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 As we heard in the news last night, Health Canada is warning against the Brazilian Blowout, an in-salon hair straightening method, as it can contain up to 12% formaldehyde (the Canadian limit is 0.2%). The company distributing this product claims in really large letters NO FORMALDEHYDE, so it will be interesting to see what they...
Here’s another reminder to vote for our youth groups at the Aviva Community Fund application site! We run a variety of free youth programs at the Chilliwack and Yarrow libraries in partnership with my workplace, Chilliwack Community Services, and we desperately need funding. My husband and I pay for all the supplies for the groups...
So let’s try experiment number three with cetearyl alcohol. For this experiment I used 10% cetearyl alcohol and 90% shea oil from Soapcraft (the less creamy looking one). I weighed both ingredients in a Pyrex jug and heated it until the ingredients melted. I popped the container into the freezer for about 30 minutes. When...
Since my first experiments with cetyl alcohol and stearic acid were a bust, I thought I’d turn to another fatty alcohol – cetearyl alcohol! (And you’ve seen how well the other two ingredients worked out!) Cetearyl alcohol (also known as cetostearyl alcohol and cetylstearyl alcohol) is a blend of cetyl and stearyl alcohols that we can use...
In response to the post How does Lush use fresh fruit in their products? p writes: I just stumbled upon Lush’s youtube channel, and I found a video you might find really interesting. It’s on how they make their Avobath Bath Bomb (a citric acid – baking soda bath bomb with fresh avocado). The video shows them cutting...