We write about hundreds of products a week. Here, in our version of the Sunday circular, we’ve plucked out some of our favorites — expert-recommended essentials, life-changing stuff you didn’t know you needed, newly launched gizmos, and the very good deals we uncovered while trawling through the vast online-shopping universe this past week, including Ingrid Nilsen’s multipurpose balm, a prefab gingerbread house, and an Animal Crossing x Monopoly mashup. (We’re sending around an abridged version this week because of the Thanksgiving holiday — check out our full guide to all of the best Black Friday deals so far.)
Ingrid Nilsen’s lip-and-cheek tint
Former beauty YouTuber Ingrid Nilsen can’t live without this carrot-infused balm from Ere Perez, which she says “gives the most beautiful flush of color, like I just did a workout.” The texture is quite thick and “emollient, which initially made me think it might look greasy on me, but it doesn’t.” She especially likes the long-wearing formula and uses it “on top of powder or under. It’s just so perfect.”
A brush for banishing WFH keyboard crumbs
This handy Oxo brush made our list of the best stocking stuffers under $25 for its double-sided bristles — one for wiping your phone’s camera lenses and the other for sweeping away specks on your keyboard. Order a handful and drop one into everyone’s stocking or gift it to the person you don’t know what to get … and don’t want to spend more than $10 on.
A fresh take on an old favorite
We gathered up 52 of the most surprising, strange, but immensely pleasing gifts we could find under $50, and we think this fun new take on Monopoly is sure to delight the Animal Crossing obsessive in your life. Players can visit islands, collect resources such as bugs, fish, fossils, and fruit, buy decorations, and earn Nook Miles to win.
A futuristic backpack for toting your cat
Supply-chain chatter is unavoidable at this point, so we put together a supply-chain-proof gift guide that we’re monitoring daily to ensure your purchases make it in time for Christmas. For now, this Taylor Swift–approved cat backpack that slides under most airline seats is still available. Over at Vulture, senior Snapchat editor Devon Sherer tested it out with her cats and said it’s “truly as great as it looks.” Both of her cats “prefer it to the more standard, duffle-esque bag since they are up higher and can see things better.”
Everything you need to throw a (virtual) gingerbread party
In the latest installment of our “Steal My Holiday Party” series, senior writer Liza Corsillo documented the process of putting together a gingerbread-decorating party for kids over Zoom — and the first step is to buy a kit: “You literally take it out of the box and it’s already a house, all put together.” That way, you can skip right over the boring building part and get right to the fun part: decorating. After all, “the goal is less about creating something delicious (or edible even) and more about having fun,” she writes.
The solution for keeping kicks clean
Our Strategist one-stop gift shop is your go-to resource for easy gifting this holiday season — if something strikes your fancy, just click “add to cart” without ever leaving our site. We’ve rounded up multiple all-star favorites from our archives, including these sneaker wipes, which were cited by professional sneaker-cleaning specialist Joe Rocco as a “baby wipe, but for sneakers.” He suggests wiping “the shoes every time you wear them because they’re going to get dirty every time you wear them — there’s no doubt. These will get the dirt off.”
Christine Quinn’s brightening eye drops
When we asked Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn for her favorite things, she said she used these redness-relieving eye drops “every single day.” After a makeup artist told her that they would give her “really beautiful, white, white, white eyes that are camera-ready,” she went on Amazon and bought 30 packs. She put them to the test after taking a red-eye flight from New York to L.A. and “immediately, my eyes brightened. These drops took me from a zombie to human in no time.”
Nostalgia-inducing cologne
If you’ve got a little more cash to spare, we’ve assembled 49 of the best gifts under $200. This “vintage” Abercrombie & Fitch cologne, replete with the infamous headless male torso, is sure to provide a throwback moment for the millennial in your life; one sniff of this, and they’ll instantly be transported back to middle school, browsing logo-emblazoned sweatshirts in absurdly dim lighting.
The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best acne treatments, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, natural anxiety remedies, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
