The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.
We met this awesome ingredient, Sensolene® (INCI: Ethylhexyl olivate), a Guerbet ester, a light, non-greasy emollient that also has some cleansing properties, a few weeks ago, and I thought I’d share some formulas originally published in my e-zine, Shiny Things, Volume 2, so you can start formulating with it. Facial serum with Sensolene® This is...
I’ve been playing with a lot of new emollients this year, but one of my new favourites of the year for hair care is ximenia seed oil (INCI: Ximenia Americana Seed Oil) thanks to the lovely film it forms to protect our hair from the elements and prevent water from entering and causing frizz. Let’s...
In this month’s Q&A, Dalel asked, I am making solid conditioners. I use panthenol powder and I think it might be the culprit in the issue I’m having. It is very difficult to dissolve it or melt it. The temperature of the mixture when I put it in is always above 60°C (140˚F) (sometimes up to...
In last month’s Q&A, Jaime asked, Can I make a gel without Siligel or one of the other gel makers by combining a hyaluronic gel and an aloe gel and adding biotin, caffeine and ginger extract? If so, what natural approved preservative would work? Any pH issues? The short answer is kinda, maybe, sort of –...
We met this ester in Shiny Things, volume 2!, in which we made a facial serum, vitamin packed facial serum, creamy chamomile & aloe facial cleansing milk, and a silicone cream formula with Sepigel 305. Let’s take another look at this interesting ester! You can find the home page for this ester series by clicking this...