I love to travel, but I’m often torn between wanting to go to new places where I’ve never been before, and wanting to go back to beloved spots I have previously visited and loved. For example, as a kid, my family went to South Carolina every summer. I could see every inch of our house […]

In the beauty industry, we put a lot of focus on the new. What’s the hot new product? What new innovations did such-and-such brand incorporate into their products? What is the new color of the season? The new, trendy smell, the new, cool ingredient, the new “it” category. You’ve seen it all, I’m sure, whether […]

As a child with an April birthday, I felt so hurt by the old saying, “April Showers Bring May Flowers.” I identified strongly with my birth month, and the idea that it was famous for rain was insulting to me. I felt personally slighted that this grand, glorious month I looked forward to each year […]

If you’ve ever dreamed of being on one of those “30 under 30” or “40 under 40” lists, like “the top 40 women in business who are under 40 years old,” welcome to the club. I used to fantasize about that. But as I watched the opportunity to be a “20 under 20” pass me by, followed, […]

I’ve been writing the blog for Integrity Botanicals for a while now. This is my 17th blog post here, and, since it contains entries from all my co-workers, it’s the one where I have to do the least amount of writing. AND YET. This is the hardest assignment I’ve ever been given. Those absolute monsters, Terri […]

Like a lot of Conscious Consumers, I have mixed feelings about Black Friday. On one hand, as a certified Product Junkie, I love the bargains and deals and special offers. On the other hand, the idea of making people work in retail stores starting at 4 am the day after Thanksgiving, when I’m cozy in […]

Fall is a time for new things. New pencils and notebooks for a new school year. New clothes. New shoes. New haircuts and backpacks and schedules. But what about those of us who are no longer in school? Don’t we deserve some serious New, too? Never fear, newness is here! And what’s better than just […]

I really love to travel. Wait, let me rephrase that: I really want to love to travel. And I really love the idea of travel. But the actual reality is that travel kind of stresses me out! For example, right now as I write this, I am preparing to go on a trip for over […]

Sometimes I forget for a moment that I get to try out beauty products for a living. I’m just going about my day, using 5 different lip glosses so that I can compare and contrast them and write about it, and I forget to take a moment and realize how AWESOME that is. How, as […]

Growing up, I thought of oil as just one thing. You know, oil. You put it on your salad. You bake with it, sauté veggies in it. In my mind, there wasn’t a lot of variety— it was just oil, and it lived in the kitchen. You didn’t put it on your body, and you […]