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.
Raymond and I are taking a much deserved camping holiday on the Oregon coast, leaving today and we might be back on Thursday or Friday (we haven’t decided yet). It’s going to be a little cold, but I understand Portland is a mecca for us crafty types, so there’s much fun to be a had....
Today was an accident prone day, the kind of day when I should really stay home because I’m a serious menace to anyone who might come near me. I’m not really sure why I have these days, when I drop my iPod touch on concrete, walk into closed doors, or spill Slurpees all over the...
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the down side of certain ingredients, especially in surfactant mixes. Oils can reduce your foam and lather and Crothix might thicken your mixtures and offer anti-irritancy, but it can start decreasing foam at around 5%. So let’s say you want to make a nice facial cleanser without...
On our honeymoon last year, I made a faux pas in Montana by asking for brown gravy with my fries. The cashier gave me the kind of look normally reserved for questions like, “Hello. I’m a stranger. Would your children like some candy? I assure you it’s not poisoned in any way”, and she recoiled...
I love Alton Brown, and if you get a chance to see the episode “There Will Be Oil” (Season 12, episode 5), watch it! He explains how different oils are processed – what it means if an oil is cold pressed, expeller pressed, or solvent extracted – and why the different oils are processed that...