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 Voyageur has recently started carrying emu oil (INCI Emu Oil), so I thought I’d try it out. So what’s the big deal with this oil? It’s reported to be a good anti-inflammatory, skin cell regenerator, anti-bacterial, and non-comedogenic oil. Are these claims all true? Interestingly enough, there haven’t been a ton of studies on this oil...
Someone asks: Say you have a cream that came out too thick and you have to thin it. You measure out the water and just add? THEN how do you refigure the % of your original formula? You cannot thin out a thick lotion once you’ve made it. If you add water to it, you’ll mess up...
As I mentioned, my lovely husband and mother bought me a pH meter for Christmas. It’s a Jenco Vision Plus and it’s quite fancy as it can store up to 50 readings, take temperatures, and many more features I have yet to try! It even comes with a handy dandy belt hook so I can...
If you want to make a recipe, but don’t have all the ingredients, substitute…with one exception – the cationic quaternary compound or conditioning agent. Identify the cationic quaternary compound (usually Incroquat BTMS-50, but sometimes Incroquat BTMS-25, cetrimonium bromide, or cetrimonium chloride) and make sure you don’t substitute that for something else. A conditioner is not...
My love of chemistry was acknowledged by my friends and family this Christmas with this amazing test tube set and beaker from my best friend, and a fantastic pH meter from my mom and husband. I may have to break my ban on shopping on Boxing Day because I need some calibration fluid so I...