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’ve been dying to make an oily gel since I heard I could do it with Sucragel AOF – which was an epic fail – so I was excited to see that I could use cera bellina in that capacity. I read that 10% should make a thicker oily gel, so I thought I’d start...
I’m not a fan of tomatoes – I hate that green smell you get from the stems* – but I love these tiny heirloom tomatoes from my massage therapist’s farm! I love being near all this local food. Alas, the season’ll be coming to an end soon, which is why we’ve been canning and jamming...
Cera bellina (INCI: Polyglycerol-3 Beeswax) is a form of beeswax in which the fatty acids have been esterified to create a polyglycerol that is more hydrophilic or water liking. It can be used in just about any product you want, including lotions and other water containing things. Anywhere you might use beeswax, you can use...
In this post for making conditioners for newbie Tuesday, canfieldfive writes: I have a long rambling question: I have the Conditioning Emulsifier from MMS (Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetearyl Alcohol) and the BTMS-50 (Behentrimonium Methosulfate and Cetyl Alcohol and Butylene Glycol) from Brambleberry. What will these do differently for my hair? (I plan to use Cetyl Alcohol...
In this post on making conditioner for newbie Tuesday, Rosi asks: Humectant is not good for frizzy hair, but is good for dry hair. Is there a difference? To me frizziness and dryness walk hand in hand, so how do I know and if I have both, use or not use humectant. Sorry I don’t...