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.
We met St John’s wort infused oil in June 2020, so I thought it was time to look at other ingredients made using St John’s wort like the gorgeous hydrosol I’ve been using a lot lately. I wrote the first version of this post in March 2010! Wow! St John’s wort is claimed to offer...
Liquorice root (or licorice root, if you’re American – INCI: Glycrrhiza glabra) is supposed to work as an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-irritant, demulcent, skin whitening, and wound healing ingredient when applied topically. Let’s take a look at what gives liquorice its awesome qualities. Liquorice root contains amino acids, flavonoids, phytosterols like ß-sitosterol and stigmasterol, coumarins,...
Cucumber extract is one of those ingredients that just sounds cooling and soothing and moisturizing, and it can provide all of that and more in our products. In our toners, cucumber extract behaves as an astringent, which is great for normal to oily skin, and as an emollient, which is great for all skin types....
Cucumber extract is a great addition to a toner as it behaves as an emollient and hydrator to our products. It can behave as an astringent ingredient, so it’s great for oily skin, and it offers moisturizing through those polysaccharides, so it can be great for dry skin as well. You can make an awesome...
I was amazed to see that the most popular post on the blog this month was the post on cucumber extract. In light of that, it makes sense that we should take a closer look at this ingredient and formulate with it for a bit! Cucumber extract (INCI: Cucumis sativa (cucumber) extract) can be found...