Every month, the Strategist editors do their version of a haul blog, jibber-jabbering about their favorite purchases of the past four weeks. To get that same personality and taste insight (via receipts), we’re inviting interesting friends of Strat to run down their own buys. For this installment of the Guest Strat Haul, New York magazine writer and Strategist contributor Maureen O’Connor on her purchases this month.
This has been my daily complexion makeup, ever since my massive hoard of Laura Mercier’s discontinued tinted moisturizer “crème” ran out a couple years ago. As it turns out, the timing was fortuitous: the crème had a silky texture and velvet finish — which completely disgusts me now that dewy textures and radiant finishes are in. Can you believe I used to want my skin to resemble velvet? How humiliating. Now I’m back to the liquid version. So dewy.
“Your earrings look like nipple rings.” “I know, cute, right?”
“Your swimsuit looks like Humpty Dumpty.” “I know, cute, right?” I was trying to find a cheap bandeau bikini top on Amazon, and when I saw this I was simultaneously horrified and intrigued. So I bought it! These are the risks we take when the price is low and the shipping is free. I debuted this swimsuit over Memorial Day weekend, and loved all $17 of it. When I lent it to my pregnant friend, it was cute on her too!
Seeking gifts for the aforementioned pregnant friend, I settled on Malin + Goetz candles designed to emulate that which she can no longer have: cannabis, mojitos, and dark rum. They say children recognize their mothers by scent, so I’m helping a baby understand the mother she will eventually have, pending legalization efforts and weaning.
…this might be a good time to admit that I misled my pregnant friend so she would think there were two candles in this set, instead of three. I kept Mojito for myself. It takes a village.
Every spring, I purchase a new pair of all-white slip-on sneakers, to be dirtied and destroyed over the course of summer. After several years of the Keds Champion Slip-on, this year I went with a monotone riff on the classic from Opening Ceremony.
Look, I’m not saying this was a wise purchase. But when my boyfriend insisted on seeing Solo during opening weekend, I needed something to keep myself entertained. This did it. I will never eat this thing again, but I encourage everyone else to try it at least once, just to really know thyself and what it means to be an American.
To rein in spending on automatically renewing subscription services, I decided that, every time I purchase a new subscription, I must cancel an old one. Audm is a service that hires vocal artists to record audio versions of magazine feature articles, which you then listen to in a form comparable to Audible and podcasts. I love Audm so much that, when my free trial period ended, I canceled HBO Go to justify keeping it. I would eat Regal Cinema Cheetos Popcorn every day, if that was the price of Audm. Luckily, the price of Audm is in dollars.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
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