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.
Almost 18 months ago, I wrote this post on substituting things for other things, and I find it weird that I didn’t return to this idea. Considering we’re in crunch time for making products, and a lot of us have to wait for mail ordered items, I thought it was time to re-visit this idea!...
No. If your lotion has separated, it’s bound for the garbage. Please don’t bottle it and tell your friends or customers to shake it before using! Why not try to save it? Because it’s already failed. Emulsions are unstable creatures and every single emulsion will fail eventually; our goal is to make that date way...
I’ve been in the workshop a lot in the last week while making Christmas gifts, and I got to thinking (which can be a dangerous thing for me!). One of my favourites is a body mousse I found on the Dish forum, one of the first recipes I tried! It has six ingredients – water,...
Esters are a quick and easy way to reduce the feeling of greasiness in our lotions. Most of them spread very well – better than oils – and will feel lighter on our skin. So let’s take a look at which ones we can use in an after shave moisturizer for men! There are three...
So let’s say you made yesterday’s recipe, but still consider it too greasy or heavy for your tastes. It’s easy to make a very light feeling, dry lotion by taking out a few things or adding a few things. If you leave out the thickener – stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, cetyl esters, or cetearyl alcohol...