Had Dinner with Kevin Dunn & Catherine McGinnis

It's soaping Christmas early for me!! I'm in Sebring FL at a workshop sponsored by ED with Catherine and Kevin as the featured speakers. Pinch me!! Kevin sitting next to me on my left and Catherine with her Mom across the table. Kevin kindly signed my copy of Scientific Soapmaking and I was up re-reading chapters he is addressing today- Basic chemistry and super fatting. He was also kind enough to point me in the right direction on variables in testing for EOs surviving the lye monster. I've already completed my shopping and now time for some learning. Derek from ED knows what he's doing - Free wine and a wall of FO/EO to check out. Oh be still my credit card.... NOT:shh:

That is awesome!

How awesome is that....enjoy your time with them!

Have fun!

When I first read the post title, my brain thought it was "Having dinner with Kevin Dunn & Kelly McGillis". Some thoughts on that: So, that where she's been since the 80s. It makes sense, hair mousse and perms are really damaging, she would want to make her own products. Jeepers, I either need more coffee or less.

<hums>Have a fun night in the Soaping Zone

That is so cool and I'm thrilled for you! I bet you're walking around on cloud 9. Of course, next month's credit card bill might bring you down with a thump.

How fun! I have been to ED's Wine Soap Bar and had a fabulous time even though there was no workshop, special guests or the like. Drinking wine while shopping for soap supplies was amazing enough, I can't even imagine how fantastic your experience must be! Worth every penny, I bet. Keep us posted on other highlights as they occur!

When you get back, you'll have to tell us more about your EO testing, including sharing some of your results!

That's so awesome! Did you get a pic taken with him?

IrishLass

Another great day in Sebring. Irishlass before I forget, I did get a picture of Derek - he was riding up on his bicycle and I got a nice picture of him outside. I'll load these up as quickly as I can. Oh my goodness, Kevin Dunn is so wicked smart and he can explain things so well. He shared some of his new research on gel phase that is not in his current book. When I'm not brain fried I'll transcribe my notes because he basically gives a formula regarding water % and temp control to determine if you want gel and how you can control it. This afternoon we did a soaping experiment which he and Catherine implied it was a surprise, but they where giving the various groups different amounts of water, and they modified some of the oils we used in our kits. Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow. Hazel, life's short, all of their FO's are on sale, plus the additional 12% guild discount and they are shipping everything we buy for free - The soap we made with our partner today, and the loaf we are making tomorrow will be split in half and ED is going to mail each of us our 2-1/2 loaves in a new mold to keep. Besides.... they only carry 50 something FO's and I won't be wishing that I'd also bought the "other one" as well. I have no resistance for them at all. There were even some I hated - and all I could think was, Oh a little of this, put some .. in it and I can fix it.... Dear Lord forgive me but I've become a full blown FO Ho.

Hoping these pics load okay.

Sorry the pics are so big -I'll see if I can get the next ones smaller (I'm just proud that I got them here

WOW Cindy, what a treat! I'm so happy for you. I've been to the wine and soap bar and I too had a fabulous time. They always treat me well. If I lived in Sebring my credit card would be in trouble. ;-)

Those pics look great! Thanks for posting them! I can hardly wait to hear all the new tips you gleaned!


IrishLass

It's Monday and for me the best part of any trip is going home, but what a great trip. Derek and his ED team were amazing, and I'm sure exhausted by now. I have some new lifelong soapin' sisters and one of the group has started a FB page - My husband has been driving me nuts about FB so I guess I will just have to add something else to my to do list.... Ah well. Derek added one more "shopping surprise" for us on Sunday. They have re-done all of their packaging to re-vamp their GMP. But he explained that he had some items that he was clearing out with the old packaging. Dang, I had been so good - I had stuck to my list and was happy until..... He offered us his organic shea butter - 5lbs $10.00. Boxes and boxes of 2oz EOs 3 for $10.00. Now I've never purchased EO from them but if I can try their rose geranium, helichrysum and bay for $1.75 an ounce, credit card burn on. I behaved - only spent an additional $80.00. I can't say enough about the group dynamic though; (kinda reminded me of the group here). There were people there who made their first soap at the retreat to soapers with 20+ years of experience. The energy was unbelievable - people were helping each other; there was an unplanned soap swap when we cut our first loaves - each group had a mystery oil added to their base recipe and people were swapping and trading like mad. Our shea loaf was crazy soft - definitely needed a visit to the freezer, but no one cared. I was able to get permission from Kevin to share some of his info, and I begged him to do an audio book. He is the professor you wished you had for all of your coursework- Funny, patient, makes sure everyone is "with him" in his lectures. I really regret not paying more attention in my chemistry classes. Anyway, I'll post the rest of my pics below and if you need a break for Florida there are 2 more sessions with different material planned for each in Jan and March. It's killing me that I can't go back; I'll be in Disney celebrating my DH's 50th B-Day that week in Jan and the Guild conference in Indy is in April, so a little overkill. But I am planning on next November!

Sounds like so much fun, I'm glad someone got to go. $2/lb for shea -- wow, that's fab! Cheaper than I can get just about anything but OO here. When I was at ED I must have smelled at least 2/3 of their EOs (in between wine sips), and I came home with their lavenden, peppermint, cajeput, anise, cedarwood, and maybe a couple others that I don't remember at this late hour. I really liked their lavenden, especially after paying another vendor a lot for a lavender that I really didn't like. They may not be known for their EOs but they do have some good ones, and I concur wholeheartedly with you, their customer service is far more like hospitality

Next workshop - learning how to take pictures. Boy I suck! Anyway, there's nothing like home - it's always the best part of the trip. Concluding my adventure to ED retreat the last of my pics with my favorite; my new "soapin' sister from another mister" - Catherine McGinnis, her Mom and me. She is sweet, real, and amazingly sharp. If my soaping journey had started earlier, I would be begging her to be an unpaid intern. There was another soaper who is blessed to live on a 1/2 million acres (no typo) in New Mexico. She has access to bison, elk and some other fats. In like a ten minute conversation she and Catherine came up with a sure winner for a marketing strategy. The picture with the young cutie behind the desk is Brittain, the ED Sales Manager. This was the only picture I could find of him when he wasn't completely surrounded by women. Always a smile and very patient. It's always nice to put a face with a vendor.

What a fantastic opportunity, and a wonderful way to treat yourself!

CaraBou, I was very impressed with the lavenden as well. Clean without the bite. The facility is not very large and this was the EO we used in our first batch of soap. 20 batches of lavenden soap in one room was pretty intense, but I didn't hear of anyone getting a headache. This one will be a keeper for me. I'm excited to receive my shipment in the mail. We received a 4oz bottle of Ylang-Ylang1 in our goody-bag which I kept in my purse for the trip home. They were giving me a hard time about my liquid quantity in my carry-on but I gently reminded Homeland security at Punta Gorda airport that is was Thanksgiving, and she let me through with it.