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’ve been playing with tamanu oil (INCI: Calophyllum Tacamahaca Seed Oil) for a while now, so let’s take a look at this interesting oil! Tamanu oil is a thick, rich oil with a distinctive smell and colour. It is reported to be an anti-microbial with anti-oxidant properties, and works well as a skin or hair conditioner....
In my newest formula for an emulsified sugar scrub, I used myristyl myristate to thicken it and offer a more glidy and less greasy skin feel. Let’s take a look at this ingredient! Myristyl myristate is a simple ester, a waxy one with a melting point of 38-40˚C. It’s slightly polar and non-ionic ester. It...
Another beaker broken during the grand oil thickening experiments! I don’t know what it is about high shear + clay based thickeners, but if this keeps up, I’ll have to order the 100 and 150 ml by the caseload! Oh well, it’s all in the name of figuring out how we can use these ingredients...
Yesterday, we created decadent dry brushing oil with isododecane that had a light, non-greasy feeling with great slip, glide, and spreadability. Today, let’s take a look at making this with another hydrocarbon, squalane. A reader named Stephany asked me this question on Instagram, where you can find me as @swiftcraftymonkey: I was reading your posts on squalane,...
I’ve been playing a lot with isododecane, that very light, non-greasy, non-polar hydrocarbon we met the other day, and wanted to share another formula we’re loving around the SwiftCraftyMonkey house during these drier winter months! I can’t believe how itchy I’ve been feeling since the humidity dropped back in December. Yeah, I know, it’s like...