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.
I’m so excited to have the amazing Ginger L. Moore, owner of Neos Skin Care™ and aromatherapist, as a guest writer with her own column here on the blog, Going beyond essential oil trends with Ginger L Moore, where she’ll be sharing all her expertise and wisdom about essential oils with us! She’s an amazing … Read more
In the February Q&A, Marina asked, Hello, Susan (and everyone else!), what’s your opinion on using dry herbal extracts being sold for health supplements for skin care? Horse chestnut extract sounds intriguing to me, which I first found at New Directions Aromatics. Because of higher shipping cost and minimum order fee from NDA, I looked for...
In the February Q&A, Robin asked: I want to make a dish soap, one that cleans, degreases, has bubbles, smells good, and can be created using oils and can be done hot process. I have created many batches and still haven’t found my go to recipe. I want simple, that as I am working on...
In Canine Cosmetology – part one and part two – we went over the basics of canine skin and factors to consider in regards to product making. In order for the skin to be healthy, the coat must also be healthy and able to perform its functions well. A healthy coat appears vibrant, lustrous, clean,...
Warning: Rant ahead! (I’m ranting a lot this week, eh?) In my class on Saturday, one of the participants shared with me before we started that she didn’t think she was cut out for formulating. She tried a recipe from a DIY blog for a conditioning shampoo that combined 14% SCI and 5% foaming silk with...