Cucumber [Canteloupe? Honeydew? Watermelon?]

Just finished pouring 18 tubes of Cucumber Melon lip balm (plus samplers) and our kitchen smells delicious! I was wondering though- what kind of melon in Cucumber Melon is it supposed to be? I've tasted ones that were distinctly Honeydewish- this one tastes slightly Watermelonish. It's good. (I wonder if it depends on the supplier you buy from...)

Now I've just got to make labels, photograph them, and get them on the site...

Blog Post Batch - Conditioner

Conditioner has been the most daunting craft yet for us- with soap, any tried-and-true recipe will give you great results, and you can easily learn the qualities of the oils and what they will do for you. Lotionmaking is a snap once you learn a few basic principles. And you can add as many things as you like to either without worrying too much about messing them up. But conditioner... we really learned how to formulate with conditioner! Each person's hair is so different, and needs different things according to their habits and location (a person who dyes their hair and lives in Florida will need a very different conditioner from someone who lives in New York and doesn't dye, etc.) and even the season.

(Aside: It really surprises me that there is such a huge market for high-quality personalized perfumes, but nothing of the kind for conditioner! I guess it's because with conditioner, it takes a couple of tries to get the formula just right. And in this world where people have little time for experimenting with something over and over, it is all too easy to lose a customer over something not working out the first try. Sad!)

That said, I would definitely recommend making your own conditioner. When you buy supplies in a larger quantity you end up with bottles of shampoo that cost a fraction of store-bought, even if it takes a bit of "that batch was nothing like I though it would be, back to the drawing board" experimentation expense up-front to get there. You'll save money in the long run, and better still, you will know exactly what you're using down to the last ingredient.

Here is a collection of Susan Barclay-Nichols' Point of Interest blog posts that helped demystify the process and get us started- it took us three tries to get a recipe that wowed us, but I am happy to report that we won't be buying conditioner from the store ever again. 

Conditioner: What's That Then?
Let's Make Conditioner!
A simple beginning recipe
What's the difference on my hair between BTMS-25 and BTMS-50? 
You made conditioner! Bragging and questions! (newbie success stories)

Biggest surprise of the process: I found that it's easy to say "I have normal hair" but that's just what I thought before I made a conditioner for myself, formulated for normal (not greasy, not dry) hair, and ended up with haystack hair- I needed something really moisturizing, as it turned out! Never would have guessed!

Have fun experimenting!

Finally fixed the background...

...thanks to Cute and Cool! (found it at the old site, http://itkupilli-cutencool.blogspot.com/)

It was just one simple line of code after the address of my bg image:

...png"); background-position: center;

That easy! But it took me this long to find it! In any case, now the blog will be viewable on widescreen and squarish monitors without scrunching the background. :-)

Etsy reshuffle!

Spent today rearranging our Etsy page to sort our soaps not only by shape, but also by fragrance. Check it out! :-) Lip balms are coming soon, as I am now the proud owner of 300 tubes... I recently had the chance to compare two different types of labels, and will let you know what I thought of both, probably tomorrow.

The reshuffle got me thinking- has anyone out there noticed what works best for them as far as how they organize their Etsy listings or webpage? I'd love any ideas!

Facebook

We finally joined Facebook, so if that's your social network site of choice please stop by! :-)

Scents For Cents listing updated

Just finished updating our Esty Scent Sample listing with all the new fragrances we've added:

- Cedar and Saffron - Cedar combined with smoky scents of patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver, with Eastern spices to give it a kick.
- Earth - Smells like clean, rich, fresh-tilled soil straight from the garden center. (Can you have clean dirt?) It has also been said that this smells like the earth after a good rain. 
- Eucalyptus Spearmint - Very fresh and energizing! Very true to the real Eucalyptus and Spearmint essential oils, with nothing added.
- Fresh Cut Grass - Smells like fresh cut and watered grass in spring. (It makes us think of spring because it has a hint more sweetness than some Grass fragrances.)
- Kentish Rain - A rainy, salty, "green" fragrance with added notes of muguet lily, rose and jasmine, and a touch of violet. This fragrance definitely makes you think of rain by the ocean! 
- Lettuce - Crisp, clean, and very green, like a well-tended bed of romaine or iceberg lettuce. No, you won't smell like a salad- this is a very refreshing unisex fragrance.
- Mocha - A deep rich combination of coffee and chocolate. Not as sweet as some mocha blends.
- Spiced Mahogany - A deep, rich, "woody" scent featuring Patchouli, Cedarwood, and Oakmoss. Spicy notes of Cardamom, Vanilla Bourbon and allspice round out this fragrance.
- Sweet Pea - Very floral and sweet. Just like the real thing!
- Tangerine Tulip - This fragrance is popular in shampoos and conditioners because it is a fruity floral with more depth than sweetness. The tangerine notes are tart, just like the real thing, and the Tulip notes are rich. A very well-balanced fragrance.
- Wasabi - Sweet when you first smell it, this scent then takes on a clean and spicy fragrance. It’s completely unique, with notes of eucalyptus, ginger, peppermint, and thyme. Everyone who has smelled this so far has said “Wait, let me smell that again!” or “What a fun fragrance! It has a definite kick to it!” 
- Woodberry - Woodberry has notes of fresh air, spicy blondewood, moss and mixed berries. A winter forest scent *without* any pine or evergreen notes.

I also got smart and put spaces in between the sections of fragrances in alphabetical order. I hope that makes it easier to navigate around the listing and see what you've already tried. :-)

COMING SOON: A new listing with all of our essential oils available to sample on test strips!

What to do if Etsy Mini doesn't display on your blog

Found a solution thanks to Sarah Mitchell from TheSmitchell- to quote her post directly:
 

I figured out a work around for Etsy Mini that Adblock won't block! Here's what you do:

1. Open the Etsy Mini javascript. It's the web address inside the quotes after scr= in the first <script...> element.
* If you're displaying items from your shop, go here: www.etsy.com/assets/js/etsy_mini_shop.js
* If you're displaying items from your favorites, go here: www.etsy.com/etsy_mini.js
2. Copy EVERYTHING you see.
3. Paste what you copied in the Etsy Mini code inside the first set of <script> </script> tags.
4. Delete the src='...' property from the first <script...> tag.(Your opening tag should be <script type='text/javascript'> )
5. Save your widget or webpage or whatever.

This *should* work. I did it on my blog, turned adblock back on, and everything was still displayed. Now, if Etsy ever makes changes to the Etsy Mini widget, you'll need to re-do this to get your widget to work like the new one. But this should get you around that pesky adblock issue until something else is done about it.

Thank you again, Sarah! 

Mr. Rogers remixed- "The Garden of Your Mind"

This video has gone viral on YouTube, and it's easy to see why! Enjoy!

Your last chance to get a daisy that doesn't smell at all like a daisy!

I noticed that, although people go crazy over the daisy soaps in person, the poor guys have been getting kind of a non-response on Etsy. I had been planning to post a link to the daisies in the hopes that they'd get a bit of love... but in the past 24 hours three more people came along, fell in love with them, and bought all but one up!

So here's a link to one lone daisy-shaped bar of Red Clover Tea scented yogurt soap. It's the last one in stock (until I make more...)!

Scent samples a hit!

I just wanted to stop in to say how happy I am that everyone is so pleased with our scent sample offer! We've had great responses from everyone who has tried it in person and from our Etsy page. So, here's a HUGE "thank you" to everyone who has tried them and given us feedback!

If you're thinking of trying a set of 10, please remember that we also recalculate the shipping for every order to make sure our estimate is correct. So if you order a set of scent samples with a soap or lotion you'll end up paying less than the cost of a stamp for the scent samples.

Remember, too, that if you decide you like one of the scents you order, the first time you order an 8 oz lotion from our shop made with that scent you will receive a discount equal to the amount you paid for the 10 scent strips. If you're in the US, that will be 65 cents off the price! Here is a link to the 8 oz. lotion.

Brief update...

...on how everything's going:

My computer died about a month back and I'm roughing it for now using other people's computers to get everything done. I'm managing well as far as daily life goes: bill paying, checking e-mail, etc. But it's going a little slowly as far as the business side of things are concerned. You do really get used to the convenience of having everything on your computer "just so"!

We took care of our very first Etsy order on two different computers (it went very smoothly thanks to the friendly and patient buyer), and listed one of our lotion formulas on Etsy (woohoo! finally! People around here have been asking for a while) and printed business cards on another. We will soon be listing our lip balms as well as updating the product info on our website, but I've got a miserable cold right now, so I'm waiting on that until probably Monday or Tuesday. :-)

I had a dream last night that we had an open house for our soap and a friend came up and said "I bought something from your Etsy shop!" It reminded me of one of those dreams where you find treasure and then you wake up disappointed because it's not real- apparently getting Etsy sales is the new "finding treasure", *lol*...

It hasn't all been work since my computer died though- my Mom and I discovered the slightly-addictive Abbey Road Cam, and we've been playing a lot of Minecraft as a family. Good times!

Public service announcement: Check those old passwords!

We noticed last night that our bank account got charged for two Microsoft items (to be exact in case anyone googles this: MICROSOFT ONE MICROSOFT W 08003865550 WA ) and did a little digging to try and find an answer as to why it happened. We wanted to post the information we found out in case it can be helpful to anyone who goes through the same thing- what we found helpful and what we would suggest avoiding.

After we noticed the charges, we called Microsoft right away. This is something that we would NOT suggest doing. (The most common phone number you'll get when you search on the internet is 866-672-4551. This is the phone number for their billing department- more specifically, the department that handles subscriptions.) It seems like others have also tried this route and have had no success getting the problem solved. The first thing the representative did when we tried to explain the situation was ask for our full credit card number. Our reaction: "Wait, what? Someone just committed credit card fraud and now you want us to give you our full number?" They told us something about how the credit card information is not stored (which does not make sense, because then why would they want the full number? The rep had no explanation.). We tried another number for Microsoft and just got transferred back to this billing number, and got told the same thing. It seems like all roads when calling Microsoft about fraud lead to this department, and they don't have any answers. The second rep admitted that the credit card number would be on file, but not your security code or the expiration date of the card. We still did not feel comfortable giving the credit card number out.

Our second call was to the bank, to dispute these charges and have them send us a new card. (If this kind of fraud happens to you, it will probably not be due to a lost card. Your poor card will probably still be sitting safely in your wallet. Call the 1-800 number on the back of the card to talk to someone.) The rep was able to see the charge right away, and the full information about where the charge came from, which is not something you can always see when you're just checking your statement online. In any case, at least we have the peace of mind knowing that the random person who bought the two things can't do it again.

Our third call was just as helpful, and we think that after you call your bank, it should be your next call. We gave up on getting help through Microsoft and got more specific- we called XBOX support. (The direct number there is 1-800-469-9269.) If you call you might be a bit intimidated by the huge menu, *lol*, but just make sure you get to the part where you can speak to a real person. I think we went through the billing department, and the first (and only) person we spoke to was incredibly helpful, sympathetic and understanding, not only fixing the problem on their end but also explaining how it might have happened in our case. We each had different questions, and so this patient rep ended up talking to almost every member of our family in turn to answer them. He could see on our account exactly what the person had tried to do, and gave us reassurance that the matter was being investigated, and told us how we could keep up with that investigation (it takes 25 days to make a full investigation, but they restore your account completely and put everything back the way it was before the fraudulent charges were applied.)

Even if you don't even have an XBox, but someone does this to you, we would still suggest calling the Xbox support number. (Whenever we've had to talk to Microsoft support, we've had negative experiences- but whenever we've had to call XBox support, we have come away with glowing praise for the reps. Haven't been able to figure that one out.) At the very least, the rep can ask you questions to try to find a link between the charge and your recent activity. The rep we spoke to asked very specific questions (including the last four digits of our credit card number as confirmation, which we are completely okay with) to see if there was any way that someone could have taken our credit card number or hacked our computer. Like I said, I've noticed from research about this problem that it's even happened to people who don't even have an Xbox or Microsoft account of any kind, but calling can still, at the very least, let them know that there is a problem, and they can give you some suggestions.

I think the most valuable piece of advice we came away with today was to check and make sure that any passwords for old e-mail accounts are still secure. It happens all the time in this busy world- we get an e-mail address, then suddenly months or years pass and we haven't checked it or even thought about it because we have another one that we use more. But hackers get better all the time- and nowadays even the big companies are getting hacked (Sony, Google, Microsoft, and many more!), so if you have any old "straggler" e-mail accounts, they may not be secure either. And if any of those old e-mail accounts are linked to your online activity, you are susceptible to fraud (or at the very least, privacy invasion!). We believe that this was the link to this charge in our case- one of the "big guys" got hacked (MSN) and we were one of the "little guys" whose information is now out there somewhere. And it's just a good policy anyway to keep your passwords up-to-date and secure- can you imagine how insecure your passwords from a few years back are when we are now being encouraged to use capital letters, more numbers, and special characters? Check those old accounts or close them, and make sure that you change the passwords often (one site suggested every three months).

Okay, well, I'm sorry if that was long-winded, but I hope you can learn from our experience and prevent this from happening to you. :-)

Centering your webpage when you've got a full size background

I just finished fixing our website so that when your browser isn't fullscreen, it will still look nice, and not all smooshed to the left side of the screen. My eyes are so crossed right now...

Here's a link to the page that I found the most helpful in my quest to center my poor webpage:
http://simplebits.com/notebook/2004/09/08/centering/

It looks perfect on our resolution of 1024x768, but I don't dare check it out on any other resolution... that might mean more coding! *gasp!* I got out of the web design business 10+ years ago, so I am completely out of date with my HTML skills. (I'm glad I chose soap as a business instead. It's stayed relatively the same for how many thousands of years? *lol*)

Note to self: when you're done uploading your changes, hit F5 before you freak out because they don't seem to have taken effect. No, just hitting 'refresh' won't always do it... I didn't think the last bit of coding I tried worked so I was ready to start all over again with another piece of coding, but then I heard my I.T. brother's voice in my head: "Diiiiid you hiiiiit F-fiiiiiiive?" (You know when Luke is stranded on Hoth and he sees Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan says "Uuuuuuuse the foooorce, Luke..."? Like that.) I've learned the whole "have you tried turning it off and then on again?" thing, now I just need to get that drilled into my brain. ;-)

MMS Swap!

We got our box today from the Majestic Mountain Sage "Simply Botanicals" Swap and gathered around to smell everything and sample the salves and lotions. This was a BLAST! Next week when I know that everyone has received their goodies I'm going to post again with pictures and details of everything. I look forward to doing more sampling! :-)

If you're having problems seeing images on Etsy.com...

...here's something you should try-

Go to etsy.com in a new tab, then go to your AdBlockPlus options (this is easy in the newest version of Firefox, since ABP is a little red stop sign at the top of the browser. Just click the drop arrow next to it.) and click "disable on etsy.com".

Out of the blue about two days ago, half the images on Etsy stopped working for me. I didn't think it was anything I did, because it was half of all the images, not just half of my images. I also hadn't changed any image filters or anything- but I had forgotten that ABP checks for updates on its own. And like all the best programs, it was a bit "over-helpful" in blocking what looked like ads. ;-)

I noticed while doing research to try and fix the problem that most people say that the only images affected are on (or loading from) Etsy.com, and that if they have two browsers, all the images work just fine on one, but not the other. If you're having the same problem, I hope you'll give this quick fix a try.