The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey Formulating Inc.! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.
Take a look at the right hand side of this blog and scroll down to where it says “links to lists”! There you’ll find pages I’ve created for general topics like oils & butters, extracts, and skin chemistry & skin types so you can find them all in one handy dandy place without having to...
I know there’s a lot of misunderstanding about surfactants – especially about SLS – so here’s a way of figuring out what type of surfactant you have! Sodium lauryl sulfate Okay, the sodium part is the cationic or positively charged ion in this surfactant. The lauryl part indicates which fatty acid was used to make...
As I’m writing this series of posts on surfactants, there are a few things to consider when formulating… foaming lathering bubbling good skin or hair feel substantitive to skin or hair how it performs in hard water foamy resistance to soap and/or sebum how to thicken it These qualities will make it clear which one...
An anonymous commenter on this post asks…What is the difference between an EO, Extract or tea? (Besides how they are made) For example, if I was going to use Rosemary, which form would be the best to use in a shampoo or conditioner? Or is there not much of a difference between the effectiveness of...
One of the biggest disputes I see in lotion making is the debate over heating and holding our ingredients before mixing the oil and water phases together. I can give you several good reasons to join the heat and hold camp if you still think it unnecessary! Whenever I make a lotion, I weigh out...