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 hope you’ve enjoyed this series of posts on anhydrous products. These recipes are great for beginners or those who wish to avoid using preservatives. And if you’re a veteran, why not try your hand at these products again? I know I’ve been reminded of how decadent a rich, whipped butter can feel or how...
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the down side of certain ingredients, especially in surfactant mixes. Oils can reduce your foam and lather and Crothix might thicken your mixtures and offer anti-irritancy, but it can start decreasing foam at around 5%. So let’s say you want to make a nice facial cleanser without...
We can all use a little exfoliation, so it doesn’t hurt to have a few different scrub recipes lying around the house. The scrub bar is great for throwing into a make-up bag for travelling and the oil based one is great for bath time exfoliation and moisturization, but we can always use more scrubby...
On our honeymoon last year, I made a faux pas in Montana by asking for brown gravy with my fries. The cashier gave me the kind of look normally reserved for questions like, “Hello. I’m a stranger. Would your children like some candy? I assure you it’s not poisoned in any way”, and she recoiled...
I do love my manicure scrub – and yes, I have made more since the original post, but I keep forgetting to take pictures! (Click on the link to see my manicure scrub idea…) The basic idea behind an oil based scrub is to combine some oils together, add a generous helping of salt as...