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.
Susan Barclay-Nichols 
We met St John’s wort infused oil in June 2020, so I thought it was time to look at other ingredients made using St John’s wort like the gorgeous hydrosol I’ve been using a lot lately. I wrote the first version of this post in March 2010! Wow! St John’s wort is claimed to offer...
Liquorice root (or licorice root, if you’re American – INCI: Glycrrhiza glabra) is supposed to work as an anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-irritant, demulcent, skin whitening, and wound healing ingredient when applied topically. Let’s take a look at what gives liquorice its awesome qualities. Liquorice root contains amino acids, flavonoids, phytosterols like ß-sitosterol and stigmasterol, coumarins,...
As people refer me to things they consider to be natural products, I keep seeing the words “coconut derived” beside surfactants, fatty alcohols, fatty acids, and other ingredients that are, in fact, coconut derived. But what does this mean? Coconut oil is often the starting point for surfactants because it has a fatty acid profile...
Welcome to Workshop Stadium. This week the Chairman, Raymond (my lovely husband), has chosen the sixth Iron Chemist ingredient – Lanolin! Here are the rules. (Click here for the long version.) Raymond rolled a seven, which means he chose from the assorted butters and things that haven’t been put away properly box. I have until next...
As I’m waiting for my wonderful husband to wake up and choose the next Iron Chemist ingredient, I wanted to share a few thoughts based upon the e-mails and comments I’ve seen this week… CHEMICAL EQUALS BADI mentioned the other day it’s the International Year of Chemistry and I think one of the things I...