The Strategist Haul: What the Editors Bought in March

I’ve used Neutrogena Hydro Boost as a moisturizer for years, but recently it just hasn’t been feeling as great as it once did (no idea why, if I’m being honest). In an effort to change it up with something equally affordable, I bought the Rio-recommended Cosrx cream. I’ve been using it this whole month and love it so far. I don’t actually have acne-prone skin (which is the skin type Rio specifically suggested it for), but I find it so hydrating and gentle. Definitely re-upping after my jar is done.

I’ve got a trip to Italy coming up and have no clue where my former universal adapter from 2016 is, so I bought this one from our Strategist Travel 100. I only need it to charge two phones, no hair tools or higher-voltage items, so it should do the trick.

I added this tech organizer to my order because it was on sale and I just simply have too many cords, but I was pleased by how many chargers, cords, and battery packs I was able to squeeze inside. I highly recommend it!

I recently got over my irrational suspicion of Apple Pay and no longer need to keep all of my cards attached to my phone case for easy access when paying for the subway. Accordingly, I used Madewell’s Insider Event Sale as an excuse to purchase myself a real wallet. I chose the brown option, which Madewell dubbed warm cinnamon. Along with having enough space to hold all my cards and cash, the wallet matches my everyday leather backpack, which is also from Madewell.

An Everlane sale means I have to stock up on the best T-shirt. It’s perfect, from the face-framing crewneck down to the cropped-but-not-too-cropped hem. I have it in almost every color now — the new additions this time around are navy, red currant, and dark sea. The sale might be over, but you still get a deal: three for $60 (at $30 each regularly, one is basically free).

When Sambas started to blow up last year, I thought I’d be smart and get a pair of secondhand Gazelles instead. They look almost identical, and there were pairs for as little at $10 on Vinted. But in a recent thunderstorm, I had to admit that my battered Gazelles were past it — and that it was time to give in to the Samba. I wanted a pair of stylish everyday shoes (which translates to: suitable for the office but also for brunch), so I settled on this classic colorway. Perhaps opting for suede over leather was brave in rainy England, but they do feel a bit more sophisticated — and spring has arrived! Stay tuned next month to see if I also splash out on the Adidas SL 72, which very nearly beat the Sambas into my basket.

I cannot emphasize enough how real-looking these fake flowers are. I was sent them by the brand and didn’t expect to be so enamored of them. The key here is to rough them up when they come out of the packet — bend some stems and make the petals look blousy. I love the arrangement so much that I carry it from room to room, preening over where it looks best.

[Editor’s note: Malone has the Maddy Maxi Bunch, but it’s currently sold out, so we’ve linked to another option.]

I purged the cable drawer in my kitchen and reassigned each cable category to one of these pouches. Bliss!

Over the past few months, I have been looking for a non-petroleum-based baby ointment to replace the Aquaphor I was using during diaper changes. Aquaphor was doing its job well as a moisture barrier on my son’s skin, but it’s not particularly ecofriendly. I was already testing a few different brands of all-natural baby ointment that were luxurious and absorbed well but expensive for the small amount you get. Then I did a deep dive on Amazon and came up with this one, which has a ton of positive reviews and comes in a ten-ounce tub for under $20. I’ve been using it for about a month now as a diaper balm and for other skin irritations like teething rash and little scrapes from sharp baby fingernails. I like that it’s made with coconut oil, jojoba oil, and vitamin E, so it smells good and is nourishing in addition to creating a good barrier.

A reader commented on my story about buying slightly too-big shoes on Cettire and said that I needed to get some lambswool, so I did. (Shout-out @politichick!) I’d never heard of it before, but apparently ballerinas use it for cushioning in their pointe shoes. It turned out to be the perfect solution. It took a couple of wears to figure out the right amount of wool to use, but all you do is stuff a little bit in the toe box of each shoe for a snugger fit. They’re better than heel pads, which never actually prevented my heels from slipping out. The only thing is that the wool sticks to your socks when you take your shoes off, but I get a kick out of seeing my snowcapped toes each time.

A few of my larger plants had gotten root-bound and scraggly due to months (years?) of neglect, so I took advantage of a recent move and reorganization and the newfound motivation that came with those transitions to repot the saddest-looking ones. I’d gotten and liked the ten-inch version of this pot before (I like how porous terra-cotta is as well as its rustic nature), so I sized up.

An unexpected discovery this month: The Muji in Hudson Yards is the best one in the city. A friend and I stopped by one night after going to an event nearby and were blown away by the sheer amount of stock, including a huge wall of colorful (and cheap) socks. I picked up a few pairs, including these, which are technically lilac colored but to me look more like a black-raspberry ice-cream shade.

During a recent trip to our local botanical garden, my two daughters spent close to an hour building and knocking down various structures from a giant stack of foam blocks in the kids’ area. Once I learned they weren’t technically a toy but yoga blocks, I realized the genius at work: Yoga blocks are lightweight and unlikely to injure a kid but also super-durable, since they are made of high-density foam. I bought this bulk pack of 30 as a birthday present for my 6-year-old, and the girls have been coming up with all sorts of builds ever since.