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.
So we know polyphenols are good things to have in our extracts and oils, so let’s begin – in no particular order – with the derivatives of caffeic acid. I’m putting these in separate posts every day to make it easier to link back as we discuss extracts! We discussed cinnamic acid, the precursor...
Cinnamic acid is a precursor of a group of polyphenols called hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, such as p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and sinapic acid. It is a powerful anti-oxidant, and offers UV protection as well as a reduction in inflammation, redness, and water retention. It is found in great quantities in shea butter and...
BENZOIC ACID Benzoic acid is the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid on which so many of our wonderful polyphenols are based. It differs from the phenolic moiety we saw earlier today (click here) with the addition of that double bonded oxygen before the -OH. This means it becomes a carboxylic acid (which isn’t that relevant at...
Since I’m investigating the awesome power of extracts, I thought we’d take a closer look at polyphenols. I know I’ve done a post on polyphenols in the past, but let’s get a little more in depth! So what exactly is a polyphenol? A polyphenol is defined as a compound that possesses a phenolic moiety. Okay,...
As you can tell, the next series I’m moving on to researching extracts, and I wondered which ones interested you, my amazing readers! Here’s what I’ve got planned so far… cucumber grapeseed wheat grass chamomile chyrsanthemum green tea guava fruit honeysuckle papaya rosemary seaweed strawberry I know there are others, but my brain is drawing...