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.
We’ve turned our whipped butters and lotion bars into balms by using specific essential oils and using specific oils and butters (click here and here). Let’s take a look at creating balms that are really softer versions of lotion bars that we’ll store in jars or tins. (Because there’s no water in this balm, you...
Choosing the right oils and butters can turn your anhydrous product into a balm. For instance, choosing an oil high in phytosterols like sesame seed, soy bean, or apricot kernel oil might help with inflammation. Choosing olive oil might help with post-sun exposure. Or choosing an oil high in Vitamin E, like wheat germ oil,...
We’ve taken a look at whipped butters and lotion bars, so let’s take a look at another type of anhydrous product – the balm. What exactly is a balm? It is a “medicated topical preparation for application to the skin…(that is) rubbed in” (from Wikipedia). Obviously I won’t be making any claims for the products...
I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of posts on lotion bars. If you’re a beginner, I hope you’ve learned enough to try a few variations of these wonderfully simple and awesome bars. If you’re a veteran, I hope I’ve given you a few ideas on how to see the humble lotion bar in a different...
I’m definitely the type of person who likes to experiment – and that’s one of the more obvious things I’ve said today – so you know I had to take the lotion bar a little bit further and try something new and more complicated! I rummaged through my box o’ stuff and incorporated a few...