Welcome to the home of SwiftCraftyMonkey Formulating Inc.! Join Susan as she obsesses about cosmetic chemistry and other things (some possibly related to monkeys)! Here you’ll find over 5,000 posts and formulas written over the past 16 years for everything from lotions, creams, and body butters to hair care products to fancy facial products filled with actives and cosmeceuticals! Enjoy the site without distractions – no ads, pop ups, sponsored posts, affiliate links, “one weird tricks” – all supported by readers like you.
Beeswax is not an emulsifier. We can use it as a thickener in our products – in lotions, scrub bars, lotion bars, and so on – but it will not emulsify your lotions. I know I’ve mentioned this before – in the how can I tell if it’s a good recipe post – but the...
Voyageur Soap & Candle finally has emu oil! It’s pricey, but I’m dying to try it! Aquarius Aroma & Soap has the SCI granules (aka Jordapon prilled, which is SCI without stearic acid) in again, and they’re on sale! And Creations from Eden is stocking disodium EDTA and sodium stearate, which is vital for making...
In this post on humectants, Aesthete asks: I was re-reading this post on humectants and was wondering if you’ve ever formulated with sorbital? It’s described as having “excellent plasticizing & thickening effects providing viscosity & texture, stabilizes gels & provides good clarity, effective moisturizing properties, good smoothing & conditioning effects.” It almost sounds too good...
Gamma linolenic acid (C18:3) is another essential fatty acid, one our bodies can’t produce. It has three double bonds, meaning it is a fatty acid that is going to oxidize quickly, so we need to combine it with some good anti-oxidants or use it quickly in our lotions. It is found in small quantities in...
Soy bean oil is filled with all kinds of wonderful stuff, and with one of the lowest prices for all the carrier oils, one that should find its way into your creations! I remember LabRat calling this the “Rodney Dangerfield of oils” because it has so many great qualities, yet it still gets no respect!...