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 My best friend is a lucky girl – no, not because I’m her best friend, but because she has normal skin. Not too dry, not too oily, no major break-outs, and nothing to worry about but the aging process we all go through. I love formulating for her skin – I can use all kinds...
Acai biofunctional botanical liquid is a product from Beraca, a company that specializes in products from the rainforest. It’s INCI is Glycerin (and) Euterpe oleracea fruit powder (and) Water, and I’ve seen it advertised that it doesn’t include preservative, which makes me very nervous, to be honest. I have no idea about the shelf life...
Fruit acid complex or Multifruit BSC is a great way to get alpha hydroxy acids into your products in a way that is easy to use and hard to over-do. With an INCI Water & Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Extract & Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract & Acer Saccharinum (Sugar Maple) Extract & Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange)...
If you’ve read any of the shampoo posts on this blog, you’ll know I love sulfosuccinates! This happy molecule is disodium laureth sulfosuccinate (known as DLS mild) and it is a mono-ester of a sodium salt. Sulfosuccinates are generally sodium salts of alkyl esters of sulfosuccinic acid that are a result of condensation of maleic...
The linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is one of the most widely used detergents, but its use in personal care is very limited. It has a very low compatibility with skin, and is usually only used in anti-seborrheic or very oily skin cleansers.This picture is of sodium linear alkyl benzene sulfonate. It has good detergency and...