The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey Formulating Inc.! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys). Often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron.
Choosing the right oils and butters can turn your anhydrous product into a balm. For instance, choosing an oil high in phytosterols like sesame seed, soy bean, or apricot kernel oil might help with inflammation. Choosing olive oil might help with post-sun exposure. Or choosing an oil high in Vitamin E, like wheat germ oil,...
We’ve taken a look at whipped butters and lotion bars, so let’s take a look at another type of anhydrous product – the balm. What exactly is a balm? It is a “medicated topical preparation for application to the skin…(that is) rubbed in” (from Wikipedia). Obviously I won’t be making any claims for the products...
I could probably start a blog called “modifying your oils and butters for lotion bars” and write posts every single day for a year going over every single possible combination – but since I already have a blog that I enjoy writing and since the whole point of this series of back to basics is...
I realized I didn’t include this in the whipped butter or lotion bar posts, so I’ll include it here… Sometimes your mango or shea butters can get grainy (this can happen to cocoa butter, but not as often as the other butters). The reason for this is the fatty acid profile of the butters. Let’s...
Adding butters to a conditioner may only work for the most dry haired girls out there – normal and oily haired girls might find them too intense, and fine haired girls will probably hate these. All butters contain stearic acid, which is a great moisturizer, so they’ll work for a dry, itchy scalp, and some...