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.
My dad was having problems of a manly nature, and he wasn’t sure if he should have surgery on his prostate or not. He consulted his family doctor. He consulted a urologist. He consulted the doctor on the ward in the hospital. He talked to my mom and me. In the end, he made his...
Catherine asked the question in this post, and I thought I’d put it out to everyone here…How did you start making your own products? I think I’ve told you this story before, so bear with me if you’ve heard it…I was teaching craft groups to youth in my community, and the bath bombs in our...
Last year, Patrick and Will posed this question – what is the cheapest lotion you could make? We took a look at various ingredients we would use in a lotion and tried to figure out how to reduce costs. This morning, I found this comment from Catherine (click and scroll down to read the entire...
In this post, Anonymous asks: Hey Susan, This probably is a very weird question, but I was wondering, just for curiosity’s sake, what would happen if you made a change in a lotion recipe, say added extra of an ingredient in the oil phase but didnt reduce the percentage in the water phase (so the recipe didnt...
In this post, Anonymous asks: Hi Susan, I have a question about glycerin. I have read that it can act as a preservative, but the amounts I’ve read where it’s effective have been anything from 15-70%. I was wondering if I make a simple glycerin-water spray, with about 20% glycerin, if I need preservative or if...