American-Made Things Loved This Month

A distillery tour + a street art surprise, a hair lotion, a concealer, and a screwdriver set. Here are more than a few American-made things that I'm loving this month:

1. High Wire Distilling Co. -- I traveled to South Carolina this month with my family and we visited Charleston's High Wire for a distillery tour and tasting. They make a wide range of spirits, from locally sourced ingredients when possible, including small-batch bourbons and rhum agricole. A highlight for us was hearing about how they're working with Clemson University and local farmers to help revive heirloom and native crops suitable for distilling. We really enjoyed sampling their stuff, seeing the distillery, hearing about their future plans, and purchasing a few souvenir items (made in the USA!).

From left to right: Hometown Vodka, Silver Rum, Belonger's Rum (aged in Woodford Reserve barrels), New Southern Revival Sorghum Whiskey, Hat Trick Botanical Gin

Sugar cane rum aging in Madeira barrels

For him: a trucker hat, for me: a logo tee made with my fave American Apparel track tee.

2. "Power & Glory" -- Bonus: getting to see this mural by Charleston-native Shepard Fairey right in the parking lot adjacent to the distillery.

3. Redken Align 12 Protective Smoothing Lotion* -- My hairdresser used this on me right before blowing out my hair at my last haircut. It's lightweight, gives just a bit of hold, and helped smooth out my slightly wavy hair. I loved that my hair was still soft and had movement afterwards. Although I don't use a lot of styling products, I'm considering buying this to use at home.

4. Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer* -- Yup, it's amazing. I have used this concealer on and off for the past few years. It's getting a lot of use lately, to help hide under-eye circles and redness. It lasts all day, doubles as a great eyeshadow primer, and because it's so highly pigmented you need just a teeny, tiny amount. This 0.2-ounce "travel" size will be all you'll ever need.

5. Shinola Screwdriver Set -- My husband was recently discussing how he wanted a better set of screwdrivers. My mom bought him this gorgeous set for his birthday. Made of hand-painted black Maine hardwood and black oxide-finished steel, these tools are certainly manly enough to use for his motorcycle repairs.

*Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links.
(Photos by me; stock photos from Drugstore.com and Shinola.)