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.
On this site and in my e-books, I’ve been sharing diagrams of molecules to show you how their shape or composition affects the viscosity, surface tension, melting point, and other properties. I’ve realized I haven’t shared how to interpret these if you haven’t taken a chemistry class or if it’s been ages, so let’s do...
In the monthly Q&A, Susan asked, I have a number of age / liver spots on my hands and face, as I was part of the “let’s use baby oil to get a suntan” generation. I am hoping that you could tell me the best actives to tone these little beauties down. I am specifically...
Oh wow, did I go down the rabbit hole for a question posed by Susan on the monthly Q&A quite a few months back. As with many of the awesome questions you ask there, this one took a while because it’s become a series that might end up being an e-book as well. Thank you for...
This came up the other day, and I thought it’d make for an interesting post. What does it mean for an ingredient or product to be vegan? Quick summary if you don’t want to read the whole post: When it comes to making products, most of our ingredients are plant- or mineral-derived (like sand or...
Welcome back to this short, introductory series on the importance of triglycerides, heat, and choosing our ingredients wisely. In yesterday’s post, we looked at fatty acids and triglycerides, the importance of temperature, and why we need to be using a thermometer all the time when we’re formulating instead of guessing by touching or observing the...