The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey! 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.
A few points of interest for the last Sunday in February… I’ve been asked to write a monthly column for Handmade magazine, and the first one just came out – The Science Behind Citrus! I just received my copy on Friday, and I’m thrilled to bits about it! For those of you asking about my back,...
I don’t know if you noticed, but I seem to be having a torrid love affair with this new emulsifier, Aristoflex AVC, which can create lotions and gels cold! N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG) It is a bio-identical ingredient that can reduce hyperpigmentation in the skin, and has been shown to work well when combined with niacinamide. It...
I liked yesterday’s lotion and I really liked last week’s lotion with Aristoflex AVC. But there are more experiments to be done, so let’s take a look at a Vitamin C and ferulic acid serum made with this new emulsifier! The main ingredients in this recipe are ferulic acid and Vitamin C, a combination that...
I’ve been in the workshop playing with Aristoflex AVC, a new to me all-in-one emulsifier that creates gels and light lotions at only 1%! It’s also a cold emulsifier, meaning no heating required, which is why I can make 8 in one day! On Thursday, I introduced you to a moisturizer with moringa seed oil...
I’m asked all the time why I heat and hold my lotions a double boiler instead of using a microwave to melt our ingredients. There are a few reasons. I heat my ingredients for lotions in two separate containers: One for the heated water phase and one for the heated oil phase. I heat them to...