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.
If you’ve been following along, you’ll know Petra and I have been trying different recipes in an attempt to replicate Lush’s Sugar Babe Sugar Scrub. (You can find the posts here…) I have never used this product, but I’m hoping to buy one this weekend to see if I’m getting close. I admit I’m still...
What exactly is a facial serum? The definition I’m going with today is this…an anhydrous product made up of lighter oils intended to hold active ingredients against the skin for better penetration. It is considered a treatment rather than a moisturizer – although I’d never say any product is intended to treat a condition! (I...
Jojoba oil (INCI: Simmonsia Chinensis Oil) isn’t actually an oil – it’s a wax ester with 40 to 42 atoms! Its fatty profile is all about the weird and wacky fatty acids we rarely see in other oils – 2% palmitic acid (C16), around 7% stearic acid (C18), 14% oleic acid, 57% gadoleic acid (C20:1),...
You may remember my experiment with Olivem 800, an emulsifier suitable for very light lotions or body milk (if you don’t, here’s the link!) LIGHT LOTION WITH OLIVEM 800WATER PHASE (you can use 78% water if you don’t have the hydrosols!)56% water20% lavender water (my aloe went bad! eek!)2% sodium lactate OIL PHASE4% fractionated coconut...
Camellia oil, known as “tea oil” or “tea seed oil” (INCI: Camellia sinensis seed oil), is a light, non-greasy, really affordable oil filled with oleic acid, polyphenols, and vitamins! It is generally cold pressed and comes from the seed of the tea plant, not the leaves. You can even cook with it (the smoke point...