Inspo to Step Up Your Holiday Gift Wrapping Game

Liner Revival

The lip liner trend for spring 2025 embraces bold definition with a fresh, modern twist. This season, it's about pairing rosy nudes with soft, lighter lip colors and rich, warm tones with deep browns and cherry reds for a sculpted, high-impact look. City Lips Defining Liner is our favorite new lip liner. It prevents color fading, smudging, and feathering, so you can keep your look intact all day or night! It’s available in two pretty shades: Blush, a soft, rosy nude that pairs beautifully with pink hues and lighter lip colors, and Willow, a rich, warm-toned nude that complements brown tones and deeper shades.

Multitasking Makeup

The trend toward skincare-infused makeup is making your beauty routine work harder with nourishing ingredients. City Lips Defining Liner features vitamin E, helping to keep the lip line smooth while subtly enhancing its shape for a fuller, more defined look. For the ultimate plump and polish, pair the pigmented liner with City Lips Plumping Gloss — a duo that gives you a naturally voluminous pout, plus extra hydration.

Pastel Pop

From butter yellow to sage green, this season’s nail trends are embracing soft, yet statement-making hues that bring a fresh pop of color. Alongside these chic shades, almond-shaped nails are offering a sleek, elegant look that flatters your mani aesthetic.

'90s Nostalgia

A softer, smudged take on the classic cat-eye is making waves, with eyeliner staging a bold comeback in full, effortless sweeps. Blue eyeshadow is also back and better. Expect a nod to cool-toned, ’90s grunge eyes, a trend that lends itself to easy, minimalist lines, like a single, clean swipe of liner, proving that less can truly be more.

Lobs, Bobs & Natural Manes

Haircut season is in full swing, and lighter, fuss-free bobs at all above-shoulder lengths, plus natural curls, are making their way in and out of salons for spring. We couldn't be happier for the low-maintenance 'dos!

Satin Skin

This understated look highlights healthy, natural skin with a soft-matte finish — radiant, yet never flat or overly glossy.

Glossy lips, instead, shine this season. Upgrade your lip routine this spring with City Beauty’s new City Lips Defining Liner and lip glosses for a refreshed look.

In this segment, Paige Wiese, founder & CEO of Tree Ring Digital in Denver, CO, walks us through some of the ways she encourages clients to double down on marketing when business is slow. Paige built her business as a solopreneur graphic designer to a team of 15, helping clients with SEO, online ads, and social media management. Here’s her Take 5, plus more tips for surviving the business lulls below!

What's a recent small win for you and your business?

Paige: A recent small win has been just seeing business pick up again. I am seeing businesses start to engage with their marketing efforts and really trying to get to the root of why their website might be underperforming. We look at what they can be doing to see their money actually go to a place that it should be going.

What's a big piece of advice that you give to your clients?

Paige: A lot of them want to back off anytime there's a little bit of scarcity. I really think that's the time to double down, whether it be your digital presence, your website, or just adjusting how you're spending your money. But instead of just saying, ‘Hey, we're going to stop [investing in marketing],’ ask ‘How do we double down in the correct way and make sure we're seeing measurable results out of it?’ I do it myself anytime business is a little slow. I think we have to either change or we need to be doubling down. A lot of clients come to us when the pipeline is already dry and money is tight and they’re hoping for a quick fix. Marketing, unfortunately, isn't a quick fix.

See more tips for surviving business lulls below!

What's an unexpected business challenge you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?

Paige: I think one of the bigger challenges that we've run into has been more on the employee side, some of the retention or the hiccups that come along the way and then just learning from them. So how can we be a better, stronger company coming out of this and how do we use it as a growing opportunity?

How has the Verizon Small Business program helped propel your business forward?

Paige: I learned about the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program through the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). It's a free resource that’s self-paced and very digestible. The variety of topics it covers is a large gamut for any size business. The Selling with Storytelling course, especially, was really valuable to me, just really getting your messaging out there. I laugh that I sometimes enjoy the marketing ones a little bit more just because it is a refresher or another take on how we do this.

Thanks Paige!

Here Are More B+C Tips For Surviving The Small Business Lulls

1. Refine Your Strategy
   • Review your business plan and goals. Are you on track? What can be improved?
   • Analyze customer feedback and sales data to spot trends and areas where you can grow.
2. Boost Your Marketing Efforts
   • Refresh your website or social media profiles. Verizon Small Business Digital Ready’s free Put Your Website to Work course will help you get started with best practices for building your business website.
   • Create engaging content through blogs, videos, and newsletters. Verizon’s free Creating Compelling Content course can help you create consistent, quality content for your target customers.
   • Offer promotions or limited-time discounts to attract new customers.
3. Invest in Learning
   • Take an online course related to your industry, like Verizon’s free Planning for the Unexpected course for building resiliency in your business.
   • Stay updated on industry trends and innovations.
   • Engage with customers too. Send personalized emails to loyal customers or clients. Ask for reviews!
4. Improve Your Processes
   • Streamline operations or explore new tools to increase your efficiency.
   • Organize your workspace and declutter your digital files.
5. Self-Care and Rest
   • Take advantage of the slower pace to recharge. A refreshed mindset is exactly what you need to bring forth fresh ideas!

That’s right, Trader Joe’s sheet cake fans: the Carrot Mini Sheet Cake has officially hit shelves – just in time for all the best spring festivities. This returning product boasts a “moist, flavorful” carrot cake base topped with plenty of cream cheese frosting. This traditional combo truly can’t be beat!

The Carrot Mini Sheet Cake joins Trader Joe’s existing sheet cake lineup that is entirely too yummy. Their current flavors include mainstays like Dark Chocolate Ganache and Chantilly Cream Vanilla Bean, alongside the newer (and gluten-free!) Yellow Cake. TJ’s tends to launch new flavors for their sheet cakes around each season – they’ve even had a Pumpkin Spice version in the past!

One Trader Joe’s fan on Reddit happily announced when the Carrot Mini Sheet Cakes came back to shelves, and plenty of other users chimed in on the excitement.

“I can’t wait,” one person said.

“BRB, about to cause a carrot cake shortage in the New York Metro Area,” another Redditor commented.

More customers raved about the returning spring dessert on another thread under r/TraderJoe’s:

“I went yesterday and have 5 in my freezer for now…” one person said. “I will continue to buy single ones but now have a stash in case they sell out for the season. It is by far my favorite of the mini sheet cakes.”

Another user noted that the Carrot Mini Sheet Cake is “moist, and the frosting is fantastic, not too sweet.”

Trader Joe’s fan account @trader_joes_treasure_hunt also shared the new find with their followers, with countless shoppers expressing their excitement:

“These cakes any flavor are so good!” one person wrote.

“Best carrot cake I ever had in my life,” another said.

“Holy sheet I love some sheet cake,” someone else commented.

The smooth cream cheese frosting makes it an excellent blank canvas to add Easter-themed sprinkles or even small chocolate eggs for the holiday, though it’ll still taste like heaven if you eat it plain. The size of this sheet cake is perfect for sharing with a small group – or just keeping all to yourself this spring!

The Trader Joe’s Carrot Mini Sheet Cake is currently in stores now for $5.99 each. It’s only available for a limited time, so you’ll definitely want to hurry to try it before it’s gone!