
In a tight race for our favorite food group, fruit is neck-in-neck with dessert and brunch. Since it’s summer and all, and fresh fruits are lookin’ so lovely in our straw tote/newly DIYed produce bag, we’ll give it the number one spot. But didyaknow — the incredible, edible, vitamin-filled treat can be can be used in more ways than just eating and drinking? That’s right, we’re talking fruit-y beauty today, people! Get refreshed with some of our favorite fruit-infused beauty products AND homemade beauty recipes that you’ll be dyin’ to DIY.
1. Homemade Fruity Body Scrub: The maker behind this playful DIY thinks it’s so good, you’ll want to share it with a friend. Test out her recipe using coconut oil, epsom salt and more to see for yourself. (via Mad In Crafts)
2. Tommy Guns Pomegranate Orange Flower and Hemp Conditioner ($10): Fruity conditioner guarantees double the sugar: once while lathering up in the shower, and again when you let your hair down and the breeze catches the irresistable scent.
3. Yes to Carrots Lip Butter ($3): Lip balm needs to be close in hand all summer long, and SPF 15 along with tons of fruity flavors certainly have us saying “yes.”
4. Lush Zeste Hair Gelly ($13): A touch of citrus zest can up the sassy ante of any dish, and likewise for any ‘do.
5. DIY Coconut + Lime Soap: With natural products that guarantee to refresh and exfoliate, this DIY recipe may just become a summer staple. (via Offbeat + Inspired)
6. Rejuvenating Papaya Mango Cream Shave ($6): Shaving every day throughout the summer can be a pain (you know you cheat in the winter)! Let Alba Botanica’s tropical scents and creamy smoothness take the pain away… literally.
7. Green Apple Blemish Clearing Peel ($39): Get fresh with this award-winning and certified organic peel that actually expedites the blemish healing process while rehydrating skin.
8. DIY Berry-Yogurt Mask: We can’t stop won’t stop lovin’ on homemade beauty recipes, especially when they look good enough to eat. Since you’ll be whipping this one up in your own kitchen, we won’t tell. (via Whole Living)
9. Lush Lime Shower Smoothie ($22): Let’s all just agree that one of our favorite summer indulgences is a frozen, fruity marg. Lush is serving you up, just in the shower. Drinks for one!
10. Hermes Un Jardin Sur Le Toit ($131): This summer-worthy fragrance is fruity beauty all grown up with hints of apple, pear and magnolia.
11. Coconut Oil, Lemon, and Grapefruit: When life gives you lemons and grapefruits, turn them into a hair treatment that promises to moisturize your scalp and stimulate hair growth. Um, genius? (via The Mother Huddle)
12. Satsuma Body Sorbet ($14): These adorable new body sorbets are as refreshing to your senses as they are to your skin — they cool as you smooth them on, and have an extra dose of vitamin E.
13. Pineapple Papaya Facial Scrub ($28): Real talk, this scrub exfoliates with real little bits of pineapple and papaya.
14. DIY Orange, Clove + Honey Lip Scrub: Time to rummage through your kitchen cabinets, chances are you have everything you’ll need to make a batch of this scrumptious lip scrub! (via Brit + Co)
15. Jenipapo Shower Oil ($25): Don’t feel bad, we’d never heard of the exotic Jenipapo tree before this product either. But, with a fresh and fruity scent and moisturizing lather, we’re glad to be introduced.
16. Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream ($6): This one’s a classic–it had to make the cut! You’ll find yourself reaching for it even when cuticles are feeling fresh just to get a burst of its lemony scent.
17. Homemade Face Scrubs: We turned all that (top pic) into all that (bottom pic) to mix up scrubs for every skin type that are (almost) good enough to eat. (via Brit + Co)
18. Triple Berry Smoothing Peel ($86): If you’re up for a summery beauty investment, this should be it. Renée Rouleau’s peel is a professional-grade, antioxidant-rich that will erase the effects of age, sun damage and more.
19. DIY Citrus Beauty Recipes: You know Mandarin and almond facial scrub: Blend 2 teaspoons of almond meal, 1 teaspoon of honey and 1/2 teaspoons of mandarin juice together. While taking a shower, apply the mixture on your face and gently massage your skin for about two minutes. Rinse the scrub off with warm water. (via Fashionisers)
Having a summer fling with any other fruity beauty products? Dish it up in the comments.
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures