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.
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%....
Let’s take a closer look at this really interesting oil I found at Lotioncrafter, Buruti oil (INCI: Mauritia Flexuosa (Buriti) Fruit Oil)! Buruti oil is derived from the bright orange fruits of the Mauritia flexuosa palm tree from South America. This oil is sustainably produced, obviously plant-derived, and vegan. It might be cold pressed, refined or...
Cranberry oil – INCI: Vaccinium macrocarpon (cranberry) seed oil – is an interesting oil. With 3 to 6% palmitic acid (C16), up to 2% stearic acid (C18), 22 to 26% oleic acid (C18:1), 30 to 38% linoleic acid (C18:2), and 20 to 38% linolenic acid (C18:3), you’d expect it to have a short shelf life...
I bought this awesome cold pressed, refined black currant seed oil (INCI: Ribes Nigrum (black currant) seed oil) from Voyageur Soap & Candle* a few weeks ago, and I have been trying it in all kinds of things, from anhydrous products like whipped butters and lip balms to emulsified products, like lotions, body butters, and...
I was gifted this really cool ximenia seed oil (INCI: Ximenia Americana Seed Oil) by Valerie of Simply Ingredients after a lovely afternoon we spent on her Instagram Live talking about our favourite ingredients. Ximenia seed oil (INCI: Ximenia Americana Seed Oil) is an oil derived from the sour plum fruit, also known as “monkey...