Tips

Why are we adding some ingredients to the cool down phase? Why do my emulsions lose viscosity when I add some preservatives? How do I make it not lose viscosity? (Part two)

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A close up diagram of a micelle. The oil is in yellow, the emulsifier has a red head, and the OH is the hydroxyl group sticking out into the blue water.

Welcome back to part of two of this short series in which we’re looking at why we might add some ingredients to the cool down phase of a formula. In part one, we looked at why we added hydrolyzed proteins, mixed tocopherols, actives & cosmeceuticals, fragrance oils, and essential oils to the cool down phase...

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Why are we adding some ingredients, like hydrolyzed proteins or preservatives, to the cool down phase? (Part one)

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Three bottles with brown, clear liquid sit on a counter top. These are hydrolyzed proteins.

This is a super great question and one that I don’t think I’ve ever answered all in one post, so let’s look at this now!  Sometimes adding ingredients to the “cool down phase” isn’t just about the temperature! Some of our ingredients are heat sensitive – those that are volatile, like isododecane, fragrance oils, or essential...

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Tips & techniques: Why it’s ill-advised to make batches below 100 grams or batches with non-multiples of 100!

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A beaker with clear liquid on a digital scale. We added SIMULGEL™️ EG emulsifier to the beaker. It hasn't been mixed yet.

I just went into this in the shopping list post for the new introduction to cold process emulsifiers series running from October 2025 to March 2026 here every Formulating Friday starting October 3, 2025, that’ll be available to Foundation, Formulation, and Innovation subscribers to the site here, but I thought it so important, it should...

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Tips & Techniques: Creating your own ingredient comparison charts for things like oils, butters, solid oils, esters, surfactants, preservatives, and so much more

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Preservative comparison chart for Eumulgin SG. I can't describe it all here as it's huge, but if you email me at swiftcraftymonkey@swiftcraftymonkey.blog, I will send you a text version.

I love a good chart! I started compiling them in 2006 when I started out as a baby formulator so I could make good decisions about which oils to use because I just couldn’t justify owning 70 different oils. As you work your way through the site, create a chart for things that interest you....

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Tips & techniques: Why do we need to add water back to the water phase of an emulsion if it evaporates?

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I was on a Facebook group this weekend where this question was posed, “Do you need to add the evaporated water back to the lotion?”, referring to the water that was lost as we heated and held the heated water phase when making an emulsion. The short answer is heck, yes! The longer answer is...

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