Shopping for beauty products is a nightmare. If you are my boyfriend, or another other guy who has wonderfully braved Sephora before, you know exactly what I’m talking about except us ladies have to STAY IN THERE AND FORAGE AIMLESSLY until we find something similar to what we were actually looking for but still isn’t exactly what we needed. It’s hopeless.

Ladies! (and Gentlemen) Katia and Hayley, co-founders of Birchbox, are our lifesavers! In 2010 these two created an easy and affordable way to try hundreds of beauty products without entering the store. For $10/ month or $110/year Birchbox will send you 4-5 beauty and lifestyle product samples tailored to your subscription profile, each month in a little box.

Gents! There are boxes for you too. Two years after Birchbox was launched, the ladies expanded into men’s products including categories: beard and shave, hair, games & gadgets to name just a few.

Check them out online @ https://www.birchbox.com/ and subscribe!

A Birchbox subscription makes a great Christmas present!

Tara Stiles discovered her love of yoga at a very young age. She loved to sit outdoors, her legs crossed, and listen. Here, she felt peace and an internal understanding. She felt healing. In 2010, at the age of 28, she founded Strala Yoga (New York) and revolutionized the yoga world. Stiles’ style has made a name for herself – the “yoga rebel.” In my opinion her practice does not follow the traditional yoga journey but focuses on the individual. It’s almost casual. It is doable. It’s friendly and it’s fun! Her Strala studio presents a fun and upbeat atmosphere where one can practice poses as they please, much different from most other studios with dim lighting and an unspoken no-speaking policy. Strala is colorful and fresh, giving this ancient practice a new look! This new and different approach to yoga has turned into a global yoga movement with the intension of combating childhood obesity. Today, she makes frequent appearances in China and Russia as well all over the US. Since her startup in 2010, she has partnered with Reebok and has been featured in VOGUE, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and many more.

Check out her movement here: http://tarastiles.com/

Flora Stationary is a nonprofit organization that sells journals and notebooks featuring unique artwork from students in Pristina, Kosovo, a partially recognized state in Southeastern Europe. Flora’s mission is to create a stable stream of funding to help put women through college in their home country. Flora takes a portion of their profits from every sale to help these women.

25 journals fund one semester of college tuition in Eastern Europe. Only 25!

Flora began when co-founder Ashley VanBuskirk studied abroad in Pristina and worked with the local newspaper as a reporting intern. During this time she stumbled upon the story of Ema. Ema was a freshman college student working part-time to pay for her tuition. With an unemployment rate of 55%, it was going to take her 12 years to graduate, paying for one semester a year.

Ashley and her twin sister Victoria, a Grove City graduate, were determined to help and so, Flora blossomed. Each journal is designed using copies of artwork created by Kosovo artists. After being open for business for two days, Flora sold out of their inventory. Today they are continuing to empower women in Kosovo.

Check out their stationary, journals, and academic planners here! http://www.florastationery.com/

Carrots, blueberries, tomatoes, grapefruit, coconut, cucumbers…

Ido Leffler is the co-founder of Yes To… a health and beauty company producing nearly all-natural, organic beauty products. An Australian native, Leffler loved fruits and veggies – all of them! With a passion for start-ups, fruits and veggies, and healthy living, he decided to combine these three loves into Yes To… creating quality beauty products and simultaneously giving back to the world by creating the Yes To Seed Fund which has provided over 50,000 healthy meals to children around the world. Yes To products range from all natural chapsticks and lip balms to shampoos and conditioners and even baby care products. All of his products are made from the fruits and veggies listed above and are 96% paraben free. (Parabens are chemical preservatives used in beauty products. Studies show that 99% of breast cancer patients have parabens in their tissues.)

Unlike most natural and so claimed “organic” beauty products, Yes To is completely affordable. My favorite product, Yes To Tomatoes Facial Cleaner is only $9.99! That’s almost $5 cheaper than cheaper than other organic brands. Most impressively, their hair care products are only $10 a bottle verses other brands you pay upwards of $45 for. Even with their low prices, Yes To is able to give back which is incredible.

You should say Yes too! – check them out here: www.yestocarrots.com

Knits, Needles, Etc was founded in 2011 by 15 year old, Meredith Glenn. Meredith took up knitting at age six. Starting with thin, ragged headbands, Meredith learned quickly, and soon washcloths and scarfs scattered the house. Her skill set grew and she progressed onto more advanced stitching and detailed patterns. Hats, socks, mittens and sweaters began flowing from her needles. They looked cool with fun colors and patterns; and they were warm. Schoolmates and church friends began to notice her work. One day an elderly lady asked Meredith if she would knit her infant grandchild a sweater to wear home from the hospital. Meredith agreed and made her first dollar. $130 to be exact. The sweater had not taken her long to make and the average scarf took about an hour. So Knits, Needles, Etc was born. At first, her business flourished word-of-mouth. In 2013 her company went international. She continues to sell product in Beijing, today. Her sweaters are sold there for over $200. Meredith saves money by advertising on her own, taking her own pictures and posting her work. Meredith’s needle skills continued to grow to the point where she can now create her own patterns just by looking at a picture. She specializes in detailed and delicate clothing for babies sold easily for $100 to $150. See something you like on Pinterest? Email a picture and she’ll make it for you by the time you need it! Check her out on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KnitsNeedlesEtc). She can also be found on Etsy.

Meredith’s business is inspirational to me, not only because she is my sister, but because it shows the young entrepreneur that you don’t need a college degree or fancy technology to make money and do what you love. Her business started by accident. She naturally makes things that people want to buy. Meredith attends an academically rigorous high school and waitresses in the evenings. To relax, she runs her business. She sits on the couch, watches Dr. Who, knits her orders, and makes bank! To me, that’s doing alright. Even though she is known for her infant sweaters and booties, Meredith has not forgotten her first creation – scarves. Below are a few pictures of her products. If you are interested in having something custom made, you can contact her at glenn.meredith.g@gmail.com.