The President, Fair Trade, and the Growth Initiative

Today the Prezzy prez, that is Obama, touched down today in Long Beach right outside my office. Folks were lined up all along the streets and in the tunnels. Our parking lot was full of cars that didn't belong to any of the employees that worked in the business park. Folks in the building were excited and giddy. From our office we had a birds-eye view through the windows. The new Air Force One is a very pretty plane. Very sleek and colorful. He landed, jumped on Marine One and was escorted by 3 other helicopters to Costa Mesa. Just a little excitement for the day.

Now back to me. Today is Day 4 of my personal Protective Style Challenge. On Saturday I braided my hair into a gazillion little box braids that I plan to keep up for 3 weeks to a month - repeat. Every night I will moisturize them with my rosewater mixture and baggy the ends. By following this method I hope to be better able to retain my ends and see increased length. At the end of this month after I rebraid I will show progress picks. My goal by the end of this year is full armpit length or just below. I'm being hindered by occasional scalp flair ups in the back area where I had alopecia, which leads me to my next topic.

I wanted to show you my recent haul. I love it when I get boxes in the mail. A couple of weeks ago I infused Castor oil with fresh rosemary and sage leaves. I wanted to see if I could get better effects with a fresh infusion vs. an essential oil mixture. So far so good. I'm loving the Castor oil mixture so I bought a few other treats to try. In a later post I will explain what each of these herbs are and their uses. I may even post a video.


From Mountain Rose Herbs I got the following organic fresh dried herbs: Lemon Balm, Chamomile Flowers, Peppermint Leaf, Rose hips, Nettle Leaf, Horsetail, Burdock Root, and Dandelion leaf. I plan to try some new oil infusions and make tea. I also ordered some fresh unrefined cocoa butter. Many of these items are Fair trade.


During this challenge I also plan to start hennaing my hair more often. One place I've used before and gotten great results is Mehandi. This time I'm not really going for color (my hair is darker than it has every been and I love it) but strength and conditioning. I bought two packs of the red label for African Hair. Mehandi has excellent henna that is finely sifted, smooth in texture and deposits great color. Also the prices are very reasonable. 200g cost me $14 with shipping.

Lastly, I picked up some yarn. I loved the Cycling Aran so much that I decided to make one for myself. My LYS Compatto Yarn Salon was having a sale and I got a spiffy deal on some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I plan to start working on this soon but it may have to wait until school is out.


Be sure to check me out on YouTube to see what else I'm doing.



Kamika Au natural