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.
The temperature of our ingredients is a hot topic these days, so let’s take a look at a few questions I’ve been posed in the last few weeks… If we heat carrier oils, will they go rancid quicker? Are we destroying the goodness in them? I answered this question last year in this post, but...
It’s Tuesday! Did your supplies arrive? Are you ready to make a lotion? Do you have your supplies ready? All right! Let’s go! BASIC FIRST LOTION FORMULA HEATED WATER PHASE 67% distilled water 3% glycerin or sodium lactate HEATED OIL PHASE 15% liquid oil of choice 5% shea or mango butter 3% cetyl alcohol 6%...
I haven’t written about it much this week, but apparently I’m living in the “Freezer Valley” now (as opposed to the Fraser Valley – ha ha ha, it’s a pun or play on words!). The snow started on Saturday, January 14th, and has continued throughout the week. I’ve had to cancel four craft groups, and...
Rosemary essential oil is regularly referred to as an anti-inflammatory, but does this claim stand up when we take a look at the science? “The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of rosemary essential oil (REO) on experimental models of nociception and inflammation in animals. These data suggest that REO possesses anti-inflammatory...
It’s interesting how many of the studies I’ve found compare lavender and rosemary essential oils when it comes to aromatherapy. (A quick recap from this post on lavender and aromatherapy: The studies are showing that inhaling lavender essential oil can decrease anxiety and stress and the expression of same as well as increasing sleep.) In one...