
The holidays may be long behind us, but winter is just settling in. With dry hair, skin and lips looming in the horizon, we’re giving a little extra TLC to our regular beauty routine. We’ve found the perfect potions and remedies to keep our skin dewy all year round, so frostbite won’t ever keep us from our boos. Melt away those cold weather blues with these 15 winter must-haves.
1. Darphin The Revitalizing Oil ($50): This is what we like to call the everywhere oil. Seriously, you can put it all over your body for instant hydration and baby soft skin. Try lathering this on after a hot shower or mix a few drops into your favorite body lotion. Oh, and don’t forget about your hair! Heat up one or two pumps of this potion into the palms of your hands and run through your ends for a healthy shine.
2. M61 Power Glow Peel ($28+): This peel is no joke. Chamomile, bilberry extract and vitamin K balance out those acids and leave you with a glow that EVERYONE will be asking you about. Swipe it all over your face, neck and hands to slough off those dead skin cells and layer your moisturizer on top before bed.
3. Fresh Rose Face Mask ($58): Real rose petals that literally melt into your skin? It’s true. It’s also packed with cucumber and aloe, which help soothe and calm any redness. You’re going to seriously smell like roses afterward.
4. Sara Happ Lip Scrub ($24): Chapped lips are inevitable this time of year. Thanks to this sugar scrub, we can get rid of our dry pout and have a sugary treat at the same time! We also love this exfoliator as a prep for the perfect red lip. Massage a tiny bit onto your lips for a minute or so and rinse off, then apply a lip primer.
5. Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask Champagne ($26): This leave-on lip mask needs to be in everyone’s bathroom this winter. It revives and rehydrates lips with organic agave nectar and jojoba and is loaded with 15 mg of antioxidant resveratrol, which helps heal and soothe dry skin. You’ll also get a beautiful wash of rose gold over your lips.
6. Moroccan Oil Body Butter ($52): This is a spa experience in a jar. Loaded with argan oil, the scent is to die for. Massage into damp skin after cleansing to lock in moisture.
7. Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream ($15): Hands go through a lot on a daily basis and for some reason they always end up last on our beauty to-do list. Formulated with antioxidant grape polyphenols and reparative organic fair-trade shea butter, your hands will be nourished this season.
8. Oribe Dry Conditioner Spray ($35): This award-winning spray is made for those with dry hair. Spray this midway through your tangles, and it will go to work to soften and add tons of shine. You won’t be able to stop smelling your hair thanks to Oribe’s signature scent.
9. Bumble and Bumble Dryspun Finish ($29): This aerosol spray pumps up your roots and adds a ton of texture without drying out your strands.
10. NARS Sheer Glow Foundation ($45): This sheer, build-able foundation will give your skin that healthy glow without looking heavy. Apply it with your fingers so the warmth of your hands melts it into your skin for a natural finish.
11. Yves Saint Laurent Babydoll Mascara ($30): YSL mascaras live up to their reputation. This Babydoll mascara will leave you with flirty, full and natural lashes. The brush has duo-length bristles that reach even the tiniest lashes while defining them naturally.
12. L’Oreal Lineur Intense ($8): Define your winter look with this carbon black liquid liner. The felt tip makes it super easy to create delicate, thin lines or a dramatic bold look. If you’ve tried Lancome Art liner, makeup pros swear this is almost identical and your wallet will thank you.
13. Elizabeth and James Nirvana Pure Perfume Oil ($35): Mary Kate and Ashley give us two two different scents to keep in your bag this winter. Feeling sensual, mysterious and warm? Stick with Nirvana Black. If you’re aiming for sophisticated, feminine and captivating, go with Nirvana White.
14. NYX Butter Lipsick ($6): At $6 a pop and over 20 shades to choose from, it’s hard not to start collecting all of these lipsticks! We love how the texture seems to melt onto the lips, giving full, yet lightweight coverage.
Which of these beauty must-haves will you try? Let us know 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