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.
At least once a day, someone writes to me to ask if they can substitute this oil for that one, and my answer is always “yes!!!” (although I don’t always put exclamation marks at the end of the sentence). I spent a small fortune on oils and butters when I started on this amazing journey...
I’ve received quite a few e-mails asking why a product is solidifying really quickly after removing it from the heating source from people looking to get more time to play with the product before pouring it into a mould (for instance, syndet bars or eyeliners). I know I’ve gone on and on about heating and...
If you want to make a recipe, but don’t have all the ingredients, substitute…with one exception – the cationic quaternary compound or conditioning agent. Identify the cationic quaternary compound (usually Incroquat BTMS-50, but sometimes Incroquat BTMS-25, cetrimonium bromide, or cetrimonium chloride) and make sure you don’t substitute that for something else. A conditioner is not...
No doubt you’ve come across recipes that use grams or ounces and you might be asking yourself, “How do I convert this into a percentage based recipe?” The other question you might ask yourself is, “Why do I want to convert this into a percentage based recipe?” and I’ll answer that one first. It’s best...
Someone recently wrote to me about heating and holding the oil and water phase together in the same container, and wondered why the emulsion didn’t work (and it had worked in the past). First things first, we can make a lot of things emulsify that won’t stay emulsified. I remember making a lip balm with...