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.
Phosphate esters are a category of anionic surfactants that include alkyl phosphates and alkyl ether phosphates. We don’t use phosphate esters in our bath & body products much as they are generally used in household cleaning products due to their low pH. They are very mild to the skin and might show up in facial...
Taurates (or taurides) are anionic acylamino alkane surfactants with a chemical structure very close to that of the isethionates. They are gentle cleansers used to increase the viscosity in a surfactant mix, and are generally used as co-surfactants. They were used a lot in commercial shampoos and body washes, but have now been replaced by...
My best friend is a lucky girl – no, not because I’m her best friend, but because she has normal skin. Not too dry, not too oily, no major break-outs, and nothing to worry about but the aging process we all go through. I love formulating for her skin – I can use all kinds...
Acai biofunctional botanical liquid is a product from Beraca, a company that specializes in products from the rainforest. It’s INCI is Glycerin (and) Euterpe oleracea fruit powder (and) Water, and I’ve seen it advertised that it doesn’t include preservative, which makes me very nervous, to be honest. I have no idea about the shelf life...
Fruit acid complex or Multifruit BSC is a great way to get alpha hydroxy acids into your products in a way that is easy to use and hard to over-do. With an INCI Water & Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Extract & Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract & Acer Saccharinum (Sugar Maple) Extract & Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange)...