Cosmetics are manufactured from various raw materials based on rational formula. In order to obtain cosmetics with good quality and special function, cosmetic raw material selection is very important. The raw material selection is a key technique except for cosmetic formulation. Only structures, characteristics of the raw material were grasped, they can be used correctly and flexibly and new cosmetics can be developed. A suitable textbook about cosmetic raw materials written in Chinese is not available at present. Course construction about cosmetic raw material is needed and urgent. Therefore, a new course, Cosmetic Raw Material Science, is introduced in Shanghai Institute of Technology. It is a fundamental subject for students with major of cosmetics. The course contents and the teaching methods were described in the paper.