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 admit I’m not the biggest fan of the all in one kind of product – but then again, I have long, coarse hair that likes some serious conditioning without oils, so who am I to talk? – but we can make one by modifying yesterday’s daily use shampoo with only a few tweaks! Someone...
Anonymous posted this comment: My interest in you replicating the lush bar is that I was hoping you could explain what exactly is implied when they list ingredients such as “fresh kiwi” or “fresh bananas”. I’ve never understood how you could include fresh fruit in preservative free conditioner bar. For a company that goes on...
I am noticing a real trend in advertising shampoos as “strengthening” your hair. (I’m looking at you L’Oreal and Herbal Essences). What exactly does this mean? How does a shampoo strengthen? Well, it doesn’t. (I kinda of covered this topic in my post on L’Oreal’s EverStrong shampoo…) Using the right kinds of surfactants in the right...
How does a daily use shampoo differ from a not-daily use shampoo? A daily use shampoo is intended to be used every day, whereas a regular shampoo would be used every 3 to 4 days. It will contain about half the amount of surfactants in a normal shampoo because we don’t want to strip away...
Anonymous asked…Can i replace Laureth-4 for Laureth-3? I’m trying to do up a oil shower gel & i’m using MIPA –Laureth Sulfate as the suractant…Great question! Let’s take a look at what laureth-4 is, then figure out if it can be substituted by laureth-3. Laureth-3 and -4 are ethers, subcategory alkoxylated alcohols. They are non-ionic...