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.
I thought I’d bring this up again as I’ve had a few questions about this topic this week! You’ll note that just about every recipe on this blog is measured in percentages that convert into weight. This is because it’s more accurate than measuring 1 spoonful of this or 5 ml of that ingredient,...
I’m all about the multi-tasking, but before you decide to make a product that’s both a floor wax and dessert topping, decide if you might be better off having separate products for each task. (And not just because of the ewwwww factor!) When I first started making products, I went on a mighty quest to...
I’ve been asked this quite a number of times in the last few weeks, so I thought it was a good idea to re-post this information as well as information on how you can do your own research! What are my resources? The Handbook of Cosmetic Science & Technology (3rd edition), Chemistry for Pharmacy Students, Surfactants...
The temperature of our ingredients is a hot topic these days, so let’s take a look at a few questions I’ve been posed in the last few weeks… If we heat carrier oils, will they go rancid quicker? Are we destroying the goodness in them? I answered this question last year in this post, but...
I found a bunch of brochures for compounding various things for pharmacists, and thought you might be interested. We don’t make medical or health claims for our products, but there’s some interesting information in there about compounding things like styptic pencils, deodorants, and suppositories! Compounding gels Compounding medication sticksCompounding acne products Want more? You can find...