What Strategist Readers Are Buying: Pens and Cashmere Sweaters

1. The 21 Holiday Toys to Buy Now Before They Sell Out, According to Trend Forecasters (Last installment: 1)

Hatchimals, the baby animal toys that reveal their gender when they “hatch,” have been selling out for three years in a row, and Adrienne Appell of the Toy Association doesn’t see the Hatchi-mania stopping anytime soon. She says, “The huge trend right now are collectible toys and unboxing toys; they’re doing extremely well right now and definitely something kids are asking for.” This limited-edition set is an Amazon exclusive — and our No. 1 best seller two weeks in a row.

2. The 100 Best Pens, As Tested by Strategist Editors (New entry)

These fine line marker pens came out third overall in our ranking of 100 pens — and were the highest-rated felt pens. Our tester, Strategist writer-editor Liza Corsillo says, “Of all the pens I tried, it feels the closest to an extension of my natural hand gestures and it makes my handwriting look easygoing and legible.” Plus, she didn’t notice any smudging or bleed-through.

3. The Best Gifts for a 3-Year-Old, According to a Child Therapist (Off last list)

In our ongoing project to find the best gifts for kids of all ages, we discovered this best-selling board game that came highly recommended by a child therapist for 3-year-olds. Dr. George Sachs, a clinical child psychologist, told us board games are good gifts because they “teach the skills of sharing, turn-taking, and handling frustration when losing.” Off our last list, the game is back, likely thanks to holiday shopping.

4. The 100 Best Pens, As Tested by Strategist Editors (New entry)

Another hit from our pens list, the Japanese-made OHTO Horizon pen came in second place overall and was our favorite ballpoint. “The ink comes out clean and even, yielding the thinnest, smoothest line; there’s no smudging or skipping,” says tester and Strategist senior editor. “The cerulean blue, hexagonal-tube design is elegant, but in a retro way — it’s easy to imagine some ’60s-era person at, like, IBM or NASA tucking it into a shirt pocket.”

5. What’s the Best Beard Trimmer? (Off last list)

This beard trimmer with a radial dial that lets you choose lengths down to the half-millimeter for guys who don’t want to go totally clean-shaven returns to the list after a very brief hiatus. Writer Kurt Soller’s loves how it keeps stray hairs out of the sink: “A vacuum-suction feature that collects the majority of your shaven hairs — up to 90 percent of them, according to the company, but who really knows? All I can say is that this is a godsend.”

6. Nothing’s Ever Gotten My Bathroom As Clean As This Power Drill Brush Has (4)

You probably wouldn’t consider taking a power drill to your bathroom tiles or tub, but with this brush attachment, Strategist writer Maxine Builder argues that it’s actually the best way to get a deep clean. “The drill did all the hard work, scrubbing faster and harder than I ever could by hand, and the results were noticeable even after the first pass,” she says. “All the built-up grime had basically disappeared.” While it drops a few spots, the drill brush stays on the list.

7. The 27 Best Gifts for Teenage Girls, According to Teenagers (New entry)

Teenagers are notoriously hard to shop for and it isn’t getting any easier in the age of Snapchat and Instagram, where trends are born and die in, well, an instant. This wireless, waterproof speaker, though, has the approval of certified cool teens Brooklyn and Bailey McKnight, 18-year-old identical twins with over 4 million followers on Instagram. “There’s nothing like jamming out to your favorite music in the shower,” they say.

8. What’s the Best Bathrobe? (8)

Now that the weather’s getting colder — with lots of the country even seeing snow last week — we’re all about cozying up in our warmest bathrobe. Since Parachute makes some of our favorite linen sheets, it’s not surprising that the start-up’s bathrobe is also a winner. It holds down eighth place for the second week in a row. Writer Amanda Fitzsimons says “it’s been something of a viral hit: At its peak, Parachute’s waiting list for the bathrobe was 1,900 people long.” And for the next few weeks, you can check it out and buy in person at our Soho pop-up shop.

9. If You Buy One Thing Today, Make It Lots and Lots of Lord & Taylor Cashmere (New entry)

In all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness it can be tough to know if you’re actually getting a good deal, so our writer Lori Keong sticks with a tried-and-true favorite: Lord & Taylor’s high-quality cashmere sweaters that get deeply discounted this time of year. “It’s so soft that I’ve deemed it the cheapest, nicest cashmere out there — thicker, fuzzier, and downier, when compared to its peers in affordable cashmere,” she says.

10. For the One-Year Anniversary of My Skin-Care Google Doc, I Updated It (Off last list)

This summer, on the one-year anniversary of her famous Google doc, Rio blessed us once again with an updated version full of the products she discovered over the past 12 months. Some things truly stand the test of time, though, and this snail mucin essence still has a place in her daily routine. “If you’re struggling with dryness, acne, fine lines, or dull skin, definitely consider trying this product,” she wrote, and lots of you took her advice.