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.
Yesterday we took a look at making a gelled serum with 10% oil with Sepimax ZEN. Today, let’s add some fruit acids to the mix to create something that will act as an AHA or alpha-hydroxy acid, something Sepimax ZEN can handle at up to 4% without problems! As a quick note, it can also...
Wow, I just can’t stay on schedule lately, and I apologize for that. I did write a few posts on making lip scrubs – yummy pear coconut scrub, a lovely jojoba & peppermint scrub, and a plumping peppermint & jojoba lip scrub – which go well with this series of making facial products. In our last...
As I mentioned in a previous entry in this series, Sepimax ZEN (INCI: Polyacrylate Crosspolymer-6) is a pre-neutralized gellant we can use to incorporate things that other gels can’t handle, like electrolytes and surfactants as well as lower pH ranges to incorporate ingredients like AHAs. It can also incorporate oils, so you can make a gelled serum...
We took a look at making a toner by including Ultrez 20 with a neutralizer, and we made a toner/oil free gel moisturizer for normal skin types by adding ingredients to pre-made gel yesterday. Let’s take a look at making a chamomile and cucumber oil free gel moisturizer/toner both ways. VERSION 1: MAKE A GEL, THEN...
You shared your opinion here, by e-mail, and on my new Facebook page for the blog, so we’ll be spending a few more weeks on creating gelled products with Ultrez 20 and Sepimax ZEN. Last week we took a look at adapting a toner to become a gelled toner by incorporating Ultrez 20 into your recipe....