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.
Isopropyl stearate (IPS) is an isopropyl ester related to isopropyl myristate (IPM), isopropyl palmitate (IPP), and isopropyl isostearate (IPIS). It’s a low viscosity, non-greasy, hydrophobic (water-hating) ester derived from stearic acid. To learn more about these isopropyl esters, check out this post on isomers and this post on comparing isopropyl esters! Click here to learn...
Over the last few days, we’ve learned that the isopropyl esters are light, fast spreading, non-greasy, and silky, and they can be used with emulsified or anhydrous (without water) products. One of the easiest ways to see how isopropyl myristate (IPM) feels on your skin is to make a simple anhydrous formula and substitute it...
Isopropyl palmitate is related to isopropyl myristate (IPM), the difference being IPP is derived from palmitic fatty acid (C16) and IPM is derived from myristic fatty acid (C14). (Click here for the chemistry of esters!) Since we’re a little more familiar with IPM, we’ll end up contrasting and comparing the two at some point, so...
Original post from 2009! If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you’ll know I’m a fan of isopropyl myristate or IPM. I use it primarily as a dry or astringent emollient to reduce the greasy feeling of other oils in a lotion or lotion bar. You can use it in large...
Isopropyl esters, like isopropyl myristate (IPM), are those based on isopropyl alcohol and a fatty acid. Esters are created by combining an alcohol and an acid, usually a fatty alcohol, like cetyl alcohol, Cetearyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, or myristyl alcohol, and a fatty acid, like lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid. Isopropyl esters,...