MNN - Mother Nature Network

Over the past week, I’ve wrangled up a few choice, stocking-stuffer-appropriate items to complement my main home design-centric holiday gift guide. It’s an eclectic assortment to say the least: seed-embedded paper coinage, energy-saving dryer balls in the shape of hedgehogs, biodegradable toothbrushes that benefit in-need folks in Atlanta, Detroit, and the Twin Cities.

 

Today, I’m wrapping (stuffing?) things up with an item that comes to you from Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, the reality TV-conquering, cookbook-penning, wind turbine-installing agripreneurs otherwise known as the “Fabulous Beekman Boys.” (Seriously, lifestyle blogger Michael d’Estries has the boys’ every move covered like a blanket).

 

I’ve long been a fan of the Beekman 1802 Mercantile, the virtual storefront that Ridge and Kilmer-Purcell run out of their weekend getaway-turned-working-farm in Sharon Springs, N.Y. I did a quick drive-through of downtown Sharon Springs this past summer and it’s a charming, if a bit haunting, place. Apparently, Ridge and Kilmer-Purcell plan on opening a brick-and-mortar Beekman 1802 storefront/headquarters on Main Street with their recent “Amazing Race” winnings to help further revitalize the area.

 

As fans of the Beekman Boys are probably well aware, The signature Beekman 1802 product is a line of handmade goat milk soaps and skincare products including a certain item released late last year that’s ripe for stocking stuffer placement: a Lump of Kohl.

 

This moisturizing 10 oz bar is similarly goat milk-based but also includes detoxifying bamboo charcoal to help remove chemicals and impurities from the skin. Reads the product copy:

 

 

Each completely chemical-free bar costs $15 and is meant to be divvied up into smaller portions for use. And since I’m normally not one to be hawking natural skincare products, I should also mention that Ridge and Kilmer-Purcell also sell a slew of fabulous artisan-crafted home goods and gardening gear over at the Beekman 1802 Mercantile ranging from pillow cases to serving bowls to garden hods. All great stuff from a small business that's a little bit country, a whole lot fabulous.