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 received quite a few e-mails asking why a product is solidifying really quickly after removing it from the heating source from people looking to get more time to play with the product before pouring it into a mould (for instance, syndet bars or eyeliners). I know I’ve gone on and on about heating and...
My friend Ken, an herbal nutritionist, asked me about the differences between oil based and emulsified scrubs and why he would choose one over the other. The functions of the two scrubs are quite similar – they are both intended to exfoliate the skin with salt, sugar, or other scratchy things and leave behind a...
My friend Ken asked if I had anything for dandruff prone hair. I said I didn’t, but I’d be willing to give it a shot! Again, I’m not making any claims here, but I thought it would be interesting to look at the theory behind why people have dandruff prone hair and try to make...
Shana writes to me: I was reading one of your old blogs about water soluble oils and you stated this: “There are two ways to make water soluble oils – you can mix an oil with an emulsifier (usually polysorbate 80) to make an oil water soluble” You did not explain how to do this exactly. Could you...
I’ve really enjoyed my holiday time away from work, and I thought I’d post a few pictures of the (non-edible) cupcake-y goodness I’ve been working on with my sewing machine. I generally hand sew all my projects – purses, shorts, skirts, coffee cozies, and so on – but I wanted to get my best friend’s...