The Strategist Haul: What the Editors Bought in May

My 4-year-old and 6-year-old daughters are a lot more willing to sit still for sunscreen application than they used to be, but getting it onto their faces is still a bit of a struggle. Like so many parents, I’m always on the hunt for kid-safe sunscreen that isn’t a total nightmare to apply. And while no 100 percent mineral formula will ever be especially easy to spread, this Supergoop stick is the best one I’ve used lately, rubbing in reasonably well without feeling too greasy, collecting in ridges at their hairlines, or leaving them as white-casted and ghostly-looking as many others we’ve tried. I’ve comfortably used it on myself too, and though I’ve been slow to jump on the Supergoop! train (it’s not exactly cheap!), I’m suddenly a lot more interested in trying the brand’s many other Strat-approved products.

Marian Bull is a ceramicist (and writer) I have long admired. I finally decided to invest in one of her pieces recently: a small planter that is currently sitting on my windowsill. It’s one of a kind (so now sold out), but there are others available on her site, and you can follow her on Instagram to find out every time she drops a new collection.

I’ve been looking for a small single hoop to wear on my wedding day that will go with the rest of the jewelry I plan to wear. So while I was at the Mejuri store in Soho trying on wedding bands, I also asked about huggie earrings. The salesperson who helped me said he had the perfect thing to match my mother’s three-opal ring (my something old). The Opal U hoop is super-delicate and matches my ring perfectly, plus I got to pick out the exact one I wanted since every quartet of tiny opals is slightly different. I love how subtle it is while still feeling so special and unique.

I don’t know why it took me so long to buy a Stackers jewelry box. Maybe it took going to the Container Store in person (an emotional moment of self-care), or maybe it’s all the wedding stuff that’s on my mind. Either way, I am so happy to finally have a system that looks nice and organizes my jewelry so everything is easy to find. You can customize your own box based on what kind of jewelry you have the most of. For me, that’s rings and earrings, so I went with the 25-section tray, the lidded box, and the ring-bracelet tray.

If you see me traveling this summer, there’s a good chance I’ll be wearing this lightweight gingham set (matching shirt sold separately). The silky, machine washable material has plenty of give so I can heft my suitcase into the overhead bin without tearing a seam, while the pleats keep the shorts looking neat and polished. Both the pockets are zippered, so if I need to slip my passport inside, I don’t have to constantly check that it’s still there. I also love that Wayre shows its clothing on a wide range of body types so I could get a sense of how the pieces would fall on me.

I turned 26 this month, which meant that I was a little frivolous with my spending (I did save in advance, though). But one of my smartest purchases was this Shiseido stick. Unlike other sunscreens that leave a Casper-like cast, Shiseido’s is invisible (which the brand is known for). You do get the faintest glow from it, but the effect is almost highlighter-esque. And since it’s a roll-on, it’s incredibly easy to reapply (especially as most of my day is spent in front of a laptop screen and a window).

Since I’ve been on the pajamas beat, I realized that I’m in desperate need of new ones. And as Salter House came up in my search, I went with this duo, which makes me look like a long-lost Lisbon sister. The cotton is so diaphanous and looks especially haunting by candlelight. It’s probably a little too scandalously sheer to go out in, but there will be nothing better to wear once we’re in the middle of summer.

I got this little frame bag as a birthday gift for a bike-loving friend. The colorways are obviously very fun, and I love how the triangle design wedges so satisfyingly between the tubes. It’s a nice size for storing snacks and other items as you run errands around town, while still leaving space on the frame for a water-bottle holder. My friend ended up biking to a wedding, then detaching this bag and using it as a purse during the reception, and she says she got a lot of compliments.

This month, I finally got around to hanging a set of shelves above my desk. I’d bought tracks and brackets from Menard’s in March, but I delayed buying wood for the shelves until the scaffolding was up — I have a real “hang to the room, not to the level” apartment, so the theoretical dimensions of a project often differ from reality. After hanging, then rehanging the tracks to account for my crooked walls, I went to Home Depot in a bad mood and found this surprisingly high-quality pine board. Home Depot will do basic cuts for free in-store, so this 10-foot plank became three 3-foot shelves, with a nub left over to use as a cutting board. The final product looks greater than the sum of its $50 parts, and the shelf step was easy enough that it pulled me out of a DIY doom spiral.

I am a bread fiend. With chips, chocolate, and French fries, I can exercise self-control pretty readily, but give me some bread and olive oil, and I’ll polish off the whole thing in a single sitting. Eating really, really good bread is a transcendent experience, and that’s exactly what happened when I tried the milk bread from ACQ Bread Co. It’s made from a slurry of milk, flour, eggs, and butter, all sourced from small, ethical, family-owned farms. I carried the loaf under my arm all the way to Prospect Park and then wandered around ripping off hunks with my bare hands, and it was probably the closest I’ve come to communing with the divine.

I’m planning a renovation of a new apartment and will be doing some novice DIY-ing along the way. I’d heard that Semihandmade makes custom-looking doors for Ikea cabinets and wanted to use them in my new kitchen. But being a Strategist editor, I had to test Semihandmade out on a small project before committing to the whole shebang. So I replaced one of the doors on my old Ikea Besta storage unit with its panel in Sonoma, a cool-toned, wood-look melamine. First off, the installation was actually easy: All I needed was a screwdriver. I’m pretty handy and have some basic tools, but attaching the door would be doable for just about anyone. And it’s beautiful — a significant upgrade to the boring matte door I had before.

My old blue-striped cotton shower curtain had seen better days, and I wanted something that would brighten my bathroom and my mood. Looking out through this transparent curtain feels like wearing OJ-colored glasses. It’s a small morning treat that I’ve come to love. After about a month of showers, it does seem to resist water stains better than you’d think, but it wipes off easily with a damp cloth.

I wish I didn’t even need to know what Claritin is. But this month, as it does every year, reality collided with my excitement to ride the updated electric Citi Bikes and read The Netanyahus in the park. It’s only down to these tablets that I’ve been able to do those things — stock up before you’re caught out like I was.