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 off to teach another class at Voyageur Soap & Candle this morning on hair care products, so I don’t have a lot of time to write, but I thought I’d share few thoughts about lotion making arising from e-mails and comments I’ve seen this week. Add the water that evaporated back to your container...
If you make homemade deodorant and it bothers you, stop using it. You aren’t doing something wrong. This product is very alkaline and can bother a huge portion of the people using it. I say this after reading through quite a few pages about making and using homemade deodorant with huge amounts of alkaline baking...
In this post on solubilizers, someone asked: I still don’t get the difference between a solubilizer and a emulsifier. If I mix propylene glycol (in substitution for the surfactant), cetyl alcohol or stearic acid in water, will I be getting a lotion? The quick answer is no because there’s nothing in your question that is...
I thought you might like a few recipes for make-up remover for some post-Hallowe’en clean up, so here are a few that might interest you! (The surfactant and oil based ones will work for waterproof make-up.) Surfactant based make-up removerOil based make-up removerWater based make-up removerPossible duplication of a creamy cleanserSurfactant based cleansing toweletteLotion based...
In the original why the heck did I buy this and what can I do with it thread, Catherine asks: I love your blog–what the heck can I do with Sea Kelp Ferment (INCI Lactobacillus/Kelp Ferment Filtrate)? I have been using it 100% on my face occasionally overnight (it is kind of sticky) and along my hairline...