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.
SwiftCraftyMonkey 
My current bout of spasming arms and fatigue have knocked us off track for this series, and I think we’ll be behind a month in the end. Sorry for this delay, but I’ve learned that if I don’t listen to my body and slow down when it tells me to, I’ll be suffering for it … Read more
Sorry for the delay, but I’m so happy to share this new e-book for October 2025 with you – Substituting cocoa butter: Anhydrous and emulsified formulas (issue 8)! Woo hoo! Don’t stop making awesome things because you can’t find cocoa butter at our suppliers’ shops – learn how to make substitutions with my new e-book! … Read more
Hi everyone! Hope you’re doing well! I don’t have Chemistry Thursday or Formulating Friday posts this week as I’m still having a hard time with my health and didn’t get time to finish what I wanted to share. My arms are doing better – yay! – but I’m just so fatigued. The October e-book is … Read more
Welcome back to this introduction to cosmetic chemistry course! Let’s continue our investigation into triglycerides with part 40 by looking a bit more at iodine values and what we can learn from them, then we’ll create some reference charts based on all the things we’ve learned so far. An important note about this series –...
I’ve shared formulas here on the site – like emulsified sugar scrubs or anhydrous whipped butters – in which I tell you to melt the ingredients to above 70°C (158°F) or to liquid, then pop it in the freezer to solidify before mixing. And I’m here to warn you away from using Pyrex jugs we’d...