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.
Thanks for sticking around to the end of this series. I know for some this might seem like a very dry subject and some of you are yelling at the screen for me to shut up about chemistry stuff and get to the formulas, but if you have a curious mind and want to learn...
In our post on Wednesday, we took a look at a few ways we might define what it means for a surfactant to be classified as gentle, mild, or harsh. Thursday, we took a look at how micelles, critical micelle concentration, and other ingredients have an impact on surfactant classification. And on Friday, we took a...
In the October Q&A, Michelle asked: I am wondering if one can test the pH of an anhydrous product? I am making a lovely anhydrous deodorant and would like to proceed with some testing/data gathering. Which meter would be most useful? I have the Jenco Vision Plus but products need to be diluted in water for...
I realized there were a few more terms I had to share before we get into the natural gum thickeners. Plus, I needed to give you the date of the quiz. Nah, just kidding…or am I? 🙂 On September 7th, we started this series off by looking at why xanthan gum might pill or ball...
On September 7th, we started this series off by looking at why xanthan gum might pill or ball on your skin when used in lotions. Then we started this series, for which I’ve also created a glossary of terms as we’ll be using them a lot in the future… Defining some scientific terms: Solubility, viscosity,...