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 our short series on the “terrible recipe” for a pumpkin spice anhydrous body butter with actual pumpkin puree and in the post on making a lovely pumpkin spice themed body butter without pumpkin puree, I mentioned that I wouldn’t use coconut oil in an anhydrous product like these with shea butter because they don’t...
Tribehenin (aka glyceryl tribehenate or tridocosanoin) is a triglyceride like those found in our natural oils and butters with three saturated behenic acid (C22) fatty acid chains attached to a glycerin (aka glycerol) backbone. It’s derived from plants that contain those fatty acids, like brassica, rapeseed, and the Ben-oil tree (Moringa oleifera). It’s an oil...
In this month’s Q&A, Susan shared, I recently did a side by side comparison of thickeners to try to see and feel the differences between them. I heated 9 grams of fractionated coconut oil (FCO) with 1 gram each of the following: behenyl alcohol, cetyl alcohol, cetyl esters, cetearyl alcohol, and stearic acid. I put all...
Let’s take a closer look at this really interesting oil I found at Lotioncrafter, Buruti oil (INCI: Mauritia Flexuosa (Buriti) Fruit Oil)! Buruti oil is derived from the bright orange fruits of the Mauritia flexuosa palm tree from South America. This oil is sustainably produced, obviously plant-derived, and vegan. It might be cold pressed, refined or...
Amla oil (INCI: Emblica officinalis (Amla) oilis the fruit oil of the Indian gooseberry, a deciduous tree fund in tropical and subtropical areas. The fruit itself is a “fleshy pale yellow with six obscure vertical furrows and spherical in shape” (Reference: Fruit oils textbook). If you’re been using or making hair care products for any length...