Good Advice
The Obligatory Gift Guide, Part 1
This time of year, every publication from Vanity Fair to Vegetarian Times publishes its holiday shopping guide. Here’s Well+Good’s natural-leaning, fitness-focused guide to giving, for both your loved ones and yourself. Some of these gifts are extravagances, but the prices are not. While other gift guides include $228 shoe care kits (you know who you are New York Magazine) our refreshingly affordable suggestions max out at $118, so as not to max our your credit card.
Blake Brody’s in-studio slippers look like Repetto flats, but they’re meant for Pilates and barre classes, where bare feet are verboten and socks don’t quite offer grip. The antimicrobial flexible flats offer traction (thanks to transparent grips on the sole) and a bit of arch support. They keep feet looking chic when your pedicure has reached its expiration date. $98-$115, www.blakebrody.com
Mejica is an ode to vanilla orchid, says Manhattan’s Amanda Walker, one of two USDA-certified perfumers in the country, about her new genderless scent for A Perfume Organic. The warming, woodsy blend of organic vanillas is laced with smoky, sweet resins. The effect is incense without musk; spice without much pepper. It’s sold in a roller bottle and packaged in a plantable flower-seed—embedded box. Mejica, $65, www.aperfumeorganic.com
Deborah Burnes is the creator of Sumbody, a natural beauty line in California. Her new book Look Great, Live Green: Choosing Beautycare Solutions That are Planet-Safe and Budget-Smarter will raise your beauty IQ: it’ll make you smarter about cosmetic ingredients, reading labels for greenwashing, and finding truly natural products. In fact, Burnes names dozens of brands at all price points, making it an indispensible shopping resource for buying cleaner beauty products. $16.95, www.sumbody.com or www.amazon.com
Jane Iredale Eye Steppes are all-natural eye-shadow sets of three complimentary colors, made by the mineral makeup pioneer. They’re gorgeously packaged in stacks that click together or apart, making it easy to take just your go-to shade with you in your tiniest handbag. Three palettes are designed to flatter for blue-, brown-, and green-eyed girls. $56, shop.janeiredale.com
New Balance has knighted model and Project Runway-host Heidi Klum its celebrity designer—and the result is a line of barely sporty pieces layered with luxe details. Witness a handful of sweet Dolman-sleeve tops that reveal a peek of a collarbone or tank beneath, like this one, which completely dresses up a pair of leggings. Heidi Klum for New Balance Women’s Project Runway T-Shaped Top, $118, www.amazon.com —Melisse Gelula
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Thanks for the awesome mention!!! but…I’m from the East Village – Brooklyn is sooooo far away ;)
Thank you Thank you!!
Nothing like 56 dollar eyeshadow to show you really know how to waste money. $228 or $118, these articles make me cringe.