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.
I always take the first week of February off because I’m either sick or everyone around me is sick, and to get done what I couldn’t get done over the Christmas break. (I’m not saying anything about my cold/flu status because I could jinx it, but so far, so good!) I did an inventory and...
It’s recently come up that NDA is calling a version of cetearyl alcohol “emulsifying wax O”, with the disclaimer that it’s not an all in one emulsifier and would require another ingredient to make it work. If you look at this document, you’ll see that cetearyl alcohol is an emollient ingredient on par with an...
If you’re interested in taking a workshop with me, I’m offering them again at Voyageur Soap & Candle in February and March. I’m offering four classes: Anhydrous products, hair care, facial products, and lotion making. They’re all day classes, and you’ll leave each group with a bunch of products, as well as a copy of...
In this post on Crothix, Hemperical Herbs asks: Using Crothix for the first time and I’m having no luck. My shampoo is still thin as water with a foam that sits on top. I have 2 cups of shampoo and used 5 ml of Crothix so far. The base contains a water decoction of amla, shikakai...
I wanted to thank you, my lovely readers, for asking questions, challenging me, and generally being awesome over the last year. As you may know, I’ve been facing some health challenges with loads of back pain of unknown origin. Thank you for continuing to follow the blog when I haven’t been able to post as...