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.
SwiftCraftyMonkey 
I have a really interesting question from this month’s Q&A that I want to answer, but first we need to take a look at hydroxypropyl guar. I have this ingredient as Jaguar® HP-105 from Solvay but you can also find it as Polycos, so some of this might be specific to one version or another. Hydroxypropyl...
I’ve been having great fun formulating with foaming apple (INCI: Sodium cocoyl apple amino acids) to make this extra apple-y foaming facial cleanser. Yesterday, we chose our surfactants and other water phase ingredients. Today, let’s choose the preservative and create the final formula! Which preservatives could we use here? We need something that works with pH...
I mentioned much earlier this year that I loved the apple fruit essence and foaming apple surfactant from Lotioncrafter for creating a super apple-y facial cleanser, but I didn’t share it! (Thanks for the reminder, Kelly!) Let’s take a look at creating this foamer bottle facial cleanser, lash extension cleanser, and makeup remover using these...
Foaming apple surfactant (INCI: Sodium Cocoyl Apple Amino Acids) is a foamy, bubbly, lathery surfactant derived from – wait for it… – apples! It’s a very mild surfactant with a neutral pH, great for all skin types, but especially sensitive or dry types. Because it has a neutral pH of 6.5 to 7.5, it works well...
Anyone interested in a meet up some time after Christmas/early January? I’m really missing the connection with my community, something I absolutely adore about teaching classes. As I’m not really up for long drives with my back pain right now, I was thinking we could meet in Chilliwack at a coffee shop? I could bring … Read more