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.
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I’m a big fan of chamomile for anti-inflammatory and anti-redness features, but what else does it offer? The chamomile we see comes in two species – Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis) or German chamomile (Matricaria recutita). England seems to prefer the Roman chamomile, while...
Because cucumber extract offers astringency and anti-inflammatory properties, it’s a natural inclusion in toners and after shave sprays and lotions. When using our cucumber extract, I’d suggest starting with 0.5% dissolved in warm water and added to the cool down phase to ensure you won’t be too sensitive to it. You can go as high...
Cucumber extract (INCI: Cucumis sativa extract) can be found as a powdered extract or a liquid extract, but both are water soluble. You can use the powder at 0.5% to 1% or the liquid at your supplier’s suggested usage (probably 1 to 50%). I’ll focus on the powdered extract for this post…Cucumber is considered emollient,...
Is there any value in combining anti-oxidants in our creations? If we have a good anti-oxidant like Vitamin E, is there any point in including rosemary oleoresin (ROE) or other anti-oxidants?Yes. Rancidity happens in different ways (for the full post, click here). Anti-oxidants fight that rancidity in different ways – one might kill microbes that...
In this last post on rosemary extract, we’ll take a look at including this lovely extract in various toners, face cleansers, and body sprays. I don’t suggest using rosemary essential oil for stuff you might put on your face – it’s a lovely scent at first, but do we want to smell it all day?...