10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Status-y Rugs to Silky Foundation

Food and prop stylist Jess Damuck is typically not a kitchen-gadget person, but she made an exception for this unassuming greens stripper. Separating leaves is “an annoying thing, particularly if you’re making big salads for a dinner party,” says Damuch, adding that “you end up wasting a lot of the leaves.” But with this tool, you simply slide a piece through the appropriate-size hole, and you’re left with two distinct parts, resulting in “a consistent, velvety mound of greens.” Now, Damuch separates greens — a “decidedly tiresome chore” — swiftly with this shortcut.

Contributor Nora DeLigter noticed over the past year every screenwriter, editor, and Ph.D. candidate from New York to L.A. has picked up the 1962 novelette Cassandra at the Wedding. She set out to find “patient zero, the person at the very top of the Cassandra chain” by talking to all the people she knows who’ve read it. This led her down a rabbit hole of editorial assistants, producers, and even the actor John Early. “Meanwhile, the strands are still multiplying,” DeLighter writes, noting a recent podcast plugging the book and that the production companies Neon and Seaview are co-producing an adaptation of the book into a film.

“I’m not a neat freak in most aspects of my life, but I am precious about keeping my books in pristine condition,” writes Strategist writer Lauren Ro. To help keep her book jackets untorn, she purchased a set of Mylar archival book-jacket covers. They are “essentially rolls of plastic trimmed with paper, but they come pre-folded and ready to use,” Ro explains, and covering her book jackets is simple and quick. (It took less than five minutes for Ro to cover one of her son’s books.) “Now the dust jacket stays put and is protected from stains, creases, rips, and whatever damage an overzealous 3-year-old could inflict upon it,” Ro writes. While she doesn’t plan to use this on every book she owns, she “feels less anxious knowing that I have that option on hand.”

“There’s something about this dip that makes it impossible to stop eating once it’s open,” musician Avril Lavigne told us when we spoke to her about the things she can’t live without. Along with her Doc Martens and eyeliner, Lavigne is obsessed with Tostitos queso because “it’s cheesy and spicy, but none of the flavors overpower one another.” Despite eating healthy for the most part, it’s the one “junk food I have to have in my house,” she says.

In our latest installment of Don’t Dillydally, we highlighted Cold Picnic’s latest collection of sweets-inspired rugs with names such as Sherbet, Taro, and Battenberg (as in the cake). The collection is dedicated to the founders’ immigrant parents and the Taiwanese and English desserts they grew up on, with each piece hand-tufted with bamboo-silk yarn. As we note, “We’re partial to the Mochi rug, which features a mix of mint, cream, watermelon, and black against a grasshopper-green background.”

In our latest sweep of the internet sale bins, deals writer Leah Muncy found that lots of Armani Beauty products are discounted at Nordstrom. That includes the brand’s buildable (and best selling) foundation. When we spoke to makeup artists about the best foundations for mature skin, one told us this is the “holy-grail of foundations for all skin types” and “creates a radiant glow without a greasy finish.”

A good shampoo is essential for fine hair, so Strategist writer Dominique Pariso set out to find the best options. MONDAY Haircare Volume Shampoo is a sulfate-free shampoo that Pariso has “sworn by since purchasing it close to a year ago.” Even compared to more expensive brands, “this is the only one that ever gets my hair compliments,” she writes, noting that it “adds a good amount of body and, most importantly, a lot of shine without weighing my hair down or making it look greasy (and for only eight bucks a bottle, at that).”

If you’re already looking ahead to Mother’s Day, we have you covered with plenty of gift guides for every type of mom. This Keep Cup is a very aesthetically pleasing gift for any chai-loving mom, and it happens to be something yoga instructor Adriene Mischler can’t live without. For Mischler, it checks all the boxes: “It doesn’t leak, it’s light, and it’s stylish,” she says.

“Chinos typically fall somewhere between denim and dress pants on the casual-to-formal spectrum,” writes Strategist writer Jordan Bowman. This means they’re pretty versatile and “can be a critical part of any man’s wardrobe if styled well.” Bowman set out to find a range of the best chinos for men, including this pair of Uniqlo slim-fit pants. Nicolás Lazaro, a community specialist at the menswear-resale platform Grailed, calls them “the best under-$100 chinos you’ll find anywhere,” adding that “with a little tailoring or a folded cuff, they can look as good, if not better than, most luxury options.” That said, while the inseam for all sizes is set at 34 inches by default, you can order the chinos online and Uniqlo will shorten them to your preferred length for free.