Donna's Salon Utopia

Magazines can be a wonderful thing. When I was younger, my sister and I created a magazine called Miss Sassy . My Dad was working for the Ministry of Natural Resources then and he would come home with these glossy pieces of paper that as a true environmentalist, he did not want to throw out. So, he gave them to us. We created issues of a magazine out of these pieces of paper. The magazine ran during the early 1980s. It was fun doing that magazine. We would do the drawings of our dolls, some of them Barbies, and there was always a cover model. Since we both really enjoyed watching Little House on the Prairie , we would have the late Michael Landon do the interviews with the cover model for the inside spread of the magazine. Our knowledge of magazines came from all the pre-teen rags that were out there that we devoured. All this to say that creating your own magazine can be a wonderful experience. I have my own now called Donna that you can look at here: http://kakonged.wordpress.com . ...

I have always found PH-balanced shampoos to be the best. As my sister says, they restore the moisture that needs to be restored to your hair. I have started using this kind of shampoo and already I have received comments on how much stronger my hair looks. When I was in my 20s and my hair grew into the middle of my back in a natural state, I was living on PH-balanced shampoo and olive oil. I do not plan to go back to the olive oil, however I am already extremely happy with the PH-balanced shampoo. You can find PH-balanced shampoos at any health food store. Many of these shampoos also have multi-purposes so you can use them for your hands and body.

The Lush bath and beauty products are usually quite good. There is one product that I have bought recently called Curly Wurly that I have found is not ideal for natural black hair. It is a coconut and vanilla shampoo that smells great and is a lot of fun to wash your hair with. The downside is that the shampoo has these coconut flakes that tend to get trapped in the extreme curls of natural black hair even when the hair is dry. The experience of using the shampoo has made my dresser filled with coconut flakes where I comb my hair, and even just before I am ready to wash my hair again - I find flakes falling out. I would not recommend this shampoo to anyone who has super curly hair.

Christen Bennett, in her early 30s, is a family friend of Gifty Serbeh-Dunn, owner of the Shea Butter Market company. For a time while in Ottawa, Serbeh-Dunn lived with Bennett’s family. Out of friendship and a deep belief in shea butter, Bennett tries to promote the Shea Butter Market products in the Ottawa region. “My mother’s done a lot of work in Ghana and throughout our childhood she always brought back raw shea butter for us to use,” says Bennett. “This is what Gifty has done with raw shea butter and all of the colours. I think it’s fantastic and makes it more appealing to everyone else. What Gifty has done with shea butter is great stuff. Different textures, creams, lip balms, it’s just a wonderful product and makes it more versatile for me especially. It’s healthy and also very natural. There should be a bigger demand for products like that with less process.” The lip balms are Bennett’s favourite products. She finds them moisturizing and the flavours are “fantastic.” For more ...

A 71-year-old woman in British Columbia (who preferred not be named) loves the Shea Butter Market products that Gifty Serbeh-Dunn owns. “I love them,” she says. “I’ve used pretty well everything that she’s had out. First of all I’ve used her shea butter and the moisturizing cream and the body lotion and the foot cream.” Before the BC woman tried the Shea Butter Market products, she had been having trouble with cosmetics. Her esthetician recommended extremely expensive products and she has found Shea Butter Market, far more affordable, as well as something that suits her sensitive skin when she uses the products that do not have a scent. “I will be 72, and like Gifty, I have nice smooth skin. I have no wrinkles. It’s genetics. It’s not primarily to do with shea butter, but it’s been working for me.” The BC woman’s favourite product is the natural shea butter that she also buys for other people. She appreciates that Serbeh-Dunn’s business also gives back to the women in Ghana who produce...

I CALLED GIFTY SERBEH-DUNN AS SHE WAS FEEDING HER CAT. HER BOYS WALKED BY THE CAT WITHOUT FEEDING HER. HER BIG BOY IS HER HUSBAND WAYNE DUNN WHO HAS A BUSINESS DEGREE FROM STANFORD. HER SMALL 7-YEAR-OLD BOY IS HER SON KABORÉ. SERBEH-DUNN HAS MANY THINGS TO DO SUCH AS FEEDING HER CAT AND RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS SHEA BUTTER MARKET. “SHEA BUTTER MARKET WAS INSPIRED BY THE WOMEN IN MY COMMUNITY AND ENCOURAGED BY MY HUSBAND,” SAYS SERBEH-DUNN. WHEN SHE WOULD TRAVEL TO HER HOMELAND GHANA, SHE WOULD GET SOME SHEA BUTTER AND BRING IT BACK TO CANADA. ANOTHER TIME SHE WENT HOME SHE ASKED PEOPLE THERE WHAT THEY WANTED HER TO BRING BACK FROM CANADA AND THEY SAID – “NOTHING, WE JUST WANT TO WORK.” HER HUSBAND IS INVOLVED IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WORK. SHE RAN THE IDEA BY HER HUSBAND TO START A BUSINESS WITH SHEA BUTTER FROM THE WOMEN SHE KNEW IN GHANA TO HELP THEM TO GET WORK. MAINLY HER FOCUS WAS ON WHOLESALE ACCOUNTS. SHE CONNECTED WITH GREG SULLIVAN WHO LIVED WITH HER FAMILY 30 Y...

Today I will be going to Seneca College to teach. I am looking forward to a great day. Yesterday I was at Trebas Institute and I administered a test to the students. I think I get as nervous about those tests as some of the students do at times. Everything seemed to go well. I also played a podcast about Internet marketing that was done by a man named James Scramko. He has a website called: www.askjamesschramko.com . You should check that out for any of your online marketing questions. The guy is good. Well...that is it for today. I am keeping this short because I am still working on Abilene's Child. It is a fascinating story and I know it will really do well.