To say I’ve had an awesome few weeks with Burt’s Bees would be an understatement. They are so aligned with everything I’ve been working on with my @insteadofmovement, and encouraging brands to be more sustainable and they share my love and appreciation of bees. We did some fun activations in Palm Springs during Coachella and recently in New York with my water bottle chain promoting hydration from the inside and out (their new Hydrating Stick is amazing on planes or when you need a hit of moisture and is so cooling!). Earlier this month I got to visit their headquarters in Durham, North Carolina and see where all the magic happens.
Welcome to Burt’s Bee’s! Tour inside Burt’s house and the offices!
Today, the UN celebrates the first ever World Bee Day (May 20th) to raise awareness of these tiny helpers and the role they play in ending hunger and achieving sustainable development. And in honor of this day I wanted to give you a tour of the office, Burt’s original cabin in Maine (which they moved onto the property), interior and all, and for you to meet their bees!
My best organization hack: Ikea Alex organizers (the wide and skinny ones)
Spring cleaning is here and I’m also currently moving offices so I’ve been decluttering, donating and reorganizing my beauty closet like a mad woman. I had two amazing features this month, one with Elle Decor, the other with Spotlyte all focused around tips for storing/organizing your beauty products. I was also featured in an awesome article in Self last year that goes super in depth with their recommendations.
In the 10+ years of blogging and 15 years in the beauty industry, I’ve literally tried it all. And for me the Ikea Alex Drawers — both sizes, ALEX™ Drawer ($89) and ALEX Drawer Unit ($129) are the holy grail. For the latter I remove the casters and I stacked two on top of each other.
Most of the suggestions I read in these articles by other contributors are good for smaller beauty stashes (I definitely recommend reading them all for inspiration) but I’m highlighting a few that inspired me from each article. Check them out below but between all of these articles you should have what you need to get organized!
Elle Decor 7 Brilliant Ways to Organize and Store Your Makeup
Highlights: Mugs and candles to hold brushes (I do this too) and it’s a common hack but definitely noteworthy.
Acrylic Organizers in Drawers, amazon to container store have a lot of options but containers for inside your shelves is so necessary.
Spotlyte Tips For Spring Cleaning Your Beauty Stash — Straight from Editors and Influencers.
The Clear Stackable Large Shoe Drawers (on sale $9.74 each) from The Container Store, another winner for when you need to see through your stash. A lot of the acrylic organizers are cute but not practical if you have a large stash I found this one to be genius and affordable. Awesome recommendation by Christen Dominique, Founder of Dominique Cosmetics
Part of why I started this ‘Instead of’ movement (@insteadofmovement) was to share tips on how to live a more sustainable life but in an approachable, fashionable, way. And also inspire brands to recognize they have choices when it comes to how they package their products and how they run their companies. For me Aveda embodies everything we’re all about. Efficacious products, mindful packaging, giving back… and frankly they’re cool.
Aveda partnered with Fashion Institute of Technology for their 13th Annual Sustainable Business and Design Conference + gala
Started in 1978 by one of my personal heroes and complete visionary Horst Rechelbacher with the vision to bring beauty professionals botanical products that would be good for them, their guests, and the Earth and its communities.
Antoinette Beenders, Global Creative Director of Aveda (2 min and 40 seconds in) and others share how they make a difference.
Aveda cares for the world we live in and sets an example for environmental leadership and responsibility. Antoinette Beenders, Aveda’s Global Creative Director participated in our first ever ‘Instead of’ video shown above and shared some of Aveda’s initiatives including their annual ‘Trashion Show.’
Hanging with Lindsay Ellingson wander beauty NYC pop-up
I finally met Lindsay Ellingson, co-founder of Wander Beauty at the brands first pop-up shop in NYC. The travel theme, highly instagram-able shop is open through July 31st and located at 787 Lexington Avenue, between 61st and 62nd street. They are offering fun, daily activations so be sure to check it out.
