In the art of whisker removal, shaving cream and aftershave get most of the attention.

But for a flawless jawline, properly prepping your beard and skin is just as important—especially if you experience ingrown hairs, razor burn, and other pitfalls of grooming.

We've rounded up some preshave products are so effective, they'll make aftershave an afterthought.

SEE ALSO: 4 steps for the perfect shaving routine, according to a dermatologist

Oil

This nourishing treatment lays the foundation for a comfortable shave by softening hair and skin with a blend of organic oils. Aloe vera and Vitamin E prevent inflammation, helping reduce razor burn.

Use: The Barba Corte Pre-Shave Oil

Tonic

If you’ve ever had a professional shave, you know the sacred practice of relaxing under a hot towel before the barber gets to work. Recreate that experience with this shave tonic: Mist it over a towel and hold over facial hair for 30 seconds to let the blend of natural oils and vitamins hydrate and protect your skin.

Use: Baxter of California Shave Tonic

Cream

Your face is in good hands with this iconic Italian brand, which has helped guys hone their looks for over 60 years. Whether you choose the original version with refreshing menthol and eucalyptus oil, or opt for the sensitive skin formula with calming green tea and oat extract, you’re getting the best of old-world quality and modern style.

Use: PRORASO Pre-Shave Cream

When it comes to tracking your online activities for the sake of serving relevant ads, Google is probably the company that comes to mind.

But Apple actually tracks some of what you do on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, in order to serve you ads through its iAd platform.

Apple can use information like where you live, what you've downloaded (apps, movies, books, music, etc.), what music you listen to in Apple Music, and what you read and subscribe to in Apple News, in order to target advertising to you.

Apple says it clusters people in groups of at least 5,000 other people "who share similar characteristics" in order to protect privacy, and that it "does not know or make available to advertisers information regarding your sexual orientation, religious beliefs or political affiliations.

By default, your iPhone is tracking some of these things, so unless you've turned the setting off, you're likely getting targeted ads based on some of this information.

The good news is that it's simple to limit tracking and turn off location-based ads. 

Here's how to do it. 

SEE ALSO: Here are Apple's rejected iPhone designs

First, go to Privacy in your device's settings

Then, tap Advertising.

Toggle the switch on for "Limit Ad Tracking."

In 2015 India and Pakistan squared off over the Kashmir region, the South China Sea remained an area of contention, and Russia continued its aggression in Ukraine and began a bombing campaign in Syria.

As the year comes to a close, here's 18 pictures from all across Asia:

SEE ALSO: 17 incredible photos of the Middle East from 2015

Kunduz, Afghanistan: A man looks at the wreckage of a Doctors Without Borders hospital that was bombed by US war planes.

Tactical Base Gamberi, Afghanistan: US forces remain on active duty in Afghanistan, as the Taliban and ISIS grow increasingly influential in the nation.

Kathmandu, Nepal: A massive 6.7 magnitude earthquake rocked the Nepali capital, leaving more than 2,200 dead in the worst quake in 80 years.

The past year has been incredibly tumultuous for the Middle East. 

Political upheaval is still roiling throughout the region since the Arab Spring, and wars have continued to grind on in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Libya.

But despite the conflict, life continues in this region where 257 million people call home. 

We have put together some of the most illustrative photos taken in the Middle East this year.

SEE ALSO: The 50 most unforgettable photos of 2015

In this March 12 photo, a man looks at the rubble of buildings destroyed in the clashes between ISIS militants and Kurdish armed groups in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani.

In this Monday, March 30, 2015 photo, Iraqi security forces launch a rocket against Islamic State extremist positions during clashes in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi forces retook the city on April 17, 2015.

In this Friday, April 24, 2015 photo, an Egyptian youth carries a lit flare as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood gather in the El-Mataria neighborhood of Cairo, Egypt, to protest the 20-year sentence for ousted president Mohammed Morsi and verdicts against other prominent figures of the Brotherhood.

If you're going to learn anything, you need two kinds of prior knowledge: 

• Knowledge about the subject at hand, like math, history, or programming

• Knowledge about how learning actually works

The bad news: Our education system skips one of them, which is problematic, given that your ability to learn is such a huge predictor of success in life, from achieving in academics to getting ahead at work. To succeed over the longterm, you have to master skill after skill. 

"Parents and educators are pretty good at imparting the first kind of knowledge,"shares psychology writer Annie Murphy Paul. "We're comfortable talking about concrete information: names, dates, numbers, facts. But the guidance we offer on the act of learning itself — the 'metacognitive' aspects of learning — is more hit-or-miss, and it shows."

To wit, education research shows that low-achieving students have "substantial deficits" in their understanding of the cognitive strategies that allow people to learn well. This, Paul says, suggests that part of the reason students perform poorly is that they don't know a lot about how learning actually works. 

It's a cultural issue.

Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis and coauthors of "Make It Stick: The Science Of Successful Learning," say that "how we teach and study is largely a mix of theory, lore, and intuition."

So let's cut through that lore. Here are learning strategies that really work. 

SEE ALSO: This simple realization could make you a much happier person

Force yourself to recall.

The least-fun part of effective learning is that it's hard. In fact, the "Make It Stick" authors contend that when learning is difficult, you're doing your best learning, in the same way that lifting a weight at the limit of your capacity makes you strongest. 

It's simple, though not easy, to take advantage of this: Force yourself to recall a fact. Flashcards are a great ally in this, since they force you to supply answers.

Don't fall for fluency.

When you're reading something and it feels easy, what you're experiencing is fluency.

It'll only get you in trouble.

Example: Say, for instance, you're at the airport and you're trying to remember which gate your flight to Chicago is waiting for you at. You look at the terminal monitors — it's B44. You think to yourself, Oh, B44, that's easy. Then you walk away, idly check your phone, and instantly forget where you're going. 

The alternative: You read the gate number. Then you turn away from the monitor and ask yourself, What's the gate? If you can recall that it's B44, you're good to go. 

Connect the new thing to the old things.

"The more you can explain about the way your new learning relates to prior knowledge," the "Make It Stick" authors write, "the stronger your grasp of the new learning will be, and the more connections you create that will help you remember it later." 

When you're weaving in new threads into your pre-existing web of knowledge, you're elaborating. 

One killer technique is to come up with real-life examples of principles you've just uncovered. If you've just learned about slant rhyme, you could read poems that exhibit it. If you've just discovered heat transfer, you could think of the way a warm cup of coffee disperses warmth into your hands on a cold winter's day.

If you ever wondered how wealthy, connected celebrities enjoy Christmas and the time off it affords, Instagram offers a porthole — as was proved this year when Taylor Swift posted a picture of herself dressed in an elf onesie.

From celebrating babies' first Christmases to sharing vacation pictures, check out how some stars took in the holidays below:

SEE ALSO: Here's the lavish way the 'Rich Kids of Instagram' spent their holidays

Taylor Swift

Swift dressed like an elf to show her Christmas spirit and added a holiday twist to a lyric from Drake's "Hotline Bling."

You used to call me on my elf phone.

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Dec 24, 2015 at 10:53am PST

She also spent the holiday with boyfriend Calvin Harris. They built a snowman along with her brother, Austin.

Really proud of ourselves over here.

A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Dec 23, 2015 at 9:39am PST

Mindy Kaling

Kaling spent her Christmas in Hawaii, sharing a number of selfies and pictures of beautiful scenery. She couldn't avoid using a pun and wished everyone a "Maui Christmas."

Maui Christmas heh heh. Do you see the rainbow?

A photo posted by Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) on Dec 25, 2015 at 6:39pm PST

Now that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is out in theaters, a myriad of books and novelizations Disney has been heavily guarding to prevent spoilers have also been released.

Among those books is "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens," a fantastic look at the concept art, drawings, and ideas that went into the production of the film as well as interviews from concept artists who worked on the movie.

I definitely recommend the book if you were a fan of the film.

While we still have a lot of questions after seeing the latest installment of "Star Wars," the book helps shed light on some of the early inspiration for "The Force Awakens."

Here are 15 things we learned while reading "The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Warning: There are some spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the film.

Rey was originally called Kira.

Many concept images of Rey are labeled as Kira in the book. Screenwriter Michael Arndt ("Toy Story 3") described the character as a "loner, hothead, gear-head, badass."

Finn's character was named Sam and he was going to be rescued by aliens on Jakku.

After Poe and Finn crash land on Jakku early in the film, Finn — then known as Sam — was going to be rescued by an alien tribe and reborn a hero. Yeah, it sounds a bit out of place.

There were plans for a double-colored lightsaber.

Coproduction designer Rick Carter came up with the idea of a dual lightsaber that was red on one end and blue on the other.

"Early on, Rick was really keen on bringing this concept of fire and ice together visually. He suggested, because I had one lightsaber that was blue, 'Why don't we make it a double lightsaber?'" said concept artist Erik Tiemens.

This year proved just how visually sunning sports can be.

The incredible abilities of athletes, combined with the talented photographers who work for Getty Images, The Associated Press, and Reuters, came together to produce some of the most amazing sports photos you will ever see.

Here are our favorite sports pictures from the last 12 months.

Tyler Kennedy of the New York Islanders skates on what at first appears to be a blank canvas.

A ski jumper competes in Austria.

JJ Watt sacking a quarterback without a helmet.

The winners of 2015's National Geographic Photo Contest have been announced, and as usual, the entries are absolutely breathtaking.

The contest selected winning photos in three categories: People, Places, and Nature, as well as a grand prize winner.

The first place winner in each category will receive $2,500, and their photo will be published in National Geographic magazine. The grand prize winner receives $7,500 in addition to the first-place prize, and a trip to the National Geographic Photography Seminar in Washington, DC, in January 2016.

Here are this year's winners:

SEE NEXT: Glorious award-winning National Geographic photos will make you want to travel the world

NOW CHECK OUT: Here are the winners of the 2014 National Geographic photo contest

This photo of a tornado in Simla, Colorado won the grand prize and nature category. The photographer spent two weeks chasing storms last spring with his brother and some meteorologist friends before capturing the winning shot.

This aerial photo of radioactive ponds in the marshes of Andalusia, Spain, won the places category. The photojournalist who shot it thought it looked like an asteroid impact.

This photo a boy who lives in a slum in Uganda's capital, Kampala, won the people category. The photographer wrote that the boy takes his bicycle to the playground every evening to watch kids play soccer.

Bojangles' explosive IPO in May put the company on the map across the US — especially in regions outside the South sadly lacking in chicken and biscuits. But for long-time fans, the chain's appeal is nothing new.

Bojangles' has reported 22 consecutive quarters of positive comparable restaurant sales, the company said in November. A large reason for that growth is what Bojangles' calls a "loyal, cult-like following."

As a Bojangles' fan, I decided it was time to stop by the location in my hometown of Durham, North Carolina, and revisit how the chain has built its following.

Bojangles' was founded in 1977 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today, the chain has 657 locations, primarily in the Carolinas, including my personal go-to restaurant in Durham.

The chain is known for its "chicken 'n biscuits." The chicken is hand-breaded and never frozen, while biscuits are made from scratch and baked fresh every 20 minutes.

Other standouts on Bojangles' menu are the sides — or, as Bojangles' calls them, "fixin's"— including cole slaw, "picnic grits," Cajun-flavored pinto beans, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, and "Bo-Tato Rounds" (mini hash browns).

If you made a financial resolution last year and failed to stick to it, you’re not alone.

Whether you wanted to get out of credit card debt, pay off student loans, save an emergency fund or save more for retirement, you might be looking back and wondering what happened.

Here are some factors that help determine whether you are successful at sticking to your goals (and some tips to ensure that you achieve them in 2016).

SEE ALSO: 7 money questions you should ask yourself every year

1. You weren’t specific enough.

One of the common downfalls is not being clear on exactly what you want to accomplish. The more specific your resolutions, the more likely you are to stick to them. For example, if one of your 2015 resolutions was to save money for your retirement, you should have known how much you wanted to save, what account you wanted to save it in and whether your employer offered matching funds to help.

An example of a good resolution might be to plan on saving $10,000 towards your retirement by maxing out the $5,000 matching funds that your employer offers towards your 401(k). When you phrase your resolution this way and get specific, it’s clear what you’re going to do and how you’re going to do it.

2. You didn’t have a plan.

A good plan is key if you want to stick to your goals. If you don’t know what is involved in the journey and what you need to do at each step, then you’ll be more likely to get frustrated, procrastinate and give up.

For 2016, be sure to create a plan. For example, let’s say you want to contribute $5,000 towards your 401(k) so that your employer will match it. The first thing you need to do is learn the details about the 401(k) matching, choose a 401(k) option, figure out who administers the program and sign up for it. Since $5,000 over 12 months works out to $416.66, you’ll need to make sure that you can afford to put that much money towards your goal every month and still make ends meet.

You might have to rejigger your budget, take on additional work, ask for a raise or put off a vacation. Having everything planned out at the beginning of the year with key timelines and deliverables will allow you to check on your progress and keep on track throughout the year.

3. You took on too much.

We all know about what happens to people who make unreasonable fitness or weight loss goals. Many start off in January by going to the gym five to six times a week only to drop off in their frequency and stop going after a few months. The reason they don’t stick to their fitness resolution is that they tried to do too much too soon.

Lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight. People often think that if a little of something is good, then a lot of it is even better. But that might not be the case. People who have long-term habits of doing things like working out or making good financial decisions often started with small choices that built on each other over time.

It can be hard to change your bad habits, but by replacing them slowly with good ones, you’ll see the benefits of the changes rather than just feel the sacrifices. 

For example, if you want to cut back on your spending to save money, rather than wear yourself out by trying to eliminate all excessive spending the first month, it might make sense to set a more conservative savings goal the first month and find ways to gradually cut back every month after that.

Sweet potato fries and avocado toast dominated food online searches in 2015. Searches for the Italian cheese burrata skyrocketed, while our love for food trucks declined significantly.

That's according to Google and FourSquare, which mined data from food-related searches in the U.S. to find the foods that people mentioned at higher rates than last year.

Here are the trendiest foods from this year.

Greek yogurt.

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Poké, a Hawaiian raw fish salad.

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Burrata, an Italian cheese.

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The winners of this year's National Geographic Photo Contest have just been announced — and they are absolutely stunning.

This captivating image of a tornado spinning through the farms of Simla, Colorado by James Smart of Melbourne, Australia snagged the grand prize.

Photographers from around the globe submitted more than 13,000 photos to the prestigious contest.

Check out the winning images below.

Green waters in a marsh in Cardeñas, Andalusia in Spain, which have been partially destroyed by radioactive waste, look as if they have been hit by an asteroid. This photo placed first in the "Nature" category.

"Asteroid," by Francisco Mingorance.

A young man named Bwengye poses on his cherished bicycle in the slum Kamwokya in Kampala — Uganda's capital city. Bwengye brings the bike to this playground every evening and watches kids play soccer. This photo placed first in the "People" category.

“At The Play Ground,” by Joel Nsadha.

A girl in a pink dress runs through hundreds of thousands of crosses on the Hill of Crosses in Šiauliai, Lithuania. The hill represents the peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism to oppression. Photographer Hideki Mizuta says the girl brought the hill peace, hope, and love.

“Hill of Crosses,” by Hideki Mizuta.

The vast majority of Americans don't get nearly enough exercise.

"We have a serious public health crisis where people are not moving — they're sitting," says Jennifer Huberty, an associate professor of exercise and wellness at Arizona State University.

The first step to a healthier body is to add some exercise to your routine, even just a little bit. But carving out time for workouts can be a challenge.

If you're looking to kickstart a fitness routine in the new year, how can you be sure you're making the most of those precious workout sessions?

We talked to Huberty and Shawn Arent, the director of the graduate program in exercise science at Rutgers, to get some professional tips.

1. Stop stretching before you exercise.

"We know that stretching before a workout is relatively ineffective and can actually be counterproductive by reducing power output," says Arent.

Evidence shows that "static stretching"— standing still while reaching for your toes, for example — does nothing to reduce soreness or minimize injuries and plenty to negatively affect performance.

Any sudden changes to an exercise routine can be detrimental, but the vast majority of casual exercisers would be better off without static stretching. 

2. Don't stop stretching altogether.

Static stretching may be outre, but so-called dynamic stretching — think butt kicks and walking lunges, where you are moving while flexing — is the new black.

Limited evidence shows that it "may augment subsequent performance," and at the very least does not seem to impede it. Plus, flexibility is a worthy goal all by itself — one of the many reasons so many people swear by yoga.

For best results, save the stretching until you're done with your cardio and strength training. "A warmer muscle is a more pliable muscle," suggests Arent, and so doing it after exercise makes stretching more effective.

3. Try using weights.

Cardio workouts are much more popular among Americans than muscle-strengthening activities. But people who hit the treadmill and then head home are really missing out.

According to the CDC, strength training — whether pumping iron or doing other kinds of resistance training— can reduce the "signs and symptoms" of diabetes, osteoporosis, back pain, depression, and more. It also helps with balance, weight control, sleep, and bone strength — while providing many of the same benefits as a cardio workout.

Reams of research have shown the benefits of strength training in a wide range of people including athletes, children, adolescents, cancer survivors, the elderly, and the chronically ill.

"Everybody should be lifting weights," says Arent. "There isn't a single part of our population that wouldn't benefit."

While most New Yorkers avoid the wandering crowds of tourists, costumed characters, and bombarding big screens of Times Square, I chose to live there.

After renting in the Upper West Side for two years and being fed up with my reliance on the temperamental No. 1 train, I decided to look for a new apartment that had more access to trains.

My search landed me in a year-long lease in the neon heart of New York City — where I had 12 subway lines to choose from.

As 2015 comes to an end, and an estimated 1 million flock to watch the famous New Year's Eve ball slowly descend, here's what it was like to live at the center of the world's third most visited tourist attraction.

NOTE: My rent skyrocketed — believe it or not — and I was forced out of my beloved Times Square neighborhood.

Welcome to the heart of Times Square!

Home sweet home! This is what my door looked like. I shared an entrance with a jewelry store, a barbershop, and a spa. I relied on the barbershop to accept my mail.

Before we go up the stairs, this is what the curb outside my apartment looked like on most days. There wasn't a place for me to throw trash, so I just placed it on the sidewalk like the businesses around me did.

2015 was clearly the year of the unicorn: startups that raised boatloads of venture capital money and were valued by their investors at over $1 billion.

It's already looking like 2016 could be the year that many of these unicorns run into trouble, as venture funds are getting tighter and more expensive, and some valuations are already deflating.

But other unicorns will continue to soar.

To find out which ones seem to be doing well, we went to the insiders: employees, via the employee reviews of their employers they shared on job-hunting site Glassdoor.

We began with the 156 companies on the Crunchbase Unicorn Leaderboard.  Glassdoor whittled that down to 83 companies for which it had the data of at least 30 employee reviews over the last two years. (This created a different list from Glassdoor's recent survey of the Best Places to Work for 2016, which included many of these companies, but only used reviews from the past year).

We then ranked those 83 by employees' total satisfaction rating, where employees rate their companies on a 1-5 scale with 1 being least satisfied, and 5 being most. (Glassdoor itself is also a unicorn company with a rating of 4.7, but it excluded itself from this list.)

The average company rating across all 445,000 companies on Glassdoor's site is 3.3. The average rating for the 83 unicorns on this list is a 3.8, and all of the companies on the Top 20 were rated higher than a 4.

SEE ALSO: The 53 startups that will be huge in 2016, according to venture capitalists

SEE ALSO: Two kid programmers are helping wounded vets learn to code — and the response is heartwarming

No. 20: Sprinklr, 'Having fun while working hard.'

Employee rating: 4.3 out of 5

Raised:$124 million

Valuation: $1.22 billion as of March 

Sprinkler offers social media and marketing cloud software to businesses.

“Super-smart, dynamic and motivated colleagues that truly care about the customer experience and supporting each other! Flexible PTO policy, very good benefits, work from home options, as well as gym membership discounts. Culture values having fun while working hard and work life balance!” –Sprinklr Product Support Engineer (location n/a)

19. Airbnb, fast growing game-changing company

Employee rating: 4.3 out of 5

Raised: $3.89 billion

Valuation: $27 billion as of December 2015 

Airbnb is an online service that matches people with rooms or homes to rent with visitors who need short-term accommodations. 

“The employee experience at Airbnb has improved over the last year and I believe it will keep getting better. I started as an hourly employee and the company has rewarded me for hard work, creativity, and ongoing contributions by allowing and encouraging me to work in a variety of roles. I've been able to learn from multiple teams and mentors and that has strengthened my cross-functional skills.” – Airbnb Employee (San Francisco, CA)

No. 18: Kabbage, an Atlanta company with Silicon Valley-like perks

Employee rating: 4.3 out of 5 

Raised: $238 million

Valuation: $1 billion as of October.

Helps small businesses secure loans by applying online.

“This is the first job I've had that makes me excited to go to work every day. Everyone initially focuses on the Silicon Valley startup style benefits like daily free lunch and unlimited PTO, but it is really unique in how many people really take ownership of the business and care deeply about growth and doing right by customers and the community.” –Kabbage Software Engineer (Atlanta, GA)

Breckenridge, Colorado

There is no doubt that Breckenridge knows how to celebrate (January’s Ullr Fest is a perfect example) and New Year’s Eve is no exception. Take the kids to participate in the glowworm parade, then enjoy the grown-up torchlight version on the mountain.

For the best views of the town’s fireworks, head to Boreas Pass via snowshoes, skis or skins. To continue the festivities, head to town. The bars and restaurants along Main and Ridge streets put on their party shoes and allow guests to celebrate in style, from refined cuisine at Relish to the corner of crazy with Cecelia’s, Liquid Lounge and Brooklyn’s.

See Colorado lift tickets.

Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia

Whistler is making New Year’s Eve family friendly with three ticketed venues, each with guaranteed “regret free” entertainment. Start with ice skating at Whistler Olympic Plaza, then move on to Teen Dance Party at the Whistler Conference Center. However, the main attraction (and it’s free for everyone!) is the Fire & Ice Show at Skiers Plaza. You’ll get to watch skiers and snowboarders throw down with fire. Jumping through flaming hoops. Then fireworks. It’s New Year’s Eve with a bang.

See Western Canada lift tickets.

North Conway, New Hampshire

Named one of the top 25 ski towns in the world, North Conway, NH is already on the map. However, it’s also a stellar pick for New Year’s Eve festivities. Spend the day skiing or riding at any of the 13 ski resorts and XC Centers in Mt Washington Valley, then hop on the Conway Scenic Railroad for a holiday train ride. A special “Cranapalooza” celebration at Cranmore Ski Resort kicks off the official NYE festivities, with plenty of family friendly elements and not one, but two massive fireworks displays: one at Cranmore and one in Schouler Park in North Conway.

See New England lift tickets.

Lexus is no stranger to pushing its car designs to the edge of innovation — in October, the automaker made a driveable replica of its model IS using 1,700 sheets of cardboard.

Now Lexus is pushing a winter theme with its latest, crazy design project: putting a frozen Lexus NX on wheels made entirely of ice. Believe it or not, the car was able to drive on its ice wheels.

Here's a closer look at the car and how Lexus made it:

Lexus teamed up with LaserCut Works, which also assisted with the cardboard car, and ice sculptors from Hamilton Ice Sculpture to create the ice wheels.

The car was first submerged in water and frozen in -22 degrees Fahrenheit for five days. "The noises from covering it in the water, I thought I had broken the car at one point, I thought I had shattered the wind screen," ice sculptor Jack Hackney said in a video.

LaserCut Works started with a digital design of the wheel itself to figure out how to assemble it.

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Take a bite out of a VeganBurg burger and you might be surprised to find that it tastes like a fast food burger. The texture of the plant-based patty reminds you of something you might get from McDonald's. It's nothing special.

But that's kind of what San Francisco's new vegan burger joint, VeganBurg, is going for. 

These days, fast-food burgers run the gamut from the classic McDonald's Big Mac to Jack In The Box's Hella-Peño Burger Munchie Meal. There aren't many quick-service burger options for vegetarians, let alone vegans.

Then there's VeganBurg, a plant-based burger restaurant that got its start in Singapore. The chain opened its first US location in San Francisco's earthy-crunchy Haight neighborhood in December. We stopped by to see if it "meats" the hype.

More than 8,600 miles from its Singapore counterparts, the first VeganBurg in the U.S. is located on San Francisco's bustling and quirky Haight Street.

Inside, tables made of palettes, hardwood flooring, and potted plants create an industrial, "safari-chic" vibe.

AstroTurf blankets the dining stools, just like at VeganBurg in Singapore.

People might not be buying records like they used to, but just tell that to Adele, who broke every record in the book.

Or Nicki Minaj, for that matter, who's ready to lead the charge for counting streaming plays in artists' sales.

The music industry is changing a lot, but it's also still churning out hit makers and hit singers. Drake had his biggest year yet, and we met a new face with a very new sound in Fetty Wap.

Meanwhile, artists with slightly more niche appeal like Sufjan Stevens and Grimes had banner years of their own, redefining their sounds and further cementing their audiences.

There is an impossible amount of music to listen to these days, and it's all easier than ever to find. So Business Insider is helping you with this recap of the best songs we played on repeat all year long. You can play them right now:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 10 best movies of 2015

Drake - "Hotline Bling"

Though it fell just short of No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it will still be remembered as the most high-profile song of Drake’s career — and one of the hardest to get out of your head, both as a song and a meme-circulating music video.

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The Weeknd - "Can't Feel My Face"

Sure, this is the R&B singer's true crossover moment, with a heavy dose of Michael Jackson thrown in for good measure. But it's impossible to hate on a hit this universal. When it comes on, everybody moves even if they don't intend to.

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Adele - "Hello"

Adele returned with a single that reminded us of everything we love about her, but it was also just different enough to make us scratch deeper. The best singer of her generation mulls over love lost with some piano in the background, but this isn't a breakup song. Like much of the rest of her epically successful new album, it's about moving on, which can be a hard lesson to learn.

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