the pages, the formulas and all those little details that are difficult to imagine from a screen.
What about the paperback release?
The Kindle edition is confirmed for November 26.
For the printed version, I want to see how the colors have been printed, check the photographs and make sure everything is comfortable to read.
If everything looks as it should, my intention is to make the paperback available on November 26. If there is something that needs correcting, though, I would rather take some extra time to fix it before publishing the physical book than rush it simply to meet a date. After putting so much care into this project, it wouldn't make sense to stop being careful at the very last step.
The Kindle edition will still be released on November 26, and as soon as the proof arrives, I will share the printed book with you and let you know when the paperback becomes available.
A little note about international availability
Because the book is being published through Amazon KDP, the availability of the printed edition depends on the Amazon marketplace.
Paperback distribution is supported directly through Amazon in many countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the main European marketplaces such as Spain, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Poland and Sweden.
There is one limitation I especially wanted to mention because I know many Lily in WonderLab readers are in India and Brazil, and some of you are also in Mexico. Amazon KDP does not currently offer local paperback distribution through Amazon India, Amazon Brazil or Amazon Mexico, so the printed edition will not be directly available through those local Amazon marketplaces. The Kindle edition, however, will be available there.
Save the date: November 26, 2026
If you already know that the Kindle edition is the one you want, it is available for preorder now.
[Preorder How to Formulate Natural Cosmetics Ebook]
If you are curious about the printed edition, stay close a little longer because my proof copy is coming soon and I want to show you the book properly before you choose.
After spending so long imagining these pages, I think the moment when I finally open that first physical copy is going to be a very special one!