Style Substance Soul | An online gathering of women who strive to look good, feel good, do good.

We’ve always been big believers in the Girl Scout motto, Be prepared — and we have the handbags to prove it! So we were thrilled to learn about Afterac, a start-up company dedicated to accident and disaster preparedness.

After a 7.1 earthquake rocked the Bay Area in 1989, local residents Steve Miller and Aaron Garner swore to one day open a business which would help people be ready for unexpected incidents from skinned knees to category 3 hurricanes. Afterac features everything you’d need to have on hand in your car or house in case an emergency strikes. Having recently spent 10 hours in the dark due to a Southern California power outage, you can bet we’ll be stocking up on lighting and radios.

To celebrate Afterac’s launch, we’re giving away two great products: Lifeline First Aid in a Bottle and American Red Cross Clipray Flashlight. You will be so glad to have both of these sitting in your closet.

For a chance to win, simply fill out the form below. You may enter once a day until the contest ends on January 1 at midnight Pacific time. Winners will be notified by return email.

P.S. You’re welcome. Whether you win or not, if you put together your own Afterac emergency kit now, we know you’ll be thanking us later!

We know you’re spending a lot of time picking out gifts for others, so we’re hoping to give you a handful for yourself! Hundreds of you entered last time we offered this (almost exact!) giveaway, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer it again now. One lucky winner will win all five of these top beauty products:

BrilliantFx Body Serum by Trinity of Youth is made of a unique mix of healing ingredients including lactic acid, Arnica montana, and vitamin E, and is highly effective on dry, cracked skin. Retail value: $39.95.

The anti-aging kit from Minus 417 fights wrinkles, and firms and smoothes skin with collagen, energizing vitamins and essential oils. Retail value: $228.97.

The Pirri Elements line was created by brothers and internationally renowned hair experts Piero and Luigi Pirri, inspired by the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea and infused with Bergamot from a fruit native to their hometown in Italy. Retail value: $68

EnvyDerm is an effective eyelash growth and conditioning serum for fuller, longer and stronger lashes. See results in as little as two weeks! Retail value: $59.95

Beautiful Skin Revealed: The Ultimate Guide to Better Skin by dermatologist Dr. Paul Friedman is a comprehensive guide which gives you expert advice on the best products and treatments. Retail value: $59.95

For a chance to win ALL FIVE ITEMS, simply fill out the form below! You may enter once a day until the contest ends on December 11 at midnight Pacific time. Winner will be notified by return email.

The Help, one of our favorite movies of the year, is now on DVD, and we believe it should earn Academy Award nominations for just about every actress in it. Based on Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling novel, The Help is the story of a group of maids in 1960s Mississippi — and the women who employ them. It is a powerhouse which has stirred up a lot of controversy along with some eye-opening discussions.

Read Lois’ article, “Please Stop Dissing The Help!” and Amy Wise’s post, “Why My Husband Won’t Be Seeing The Help,” and join the conversation.

To win your own copy of The Help, simply fill out the form below. You may enter once a day until the contest ends on December 25 at midnight Pacific time. Winners will be notified by return email.

Meanwhile, enjoy this delicious Southern-style holiday recipe from The Help’s food stylist, Lee Ann Fleming. Note: This is not Minnie’s chocolate pie!

CHEESECAKE PECAN PIE

1 (15 oz.) pkg. refrigerated pie crusts

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

4 large eggs, divided

¾  cup sugar, divided

2 tsp. vanilla, divided

¼  tsp. salt

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup light corn syrup

Unfold and stack 2 piecrust; together gently roll or press together and fit into a 9 inch pie plate according to directions; fold edges under and crimp. Beat cream cheese, 1 egg, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla and salt at medium speed with a mixer until smooth. Pour into piecrust. Sprinkle with pecans. Stir together corn syrup, 3 eggs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and remaining 1 tsp. vanilla and pour mixture over pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes until set.

In the craziness of the holiday season, we thought you could use a little escape from reality. So we’re giving away a copy of Mari Passananti’s debut novel, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, to curl up with after a long day of tending to everyone else’s needs.

The title alone was enough to hook us, but this coming of age story has resonated strongly with readers who relate to the appealing Zoe and her misguided conviction that her life would be perfect if she could just meet the right guy. This empowering book is funny, poignant and meaningful, and proves we all have the power to make ourselves happy.

Mari will send an autographed copy of The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken to one lucky winner. For a chance to win, simply fill out the form below. You may enter once a day until the contest ends on December 4 at midnight Pacific time. Winner will be notified by return email.

We love our Box of Treats promotions as much as you do!

We get to clean out our closets, you get an amazing goodie box of best-selling books, Academy Award winning DVDs and top-rated beauty products, and UniquEco gets to continue benefiting from our Formerly Flip Flops project. It’s a win-win all around!

One lucky winner will get a Box of Treats, with postage on us! For a chance to win, simply fill out the form below. You may enter once a day until the contest ends on November 27 at midnight Pacific time. Winner will be notified by return email.

Even if you enter the contest, make sure you order a box anyway. No two boxes are the same, and you do not want to miss out on our last Box of Treats promotion of the year. It’s our best one ever.

‘Tis the season to — cough, sneeze, catch a cold. Doctors say the best preventative medicine is frequent hand-washing but since that’s not always possible, CleanWell has put together an easy-to-carry-around Disinfectant Wipes To-Go Pack that kills 99.9% of germs botanically rather than chemically. The wipes, like all their products, are alcohol-free and kid-safe.

These are great to have with you at the grocery store for those disgusting shopping cart handles and at the gas station for the hoses that we never even thought about until an expert mentioned them on the radio as one of the biggest sources of germs.

To get you through the cold season — although you’ll want to keep these wipes handy all year round — we’re giving away a Disinfectant Wipes To-Go Pack. For a chance to win, simply fill out the form below. You may enter once a day until the contest ends on November 20 at midnight Pacific time. Winner will be notified by return email.

CleanWell is offering StyleSubstanceSoul readers an exclusive 20% discount on all online purchases. Just use code CWECQ4 at checkout, and stock up for the winter!

With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, here’s something to be thankful for!

We’re giving away half a dozen fantastic products. Each one would be a treat by itself, but one lucky winner will win all six of these:

BrilliantFx Body Serum by Trinity of Youth is made of a unique mix of healing ingredients including lactic acid, Arnica montana, and vitamin E, and is highly effective on dry, cracked skin. Retail value: $39.95.

The anti-aging kit from Minus 417 fights wrinkles, and firms and smoothes skin with collagen, energizing vitamins and essential oils. Retail value: $228.97. (more…)