Dr Aba, goes INatural in Canada

The 2016 Old Hilarians’ People’s Choice Honouree has taken a herbal personal care products line, Cher Mere, and tailor-made it for a Canadian client?le who never before had a grooming choice for their natural hair and body. And she keeps it environmentally friendly.

“At Cher Mere we try to be environmentally friendly, we use solar panels in our processes, post-consumer recyclable products, natural ingredients. In Canada our spa is powered by green power from solar and wind energy,” Bowles-Mortley tells Sunday Newsday.

The Cher Mere line is wellknown locally, being the brainchild of her mother, bio-chemist Cheryl Bowles.

The business spans from Cher Mere Herbal Personal Care Products out of The Herbarium to Cher Mere Spas in Trinidad and Barbados.

Bowles-Mortley has joined her mother in the production of the Cher Mere products and is today responsible for the introduction of the Cher Mere INatural line specifically created for natural hair grooming.

The products are natural, organic based and the line is based on the LOC system for natural hair treatment, but users are free to create new combinations for their hair. LOC reads: (L) moisturise hair with INatural conditioner (water based); (O) Seal with INatural conditioning oil to lock in moisture; (C) cream with INatural curling butter to define curls and protect the hair.

Bowles-Mortley, who grew up in Tacarigua and now lives in Kingston, Ontario, credits her interest in science to her years as a student of Bishop Anstey High School (BAHS), remembering when her then principal Pat Rudell introduced Environmental Studies to the curriculum while she was in Form Three.

“It was the first time the curriculum allowed it in BAHS. This sat with me and is part of who I am, example, in business my family owns Cher-Mere Products and day spas, started by my mom 30 years ago. I am now carrying the flame and my goal is to internationalise the brand.

I opened Cher Mere Day Spa Canada and we are in discussion with a box store in Canada to take our products.

“At Cher Mere we try to be environmentally-friendly, we use solar panels in our processes, post-consumer recyclable products, natural ingredients. In Canada our spa is powered by Green power from solar and wind energy. This is something Ms Rudell instilled in me - that we are part of the earth, borrowing it and leaving it for our children.

We have to take a stance to be accountable for things and to try to make a difference when you can.

I am grateful to Ms Rudell for instilling this in Form 3 which is useful even now.” Bowles-Mortley’s academic achievements are also stellar. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Chemistry at Queen’s University in Kingston, a Masters and Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) also in Kingston, after which in 2010, she was presented with the Governor General of Canada’s Gold Medal by Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada, for highest academic standing in a graduate degree programme in her institution.

Following this ceremony, Bowles-Mortley received the RE Jervis Award at the Canadian Nuclear Achievement Awards in Montreal from Elodor Nichita, a member of the Canadian Nuclear Society for having successfully completed an eight year graduate research programme on addressing the issue of radioactive waste management, concentrating on the design of containers intended to isolate radioactive materials from the biosphere for several centuries.

A director of The Herbarium Limited in Trinidad and Barbados and assistant general manager in Trinidad, Bowles-Mortley opened Cher Mere Canada in 2013 and is involved in a number of corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects through her organisation. She is married to Canadian Ted Bailey, and with their four children live in Kingston, Ontario.

As an active member in her community, Bowles-Mortley’s awards include Volunteer Service Awards for five-year service and dedication as a volunteer in Ontario in 2010, Member of the Youth Justice Committee by the Ministry of the Attorney General, 2011 and the Andrea Van Blaricom Volunteer of the Year Award, Youth Division, Kingston, Ontario in 2006.

She enjoys being healthy and staying fit, through running, boxing, and astanga yoga, and has participated in the ING Ottawa Half-Marathon; Beat Beethoven Run and the Wolfe Island 10 K Classic Run.

On receiving an award from her Trinidad alma mater, Bowles-Mortley says, “I am so honoured to receive the Hilarian’s award in the school’s 95th year, with the theme ‘Let’s celebrate’.

I did not expect it. There are so many wonderful women who have come through these doors and I am so inspired that I have been chosen.”