Amalee: Indonesian Journal of Community Research & Engagement
Vol. 7 No. 2 (2026): Amalee: Indonesian Journal of Community Research and Engagement

Enhancement of Science Literacy and Cosmetic Formulation Skills Among High School Students Through Solid Perfume Balm Workshop

Untung Gunawan (Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia)
Keiko Weimy Ho (Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia)
Valerina (Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia)
Allessandra Gabriella Wijaya (Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia)
Birgitta Evania Hotyus (Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia)
Yulius Evan Christian (Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta 14440, Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
27 Jul 2026

Abstract

High school students' knowledge of cosmetics is generally limited to finished products, without understanding their composition, formulation processes, or safety aspects, which may increase the risk of improper product use. This community service activity aimed to enhance scientific literacy, cosmetic safety awareness, and formulation skills among high school students through an experiential learning-based solid perfume balm workshop, an approach not yet widely implemented in the Indonesian high school context. A pre-post design without a control group was employed with 21 Grade XI Science students (52.38% male; mean age 16.4 years) at SMA Katolik Ricci 1, Jakarta. The evaluation instrument consisted of 10 validated multiple-choice questions. Because the Shapiro-Wilk test confirmed non-normality of difference scores (W = 0.7774; p = 0.0003), the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used for hypothesis testing. Participant satisfaction was assessed with a seven-item Likert-scale questionnaire. The mean score increased from 77.62 (pretest) to 90.48 (posttest). The proportion of participants with high knowledge rose significantly from 61.90% to 95.24% (Z = −3.823; p < 0.001; effect size r = 0.83). All participants successfully produced their own perfume balm product. The mean satisfaction score was 4.74 out of 5.00. An experiential learning workshop integrating cosmetic safety, formulation skills, and science literacy proved effective for high school students. Recommended follow-up actions include control-group designs, larger samples, and long-term knowledge retention assessments.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

amalee

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Public Health Social Sciences Other

Description

Amalee: Indonesian Journal of Community Research & Engagement focuses on community engagement program, applied science in community to advance theories, research and practices related to all forms of outreach and engagement. Community engagement means services to society, applying science and ...