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.
Thanks for joining me for part two of this series on esters. Yesterday, we looked at the chemistry and nomenclature of esters. Today, let’s take a look at why we might use esters in our products, and what they bring to the party. We use esters for all kinds of reasons – as emulsifiers, as…...
If you’ve never made a lotion before or just feel like making something basic, check out my six ingredient lotion series! These lotions give your ingredients a chance to shine, to really show what they bring to the product by way of skin feel, viscosity, cushion, play time, lubricity, and so much more! Challenge: Six…...
You might remember our series to figure out what a polar oil might be – part one, hydrocarbons and part two, polar oils – as we struggled to make that darned TKB Thickening clay work. This was supposed to be part three at the time, but we went on holiday and the computer died and…...
Welcome back! We took a look at part one of this duplication process the other day by analyzing the ingredient list, then we took a bit of an aside to look at fruit essences. Today, let’s see if we can’t create a base formula for this product! We established that despite the name – Sisley…...
When I mention a company or provide you with a link to a shop, I’m doing it so you know where to get ingredients or to help you on your search for cool stuff. You will never find affiliate links, ads, or sponsored posts on this blog. If I say I like something, you know…...
There are all kinds of botanical waters we can use in our products, and these fruit essences (aka distillate water) are a lovely way to get all the awesome goodness and fragrances of fruit without the bright or dark colours. A fruit essence is a “highly aromatic water recovered at the pre-heater stage of the…...
I’m working on the ingredient list for the upcoming Newbie Tuesday naturally compliant lotion making series, and thought I’d ask you for some ideas about your favourite oils! I’ve chosen a very light oil – fractionated coconut oil – and some light oils – including rice bran, sweet almond, kukui nut – but I need … Read more
In the October duplicating thread, Pamela asked, Susan, I have heard a lot of raving from the Youtube beauty community about the Sisley Floral Toning Lotion, (Yes, it is Jeffree Star Approved! For what that’s worth!). But it costs $103 USD for 8.4 ounces!!!! They don’t have the full ingredient list anywhere that I could…...
You know how much I love Voyageur Soap & Candle in Surrey, B.C., as it’s not only an awesome place to shop, but it’s my home base for classes. You can’t use the discount for those, but you can use it on everything else! I’m so excited about these candles I’ve been making with soy…...
In the October Q&A, Stephanie asked: My question is: What’s the deal with pressed glitters? I keep seeing them pop-up on Instagram, I’ve seen them in Sephora and there are a lot of DIY You Tube videos for making your own. The reason I ask, is my daughter tried one while we were at Sephora…...