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.
So I’ve decided. I’m making a whipped butter for my best friend with the aloe butter and some lovely oils. Part of this is that my back hurts a lot so I can’t be in the workshop for a long period of time while I make a lotion and part of this is that I...
I admit I’m not normally a fan of unrefined shea butter. It can go grainy much more easily than the refined stuff I use, and sometimes there’s a smoky nutty kind of scent that doesn’t seem to agree with me. So I was a little apprehensive about using golden shea butter, sent to me by...
Esters are a great inclusion in a facial serum to increase its ability to spread nicely over your skin and to decrease the feeling of oiliness. If you’re a person who can’t handle oils on your skin, esters can be a way to get some emolliency and occlusion without having to worry about break outs!...
I think the best way to try a new ingredient is to take an easy-to-make product you know and love – let’s say a whipped butter – and tweak it using the new ingredient. In this case, I’m using C12-15 alkyl benzoate with soy butter. I haven’t used soy butter in a while as I...
Lissa wrote in this post on body oil sprays: Have you tried an ester in a body spray? C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate? I love, love light weight sprayable lotions or after shower oil sprays. I generally use an ester in my body spray – I like to include IPM because it reduces the feeling of greasiness –...