We write about hundreds of products each 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 through the vast online-shopping universe — including a Thai-style bidet, a looks-more-expensive-than-it-is cordless lamp from Zara, and the perfume one writer describes as a “mojito in fragrance form.”
Maximum comfort, minimum cost knee-high boots
“The prices for taller boots will typically cost you at least a hundred bucks, so they’re more of an investment than, say, ankle boots or sneakers,” says Strategist writer Arielle Avila. But while interviewing stylish women about their favorite knee-high boots, Avila found an exception to that rule: the Aerosoles Micah Boot. They come recommended by creative director Hannah Black, who says, “I find them to be just as comfortable as my flat Skechers,” attributing it to the boots’ memory-foam soles.
Extra-large kernels for seasoning fiends
Strategist contributor Leah Finnegan is a popcorn enthusiast. (In fact, she even called herself a popcorn snob.) With this title comes strong opinions, including “you mustn’t eat any popcorn that comes out of any kind of bag.” Her alternative: these extra-large kernels. “Each one pops huge and fluffy and looks like a brain, which makes them optimal for carrying the seasoning of your choice,” she writes.
New York–inspired catchall
Sex and the City fans might remember when Carrie Bradshaw was the face of a (fictional) New York cover story titled “Single & Fabulous?” The offending question mark is now immortalized on this ashtray-slash-catchall, included in Strategist writer Ambar Pardilla’s update of our especially nice-looking catchalls roundup. “Sorry, Carrie, there aren’t any punitive damages for mispunctuation!” says Pardilla.
A superlative bidet
“When it comes to cleaning one’s butt post-poop, toilet paper is never enough,” writes Strategist contributor Hilary Cadigan. She discovered this fact while living in Thailand, where she found herself sans TP squatting over a Thai-style toilet. “Scanning the room in a panic, all I saw was a hose affixed to the wall beside me, and like a slow and ominous dawn, it became clear that here, in this tiled cell, the hose would be my only ally,” she recalls. More than a decade later, she can’t imagine life without it. “Small and discreet, the brushed-chrome exterior of mine matches most standard bathroom fixtures; it conveniently attaches to the side of your toilet or wall and pulls clean water from the tank, never the bowl,” she says.
The travel pillow Rebecca Black can’t fly without
In the near-decade that we’ve been interviewing famous people about their favorite things, we’ve learned that they care deeply about their travel accessories. For singer-songwriter Rebecca Black, this infinity travel pillow is the one she can’t live without. “It is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever traveled with, but it works better than any other travel pillow I’ve used and keeps my neck from hurting,” she told us, adding, “Sometimes I’ll lean over my tray table and wrap my arms around it.”
A cozy tee recommended by a lifelong stripe lover
Strategist junior writer Bella Druckman set out to find the best striped tees, according to stylish folks. The daughter of a French woman, Druckman has quite a few of her own favorites, too, including this 100 percent cotton number from Madewell. “With its heavyweight, lived-in feel and drop-sleeved shoulders, it reminds me of something you’d see in We Live in Time,” she writes. “Since it arrived, it’s become my favorite cozy tee to throw on when I get home from work, but I could easily imagine wearing it styled with a belt and a sweater around my shoulders to the office, as well.”
A solution for anti–Big Lighters with an outlet shortage
Like many writers at the Strategist, contributor Tessa Kauppila has a strict “no overhead light” law — and this week, she set out to find the best cordless lamps that can be “as easily portable as they are appealing additions to any surface.” She came across everything from a delightfully curvy number to one that “captures the feeling of lounging under a beach umbrella on the Amalfi Coast with an Aperol in hand” — but we’re especially into this sleek iron lamp that looks more expensive than it is.
A maternity-friendly wedding-guest jumpsuit
This week, Strategist contributor Julie Bogen made the case for the maternity jumpsuit. “They are comfortable, chic, and nursing-friendly. They are forgiving around the waist and more utilitarian than dresses — which are flowy and pretty but often don’t have pockets or shorts to facilitate play with toddlers or older kids,” she writes. Her list includes a number of casual, stretchy options, but this one is for the mothers-to-be with a wedding to go to. “I like that it has a waistband that can be tied into a bow wherever is most comfortable and flattering,” she writes, adding that it even allowed her to pump on the dance floor.
The screen protector that helped one writer limit his screen time …
This week, our writer Jordan McMahon shared all his tips and tricks for cutting down his screen time (even those on the tech beat need to unplug sometimes). Along with maintaining strict screen hygiene — as in not bringing his phone into bed at night and keeping his phone on “do not disturb” — he invested in these matte screen protectors, which “can help make your iPhone’s screen look more like an e-reader by making it less glossy.” He adds, “I’ve found that it helps curb the appeal of staring at my phone, and I’m less likely to watch TikToks in my spare time now.”
… and one writer’s new keyboard that gives off a comforting “clack clack clack”
This month’s “Strategist Haul” turned up a number of delightful purchases, including Pardilla’s new keyboard. “The mechanical keys on this one remind me of a typewriter,” she told us. “I couldn’t bring it to the office because the constant clack clack clack would bother every co-worker within an earshot. But the sound is oddly comforting in the silence that comes from working from home.”
Clogs beloved by the founder of Dorsey
Sometimes, it feels like every installment of Sunday Circular could include a pair of clogs, and this week, we can’t stop thinking about these all-rubber ones from SeaVees. They’re a favorite of Meg Strachan, founder of Dorsey and author of the newsletter WIPOT (What I Put on Today), who says she wears them practically every day, rain or shine. “As it turns out, most of us are in the market for an all-weather shoe,” she says. “I’ve been stopped by 20-year-olds who ask me who they’re by. I’ve shown them to women who are in their 60s. I’ve taken them off my foot so strangers can look at them and try them on.”
A “mojito in fragrance form” perfume
Along with black turtlenecks and corn milk, Strategist writer Kitty Guo has fragrance on the brain. A scent she has in rotation is this mint-scented one from Etat Libre d’Orange, which she spritzes before going on a walk. “When mingled with the chilly air, it simulates the sensation of chewing gum and then drinking a glass of water — an icy, bracing rush,” she says, describing it as “fresh and green and crisp as an Arctic breeze.”
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
