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.
In this post, Sue asks: HOW do you decide what to make?! I have such trouble/fun deciding on colours fragrance additives that half the session could disapppear. How do your readers balance creative and efficiency? What a great question! I think the answer is that I don’t do it well. Sometimes I get into the workshop...
You cannot make good bath and body products using volume measurements. It is hard to scale the ingredients to make smaller or larger batches, and, in general, people assume that volume is the same as weight. It is not, and it is vital for the success of your recipes that you get this concept! HOW...
In this post, Lucy asks: Hi. Total addict to your blog 🙂 I’m a newbie to actually making, although I’ve done years of reading….! Just started experimenting with shampoo. I’ve really sensitive scalp so have stuck to decyl glucoside and cocamidopropyl betaine but find it’s a bit slimy and hard to foam…What is the next in the...
In this post on witch hazel, Anonymous asks: I am working on an insect repellent using 90% Witch hazel and 10% EO. Will the two ever blend or will it have to be shaken each time? They won’t blend and they will need to be shaken every time. Oil and water don’t mix. To get them to...
Those posts on slip and glide in conditioners…Those posts on physical exfoliants in our facial scrubs…A recipe for a foaming facial cleanser using foaming silk surfactant…A recipe for a leave in conditioner with volumizing complex…Research on and recipes playing with ingredients like mallow, ginger, and pomegranate extracts…Stuff about substituting ACI and decyl glucoside in surfactant...