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.
Susan Barclay-Nichols Welcome to Workshop Stadium. This week the Chairman, Raymond (my lovely husband), has chosen the third Iron Chemist ingredient – LSB (surfactant from Stepan). I’m grateful he chose this one; I accidentally bought two bottles of it, forgetting I had already purchased the first, so I have tons with which I can play! Here are...
At least once a day, someone writes to me to ask if they can substitute this oil for that one, and my answer is always “yes!!!” (although I don’t always put exclamation marks at the end of the sentence). I spent a small fortune on oils and butters when I started on this amazing journey...
Last Sunday, my lovely husband chose SCI as the ingredient for this week’s Iron Chemist! And here are the results! SYNDET BODY BAR50% SCI33% SLSa10% cocamidopropyl betaine3% cocamide DEA2% glycol distearate2% fragrance oil Weigh the SCI and cocamidopropyl betaine in a heatproof container and place into the double boiler. Weigh the cocamide DEA and glycol...
I’ve received quite a few e-mails asking why a product is solidifying really quickly after removing it from the heating source from people looking to get more time to play with the product before pouring it into a mould (for instance, syndet bars or eyeliners). I know I’ve gone on and on about heating and...
My friend Ken, an herbal nutritionist, asked me about the differences between oil based and emulsified scrubs and why he would choose one over the other. The functions of the two scrubs are quite similar – they are both intended to exfoliate the skin with salt, sugar, or other scratchy things and leave behind a...