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 PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO BUY CETRIMONIUM BROMIDE ANY MORE. IF YOU HAVE AN IDEA, PLEASE SHARE IT IN THE COMMENTS BELOW, PREFERABLY WITH A LINK TO THE ITEM IN A SHOP! THANKS! (Sorry for yelling, but I really wanted to get your attention!) Cetrimonium bromide is a cationic quaternary compound used...
If any of this seems like Greek to you, please read the post on how conditioners work first… To me, Incroquat Benehyl TMS-50 (INCI: Behentrimonium methosulfate (and) cetyl alcohol (and) butylene glycol) or BTMS is the grandmother of all cationic quaternary compounds. It’s easy to find, easy to use, and it emulsifies silicones and oils...
I know, this probably isn’t a post you’d normally read, but I think it’s something useful for the next few posts. In talking about cationic quaternary compounds, the number of carbon atoms in the chain is vital in learning how conditioning something might be. So here’s a little primer on how to figure out how...
I know I said I’d write about BTMS this morning, but there’s so much about the structure and chemistry of hair that I haven’t written about in the past…so I’ll write about BTMS tomorrow. This bit really should go in the middle of the “how conditioners work” post….Our hair is composed of a cortex –...
How does a conditioner work? Okay, a little bit of chemistry for you… A conditioning agent (like BTMS) is a cationic quaternary compound. It’s a positively charged compound that adsorbs to the surface of your hair. (Adsorption means the molecules accumulate on the surface of your hair. It’s different from absorption in that it doesn’t...