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.
I see it all the time: Vendors being asked if they have lye in their soaps because it’s a “dangerous” ingredient (which is usually followed by someone saying they have a friend who makes soap and she doesn’t use lye…). If the soap maker said no, there is no lye in her soap, she’d be...
In this Saturday’s Weekend Wonderings, we discussed molarity and % w/v (weight/volume), but let’s get into a little more detail. In chemistry, what is a mole? A mole is how much 6.02 x 10(23) atoms weighs. (The 23 is to the power of as in 10(2) is 10 x 10. So 10(23) is 10 x 10...
I finally found time to play with my PEG-40 hydrogenated castor oil over my holidays, so let’s take a look at the results of my experiments! (I’ve done this kind of testing before using caprylyl/capryl glucoside. Check out the post here!) I chose four different fragrances that I hoped would cover the kinds I might...
Apparently holiday time means loads of playing in the workshop, but less time working on the blog. I have so much to write, I admit I’m having trouble figuring out where to start. I’m hearing back from my testers about the eye liner sealant gel and I’m waiting to hear from other testers about the...
I addressed this the other day, but I think I need to say it again as I’ve seen a three posts or e-mails in the last two days referring to glycerin as oil soluble. Glycerin is water soluble. It is the very epitome of being water soluble. Let’s take a look at the chemistry –...