Category: aromaG company talk

What happened to Green Pergola Soap and Aromatherapy Company?  We’re still right here with an old and new name – Aromagregory Creative Inc.

From 1999 to around 2003, our original company name was Aromagregory Botanicals.  When Gregory met Roy and they decided to work on the business together, they renamed the company Green Pergola.

In 2012 when we decided to incorporate, we reclaimed the name Aromagregory, leaving Green Pergola behind.  Why Aromagregory Creative Inc.?  Simple – our soaps and bath products are not the only things we do. Gregory takes aromatherapy clients, does chakra alignments and readings. He also designs websites for other small businesses.  Besides being the chief candle maker, Roy is also a Reiki Master and performs shamanic healings.  So, the word “bath” or “botanicals” did not quite cover everything. Creative (the way we try to approach everything we do) did.

Why ditch the Green Pergola name after having it for so long?  Well, for one reason, customers couldn’t remember the name.  They also reported back to us that they couldn’t find us on the web when they looked for Green PAGODA.  Also, it was a long, drawn-out speech about how we came up with the name.  Green was supposed to signify the need for more natural products.  A pergola (where vines grow up, across, and back down again was supposed to signify to growth of mind, body, and spirits by using more green (natural) products.

We did, however, maintain the dot com. When customers go to www.greenpergola.com, they will land on the aromagregory.com website.

So, Green Pergola and Aromagregory are the same company. The same people who started the company still make and ship out your soaps orders.

Greg and Roy

Homemade soap means different things to different people – mainly defined by those who actually make home made soap.

For some soap makers, it means exactly what it says – it is a small batch of soap made in the home for personal use.

But I think it can mean much more than that. To me, homemade soap is a soap that is artisan crafted in small batches where careful attention is given to each recipe. To me, it must be made by hand – not by large machines where the ingredients are poured into giant drums.  That is definitely NOT home made!

SHOP OUR HOMEMADE SOAPS HERE – OVER 50 KINDS

So, does the soap have to made inside someone’s house to be called homemade?  Not necessarily. While it is true that our soap making operation moved out of our personal kitchen many years ago, it didn’t go that far. Around 2006 we purchased a soap making shop – one of those quaint barns that most people use for storing bicycles, old furniture, and Christmas ornaments. We then proceeded to insulate the entire barn, install drywall, counter tops, flooring, and electricity. In the picture below, our soap shop may not look very large but it is very well organized with work stations on either side, drying racks for the soaps, an oil melting station, and a shipping area. The barn lofts are great for store bottling and packaging.

My point is, our soap shop is still located at our home, just 15 feet from our back door right beyond our studio and the goldfish pond.  In front of the shop is our herb garden where there is: oregano, thyme, sage, Asiatic lilies, lavender, catmint, beebalm, yarrow, and green peppers.

To the side, you will see my hydrangea bushes on either side of the door.  In the summer months, there are hanging baskets of petunias and impatients. An old elm tree shades the soap shop, helping to keep in cooler during the summer months.  But, yes, there is air conditioning in the shop.  Soap needs the humidity pulled out of the air in order for it to dry and cure properly.

I went surfing the web trying to find other soap makers that made soap in barns or outdoor workshops but wasn’t very successful in finding any pictures.  I did, however, run across another soapmaker with the cutest little shop. Their store reminded me of an upscale version of our barn with the rustic appearance and the landscaping out front.  So, here’s a nod to Rosner Soap of Sugar Loaf, NY. Great looking shop!

Now, back to homemade soap. Just being made on our property isn’t the only factor in calling our soap homemade. It also has to do with the fact that it is made in small quantities – only 36 bars at a time, sometimes only 12 bars at a time. True, we may have to make soap more often than our competition but this attention to detail and quality makes me secure in the notion of calling our soap homemade.

We have been making vegan soap since 1999, completely by accident, I have to admit. I’d like to think it was some sort of inner voice that led us towards ingredients that made our soaps vegan and vegetarian friendly.

Out of the 27 natural soaps we make, 25 of them can be considered vegan soap. The other two are Garden Gate (which has honey added) and Oatmeal Milk and Honey (which includes powdered milk and honey). So, you might call all of our soaps, including those two, somewhat vegetarian friendly. At the current time, we are working on two more soaps that really focus on vegetables – a carrot soap and a tomato soap.

So how is a soap classified as vegan? For starters, we use absolutely no animal fats as the base. Our soapmaking oils consist of: olive oil, coconut, soybean and shea butter. They are scented with real essential oils from plants and the coloring comes from minerals. Unlike many soap makers who make it the norm, we do NOT include goats milk in our formula – just vegetable oils, essentials oils, herbs, roots, flowers and minerals.

Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans (or strict vegetarians) eliminate them from their diet only. Read the full Wiki Vegan article here.

The sad thing is, I don’t think most vegans realize that they commercial soap they are using contains the fat from a cow. This is because the industry invented to word sodium tallowate (the mixing of sodium hydroxide with beef tallow) to disguise the UNanimal-friendly ingredient.  Who would know what this ingredient was unless someone told them.  So, a lot of vegans out there are buying cheap soap from the big box stores and have no clue that they are rubbing beef fat on their bodies every morning.  My mouth is curling up right now just thinking of how disgusting that sounds.

If you are interested in becoming vegan, there is a lot of interesting information and recipes found at www.vegan.com. In the meantime, at least attempt it in the shower or bath by shopping our vegan soaps at www.aromagregory.com