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.
From Petra on her third attempt… I started on this quest because I loved the concept… have a scrub that does not need a preservative, is single use, isn’t oily so it won’t clog the drain, softens reasonably well so that it can be used, nice consistency, and does a good job of scrubbing. I...
I do love shea butter in most of my creations, primarily because it offers great softening and moisturizing qualities and adds slip and glide to pretty much anything! I love shea butter in a whipped body butter. I have tried making whipped butters with with mango – nice, but a little dry – and cocoa...
Okay, so attempt #2 held up well, but it didn’t moisturize enough. So my goal is to increase the moisturization of the product – but it needs to remain hard outside the shower and crumble when used under water. Here’s attempt #3… 40% berry sugar (finer grain than white sugar) 30% baking soda (Arm &...
Shea butter is composed of 3 to 7% palmitic acid (C16), 35 to 45% stearic acid (C18), 40 to 55% oleic acid (C18:1), and 3 to 8% linoleic acid (C18:2). With all these saturated fatty acids and a ton of anti-oxidants, we get a soft butter with a great shelf life! (Please note, the region...
Hazelnut oil is another high oleic acid (66 to 85%) oil containing a little linoleic acid (up to 25%), a little palmitic acid (4 to 9%), and a little stearic acid (1 to 4%). It’s high in phytosterols – 1.2 to 1.4 grams per kg of oil – and Vitamin E (between 382 to 472...