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.
In the March Q&A, Olja asked, My question is about NAG (N-acetyl glucosamine). To which phase do you put it. If you put it to the cool down phase, do you dissolve it prior? Can you dissolve it in a glicerite extract (which also contains some water) and than put it in the lotion? Moreover, if using…...
What a way to spend a day, eh? Yesterday, I was making in London products at Alchemy Labs with Jane of Making Skincare and Learn Cosmetic Formulation, Anja, and Nanette! We made, in order, HIPEgel Aqua water-in-oil (w/o) lotion, the same lotion with tapioca starch, HIPE Oleo lotion with 90% oil phase, brand new Sapogel…...
In the March Q&A, kuni asked, I have been making shampoo bar and conditioner bar for my family and they have been very happy with their hair, thanks to Susan on her wonderful shampoo bar ebook and articles. Lately my daughter (13 years old) has been asking me to make her face wash and whether its…...
Hi everyone! I thought I’d give you an update on where we are and what’s happening around the blog. Our trip to Liverpool has been amazing and wonderful with loads of walking and talking and visits to the chippie. I’ve eaten my weight in gala pie – pork pie with egg inside – and Monster … Read more
Yesterday, I shared with you the first prototype formula I created for this exfoliating stick, but I thought we should take some time to look at the process of making it, then see what we might want to change. When I made this, I boiled some distilled water in the kettle to add to the…...
Oh my gosh, is it for true and for real? Are we ready to create a protoype formula for the Tarte Frxxxtion stick 3-in-1 exfoliating cleanser? Again, you don’t have to read all these posts to enjoy this prototype formula – this isn’t the Marvel Cinematic Universe where you have to watch every single movie…...
Holy cow! Did we finally make it back to this duplication after quite the aside about preservatives, thickening clay, non-polar hydrocarbons, and polar oils? Whew! If you’d like to follow along with this series in much greater detail, check out these posts. You don’t have to read them all – this isn’t the Marvel Cinematic…...
In this post on bubble bath, Liquid bubble bath: The process and formulas, Allison asked, Susan you mentioned here having many different thickening ingredients, and I’m wondering if you’ve ever combined more than one in a single product? I look at manufacturer’s formulations online, and I’m noticing that some will use something like Glucamate DOE-120…...
You might have noticed that in yesterday’s post on working with the thickening clay, I mentioned that I was going to be meeting with a representative who works for the company that makes the ingredient to ask for more information so we can get this to work. That’s right, we’ll be at In Cosmetics Global…...
Thanks for joining me for yet another part of this series on how to use TKB Trading’s Thickening Clay (INCI: Quaternium-90 Sepiolite (and) Quaternium-90 Montmorillonite) as part of the Tarte Frxxxtion Exfoliating Stick potential duplication. Here are my previous attempts that didn’t work… #alltheingredients: Thickening clay (part one) #alltheingredients: Thickening clay, part two – my first…...