The home of SwiftCraftyMonkey! 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.
I’m having great fun formulating all kinds of shampoos suitable for fine hair or other types that don’t want to be weighed down. We started last week by looking at different types of shampoos and coming up with base formulas for clarifying, conditioning, and hydrating shampoos. Then we took a look at using different surfactants…...
I’m working my way through the August Q&A now, but it’s hard to answer in short paragraphs when I see all the wonderful things you’re asking that send me off down rabbit holes! In the August Q&A, Melanie asked, I used to be able to buy distilled water easily, now it is almost impossible where I…...
In this post, we took a look at a few ingredients we could use as possible replacements for panthenol in hair care products as Doris was concerned that panthenol might be derived from animal sources. We ascertained that the versions I have at home from Voyageur Soap & Candle, Lotioncrafter, and Making Cosmetics are vegan,…...
In September’s Q&A on Patreon, Doris asked: Does “safe for color-treated hair” on shampoos have any real meaning? Are there any common surfactants or other ingredients we might use that would not be safe for color-treated hair? I assume by “safe” they mean the ingredients are less likely to fade or change the color (or…...
In this post on shampoo bars, Bella asked: Is it ok to make a syndet shampoo bar without cocamidopropyl betaine? Everyone makes it seem like an impossibility, but there is a company that makes them and they are sellilng very well and I don’t see that ingredient in their product. The company is Ethique, here…...
In this post, Conditioning shampoo bars for oily hair, Tracey asked: I’m curious if anyone knows how to go about adding sodium chloride to a shampoo bar? I happened to see Lush does this with one of their bars and my daughter has very oily hair. I’ve made a few different oily hair shampoos that I…...
In this post, Creating a daily use shampoo, longqtruong asks, You have dimethicone in your daily shampoo formula which is not water soluble. Do we need a solubilizer or emulsion system to make this work? The short answer is probably not. The longer answer is as follows… You’re right: The forms of dimethicone I’ve been…...
I love shampoo bars. I think they may be my favourite product I make. Don’t get me wrong! I love my lotions and potions and body washes and everything else, but the thing that changed the way I see my hair and making things was this shampoo bar. I didn’t create this bar from scratch…....
A very long time ago – okay, it was December 6, 2015, but that’s practically a lifetime on the ‘net – I ended a series on designing your shampoo as part of a line of hair care products. To continue that series for this post, I wanted to share with you my new clarifying shampoo…...
Having serious back pain means loads of time to surf the ‘net. (Way too much time!) In my meanderings, I came across a few interesting things, like this article on the Daily Beast about a class action lawsuit against WEN hair products alleging that their cleansing conditioner made users’ hair fall out or caused permanent…...