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.
And I’ve had time to research new ingredients! Hooray! I am hoping to get a few posts written this weekend, and get to some comments. Thank goodness for long weekends, eh? Thanks for your patience and support! ...
As I go through the comments and messages you’ve sent me in the last few weeks, a few thoughts arise. I thought I should probably link to these posts… Why are you making products from scratch when you’re new to bath & body products? If you’ve never made anything, find a recipe that you know will...
I continue to see oils listed as having essential fatty acids or containing omega 3, 6, or 9. What does this all mean? An omega 3, 6, or 9 bond means the fatty acid contains a double bond between carbon atoms that is 3, 6, or 9 atoms from the end of the molecule, as...
In this post on the Chemistry of our nails: lotion bars with lecithin, Laura asks: What can I substitute lecithin with? Beeswax, more lanolin, exotic butter (which sounds fantastic for my ‘gardening without gloves’ hands? 😉 When we’re trying to figure out what we can use as a substitute, the first thing I do is refer to...
In this post, It’s not easy to being green, Sandra asks: I made a shampoo recently that became an epic fail. It is extremely thin, makes my hair feel like straw when I wash it (it’s really nice afterwards when it dries but I need loads of conditioner to get the straw feeling away) and it...