The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey! 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.
I think I might have been a little less ranty when I wrote this post two years ago – A helpful tip for making lotions, conditioners, and emulsions: Don’t mix by hand – but it’s still going on, and needs addressing. I’ve shared some of the original with some extra shouting and a few more...
When it comes to gives for formulators, a lot of people think they could buy us some exotic ingredient, something that we might not buy for ourselves – say, rose essential oil at $65 for 5 ml or some super powerful active – but we all know we’ll save it for that very special product...
I’m in the process of updating a lot of these at the moment, but if you’re looking to get your shopping done early, here are some gift lists for equipment and such I’ve shared in the past. As these are older posts, many of the links might not work, and I’m sorry in advance for...
In the monthly Q&A, Jaime asked, When making very small test batches what mixer is small and high shear? Thank you Darla very kindly answered, Hi Jaime, I know that Lotioncrafter has both a micro and mini high shear mixer! I purchased the micro and it is teeny (less than 1/2″ in diameter), but worked great for...
In this month’s Q&A, Michael asked, I’ve got a question about equipment or technique. I’ve been enjoying the Newbie Tuesday and Formulating Friday series, however I notice I’m incorporating air into my thicker creams, I don’t mind the air but sometimes I want to reduce it. What I am doing is firstly using a stick blender to emulsify the...