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’ve had occasion to lie in bed reading a lot of blogs, web sites, and forums lately, and I have to admit I’m shocked by how many recipes I’m seeing that aren’t using preservatives and how many people are saying you can keep things in the fridge. I’m also shocked at the number of people...
In this post on solid scrub bars, Julia asks: I love this scrub bar, but so far I have always made it without sodium lacate. Which is fine until it reaches about 27˚C, it starts getting soft and mushy. So I want to add the sodium lactate. Problem I’ve run into: It is 60% Salt to...
Is it Saturday already? Let’s take a look at some Weekend Wonderings! In the Weekend Wonderings posts, Chris asks: What exactly is the reason why products containing water need to be preserved? Or more specifically: What is it about water that makes it attractive for bacteria and all the other nasties? Just like us, microbes need...
A thought for the day….Our products can harbour beasties long before we see the evidence of them in the container. By the time you see those pink or green spots, you’ve been colonizing contamination for quite some time. Please please please use preservatives! Unpreserved water containing products have a shelf life of about three days in...
CAN WE USE WATER SOLUBLE INGREDIENTS IN AN ANHYDROUS PRODUCT SO WE CAN USE A WATER SOLUBLE PRESERVATIVE?In this post on Liquid Leucidal preservative, Julia asks: This is my preservative of choice! The problem I have run into: I would like to use it in my emulsified body scrub ( I LOVE the recipe on your...