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.
Welcome to part sixteen of this series on learning chemistry! I will warn you that this is a huge post because I’m not sure where I need to separate it into other posts, so I’m just leaving it here. Please don’t be overwhelmed by it. Part of the size is the summary of what we’ve...
On this site and in my e-books, I’ve been sharing diagrams of molecules to show you how their shape or composition affects the viscosity, surface tension, melting point, and other properties. I’ve realized I haven’t shared how to interpret these if you haven’t taken a chemistry class or if it’s been ages, so let’s do...
Natalie Skiller, known as the awesome formulator for Sweet Little Crumb (Facebook, Instagram, and her new Patreon, This Formulating Life!) has very generously shared two amazingly-named formulas for a gorgeous, luxurious neck cream with all kinds of actives and cosmeceuticals to make you look your most awesome! Today, in part one, she’s selecting the actives,...
In the monthly Q&A, Kristina asked, Me again ;), I’ve decided to go back to “basics” for a minute. I have hit a wall and have gone back to product studies to try and ferret out some mysteries (which isn’t a very scientific word I know 😂). Question: Methyl Glucose Sesquistearate – this is an...
You may have heard Washington state, USA, has banned Germall Plus (liquid and powder, Germaben II, and TRIstat D2, so let’s get into what all of this means. Before we start… You can learn even more in the massive preservatives section of this site, found under the “ingredients” tab in the menu bar. I’ve written...