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.
Christmas and Hannukah are almost here, and if you’re looking to make some awesome gifts for your loved ones, join me over the next week for loads of ideas. LOTION BARSYou can get the ingredients for these little lovelies at your local health food store if you can’t get to a supplier or get things...
In this post on lotion bars, anonymous asks: How can you get glycerin to mix in a lotion bar? Do I heat to a certain temperature? Mix the wax and glycerin first before I put in my heated oils? Help I love glycerin in all my products. If you are wondering if you can mix...
In this post on lotion bars, Tina asks: I’m trying to figure out if there’s a general rule for tweaking the basic recipe (33/33/33/1 -beeswax/butter/oil/fragrance). You said that, for example, with cocoa butter, you’d use less beeswax. So if I use beeswax at 25%, what’s the rule for altering the butter and oil? Does that now...
It’s a long weekend around these parts – November 11th is a statutory holiday, so I’m off work – so I have time to answer more comments than usual! Let’s take a look at some quick questions and answers! CAN WE USE THE LECITHIN WE FIND AT THE HEALTH FOOD STORE?In this post, Chemistry Thursday:...
I love lotion bars. They’re super easy to make and you can customize them in so many ways! But what is a lotion bar, exactly? These are generally solid-ish, anhydrous products made with oils, butters, and waxes. The basic recipe is generally 1/3 butter, 1/3 oil, 1/3 wax, but you can make loads of modifications to...