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.
Gamma linolenic acid (C18:3) is another essential fatty acid, one our bodies can’t produce. It has three double bonds, meaning it is a fatty acid that is going to oxidize quickly, so we need to combine it with some good anti-oxidants or use it quickly in our lotions. It is found in small quantities in...
I hope you had fun last night, despite the melting mess ups with the microwave! But there are no such things as mistakes, just things we know don’t work! Remember the techniques we learned last night can be applied to dark and milk chocolate – we used white so we could have fun with colours...
Well, you have to love this! For $40 you too can have a home bath bomb making machine perfect for aspiring cosmetic chemist in your life! It comes with enough citric acid and baking soda to get started with fizzy bathtub fun, and I’m sure we know where to get more when the initial supply...
I love cocoa butter in a body butter. It will make the recipe thicker, but it will also offer more occlusion and barrier protection against the elements as winter approaches! If you’re an outdoorsy type of person who likes to spend time in the cold and snow, you’re going to want something with serious barrier...
Cocoa butter is a staple in bath and body creations with 25 to 30% palmitic acid (C16), 31 to 35% stearic acid (C18), 34 to 36% oleic acid (C18:1), and 3% linoleic acid. It is filled with wonderful polyphenols and phytosterols that may benefit your skin! (And you can eat it in the event of...