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.
INTO WHICH PHASE SHOULD WE PUT LIQUID EXTRACTS?In this Weekend Wondering post on using extracts, Karen asks: Hi Susan. I was wondering if using liquid oil soluble extracts would they be included as part of the oil % phase or water phase? If something is oil soluble, you put it with the oil soluble ingredients. If...
If you’ve never made a lotion or just want to see the WOW! moment again, check out this little video I made on the moment of emulsification. I never get tired of seeing that! Should you add the water to the oil or the oil to the water? Click here for that answer! If you’d...
There seems to be some interest in learning more chemistry (yay!), so I’m resuming the Chemistry Thursday posts next week. In the meantime, here are a few posts that might interest you! The atom! What is an atom? What’s a proton, a neutron, and an electron? The molecule! What is a molecule? Ionic bonding and...
Please buy your supplies from reputable suppliers. I’m not saying people on eBay aren’t reputable, but you can’t be sure exactly what you are getting or the shelf life of the product when you’re buying a product from an intermediary. Things might be mislabelled – are you sure this is e-wax NF or cetearyl alcohol?...
I love lotion bars. They’re super easy to make and you can customize them in so many ways! But what is a lotion bar, exactly? These are generally solid-ish, anhydrous products made with oils, butters, and waxes. The basic recipe is generally 1/3 butter, 1/3 oil, 1/3 wax, but you can make loads of modifications to...