If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair but the hair spray and the electric toothbrush. We asked singer-songwriter Gracie Abrams — who recently launched a campaign with luggage brand TUMI — about her tried-and-true ginger chews, the poetry anthology she has read more than a dozen times, and her everyday tank top.
One of my best friends and roommate in college introduced this to me a couple of years back. I haven’t gone a day without putting it on my body since. It’s a moisturizing balm, but you warm it up in your hands and it basically becomes an oil. It’s just a really nice consistency. A little goes a long way, so one tub lasts me a while. It helps with dryness, and I’ve learned it’s a perfect solution for healing tattoos. I tell everyone about it. My boyfriend now uses it. He stole mine, so I actually need to get another one today.
I really don’t do makeup often; it feels more like my skin-care routine, really. I use just a tinted sunscreen and brow gel, but I’m very passionate about brows. When I was in middle school, I did the horrific overplucking and had to grow my brows back, so now I try to amplify them as much as I can. My current favorite is this one from Kosas in the dark-brown shade. I know there are soap brows (both the product and using actual soap) or the Anastasia Brow Freeze for laminated looks, but I love this for an everyday look. It’s the exact color of my hair, I’m never worried about it looking crusty, it really stays, and it adds volume. I’ve used so many different brow products, so I feel like a slightly reliable source on the brow front.
I go back and forth between this and Glossier You for my everyday perfume. I love the smell of jasmine, and Diptyque crushed it with this. I got it while on tour because I wanted something that smelled floral not in a sweet way, but like if you walked through a garden at night. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s light and definitely the most feminine scent I have.
I can’t even stress enough the importance of my heating pad. I started using heating pads when I was 13 and had really bad period cramps. I have a bunch of stomach issues, and this has also helped over the years with reducing that pain. I sleep with it every single night. I need it on tour because it helps with lower-back pain when I’ve been sleeping in bunks on the bus. It just makes any environment more cozy immediately. Even when I’m not touring and sleeping over at my friend’s house or something, I bring it with me. It’s maybe half–heating pad, half–security blanket at this point.
I was like the carsick kid eating saltines and trying to press on pressure points to reduce motion sickness. I remember growing up and my grandmother telling me how important ginger is for nausea. These ginger chews are my favorites. I’ve tried so many different kinds, like crystallized ones, lozenges, all the things. These are ten out of ten all around: the taste, the texture, the yellow packaging. They’ve helped me so much. I keep a bunch in my bag all the time and hand them out whenever anyone’s stomach hurts. I’m like, “Eat this immediately, please.”
I just can’t use any other headphones; I will lose them. These fit my ears so nicely, which is an odd thing to say, but they’re the only headphones I’ve ever loved so dearly. I had AirPods for a minute, but it was obvious that wouldn’t last because I would lose them. I did recently get the over-the-ear AirPod Maxes, which I really do like, but nothing compares to the wired ones. I can put those in and sleep anywhere with them. I can’t really get behind anything clunkier; I’m old-fashioned, I guess. I routinely throw them into every bag and stick them in my pockets, so I have to clean them all the time. They’re never not on me.
My mom gave this to me about two years ago. I’ve probably read this upwards of a dozen times and it never gets old. It’s my favorite anthology. It’s so heartbreaking and kind of highlights human fragility, resilience, heartbreak, and just real love. I love all of the Mary Oliver poems they chose, and the ones by Robert Bly and Marie Howe in particular are so devastating. It’s hard to get into specifics because the whole thing together — just how they organized it and everything — is just perfect. I often read it and won’t speak to anyone for the rest of the day because it puts me in such a place of stillness, which I think we could all benefit from.
I love Muji pens. They feel good to hold, and they’re my favorite pens to journal with. I’ve been using them for a while; I don’t even know how many years now. I have a plethora of them. My best friend Audrey also has a shit ton, and anytime we’re together, we end up stealing some of the other person’s or leaving a bunch behind. I have a couple in my bag, and there’s always a trail of these anyplace I’ve been — in coat pockets, the cupholder in my car. It’s excessive.
It takes a lot for me to put on anything other than these tank tops. I have some that are full-length, and I cut a bunch of them, too. They’re a nice opacity and kind of sheer. I’m kind of anti-bra as much as I can be, and I’m not really afraid in this. It’s a perfect everyday basic.
I’ve been using this since I started touring at the beginning of last year. It’s easy to bring around, is lightweight, and looks great, but the best part is that this luggage is so durable. I’m lucky enough to travel frequently, so when I’m out for many months of the year, it’s nice to know there’s no concern about whether my bag is going to tear or rip. There are so many compartments and a built-in hanger bracket, so it feels like I have a little closet anywhere I go. Plus, it expands, so when I collect more shit on the road, I don’t have a crazy pile of mess just floating around. The shift has been really noticeable, and there’s no going back.
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