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We write about hundreds of products every week. Here, in our version of the Sunday newsletter, we’ve selected some of our recent favorites: must-haves recommended by experts, life-changing things you didn’t know you needed, newly launched gadgets and very good deals we discovered while browsing the vast world of online shopping — including a roomy backpack for mountain hiking, high-protein sweet and salty chips, and a soft pillow for stomach sleepers that will minimize neck twisting.
Author Amy Tan has loved the outdoors all her life, but says it wasn’t until 2016 that she began to notice the wildlife around her. Upset by the state of the country, Tan turned to the natural world and spent many hours writing about nature, which led to her latest book, Chronicles of backyard birds. For a while, Tan had a problem with crows taking over the feeders in her yard. “I know they’re mourning their dead comrades,” she told us, so she bought a fake crow from Wild Birds Unlimited. “I hung it upside down, the crows came and screamed and screamed, and then they stopped coming to the yard,” Tan says.
Photo: Refy
Red lipstick isn’t for everyone, and if, like author Emma Firth, you appreciate looking beautiful without taking yourself too seriously, the perfect smudged French lip might be your go-to. After trying tons of shades over the years, from Vaseline to Chanel’s Rouge Coco Baume, Firth finally discovered the ultimate winner: Refa’s lip blush, which hydrates and delivers a perfectly blurred, almost worn-out effect. “It’s like the perfect slip dress in makeup form: a little underdressed and so light that you barely notice you’re wearing it,” Firth explains, adding that she never leaves the house without it.
“Half of my beard is gray,” says comedian Matteo Lane, who can’t live without this beard dye kit. While recording his podcast, Lane realized that gray hair created an optical illusion that made his chin look thinner, which he said was “the same thing as putting highlighter on your nose.” Now Lane uses the kit, which includes a mascara-style brush, almost every day to prevent a “witch chin,” she says.
In our latest installment of Steal My Vacation, we heard from Juno DeMelo, who spent three weeks in northern Italy on the other side of the Alps with her husband, their 7-year-old child, and a few close friends. DeMelo included this backpack on her packing list because it has multiple compartments, including a padded laptop pocket that zips up the front. “This one was durable enough to be used for hiking, but elegant enough to be my personal item on future trips,” he says.
As seen in this week’s edition of Don’t Dillydally, we spotted another collection from Ecco and designer Natasha Ramsay-Levi. Their previous collaboration included the Ecco ballet flats worn by Chloë Sevigny and, of course, they became a hot topic in the Strategist Slack chat. The latest version is a shoe with a silhouette very similar to those worn by Sevigny, this time without laces.
As our resident fitness expert, writer Jeremy Rellosa consumes a lot of protein (especially protein powder). Still, his protein intake is dwarfed by that of his brother and sister-in-law, who are among the most active people Rellosa knows: Gian is a weightlifter and lifelong martial artist who practices muay thai, while Ilana is a rat. a gymnast who never misses training. To learn more about their diet, Rellosa interviewed them to find out what snacks they had in their current rotation. Gian is a fan of these protein chips, which he describes as extremely flavorful. “It has a sweet and salty combination – a strong spicy flavor, but at the same time it tastes like maple,” he says.
With the holidays just around the corner, this time of year can seem overwhelming. So for our Brain Strategist roundup, senior writer Liza Corsillo walked us through her new solution to staying organized. Instead of a paper planner, Corsillo opted for a combination of a whiteboard, wall calendar and to-do list, which she installed above her desk to ensure that “all the important things are literally in front of you at all times,” she says. This one from Navy Penguin was easy to hang and had the right proportions for the calendar, bulletin board, and notes sections. Corsillo also says, “The logo features a cute but stern penguin, who I like to imagine as my personal assistant.”
For our new Now Open series, our kitchen and dining author Emma Wartzman has gathered her favorite products from JOC Goods, the online store of Namiko Chen, creator of Just One Cookbook. Chen stocked the store with Japanese pottery, kitchen tools, knives and more. We especially like this vegetable peeler with a wooden handle, which “looks pretty nice for such a useful product,” says Wartzman.
Stomach sleepers may be delighted because our sleep author Amelia Jerden has created a list of the best pillows to prevent neck strain. The softest version of the Buffy Cloud is our top pick because it has a lower loft and the alternative down filling compresses easily. When Jerden tested Buffy Cloud, she was able to put her head into it without arching her neck back or feeling like the pillow was suffocating her. Other winning features include a cooling Tencel cover, recycled plastic filling, and a relatively affordable price.
There’s nothing better than cooking warm, fluffy pancakes on a crisp fall morning — and for that you need an electric skillet, especially one that’s durable and easy to clean. The lightweight Dash Deluxe is our cheapest option because it heats up evenly and also provides: perfect pancakes thanks to the non-stick surface that releases food easily. If you plan to prepare a large breakfast for several people at once, we think this will be a great choice.
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Strategist aims to display useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Each product is independently selected by our team of editors for you to read about Here. We update links when possible, but please note that offers may expire and all prices are subject to change.
