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.
Over the last year, I’ve gone on a few spending sprees and at least one jag – never a good idea when I’m full of muscle relaxants and codeine, but at least I get to formulate with new things, right? – and I find myself in possession of at least 400 new ingredients. Some of...
What’s your origin story? How did you become the awesome crafter you are today? What were some of the things you made? I’m sure you’ve heard this story from me before… I was offering a free craft program at the library, and really wanted to make bath bombs. I’d made them quite a few times,...
This is a hard question for me as I really love making so many things so I have to think for a bit… Okay, I think my favourite thing to make is body wash. I love figuring out nice surfactant combinations, working with humectants to hydrate my skin after bathing, adding cationic polymers like polyquat...
In the February Q&A, Cecilia asked: I’m picking up some new things again. Looking for more naturally-derived/natural adjacent stuff. Looking for thickeners, emulsifiers, surfactants (I have SCI, CB, decyl and coco glucosides I think), any cool actives, preservatives… doesn’t have to be natural. but what would be your top say 10 or so ingredients, I...
In the Patreon February Q&A, Tash asked: When you get ingredients, what’s the best way to store them? Obviously liquids will be in bottles or the thick bags with spouts, but for powders, pellets, dry stuff that comes in bags, how do you store those? Is it best to get some kind of sealed jar? Are...