Salem Kelati (Courtesy photo)
By Reginald Allen II
Special to the AFRO
With the steady growth of the marijuana industry for legal pharmaceutical and recreational use, Annapolis, Maryland-based I and I Botanicals, has stepped into the spotlight to selling Beauty care products that are infused with CBD. I+I Botanicals co-founder Selam Kelati incorporates herbs and other natural plants found in Ethiopian culture to deliver in her words: clean Beauty.
Founded in early 2019, Kelati with the assistance of her partner Jennifer Culpepper started I and I Botanicals with the main focus of utilizing the medical benefits of the cannabis plant.
Before I and I, Kelati was still the “product girl” testing and sharing new beauty products, however, it was Jennifer who introduced the idea of CBD cannibidiol to her. From there, Selam says, “it was like a lightbulb went off.”
The first product Selam launched was the Bath Tea Blend, a favorite among customers to this day, she said. It is known that bath bombs are a popular product to use when taking a spa day, but once it’s over there may be a leftover problem. “Everyone loves a good bath bomb, but no one likes the glitter, powder, or wet flowers that are left in the tub,” Selam explained. So, her solution was bath bombs packaged in tea sachets. Once your spa day is over you toss away the tea bag and there is no mess.
Kelati makes sure each packet is precisely measured to get a proper dosage of CBD per bath. The Bath Tea Blends has been very successful and has been recognized by Indie Beauty as the top three finalists for Best Bath Product.
I and I’s most recent product is a Coffee Body Scrub. It uses organic, fair trade coffee from Ethiopia and is a gender-neutral product. Kelati calls it the perfect pick-me-upper for a morning shower. A key benefit of this product is its ability to leave skin moisturized while protecting it from harmful elements.
For more information, visit www.iandibotanicals.com.