Welcome to the home of SwiftCraftyMonkey Formulating Inc.! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys)! Here you’ll find over 5,000 posts and formulas written over the past 16 years for everything from lotions, creams, and body butters to hair care products to fancy facial products filled with actives and cosmeceuticals! Enjoy the site without distractions – no ads, pop ups, sponsored posts, affiliate links, “one weird tricks” – all supported by readers like you.
As I mentioned in this post on formulating on a budget, learning about your ingredients can really save you money when you find an amazing recipe that you think you’d like to make…so let’s take a look at a sample recipe and see where we can save some money! When I started making products, I...
I addressed this a bit in this newbie Tuesday post, but I thought I’d expand on it slightly and ask you for your opinions. If you’re just starting out, the first thing you’ll want to know is this – which ingredients should I buy? The answer depends upon your chosen product. Read the recipe and...
I’ve already written quite a bit about this topic, so I’m just going to throw out a few ideas before I suggest you click on the links below for more information! If you are going to spend money on one thing, I suggest it should be your scale. Spend your money on a good digital...
Coconut oil is a great choice for bath and body products. It’s inexpensive and it has some fatty acids we don’t find elsewhere. It has a really long shelf life – up to 2 years – thanks to all those saturated fatty acids. Virgin coconut oil smells absolutely of coconuts and is divine if that’s...
Making bath & body products are a great way to save money, but that’s hard to do when you’re just starting out and aren’t sure what to buy! As you experiment with different oils and butters and emulsifiers and surfactants, you’ll eventually find the ones you love, but at the start, ingredients will be your...