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 want to make an oil free moisturizer, why not start with esters or water soluble oils? They have the goodness of oil, but aren’t as thick and don’t need to be emulsified. I’ve been playing around with water soluble oils lately, and I am really quite surprised at how much thickening they actually...
Happy Canada Day! I realized I should be offering some tutorials on how to make red and white today, but who wants to wear red eye shadow? Instead, make the basic white and the Red Earth recipe below and you got yourself a Canada Day happy face! Earth tones are always a lovely way to...
Leanne wrote to me asking for some tips on creating an oil free moisturizer. By definition a moisturizer contains oil, water, and emulsifier…so is it possible to make an oil free moisturizer? Yes! When you see lotions in the stores with “oil free” emblazoned on the container, they still contain an oil phase. Generally the...
There are two ways to make water soluble oils – you can mix an oil with an emulsifier (usually polysorbate 80) to make an oil water soluble or you can esterify them (okay, you can’t personally esterify them as you probably don’t have the equipment at home, but oils can be esterified to make them...
I just learned the most interesting thing from Liz at the Dish and I have to share it! Have you ever considered whether you should pour the water into the oil or the oil into the water when you’re making lotions? I usually add the water to the oil because the water phase is always...