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.
I’m finally getting around to playing with my esters and other light oils from the Personal Formulator, so I thought I’d share another recipe with you using those ingredients! (If you want to see the balm with esters, click here. I’m really loving the light, non-greasy feeling of these ingredients!) This is a basic body...
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the down side of certain ingredients, especially in surfactant mixes. Oils can reduce your foam and lather and Crothix might thicken your mixtures and offer anti-irritancy, but it can start decreasing foam at around 5%. So let’s say you want to make a nice facial cleanser without...
Kontakt asked this question: As I understand it, the only difference between centrimonium bromide and cetrimonium chloride is the negatively charged ion: chloride or bromide. What differs between these two compounds in effects, and why? In solutions, the ions should be free from each other so unless the chloride/bromide ion does something in itself, I...
As per the comment on this post, here are some expanded instructions on how to make shampoo. (I’m expanding on this post – instructions for making shampoo – so I might repeat myself here.) Instructions for making a heated surfactant mix (this applies to all surfactant based products, including facial cleansers, body washes, bubble baths, and shampoos)....
Yep, us normal to oily types can use a cream cleanser with some modifications. If you have normal skin, I’d leave out the stearic acid and avoid the SCI containing stearic acid as it really is too moisturizing for your skin type. You can choose from a variety of surfactants – SMC or SMO taurate...