The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey Formulating Inc.! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.
I touched on allantoin a little in the occlusion post…click here to find out about more occlusives! Allantoin, also called 5-ureidohydantoin or glyoxyldiureide, is a fantastic skin protectant that softens skin (it’s a keratolytic, meaning it causes the keratin to soften), causes rapid cell regeneration and proliferation, and is approved by the FDA to temporarily...
Ultramarine blue is a great way to get a light blue colour without all the awesome power of blue iron oxide. You can use a little more, and if you already like the blueyness of it, it only takes a bit of base or mica to make this a sparkly treat! Compare the ultramarine blue...
It’s hard to make generalizations about silk as you can get so many different kinds – liquid, powder, low molecular weight, high molecular weight, and so on. The molecular weight is important because the lower the molecular weight, the more likely the protein will actually penetrate the skin and hair and act as a humectant...
The best picture I could find was this one…of my campsite famous roasted corn on an open fire. Freshly picked that day, roasted until it’s sweet, then covered in creamy butter and salt! Yum! But that has very little to do with this post…except that I mention corn. Now I’m hungry! Phytokeratin is a proprietary...
Oats are also called “avena sativa” – look for this ingredient on labels of your favourite products. I love hydrolyzed oat protein – I put it in nearly everything! Although the suggested usage is 1 to 5%, I tend to use about 2% due to cost. It is a humectant, so I use it for...