Holiday Gift Guide 2021: LoveLit Candles Is Young Hailei Beckwith’s Labor of Love (Sans Beeswax)

Hailei Beckwith, owner of LoveLit Candles, receives a Young Entrepreneurs Day proclamation from Monroe, LA Mayor Friday Ellis. Photos courtesy of LoveLitCandles.

HEADS UP: Dear Reader, we’re back with a Holiday Gift Guide after a two-year hiatus! Until 24 Dec., the elves at The Wright Wreport will introduce at least one or a series of products, items, services and/or brands that we believe are worthy of consideration as holiday gift(s).

BY VW

HAILEI Beckwith has it going on!

Not only is she a good student, nice person, attractive girl and a pageant winner (Miss Monroe's Outstanding Teen 2022), the 17-year-old is an entrepreneur. And she’s been in the game for four years as the founder of LoveLit Candles. Since she was 13, in case you didn’t do the math.

Who’s to say? One day Hailei might be mentioned in the same breath as Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Frank DeLuca (Subway) and Mike Kittredge (what became Yankee Candle).

The LoveLit Candles Holiday Collection: Christmas Cabin, Mistletoe + Cranberries, Spiced Pomander and Winter Romance.

Today, she has peers like Maya Penn (Maya’s Ideas: sustainable fashion), Caroline Bercaw and Isabel Bercaw (Da Bomb: bath bombs) and Femi Adebogun (ScholarMe: platform for applying for college aid). All founded their enterprises in their teens; some are still teens.

There are no hard-and-fast statistics on the number of children in the United States who own businesses, but anecdotally the number is in the millions.

The LoveLit Candles room/linen sprays (Graceful Host, for instance) neutralize odors and refresh the air in various spaces.

It’s as though Hailei took the advice of former President Barack Obama: “We are the change that we seek.” Or many a grandmother: “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

Undoubtedly, these are some of the self-starter/solution-oriented attitudes – plus, a bee allergy – that led the adolescent to start her Monroe, LA-based candle company.

“Most candles use beeswax and I wanted to enjoy candles and also allow that opportunity for other people that are allergic to beeswax to enjoy candles,” she explained during a recent interview after receiving a Young Entrepreneurs Day proclamation from Monroe, LA Mayor Friday Ellis (play video for the entire interview).

Don’t want an open flame? LoveLit Candles has you covered with Wax Melts (Brandied Pear, anyone?).

Beeswax-less Lovelit Candles come in a variety of scents: Mahogany Teakwood, Kakadu Plum + Amber, Southern Belle, Jamaican Me Crazy, Monkey Farts, Baja Cactus Blossom, etc. The Christmas Cabin candle – currently, the candle BFF of Yours Truly – is simply sublime. The evergreen, mess and pine notes combine to create an intoxicating aroma of the forest. Nothing cloying and clingy, here!

Add wax or aromatic oil of choice and plug in with a LoveLit Candles Pluggable Fragrance Warmer.

Each candle comes with care instructions. Who knew that the wick should be cut by one-quarter inch after the first use?! Or that one should burn candles for up to about three hours at a time? Such best practices extend the life of the candle and improve the burning experience. A nice little differentiator, no?

Surprise, surprise, the company peddles more than candles. For those concerned about open flames, there are Wax Melts in hot scents like Cool Citrus Basil. Amongst the stock, too, are Room/Linen Sprays, Pluggable Fragrance Warmers, Diffusers and Car Air Fresheners (new).

The LoveLit Candles DIY Candle Making Kit comes with supplies for two candles (jars, lids wax, wicks, wick stickers, wick bars, fragrance oil, warning labels and instructions).

Incidentally, all LoveLit Candles scented products are made from organic and eco-friendly ingredients. To that end, there may be extra-special enthusiasm for the DIY Candle Making Kit.

Peach Magnolia over here!

Visit https://www.lovelitcandles.com/ to learn more about LoveLit Candles.

Holiday Gift Guide 2021: High Hopes for Potentially Game-Changing (and Award-Winning) Kikkerland Design Turtle Tofu Press

According to Kikkerland Design, its award-winning turtle tofu press can drain tofu within 20 minutes. Photos and video courtesy of Kikkerland Design.

HEADS UP: Dear Reader, we’re back with a Holiday Gift Guide after a two-year hiatus! Until 24 Dec., the elves at The Wright Wreport will introduce at least one or a series of products, items, services and/or brands that we believe are worthy of consideration as holiday gift(s).

BY TAMARA BECK

FOR years now, I have been trying to figure out how to drain tofu. Piling plates over the logs I have laid out in a sifter was an improvisation that yielded less than success.

Such fits and starts would result in my leaving the tofu in the store’s refrigerated section. Some of you might consider that a gift in and of itself. After all, the stuff has very little flavor. But, oh gosh, tofu has a tremendous amount of protein, calcium and iron. And few calories! It is decidedly good for you.

But I digress. There is a possible solution to this drainage problem: Enter the Kikkerland Design Turtle Tofu Press, a design challenge winner. Alas, there is a problem with this possible solution: The tofu press is sold out. Another supply chain issue?

And more questions. How well does the turtle press drain tofu? Is it fast, or more like a snail (or turtle)? Will it make my Tofu Life easier?

Is it really as user-friendly and effective as Kikkerland says:
1. Insert tofu in the strainer
2. Place lid over it
3. Wrap silicone band around the press
4. Excess water is drained from tofu within 20 minutes

Meanwhile, the merits of tofu are many. When prepared in a quick-and-easy stirfry or scramble, it absorbs the yummy around it to make a delicious lunch or breakfast. Tofu complements bell peppers, especially the juicy red ones. And mushrooms, garlic and black pepper. Soy sauce and edamame are a nice addition, too. Well, this is making me hungry.

The Kikkerland Design Turtle Tofu Press is made from bamboo, which fights off bacteria.

Further considering this Kikkerland turtle tofu press, it is cute as a button and exotically fashioned of bamboo. This wood is a natural for use with food because of its antibacterial property. Its place in your kitchen depends so much on the answers to those burning questions. But if it were me reading the tea leaves, I’d say it's a keeper.

Let’s revisit this pressing matter in 2022.

Visit https://kikkerland.com/products/turtle-tofu-press to learn more about the Kikkerland Turtle Tofu Press.

Holiday Gift Guide 2021: What Is One Thing Oprah and David Spade Have in Common? All-Occasion, 'Gift Wrap My Face' Gift Wrap Paper (and More)

The "Gift Wrap My Face" Elfie Dance Smart Gift Wrap is designed with trademarked augmented reality that is activated by a QR code. See video below. Images and videos courtesy of "Gift Wrap My Face."

HEADS UP: Dear Reader, we’re back with a Holiday Gift Guide after a two-year hiatus! Until 24 Dec., the elves at The Wright Wreport will introduce at least one or a series of products, items, services and/or brands that we believe are worthy of consideration as holiday gift(s).

BY VW

YOU see it on the Wall Art, Banner, Gift wrap paper and so on. It is you or possibly someone you know.

Essentially, some likeness is superimposed onto items with themes associated with holidays, celebrations and events. One company – “Gift Wrap My Face” – makes the magic happen. As co-owner Aryel Rivero put it during a recent virtual press conference, “We make all kinds of things with faces on them.”

When the Florida-based company was founded in 2014, it mainly produced themed gift wrap paper. Now, “Gift Wrap My Face” plasters faces on items like Christmas stockings, Posters, Socks and Stickers.

The “Gift Wrap My Face” Little Miss Elfie Selfie Wine Socks – like all of the wine socks – can replace wine-type gift bags. After the bottles are removed from them, they will be ready to wear.

It’s all “kitschy but well-designed,” Rivero pointed out with a smirk.

It’s easy-peasy, too. On the website:
1. Select themed paper (Advent Calendar, Christmas Sweater, Evergreen Christmas, Menorah Head, Selfie Ornaments)
2. Upload a high-res photo
3. Select product and theme (Banner and Birthday)
4. “Gift Wrap My Face” team does its thing and you have your customized order in as few as three to four business days.

The items are tied to themes and occasions that include Anniversaries, Birthdays, Christmas, Everyday, Graduation, Hanukkah, Motivational messages, Pets, Superheroes, Thanksgiving, Weddings, etc. (All products are made in the United States.)

Of course, selfie gift wrap paper and the like aren’t new. After all, we live in a selfie culture.

The personalized “Gift Wrap My Face” banners are 60 inches wide by 24 inches high.

Part of what sets “Gift Wrap My Face” apart, however, is that it is truly custom. It does all of the work for you, saving you the botheration of going to a Zazzle, for instance, and doing much of the custom production – which can be rather tedious and user-unfriendly – yourself.

Further, “Gift Wrap My Face” uses trademarked Augmented Intelligence that can produce floating faces like the one on the paper that Rivero used to wrap a gift that he sent to co-owner and wife, Vanessa Clavijo, who at the time was his girlfriend.

Another “Gift Wrap My Face” product is Video Paper. It has a personalized and private QR code that allows gift givers to share a video message with recipients.

Quality-wise, the paper “Gift Wrap My Face” uses is different from the gift wrap paper one buys in a store in that it is matte and of a heavier stock, preventing ink from bleeding and smudging.

The company also eschews coated paper and paper made with “harmful shiny chemicals.” Socks are a polyester-spandex blend with a reinforced heel and Christmas stockings are made from 100% polyester.

The “Gift Wrap My Face” Money Maker and Aqua socks (inset) are a crew design made from a polyester-spandex blend. All styles come in adult and child sizes.

Not surprisingly, this outfit is on the radar of the celebrity set: Khloe Kardashian and David Spade. Its biggest endorsement to date has come from none other than king and queenmaker, Oprah.

Visit https://www.giftwrapmyface.com/ to learn more about “Gift Wrap My Face.”