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.
Surfactants, by their very nature, are irritating to our skin. The goal when creating surfactant based products is to reduce the irritation to our skin by using milder cleansers, creating blends that enhance mildness, and adding ingredients like cationic polymers, proteins, or emollients. When a surfactant comes into contact with our skin, it can bind...
A question keeps popping into my head – how do we know we’re sensitive or allergic to something? I see comments by people all the time (not on this blog, but other forums) saying “I’m allergic to quaternium-15” or “I can’t use fill in the blank because I break out”, but I’m always curious –...
In this post, Naomi writes…If I don’t have Crothix, could I substitute stearic acid? or Cetyl Alcohol? or another thickener – like Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose? So, you add in Crothix for thickening purposes? What do you suggest as possible substitutes?No, you can’t use stearic acid or cetyl alcohol. They will eventually separate out and leave a...
I do love body wash, and I know I’ve already tweaked this recipe a thousand times, but let’s take a look at including white willow bark extract in our body wash! Why would we want to use it here? It works well for oily skin, acne prone skin, and aging skin to reveal new and...
I really do love body wash – they smell nice, they get me clean, they are all foamy and lathery – and I’m always trying to find ways to incorporate moisturizing ingredients into them. So why don’t I use oils more often? I’m always seeing ads for body washes with moisturizers or ribbons of moisture...