We write about hundreds of products every week. Here, in our version of the Sunday circular, we’ve plucked some of our recent favorites: expert-recommended essentials, life-changing stuff you didn’t know you needed, newly launched gizmos, and very good deals we uncovered while trawling the vast online-shopping universe — including a brow gel that beat out 31 contenders, the best stain remover vetted by an obsessive laundry professional, and the flavor-enhancing ingredient one pastry chef puts on everything.
The minty toothpicks Sophia Roe would sport on a red carpet
“If I could walk down the Met Gala red carpet with a toothpick in my mouth, I would,” chef Sophia Roe says. As someone with “major tooth gaps,” she uses these to get food unstuck in her teeth — and counts them as one of her favorite items, even deeming them “a signature Soph thing.” She especially likes that the tea-tree-oil-infused picks distract from her nail-biting habit and says she “can’t think of a moment that isn’t appropriate to have a toothpick.”
Latex mittens donned by a disabled dominatrix
“We disabled people are often supposed to be meek,” says Strategist contributor The Cyborg Jillian Weise. But there is “nothing meek about these mittens,” which she describes as “downright regal and concupiscible.” While they fit snugly and feel soft like cashmere, Weise says she likes slipping them on as a reminder of her dominant identity and because they make her feel freer: “If they’re a statement piece, then the statement is ‘I’m having fun. What are you doing?’”
A baby projector for fewer tantrums on the road …
Strategist contributor Ashlea Halpern and her husband completed a two-nation, eight-state, 3,000-mile road trip, and as she puts it, “Because we’re masochists, we brought our 11-month-old son along for the ride.” For Julian’s nighttime routine, Halpern created similar sleeping conditions to what he’s accustomed to at home by using a travel crib in a dark hotel closet or bathroom, along with a white-noise app and this small portable projector, which she says “turns any ceiling into a galaxy of slow-churning moons and stars or a colorful aquarium teeming with fish.” After ten to 15 minutes, the rotating light show provided enough familiar distraction to soothe the baby to sleep.
…. And a collapsible tote to keep travel items organized
Traveling with her very active 4- and 5-year-olds has become much easier thanks to the sturdy collapsible tote Strategist contributor Diksha Basu now packs in her carry-on. She uses it to contain essential in-flight items — like headphones, snacks, books, and chargers — instead of squeezing them into the magazine compartment or holding things on her lap (which inevitably get lost in airplane seats). After landing, Basu brings the carry-all to their destination, “and nobody is asking the staff to help find phones, nobody is having to return in search of lost stuffed unicorns, and we’re on our way,” she says.
The gluten-free snack Max Greenfield can’t stop eating
Max Greenfield can’t live without these gluten-free pretzels, which he says are so tasty he “doesn’t know how to portion-control.” He prefers Quinn’s maple-almond-butter-filled nuggets but usually goes for the sticks to minimize temptation: “If nothing mattered in the world, then I’d just buy the maple-almond ones and I’d go to town,” he says.
The chinos Chris Black prefers to vintage Levi’s
The latest installment of Chris Black’s column sees him answering a Strategist reader’s question about transitioning a teenager out of joggers, hoodies, and Crocs and into something more elevated for college life. Black suggests a wool overshirt, a relaxed half-zip sweatshirt, classic Dr. Martens Oxford shoes, and these roomy J.Crew chinos. “I wear a pair all the time, partly because they are much more comfortable than my vintage Levi’s,” he says.
A $9 powder that makes jam, popcorn, and smoothies taste better
Strategist contributor and pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz calls citric acid one of her all-time favorite ingredients for baking and cooking because it has an “irresistible capacity to enhance (and balance) foods with a mouth-puckering essence.” The white powder works against big flavors to make dishes “taste more vibrant and like themselves,” she says, but as with salt, the key is restraint. Just a small spoonful whisked into jams or jellies, or creamier sweets like buttercream frosting, is enough to give them a lift without adding an unpleasant sour note. And beyond delivering extra oomph, citric acid is also a preservative that “sets” and boosts color in jarred or dehydrated fruits and vegetables, Pickowicz says.
The most effective stain remover for “everything from grass to gravy”
Zach Pozniak, a fourth-generation dry cleaner and self-proclaimed laundry nerd, has tested dozens of laundry detergents, and now stain removers to find the ones that clean your clothes the best. He calls Shout Triple-Acting his best all-around pick for removing just about every kind of stain out there, even combination spills like Bolognese sauce on your shirt, which typically require overlapping treatments, Pozniak says.
Slipperlike Mary Janes for walking 15,000 steps a day
On a recent trip to Florence, Strategist contributor Erika Veurink brought these machine-washable Mary Janes and was impressed by the softness and flexibility of the shoes, which required no break-in period and left her without a single blister. While she admits her footwear choices lean orthopedic, Veurink says these presented an opportunity for something “fancier than sneakers and more flattering than clogs.” But after a week of her walking around Italy, they wore like slippers, “forming to my foot in the least Birkenstock way possible,” she says.
A flake-free gel for feathery, youthful brows
Over three months, Strategist beauty writer Rio Viera-Newton tested 32 clear brow gels — from both drugstore and high-end brands — to find a product that could keep her hairs in place all day without leaving a sticky film or white flakes. The winner is the e.l.f. Brow Lift, which Viera-Newton says “creates a natural, fluffy, feathered brow effect” and has no crunchy residue. Plus its waxy consistency is easy to shape, which means it works on both thick and thinner brows.
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.
