Trend Watch: Pairing acupuncture with shopping

Acupuncture and shopping may not be seem like obvious retail partners, but at Glow Boutique + Wellness in Laguna, they mix quite harmoniously.

Taryn Freeman and Gina Negri Klebanoff paired up on the concept, and call the shop a place to feel good both inside and out.

The shop offers luxury basics from labels such as Velvet, Lanston, Krisa and 360 Sweaters, denim brands like Paige and Citizens of Humanity, and acupuncture services by Klebanoff, a licensed acupuncturist and Laguna resident.

“The lines [we offer] stay true to the vision and concept for the store,” Klebanoff said.

The overall feel of the store is serene, with a clean, fresh decor and soft, neutral clothes. Freeman, who previously owned and ran Taryn Michelle boutique that used to be across the Surf and Sand Resort, is the eye behind the fashion offerings. Klebanoff had been a customer at her previous shop.

Just behind the boutique is a tranquil waiting room that features sliding doors out to a small patio with an ocean view. Follow that through to a treatment room, where Klebanoff, who has been an acupuncturist for about five years, does acupuncture and patient overall well-being, addressing things such as diet and body ailments. The shop also offers a small line of organic skin care, Kahina, as part of its well-being philosophy.

“We take a natural approach to supporting external beauty,” Klebanoff said.

Clothes range from $50 to $350, with some accessories at a lower-price point. Jewelry, which includes names like Long Lost out of San Clemente and Dee Berkley out of Las Vegas, runs around the same price range. Acupuncture services vary in cost.

Glow Boutique + Wellness is at 1891 S. Coast Hwy.; call (949) 680-8470.

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Ju-Ju-Be not just a diaper bag

Ju-Ju-Be may be known as a fashionable collection of bags for busy moms, but it fits the bill for any woman who wants to be organized.

In fact, after using them as a diaper bag initially, women switch them out and keep using them, said co-owner and partner Kristin Hunziker.

Hunziker and Joe Croft, parents themselves and former Oakley colleagues, started the Costa Mesa brand in 2005.

The idea for the company came to them after they pursued making bags for other private labels and decided to create their own brand.

“Our prints are inspired by a lot of things, “ Hunziker said. “I do a ton of research, whether it’s what’s happening on the runway to what’s happening with furniture and housewares. I do so much research and that’s where the [ideas for the prints] come from and we have guest artists as well.”

The company has gotten feedback from what Hunziker calls “super fans” — those who know Ju-Ju-Be’s bags well and worked that in with some designs.

“The BFF [bag] was born from feedback from our best fans,” Hunziker said.

All bags have fun names. There’s the Be Neat food/bottle carrier, which often becomes a lunch bag, Mighty Be hand/diaper bag and Thrift Be wallet to name a few. Prices range from $80 to $180, and the bags are sold online and in local boutiques like Granola Babies in Costa Mesa and Nordstrom at Fashion Island and South Coast Plaza.

More information is at https://www.ju-ju-be.com.

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T-shirts with a tale

If “Lily,” the main character of the Lately Lily tees, were a real girl, she’d by far be the coolest child around.

Huntington Beach-based Lately Lily creates girls T-shirts based around the story of a little girl, Lily, who takes amazing and exotic trips with her parents, a photographer and writer for one of the “world’s greatest magazines.”

Micah Player, a children’s author and illustrator who previously worked at Paul Frank, and clothing designer Erin Nichols started the company in October 2010.

“The idea of Lately Lily reflects the changing nature of childhood ... and you always wish you could freeze where your child is at in different times in life,” Player said. “There’s a constant change in kids’ lives and especially through the window of travel.”

Lily’s first trip and T-shirt storyline was to Peru. Her next trip, a shorter one dubbed the Layover collection, was to Iceland.

The Layover collection is still available: There’s the Lily Iceland, Northern Lights and Soda Break T-shirts. All feature whimsical, hand-sketched images of Lily on her adventures. Sizes run 2T to 6 and they are only sold online at https://www.latelylily.com for $28 apiece. A full line typically has about 24 T-shirt designs. The Iceland line has a smaller number in it.

Lily’s next adventure will be the City of Light, Paris, where she was born and is going back to visit her best friend, with those tees debuting in 2013 and targeting a broader market with more shirts up to size 10.

A game for the iPad will also debut to go along with the new adventure, said Player, who said it’s “super cool.”

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West Elm debuts in O.C. Friday

West Elm opens Friday at South Coast Plaza, its first Orange County store. The store will offer its signature furniture and home décor offerings as well as special collaborations, including holiday trim from ConfettiSystem and bedding from Allegra Hicks, according to a news release.

It is the first West Elm to feature the West Elm Market, a shop within a shop, and it will also offer decorative accessories and art from local artists through a partnership with Etsy, the website where crafters sell their wares.

Also offered will be one-on-one home stylist services, which include design measurements, creating a floor plan, picking paint colors and palettes and mixing new furniture with existing pieces.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. South Coast Plaza is at 3333 Bear St. Suite 231, Costa Mesa. For more information, contact the concierge desk at (800) 782-8888.

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Local sells unique shopping, gift bags

Newport Beach local Lindsay Lamoureux, a big “couponer,” is selling her eco-friendly handmade gift bags and products, called West of Camden, at a shopping kiosk in Fashion Island during the holidays.

Lamoureux sells recycled paper gift bags that are coated in vinyl for durability, she said in an email. The shopping or gift bags, which include smaller sizes for gifts or jewelry as well as larger ones, all feature unique screen print images: newspaper print bags, pictures of cactus, a “dictionary and apple” bag and a Bluebird bag, to name a few. There’s also a large tote that is 50% recycled material, Lamoureux said.

“The crowd favorite is ‘I Feel Re-Used,’ the hyphen is a recycle symbol,” she said.

After the couponing fad hit, Lamoureux started a blog and Facebook business page about how to save money and find deals, she said. That led her to the idea of reusable bags.

“I personally always used mine when couponing at several stores and wanted to put my own fashionable spin on the idea,” Lamoureux said. “It didn’t start out as something I thought I’d be making by hand, but with the creative genius of my mother-in-law, we turned out our first newspaper bag and it developed from there into what it is now, a fully vinyl coated paper bag that holds anything from your work lunch to a large gift.”

The bags sell for $9.95 to $24.95 and she also sells newspaper picture frames. She plans to add more products and gift wrapping in the new few weeks, she said.

West of Camden is outside of the Atrium and Z Gallerie and next to the koi pond at Fashion Island. She’s open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

She’s planning to launch a website to sell the bags. For now, West of Camden is at https://www.facebook.com/westofcamden.

Fashion Island is at 401 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.

ALISHA GOMEZ is the city editor of the Coastline Pilot. She can be reached at [email protected] or (714) 966-4618.