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.
In the February Q&A, Doris asked: I have a number of friends who are vegan and I would like to find panthenol that is strictly plant-based. Apparently, it can come from plants, honey, or meat. So far, I’ve had no luck finding a supplier for vegan panthenol (there’s no mention of the source at the places...
We met this ingredient a few years ago, but I didn’t go into much detail, which is kind of weird as I often go into too much detail. Let’s take another look at coco caprylate.. Coco caprylate is an ester of “coconut alcohol, caprylic, and capric acid”, in other words, a fatty alcohol derived from coconuts...
Propanediol 1,3 is an interesting humectant, meaning it draws water from the atmosphere to your skin or hair to offer hydration. It has fast become my favourite humectant as it has such a dry, powdery skin feel with no tackiness that can be used in just about any product that contains water. It’s derived from...
In part one of this question we reviewed Thais’s formula and did a little thinking. Today, let’s look at a few ingredients we could add to her product to make it more moisturizing or hydrating. Thais wrote to note that she used 10% hyaluronic acid gel (it contains 0.1% hyaluronic acid), so we need to...
A few years ago, Raymond commented that everything in our house smells like cupcakes or looks like cupcakes, but nothing tastes like cupcakes. He’s not wrong! We tried doing cake decorating with our youth program, and I tried to test whether the icing was done by smearing it all over my hand. Oh, right! Kitchenaid...