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.
In the monthly Q&A, Noémie asked, Hi Susan, I’m a new subscriber and I love your work. I’m a beginner and I have a quite basic question : why only natural oils/butters are prone to oxidation ? If I well understood, oxidation occurs on double bonds in hydrocarbon chains, but don’t esters (derived from natural fatty...
This may be a little on the late side as it’s been hot for ages, but don’t forget to get your oils, butters, solid oils, and other fine meltables into colder spaces, including the fridge or freezer! This’ll keep them better longer – heat and light speed up rancidity – and can prevent grains from...
This emollient profile appeared in its original form in the e-book, Shiny things, volume 3: Things that distracted me, issued in November 2019. This is is the kind of material I share in these e-books – ingredient profiles, emollient profiles, other profiles along with formulas to show you how to use them. Many are exclusive to those...
In this month’s Q&A, Darla asked, Hi there, newbie here! Reading up on oils and randcidity. Should I be adding 0.1% T-50 mixed tocopherols to each bottle of oil and then also refrigerate or freeze, to extend their shelf life? Does this also include essential oils? Thank you so much! Welcome to the site and welcome...
Original post, May 5, 2015. Updated July 15, 2022. In our haste to use the newest oils we can find, we sometimes forget about the oils that we might have purchased in the past. One of the oils I’m rediscovering is squalane, a bio-identical oil that we find in our skin’s sebum at around 12%....