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.
This is Swift’s first attempt at the shower jelly challenge… What was the logic of this recipe? I know two things about this product (I haven’t been able to try one from the store, so I’m going on what others say!) – it’s meant to clean and it’s in jelly form. For the cleaning, we...
It’s here! It’s here! My order from the Personal Formulator is here! I’m like a kid on Christmas morning, rifling through the styrofoam bits to see what’s inside the box! As much as I want to pull everything out and take a look, I have to pause for a moment and look at the receipt...
Apricot kernel oil (INCI: Prunus armeniaca) is very like sweet almond oil with a similar fatty profile -4 to 7% palmitic acid (C16), 1% stearic acid (C18), 58 to 74% oleic acid (C18:1), and 20 to 34% linoleic acid (C18:2), and the two tend to be interchangeably used in bath and body care products. It...
Sweet almond oil (INCI: Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis oil) is a light, odourless, pale yellow oil with a 12 month shelf life. It contains 3 to 9% palmitic acid (C16), 2% palmitoleic acid (C16:1), 3% stearic acid (C18), 60 to 78% oleic acid (C18:1), 10 to 30% linoleic acid (C18:2), and 2% linolenic acid (C18:3). It...
Macadamia nut oil (INCI: Macadamia ternifolia seed oil) has an interesting fatty acid profile – 8.9% palmitic acid (C16), 18.7 to 22.6% palmitoleic acid (C16:1), 2.9% stearic acid (C18), 58.4% and higher oleic acid (C18:1), and 1.8% linoleic acid (C18:2). We know oleic acid is great for softening skin, regenerating skin cells, moisturizing, and behaving...