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 In the monthly Q&A, Holly asked, I’ve been getting into making hair care products; and I’m conflicted on PEGS. I was going to use Olivem 300 (INCI: Olive Oil PEG-7 Esters or PEG-7 olivate) in a conditioner, I’ve also used them in cleansers and micellar waters with nice results! But, I had a family member...
Welcome back to this short series on adding extracts and actives to an anhydrous whipped body butter! We started the discussion with part one and enjoyed some formulas. Click here to see that — Q&A: Adding extracts and actives to an anhydrous whipped body butter? Part one – salicylic acid & Octyldodecanol with formulas! In...
This came up in our Zoom workshop on Sunday, February. 23, 2025, on creating oily gels with Sapogel Q (NatraSap Q™). Let’s take a look at modifying a boring old dishwashing liquid using d-Limonene to create an awesome degreaser that’ll make post-formulating cleaning even easier! I’m not kidding – when we used to come home...
Welcome to March 2025! The start of spring, although it was 15°C (59°F) yesterday, the 28th, so maybe it’s already here? We’re going forest walking later this afternoon as the prediction is 16°C and sunny! We had some snow in February, and Sasja wasn’t sure if she liked it, going in and out to see … Read more
This month’s new e-book is here – Formulating fun with hyaluronic acid: Toners, gels & gel-creams! You’ll learn 26 formulas using hyaluronic acid, hyaluronic acid 4D, and cationic HA to create and customize awesome, super-quick, hydrating, active-filled products, then we’ll gel them with rheology modifiers and cold emulsifiers, like Aristoflex AVC, Sepimax ZEN, and Sepinov...