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.
Raymond Nichols You probably change your fragrances for the summer months, so why not tweak your ingredients to suit the climate? (In fact, you probably already do this in adding humectants and the like, so think of it as a possible selling feature if you’re in business?) I’m not a fan of hot weather, humid or not,...
It’s time to go swimming – but what about chlorine in the pool? Read this great post from the BeautyBrains to learn more about how chlorine affects your hair! (I either go swimming in natural bodies of water – I love lakes! – or use a swimming cap. It’s one of those ones from the...
If you want to make an oil free moisturizer, why not start with esters or water soluble oils? They have the goodness of oil, but aren’t as thick and don’t need to be emulsified. I’ve been playing around with water soluble oils lately, and I am really quite surprised at how much thickening they actually...
Happy Canada Day! I realized I should be offering some tutorials on how to make red and white today, but who wants to wear red eye shadow? Instead, make the basic white and the Red Earth recipe below and you got yourself a Canada Day happy face! Earth tones are always a lovely way to...
Leanne wrote to me asking for some tips on creating an oil free moisturizer. By definition a moisturizer contains oil, water, and emulsifier…so is it possible to make an oil free moisturizer? Yes! When you see lotions in the stores with “oil free” emblazoned on the container, they still contain an oil phase. Generally the...