kidsngarden

Yep, I will definitely be going with peaks! thanks!

I LOVED my os commerce cart when I was with Graceful hosting. Now graceful hosting doesn't seem quite the same as it was a few years ago when I was using them. Designer 218, shoppe pro, etc all use mals-e and I hate that I have to pay extra for real time shipping. I see that Mals e offers 8 different shipping possibilities if you don't use real time shipping. What does this mean? Do you have say a $1, a $3 , a $5 and so on that you assign to each item to ship it? I really liked the OS cart because you just put in the weights of the items and it figured it all out for you! If I wanted to "guess" I would stick with etsy!

Never mind! Should have done a search first! I'd delete this but I can't!

I used to by a non discoloring BRV that I used it my CP soap. It was from a private supplier who doesn't always have it. looking for a more common supplier who will carry it consistently. anyone using one in CP that is tried and true and again, does NOT discolor?

Amazing!

I would not make any claims to the percentage of your products is natural. I try to be kind of vague in that area like saying, "made with natural oils" If I was to put a # on it, it can lead to someone saying you are making false claims, etc. Of course that may never happen, but the what if is enough to keep me from doing it. To me it's similar to making claims like calling your soap an "acne bar". When you do that it falls under the drug category and you would have to be able to prove your claim.

she could carry everything but the monkey farts - no big deal I don't think!

I wouldn't change it. People with a sense of humor love it and kids REALLY love it! It just adds some diversity to your line I think.

Yep Scented - and HI! I have missed you and this forum! so a new name it will be. I think I have one, but I'm not saying what yet. If anyone has great suggestions I'm open to them though!

FYI capellas.com has been taken since I started. however capellassoap.com is available I wonder if I meta tag a new site and mention it throughout my text, maybe even as a subtitle "formerly capellas Garden" if I can snag some of my old taggings traffic back? And actually, there was this guy, I call him my "soap Stalker" who seriously would not leave me alone and he hasn't even though I retired. He has called and left a message on my voicemail every 6 months asking if I am selling. You would think that would be a good thing but this guy is whacked out. Talks about being "partners" and has all these crazy ideas. No matter how mean I am to him he keeps calling me. Wanting to make "sexy soap" etc. When I was in business I had to block him from my email he was harrassing me so much. Needless to say I don't answer my phone if I don't know the number, but he still calls. If I was capellasgarden.com again he would find me! So that's an advantage to leaving it behind!

I'm not sure I have grounds to declare it as domain squatting. From what I have read you need to have an established trademark? I never did trademark the name. If you type in capellasgarden.com a page comes up and it shows links to goat milk soap, bath bombs, etc, like a search engine or something? My understanding of domain squatting is that it's more like using a part of the name or a modified version of the name like capellas-garden.com to force me into buying them out, but no for them taking my domain that I let expire. I think I would have grounds had I not let my domain expire and they were doing something similar using capellasgarden.net with a page like what they have now. I do love the name Capellas Garden, but it doesn't really reflect what I sell. At the time I created it my company was all about goat milk soap. I had a nubian named Capella who was named after the little goat shaped constellation, lol. (all our goats had names having to do with the stars) She was "the face" of my company in the beginning, but as it evolved my labels no longer included her. Now I have sold my little farm and moved into town (part of what prompted my initial closure was my lack of goat milk). So anywho, the name isn't relevant, even though I WILL be making GM soap again. I'm thinking I need something with soap in it somehow.

I did think about Capellasgardensoap.com, but I want it to be shorter rather than longer. What really stinks is that all meta tagging that sat on that site for about 5 years is still there. You can still find stuff referring to my soap all over, it hurts to see the time invested getting my name out on the search engines is now for not! Anyway, I think I will just figure a new name. What I do not know. So who's the best hosting co these days? I prefer a DIY. I used to use Graceful Hosting. I know before there was a lot of controversy about them before, but I didn't have problems then. I don't know about now though. I know that I used polka dot dandy to design my template and she no longer works with them which concerns me. So who is the fave now a days? I really don't like the companies that are charging $80 plus for set up and licensing fees. I was considering Shoppe Pro - anyone use them?

I'm BAAAA-AACK! :yay:After a 2.5 year hiatus from soapmaking I have realized I was completely nuts to leave it. so I'm coming back. My business used to be Capella's Garden and it had a decent following. I was hoping to return with that name but sadly someone snatched up capellasgarden.com and has it just sitting there wasting space and the only way I can get is if I pay an outrageous amount of money. I absolutely was so burnt out and messed up I thought I would never go back - I literally sold EVERYTHING related to my biz which is hindsight was very foolish. So aside from the fact that I was totally lame to not keep my domain up, what would you do? I can still get capellasgarden.net OR I can change the name of my company altogether. Even though my business was a bit of a "brand" it wasn't huge. But the name doesn't fit anymore anyway and I think I would maybe want to have something "soapy" in my name. So what do you think? Change the name or just buy the .net and hope to buy the .com later when whomever is holding it hostage lets it go?

I have found that when CP gels it can really affect the some colorant, especially micas. I've done experiments with gelling and without and all other conditions being the same and have had one fade out and one stay, esp with reds. I've actually stuck some of my soap in the fridge before to stop gelling to get a nice red. I wonder if these company's who claim their colorants to be CP safe have tested them through a gel? And some soaps gel super hot!

My faves thus far for CP are Yuzu, Pink sugar (yes it gets dark) and Black Raspberry Vanilla (does not discolor). I still have yet to try others so far!

I agree about not using higher end oils in soap, I use fairly inexpensive oils and get a nice result. I have ONE bar that is 50% shea butter, but that's my only "luxury" bar - I personally still prefer my lard bars over it.

Ok, well lets compared refined and unrefined to white versus whole wheat flour. White flour has taken the fiber out, which makes for a lighter, prettier flour, but it really has no nutritional value except calories - then they enrich it, but it still isn't as good as the real thing. Refining butters doesn't make it so a refined butter has nothing to offer, but it does take away a lot of the vitamins and minerals. It certainly does take away fragrance for the most part. My experience has been primarily with shea butter. I notice that unrefined is less greasy than refined and has a smokey smell, and of course it has a yellow/green hue. It seems to me that even the process of heating it changes it, making it more greasy. If I'm making a scented shea, I don't even melt it, just add the fragrance and whip it. I also add a smidge of vitamin E. I've never used Ultra refined anything. My customers seem to prefer the unrefined to refined. For CP soapmaking I don't think it really makes too huge of a difference.

I've used it too in lotions - works great!

I prefer EO's and have found that if a customer can smell an eo and fo soap side by side they prefer the FO in most cases. Of course mints do very well in EO's, but you have so many more cool options with FO's that you can't even get with EO's! Online, EO's sell well for me (but still not as good as FO's) But there they aren't having a live smell...

I am intrigued by that as well, but am going to try iced pineapple first. I need it to replace my current pineapple...

Lav, cuke, sage is leftover from a supplier that went out of business, solas. I can't find it anywhere else. for colorings I use micahs most often and alfalfa powder for the green in the lav, cuc sage. The bring me flowers has ultramarine pink and violet.

Warning! red silicone will leave orange marks on CP for awhile...then it stops..I've had that problem with two red wilton muffin pans...blue no problems. I kept using the red ones for overpours in my CP and now they don't stain anymore.

I've started switching most of my fragrances to NG if I can. Their price and quality have been top notch. I only use them for B&B.

I agree with 2 oz or less because they really do last forever. I like to find a neat milky way mold or something that's to the right size of a tin and shape it in those.

blast! I resized those when I put them on - how come they don't stay that way when they post? Sorry!