Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Hello!

I'm an American living permanently in Italy, and am in the process of starting up a small cp soap and B&B business here.  I just found out about this forum, and am happy to be here!

I'm having some trouble finding the packaging I want (can find everything in the US, but not here!), so I'll probably be asking some advice regarding packaging suppliers soon.  I'm meeting with my technical director this evening to discuss some particulars, but there are some technical/legal aspects we are trying to figure out that I may also ask you guys about! Italian beaurocracy is kicking my butt....

Hi ya and welcome to the forum. Sorry can't help with the packaging qst., though I think it has come up before so others should be able to answer. The more posts you notch up, the more boards will open for your viewing. We like pics so please post some, I know you have them. ;D

Eire

 :hi: Hello and welcome from Canada.  You are in for a delightful surprise with this forum.  It truly is the friendliest and most honestly helpful that I've found.  I hope you enjoy your new home... :buttrf:

Welcome to the board

Hello and a big welcome.   This is a great forum for support, advice and few giggles along the way.   And we lurve pics   :mwaha:

Theresa

Hello and welcome.

Hello and Welcome!!

Whereabouts in Italy do you live? How are you coping with the Italian Regulations?

Hi and welcome!  :buttrf:
How exciting to start up your own business in Italy. I wish you a great success.

Hello Fiddletree in Italy  ;D

Oh that photo of me was taken in Italy – Florence to be precise  ;D

Hi Fiddletree and a warm welcome to the forum!!

Oooh... lovely!  I love Italy!

There's a packaging-specific board that may be of use, might be worth a look through  :)

I hope you enjoy it here  :buttrf:

Hi Fiddletree :)

Heed the words about pics, we are a hungry and demanding bunch!  But very friendly :)  :buttrf:

 :hi:

 :hi:
Nice to meet you

  I think we can all empathise with that one :mwaha:

Not sure if anyone mentioned anything about pics  ???

Hiya  :buttrf:

Hello from chilly Scotland, welcome  :hi:

Sally x

Hello there, welcome to the forum.

We did have a member living in Italy but she hasn't posted for quite some time.

She has family in the UK and, because of the Italian Regulations, found it easier to visit the UK to make her soaps; obviously not feasible for someone wishing to develop a main business though.

Although a European safety assessment is valid across Europe each country has different requirements re the actual production - so it's much easier for some than for others.

welcome :buttrf:

Y'all are so friendly!

To answer questions:
I live in Valle d'Aosta, which is the smallest and least populated region in Italy, far far far in the northwest.  I can see Switzerland from my bedroom, and can almost see France (the valley does a little turn so a mountain blocks my view).  It's smack in the middle of the Alps, so it is absolutely gorgeous.  I came here because I fell in love with an Italian while walking a 1000 km long pilgrimage in Spain 5 years ago, and I'm very thankful he lived somewhere as nice as this! Now if only my house weren't so cold:)

Italian regulations....GRRRR.  I hate them.  They are impossible, and people in offices make stuff up to make you go away, so things you think you know you don't actually.  Are there any members on this board in Italy who sell?  The EU regs I get, but it is the national ones that are confusing me.  Also the safety assessment...I don't recall 76/768/EEC mentioning anything about the safety assessment that folks in the UK are always talking about.  It says I need a technical director to certify that everything is up to par (I have one), and carry out the necessary analysis, and I need to send my formulations (and supplier list) to the Italian Minister of Health.  I think a combo of those two is basically the same thing, but if someone knows better please correct me!

As for pictures... my hard drive died a week ago, taking most of my pics with it :(.  But here is one that luckily was already living on the internet so you can see my 'soap style'.  Not the best picture, but you get the idea.  Patch & Clary Sage:

(http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x133/fiddletreegypsy/IMG_1387-1.jpg)

Hello and welcome!! It sounds like you live in an idyllic setting!

I really like your Patch & Clary Sage soap - lovely layers and such a pretty top and the EO blend sounds nice (I have come to love patchouli since making my own soaps).

I sympathise re: the hard drive...I  had major computer problems last year, culminating in a virus that all but destroyed the PC. Fortunately everything was backed up on an external drive but it was a real pain, nonetheless!

I actually *hate* the smell of this soap, but all of my 'testers' are head over heels in love with it, so it stays.  My husband talks about it nonstop, and is convinced it will make us rich(HA! I wish).   It smells like puking hippies to me, but I have a bit of a hyperactive nose....

I wish I had backed up my drive, I was actually planning on doing it the day it died, but I didn't. It's only a few months old, so I didn't expect it to die so soon.  I should know better!

fiddletree - Charlie was the member here that made soap. She has a blog as well, but hasn't posted in a while. The technical assessor sounds like the Safety Asessment. I do know, that in Italy you can' make soap in your kitchen, unless you have an idustrial kitchen that can be washed down at home. Charlie had major issues with that and I remember her saying, that she rented time in a morgue in the end  :egad:

I can't find her blog, so not sure what happened.

found it - http://figandlemon.blogspot.com/ (http://figandlemon.blogspot.com/)

She lives on the Amalfi Coast, so quite far from you.

Thanks!

I have access to a certified lab, luckily.  Well, soon to be certified. Otherwise...well, it wouldn't be possible.  It's in the final stages of construction, so hopefully I can start the loads of paperwork by the end of the month to get this ball rolling!

ooh lovely soap there!  Welcome to the forum.   :)

Check with Charlie - she is really nice and you can contact her through the blog. She has done some of teh running around and I know, it drove her nuts.

You are not far from Nice and Cannes?

Nice isn't too far, although I must admit I've never been!  I think it's about a 4 hour drive, but you have to drive through Mont Blanc to get there, which is a pain and expensive, so we don't cross the border except when necessary.

I will contact Charlie!  From looking at her blog, she has some gorgeous soap, and any advice I can get from someone who has already traversed the beaurocratic hell here is surely a valuable resource!

Hello and welcome (((waves)))

What a lovely place you must live - sounds like my cuppa tea does that  :buttrf:

Lovely pic, love that layering is just gorgeous.


That did make me  :mwaha:  I guess that aroma is quite distinct

If you do get in touch with Charlie, please tell her we all miss her and if she's around, ask her to pop in to say hi  :buttrf:

I do hope you manage to get up and running without too much of a hassle.

Hello and welcome! You'll love it here!

Hellooo!
Long time no speak!

I REALLY need to clarify that I have NEVER rented space in a morgue to make soaps in!!!!
What were you thinking? :o
If the Italian Gov won't let me make soap in my kitchen they're hardly going to let me do it in a room full of dead people are they!
No, no no, I have never made soap in a morgue.... I promise :angl:

I've emailed you Fiddletree!

lol Charlie, was it something to do with a cemetary though? I just remember, you had so much trouble with it all!!

Loved your blog pictures, how is life in Italy treating you? And welcome back, missed you!!  :buttrf: :buttrf:

Hello you!!!!   :buttrf: :hap3: (:hug:)

Sorry, your post has really given me a giggle Charlie  :mwaha:

I hopies you is well  :buttrf: :buttrf: :buttrf: :buttrf:

Who knows...maybe there is a demand for morgue soap!

Ewwwwww...... but come to think of it, it DOES meet the regs for a soap making lab in Italy.  I'm happy to hear that your soaps aren't morgue-y, though!

I'm glad to make the (online) aquaintance of another non-Italian soaper in Italy  :)

Hi Charlie - it's nice to meet you. :buttrf:

Morgues huh....  :mwaha:

Remember, no one (at least here) made soap in a morgue....

Yes Madpiano, you vaguely remembered right. The cemetary has a perfect empty erm, 'bone-washing room' (don't ask pleaseee) that would be perfect for my needs, but as it is part of the council property and inside the cemetary no soap making shall be done there.

I hope you've all been welll.....and behaving!

Charlie it sounds like you've been behaving - but have you been behaving badly is the question...  ;)

Lindy, who told you? ;)

Hello from Italy,

I am Amanda.  Welcome!  xxx!

Ohhh you are in Italy as well? where?