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 this month’s Q&A, Flore asked, Hello Susan, I’ve formulated a simple body cream recipe that includes 8% BTMS-50, 4% Cetyl Alcohol, 27% soft oils, 53% distilled water, 5% glycerin, 1% optiphen. What would be your advice on decreasing the soaping effect without adding silicones? This recipe takes a long time to rub in and feels tacky...
I don’t think we can find the surfactant blend called LSB any more – in North America at least – as it’s been altered to have a very short shelf life of 6 months, so what can you do as a replacement? The short answer is that you can use any liquid surfactant suitable for...
I’m seeing these two questions asked quite a lot in the various solid shampoo bar groups I’m in – including the one I moderate, Syndet Shampoo Bars – and the short answer is no, you can’t dissolve a shampoo bar into water to make a liquid shampoo. Why? Let’s take a look at a few...
Original post from November 16, 2010… An e-mail question came in asking this question…Can I make up batches of lotion and scent them later? What about things like body wash? The answer to this is simple. Yes. I’ll make up a large batch of lotion with all the ingredients, except the fragrance oils, and store...
In the monthly Q&A, Melinda asked, Hey Susan and everyone! Can non-ionic surfactants contain electrolytes? I ask because I am curious if we can use a high ASM of non-ionic surfactants with thickeners that can only handle a certain amount of electrolytes. For example could something like Aristoflex AVC that can’t handle electrolytes at all be...