
When’s the last time you set aside a whole day to chillax and give your body the attention and care it deserves? We’re talking a head-to-toe treat yo’ self day, leaving nothing un-pampered. For way too many women, this doesn’t happen as often as it should. Yes, it’s true that beauty radiates from the outside in, but just as importantly, feeling good on the outside does wonders for our self-image.
1. Lazy Pack ($80): What’s with lazy being a bad word nowadays? Setting aside some time for self-reflection brings out our very best selves, and this kit has everything you need to kick off your me-day, with a soy candle, 3 essential oils, tray and mini notebook set.
2. Floral Butter ($32): We’ve had it up to here with skin care products that are scented with who-knows-what artificial ingredients that end up irritating skin. Throw those out and try this all-natural botanical body butter, scented with actual oils of sunflower, jasmine, rose and chamomile.
3. Rejuvenation Set ($42-60): Smoooooth away all the rough edges with all-natural juniper bath salts, cooling salve, lip balm and if you opt for the large set, a green tea clay facial mask. When you get ready for a refill on the lip balm, we’ve got your back with a tingly peppermint flavor to try next.
4. Bio Luxe Body Oil ($46): A few drops is all you need as you’re stepping out of the shower or the tub to unleash the benefits of body oil for your skin, including toning, relaxing and reduction of cellulite.
5. Renew Organic Bath Salts ($20): Imagine rose petals floating atop the surface of your bath while rose-scented vapors steam the sides of the wine glass in your hand. These bath salts are the stuff of dreams.
6. Clay Mask ($16): Fig + Yarrow understands that not all skin is created equal, and their clay mask bar has something that’s just right for every skin type. Infused with essential oils, these masks will hydrate while treating you to the tingly goodness.
7. Cleansing Rose Grapefruit Face Oil ($20): Jen Gotch, the #girlboss of ban.do, swears by rosewater face spray to make her feel invincible. This face oil takes it a step further, moisturizing and cleansing at the same time.
8. Citrus + Vanilla Sugar Scrub ($18): Give your skin some sugar! This sweet and warming blend of ingredients is your recipe for baby-soft skin.
9. Peppermint Foot Balm ($14): Generally speaking, the feet need more intensive moisture than the rest of the body, and those heavy creams leave our hands feeling greasy. This foot balm comes in a twist tube to make it easy to apply to the feet and leave ’em smelling sweet.
10. Fresh Scented Bath + Body Oil ($11-43): You can tell a good oil when the ingredients are just oil and nothing else. You can trust you’re getting pure hydration with this soothing blend of all-natural oils of pine, orange flower and bergamot peel. Add a few drops of this oil to a warm bath or rub into your skin as you’re getting out of the shower for a much more aromatic and natural alternative to lotion.
11. Aromatherapy Soap Set ($30): Three soaps to put your mind, body and spirit in a state of total relaxation.
12. Wild Threesome Chocolate Bars ($25): Introducing the trifecta of chocolatey delicousness. Read up on the health benefits of eating chocolate if you need further convincing.
13. Lip Scrub ($9): It’s easy to forget that our lips need special care until they’re chapping or cracking from harsh elements like winter wind. Weird but true: lips shed skin cells, too. Luckily, it’s easy to keep lips supple year-round by exfoliating with scrubs like this one.
14. Coffee First Scrub ($18): The power of coffee to get the blood pumping and deliver an instant perk-up goes beyond the a.m. cup; turns out the world’s favorite bean has the same effect on your skin when applied in an exfoliating and hydrating sugar scrub. (image via Perk Naturals)
15. Himalayan Pink Salt Bath Soak ($15): Soaking in Himalayan Pink Salt is said to detoxify the body and restore a healthy pH balance and strength to the skin. To you, that means soft skin, happy muscles and less stress.
16. Belle Epoque Nail Polish ($18): There are few things as confidence-boosting as a fresh coat of nail polish and these colors have got it goin’ on. Bonus: it’s also a nail-strengthening polish and free of all the bad -ates and -aldehydes.
17. Restore Hair Oil ($15): Adding oil to our hair seems to go against our better judgement, but it’s actually been done for ages to give back the moisture you’ve been stealing from your strands by styling. This formula feels weightless while protecting hair and leaving it shinier and healthier.
18. Muscle Bath Soak ($15): Overdid it at the gym? Turn your bath green with this muscle soak to ease away the aches and pains.
Which of these products do you swear by? Let us know in the comments below.
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:
You X Ventures for Unsplash
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.
Kobu Agency for Unsplash
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