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.
A tip for the day: If you don’t have all the ingredients for a product on the blog, try searching for another recipe for that product. For instance, if you want to make a toner but don’t have the extract I mention, try searching for another toner recipe to see if there’s one that doesn’t...
In this post – Heating, holding, freezing, and thawing our oils – Lexi asks: It’s summer so time to break out the insect repellents. I want to make my own insect repellent lotion based on essential oils (e.g. lavender, eucalyptus, citronella). My product is 8% essential oils. I know you said that we are not...
HLB VALUE OF BUTYLENE GLYCOL?In this post, Humectants: Propylene glycol & dipropylene glycol, Tyler asks: What is the HLB value of butylene glycol? Butylene glycol doesn’t have an HLB value because it isn’t oil soluble. HLB values are assigned to emulsifiers and oil soluble ingredients. Since butylene glycol is water soluble and doesn’t need an emulsifier...
In this post, Keisha asks: I’ve fallen in love with Laura Mercier’s Ambre Vanilla Souffle and was trying to replicate it. Looking at the ingredients, it seems like they might have used two different emulsifiers (glyceryl stearate & peg-100; cetearyl alcohol & polysorbate 60.) I’m curious, why would someone use two different complete emulsifiers? I was able to...
I am asked all the time about adding essential oils to facial products and the short answer is yes, you can use essential oils in facial products. The long answer is slightly longer…And as usual, please treat essential oils with respect, acknowledging that they aren’t just about adding scent to a product, they may also...