Natural Products for Your Loved Ones This Holiday Season!

Disclosure: Influence Central partnered with NOW for an Influencer Activation and received products to facilitate this post. All opinions are our own.

The holidays are such a special time of year – we have the chance to reflect on the year we’ve had, visit with our friends and family, and festively decorate our homes, all while putting together a delicious holiday menu for any winter get-togethers. But, it can also be an extremely busy time for us.

With the holidays in full swing, that also means taking time to go shopping for the perfect gifts to give to our loved ones. While I love the chance to visit different stores or get lost in the mall, it can be difficult to find a pocket of time to dedicate to gift shopping. This year, I’ll be sticking to searching for my gifts online – all from the comfort of my desk, hot cup of coffee in hand. I’ve also decided to take a more healthful approach when selecting my gifts – I want to ensure I’m picking out thoughtful gifts from brands I can trust.

In October, I had the opportunity to attend the NOW Wellness 50 event, in which I learned all about the NOW brand, their wide range of product categories, and their commitment to providing customers with a comprehensive approach to wellness (all by offering over 1,400 natural and affordable products!).

I, along with 16 Influencers, attended fun workshops, such as an Iron Chef challenge and a kick-boxing class, and learned just how easy it is to integrate natural NOW products into our every day lives. I left feeling inspired, determined, and excited to share more about this amazing brand. More than that, I discovered a newfound appreciation for a company that truly cares about their customers, their products, and their workers.

Beauty

At the event, I learned that women put on an average of over 500 synthetic chemicals onto their body every single day. NOW’s Quality Control and Quality Assurance programs is what truly sets this brand apart – NOW goes above and beyond the standard industry regulations to ensure they’re bringing pure and effective natural products to market. I really appreciated visiting the NOW factory and seeing these programs first hand. Everything was exact, accounted for, and precise – it was easy to see why NOW is such a trusted brand.

Some of my favorite products come from their beauty category – I especially love their Charcoal line (hello charcoal everything, my favorite!). Since attending the event, I regularly shower with their Charcoal Detox Gel Cleanser and Nutri-Shave™ Natural Shave Cream.

The shaving cream is great as it truly provides a close shave while moisturizing my legs! After my shower, I tend to relax with their Charcoal Detox Facial Mask. The facial mask is made with a deep-cleansing formula – I love how it exfoliates and rejuvenates my skin. I finish off my routine with the Charcoal Detox Moisturizer, which leaves me feeling fresh and ready to take on the day!

Pair these items in a little gift bag or basket, with a back brush and candle, and you have a perfect in-home spa treatment for someone you love! These charcoal products also currently on sale and as we all know, there’s nothing sweeter than a great deal! I’m looking forward to giving sets to my aunts this year as an encouragement for them to take time for themselves.

Essential Oils

Since relaxing is my gift theme this year – another great item I’d love to share with my friends are NOW’s extensive line of essential oils. For those unfamiliar, aromatherapy is a great way to enhance your mood using liquid plant essentials. I prefer floral scented oils, such as lavender, chamomile, rose, and jasmine, as well as camphoraceous scented oils, which are strongly aromatic, such as rosemary, eucalyptus and sage. These products range in price, so no matter your budget you’ll be able to pick out a great selection, making for a lovely and thoughtful gift.

I enjoy combining a few different essential oils, such as lavender and eucalyptus, especially after a long day at work. By simply adding water to my diffuser and a few drops of my favorite scents, I feel calmer and can begin to unwind with a good book.

NOW has several essential oil recipes on their site, such as a DIY beard oil and DIY floral sugar scrub (which make for great handmade gifts) though I’m most excited to try out some of their seasonal diffusion recipes!

Since I’m participating in a Secret Santa Exchange, I’ll be picking a few of my close friend’s favorite scents along with a couple of the hidden gem options, such as the sage oil. I don’t think my friend has previous experience with essential oils, so I’ll be sure to purchase a diffuser for her as well! NOW has a great line of diffusers – I own this one and love it. It’s super cute because it has different light settings, ranging from a glowing white to an ever-changing rainbow.

Natural Foods

I absolutely adore cooking during the holidays, a trait I easily inherited from my mother. As the years have gone by and my parents’ lifestyle has changed, we’ve definitely had to adjust our recipes. My parents tend to keep to a no-carb, no-sugar diet for the majority of the year. That said, during the holidays everything is fair game! Instead of going on an all out carb and sugar overload, we try to make small changes where we can.

At the NOW Wellness 50 event, I learned about the perfect products for my parents that keep us both happy – BetterStevia®! These bad boys are zero-calorie, organic stevia sweeteners that have no artificial colors, flavors or additives. During our Iron Chef challenge, we learned about the different varieties of BetterStevia® NOW offers and saw different use cases for the products.

Not only can we add these tasty sweeteners to our coffee (say for a French vanilla coffee), we can add these to so many fun treats such as in smoothies and shakes, dessert recipes, or cocktails at our holiday gatherings. My favorite BetterStevia® flavors include the dark chocolate (so yummy!) and peppermint cookie.

The best part is that these products are vegan, non-GMO project verified, keto friendly and caffeine free! I feel great giving these products to my family members, especially knowing they’re looking forward to maintaining their health-goals.

Holidays at Ease with NOW

After the NOW Wellness 50 event in Chicago, I was blown away by this impressive brand. I had a phenomenal experience learning about all of their great product lines, 50 years of stellar business, and had the chance to meet with some amazing Influencers. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share some of my own favorite products with my loved ones this holiday season.

If you’re interested in learning more about NOW, visit www.NOWFoods.com and check them out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Mark Wadden