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.
Every conditioner starts with a cationic quaternary compound like Incroquat BTMS-50 or cetrimonium bromide. Which one you choose will depend upon what you are seeking in a conditioner. Most, if not all, hair types will love BTMS, and this is what I suggest as a great starting point for just about everyone. BTMS is easy to...
As I mentioned yesterday, there are three types of conditioners – rinse off, leave in, and intense or treatment conditioners. What are the differences? Rinse off conditioners: Rinse off conditioners tend to have between 3% to 10% cationic quaternary compounds with the rest of the ingredients being water, water soluble ingredients (like hydrolyzed proteins, panthenol,...
If you’re read any of my previous posts on conditioners, you’ll notice there are three general categories – rinse off, intense or treatment, and leave-in conditioners. The formulations for each of these start in kind of the same place with us choosing our favourite cationic quaternary compound and adding hair friendly ingredients like proteins, humectants,...
Now, I know you don’t need another reason to include cetrimonium chloride in your conditioners, but here it is…it can help remove silicone build up on your hair! Yep, our beloved detangling and softening agent can actually help if you’ve been using enough cyclomethicone and/or dimethicone in your conditioners or anti-frizz sprays to de-static an...
If you’ve made your own shampoo, you must make your own conditioner! I must warn you, though. Once you’ve made your own, you will never go back to store bought again, even the fancy salon stuff. It is a surprisingly easy process to make your own conditioner, and it is great fun to tweak it...