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.
I can’t believe I don’t have a picture of liquid conditioner! For your viewing pleasure, I present two bottles of leave in conditioner! To sum it all up, a good conditioner starts with a cationic quaternary compound as the base… Incroquat BTMS-50 Cetrimonium Bromide Cetrimonium Chloride Incroquat CR Incroquat OSC Then add your ingredients to...
Incroquat OSC is Cetearyl Alcohol, PEG-3 Distearoylamidoethylmonium Methosulfate, Polysorbate 60. It is 25% active, meaning it contains 25% PEG-3 (I’m going to call it this because I don’t think I can type it over and over again!) with the rest being the fatty alcohol, and polysorbate 60. You’ll remember cetearyl alcohol is a fatty alcohol...
You can add slip and glide to your conditioners using fatty alcohols – like cetyl alcohol – which will offer extra oomph to the cationic quaternary compound. Fatty alcohols offer what oils offer – slip, lubricity, moisturizing, and a thin film over the hair strands to keep them from rubbing together. There are a number...
I do like my esters. I’ve been experimenting with jojoba esters for the last few weeks and wow, do they add some lovely slip and glide to a facial cleanser! Esters can add moisturization and lubrication to a conditioner, making it feel nice and glidy without adding oils to hair that might not need any...
An easy way to add slip or lubricity to your conditioners is through the use of oils and butters. We’re actually spoiled for choice here as there are so many we could include that are hair friendly. Ideally, you’ll choose something that won’t go rancid in a short period of time (or something you’ll use...