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’m a big fan of both IPM and IPP – I generally add them at 2% in a lot of my creations to make it feel slightly less greasy (although I do like a greasier feeling lotion, IPP and IPM offer just enough reduction to stop me from leaving huge greasy fingerprints on my iPod...
If you’ve made an intense conditioner, you’re on the road to making a body butter! You’ve already made an emulsion using BTMS-50 as an emulsifier, and you’ve already done the heat and hold thing with your oil and water phases. You’ve learned how to add things in the cool down phase, and you’ve learned how...
This is a picture of my sprayable serum (left) and my sprayable lotion (right). I wouldn’t put a facial moisturizer in a spray, because getting sprayed in the face isn’t that pleasant when it’s gooey. I do like a toner in a spray bottle, though. When I’m formulating a facial moisturizer, I generally start off...
Yesterday we took a look at making a light, sprayable lotion using BTMS as our emulsifier. Today we’ll take that basic recipe and add a few ingredients that might help with some of the issues we encounter in the summer time! Summer means heat, so I like to modify my lotions to be less occlusive...
You may remember way back when I started this series on conditioners, I mentioned that making a conditioner is a bit like making a lotion. You have a heated oil phase, a heated water phase, and a cool down phase. You’re making an emulsion with the BTMS or cetrimonium bromide. So let’s take a look at...