Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Hello there!  I've been making home products for a while just for myself, but my spouse put the point to me that maybe I should consider making things on a smallish scale locally.  However I had NO idea there were so many regs  :o  I am still toying with the idea but it is certainly obvious to me it isn't anywhere as easy as I thought it would be!  So I've got some reading to do.

Cheers!

Hi Silvergilt.
Good to have you here.
It is a bit of a minefield, but if you are determined and take it a step at a time its doable. Just don't expect to be doing it by this time next week  :mwaha:
There's loads of help available here for whatever you make, just ask, we are a friendly bunch.  ;D

Hello Silvergilt,

There's a lot of info here and the more posts you make the more boards are opened up to you.

There's also info in Resources on the main Fresholi site (you do have to log on separately).

If you can't find an answer then just shout out a question and someone is bound to be able to help.

As far as we know the regulations for making and selling are tightening up and  becoming more expensive from next year so you really need to decide within the next week or two (don't be put off by that though 'cos you can get your assessment then carry on practising).

What sort of products have you made for yourself?
(if I hadn't asked someone elase surely would)

Cheers for the welcome!  And yes, I did do a search on the legislation, ack, I best think something up!

In the past my recipes were pretty straightforward, just massage oils, bath salts, and scrubs.  I'd like to try my hand to soaps and some bath bombes, maybe even melts.  It really depends on whether I can wrack my brains and get something assessment worthy!

Cheers again, and I'm getting stuck in doing a fair bit of reading.

HAHAHA yes read, read and read some more !   i'm just a beginner but the girls on here are fab and will help out whenever they can !

so a big hello from me !!!

Hi Silvergilt.  Welcome & I hope you enjoy it here - with a bit of fun thrown in along the way.

I'm a readin', I'm a readin'.  I'm honestly trying to get my head round the whole assessment thing, and I'm sure it's on a private forum so I think I should wait before I ask something flippin' obvious, but it seems strange if my products for use are already assessed, why oh why do I have to have them assessed again? ???

Hello Silvergilt!!

A big warm welcome to the forum.  Assessment is a great source of confuzzlement for many but I am sure, once you have planned out what you are going to do/what you want to be able to sell, you will be able to focus.

Thank you for the recipe, I will add that to resources (I just sent you an email about that  ;)), it looks verrry lurrrvly indeed  :buttrf:

Welcome again and I look forward to chatting with you around the boards  :)

Goodness, that was quick!  :o  thanks kindly and I'll send off my reply shortly

All sorted SG  ;D

I'll post a message to the recipe board (I don't think you can see that yet) so that people know it is there.

Thanks again for that, we all really appreciate this  :buttrf:

Well I was going to send a PM about cosmetic chemists and what is needed for assessment but if you've already had Safety Assessments done then there's no need.

Must admit that puzzled me a bit too!

Are you adding to a base formulation that has already been assessed by any chance?  If that is the case, I know what you mean but if the additives are not on the assessment they will need to be added.   :)

sorry if that was a bit confusing; but my herbal supplier has all their products assessed  - full lot at Organic Herb Trading Co  (quoting here)
.  The recipes themselves haven't been assessed at all...but it just throws me a bit as I don't understand WHY the end product needs an assessment if it's already obvious that the items themselves are fine?  So believe me, I have NO idea what's needed and pm most welcome!  The more reading material the better :news:

I'm probably missing something hugely fundamental here...or perhaps like most legal things logic has taken a fly out the nearest window?

The assessment will ensure that all the individual ingredients interact safely (within a formula) as well as check that they are being used a safe levels (among other things).  I get what you mean though SG  :)

The regulations sometimes don't seem logical at all.

Take a look here (http://www.fresholi.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=6&id=40&Itemid=76) (same login details as the Forum). There various documents regarding the legislations and articles by members - then if you want anything clarifying send me a PM.

Cheers, I've got a fair bit to go on now, just having a play with the soap spreadsheets/Soapcalc for some recipes and then we'll see what I can manage from there.

Hi and welcome. You certainly have a lot of enthusiasm! :)

I don't know how much research you did for your scrubs etc, but if you haven't done so already, you need to study the properties of all the different oils, essential oils, additives, botanicals etc which you might be thinking of using. If you are thinking about making CP soap, you would also         need to make a fair few batches, tweak and tweak, and see how your soaps behave over the months before you think about selling them. Most soapmakers I know spend at least a year developing their recipes and making many test batches before they venture into selling. Apart from the assessments you will also need insurance cover.

aye, ta, research is sort of the name of the game here.

The hope at the moment is to get a base soap assessed - I'll probably be doing CP but I'd like to experiment with HP at some point.  The same for the scrubs.  I've gone through all the property lists and buried myself most of the morning and last night in the various charts as well.  I made a test batch or two of scrub already at home to see if I could remember what I did ages ago with next to no resources, and it came out rather well, albeit a bit dry (more this, a bit of whipping, and should be good!).

I actually made little massage bars and cremes and scrubs and salts before, so nothing new there.  But my idea was if I register my base, get a few out of that which seem viable, give a few tweaks and decide whether I can actually do this, then well and good. 

I knew about the third party insurance as the plan was for me to sell these at market.  Just getting a few quotes now so I can get an idea.

Not diving in and thinking I'm going to sell next week (done that one before, older and wiser now!), but I'd like to get a prospective assess or three done so I have some leeway to put forth, and then have a play.  It's a fair bit of cash outlay to make a start and while I'm not destitute, I sure don't have the ability to get a small business loan either, so it's got to be out of pocket.  Hence, I don't want to make too many horrendous and preventable mistakes.

an assessment for soap can allow you quite a few variations regarding the use of oils, colours, additives, fragrances. You need to make a list of what you would like to use and hopefully your assessor will ok it

Bril, thanks so much!  And agreed, honestly, if I thought I'd be ready to release something by christmas, I'd kindly ask anyone on the forum to hit me with a cluebat....preferrably repeatedly

That is not impossible if you have plenty of time for research and developing products but do know a fair amount about your ingredients (I did it with a couple of mine - but then I'm "retired").

Well, I stay at home and work freelance, so I suppose not entirely impossible...it's a confidence call, really, and right now, nowhere near that yet!

Still stuck in reading....moving to blogs now!

How does frelance welding work - do you get taken on for a contract job or similar.

Most of the welders around here work for Ifor Williams trailers.

 :mwaha:  No, I'm not welding anymore, was too toxic and I now suffer from fibro/CFS.  I'm now a freelance transcriptionist.

That would be awesome though; have ARC welder, will travel!  I do miss it, actually, but I don't miss the lead-buildup in my bloodstream.

I gather that's the digital version of the old audio-typist.

Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of legislation!  Good luck with your experiments, I'm sure you will enjoy this part of the process.

Chrissie & 6 Gorgeous Guineas

LOLOL, yep, I think so as well, mind you, it sounds so much better than audio typist, doesn't it? We seem to be getting a whole host of weird and wonderful names for all kinds of jobs these days. I wonder why companies do that?

Because "audio typist" actually tends to mean you're doing things solely by a tape, and therefore by rote.  Doing what I do, I have to download, usually have to do grammatical changes, keep everything private and confidential, and admittedly it's almost a specialisation.

It's sort of like calling a fabricator a welder....try it down at the yards, and see how out of joint those noses get!  Not sure why it is that way, but hey, companies like to hear things wot sound fancy.

oh I see, so you download voice files then

Aye, then they need scanned, then cleaning up, and then typing - and nothing says frustration like having to type verbatim; you'd be stunned at how many times we all say "Um" "uh" and "you know"...and don't get me started about "innit".   The ability to recognise every accent known to man is also required, but I was stumped by what I can only describe as "Welsh gangbanger".

It can be "interesting".   But it's good work, and pays for cosmetic supplies extras

Ooops, i'm a bit late but wanted to say "welcome, welcome, welcome!"

Hi, Me too, sorry, I am extremely rude and often forget to welcome new members, but I dont mean any harm. Just lazy and rude!
So welcome, and same goes for any other newbies that I ignored.. (is that cheating?)

Too kind, truly!  I normally completely space off welcoming anyone - so no apologies required.

Thanks all!

How do you become a freelance transcriptionist SG?  I'd love to do something like that - have a proofreading/copy editing course on a back burner but I'd love to do anything in that line.

A big hello to you. I'm new here myself and in a similar position to you at the moment. Like you I seem to be endlessly reading and searching for information, but everyone on this site is so helpful and will always help if they can. :)

Hmm, apart from the downloading, still sounds like good oldfashioned audio typing to me, lol, every secretary had to deal with umm, and uhs, and you knows, as well as accents when working for different bosses. I am not belittling anything, audio typist is a good job!

However, I am most intrigued, what exactly is a welsh gangbanger??? Perhaps our Welsh ladies on here know about it?

Welsh Gangbanger?

Sis, i beg you please fill us in on that one!   :mwaha:

Welsh gangbanger - essentially talking all "street", as if they came from LA (which of course none have ever seen outside of COPS), but with a welsh accent.  it's a bit ear-melting, and I couldn't get it.  Sounded like Keith Richards on a bad day.

To get a transcription gig you need some downloading equipment and usually at least two years experience in audio.  You're essentially working for yourself, and therefore have to declare it.  It used to be very difficult to get into if not impossible, but now it's springing up a bit.  To be honest, it's okay, however it seems like it's sort of a dot.com industry....there's a big boom with it, but it just feels like eventually the bottom will fall out of it.  There's also companies which need the proofreading/copy editing, and I rather think that pays better than the transcription, so if you've got it, search around and find some companies seeking it, especially the ones that outsource to India as quality control is vitally important to them.

And I have to say, I've done secretarial stuff for five years but never actually had to TYPE every hesitation before, whilst I'm required to for this.  I can't actually talk any more about it as everything is classified.  But  I was mostly in law, before, so verbatim wasn't necessary.

Interesting re the transcription SG, ta.

I'm a bit late in saying hello aswell!! So HELLO and a big welcome to this crazy fabulous forum!! ;D