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.
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...
I admit it: I don’t like coffee. My parents were very British, and we were a family of tea drinkers, so I didn’t get much exposure to coffee until my first day of university when I was surrounded by at least 300 people all sipping their morning brew, the smell of which was completely overwhelming....
Cera bellina (INCI: Polyglycerol-3 Beeswax) is a form of beeswax in which the fatty acids have been esterified to create a polyglycerol that is more hydrophilic or water liking. It can be used in just about any product you want, including lotions and other water containing things. Anywhere you might use beeswax, you can use...
So what’s the deal with lecithin? Lecithin is a yellowy substance filled to the brim with various phospholipids or phosphatides, generally extract from eggs or soy beans, although it’s found in all plants and animals. The soy and the egg lecithin do differ a little. The soy has a fatty acid profile of 20% palmitic...
If you’ve read any of the shampoo posts on this blog, you’ll know I love sulfosuccinates! This happy molecule is disodium laureth sulfosuccinate (known as DLS mild) and it is a mono-ester of a sodium salt. Sulfosuccinates are generally sodium salts of alkyl esters of sulfosuccinic acid that are a result of condensation of maleic...