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 Will and Patrick did the most important thing you can do in learning this thing we call cosmetic chemistry – they stayed curious – and both went out to the dollar store to buy lotions. Let’s take a look at what each of them found! (And be warned, this is a long post!) Will: I made...
The first thing I ask myself when I’m formulating a product is what exactly do I want to make? What type of lotion, cream, or butter do I want right now, for what body part, and for what reason? In short, what’s my goal for this product? Asking yourself this question is the first step...
In this post, Patrick asks: I’ve made a hand lotion that our household really likes with Jojoba, FCO, RBO, Soy, Avocado, Shea Butter & Mango Butter. I toss in some fancy additives including panthenol and everything totaled comes to about $5USD for 500g. Not horrible, but a bit much. Anyway, here’s my question: What’s the absolute cheapest...
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what posts to write next, and I think I’m going to do a series on learning to formulate our products from scratch. Although these posts will mostly relate to lotion making, you can take what I’m posting here and use it for other products. If you are...
I know most people, if asked, will say they prefer a drier feeling lotion, but a lot of those perceptions are based upon commercial products that contain mostly mineral oil. Most of our vegetable oils feel less greasy than mineral oil, and all of our esters definitely feel that way. So here are a few...