The Best Things Strategist Editors Bought This Year

Even though myexisting Blundstonesare my most-worn shoe by a long shot, I was not planning to buy another pair this year. But while I was home for Thanksgiving, I was in a Duluth Trading Company, and the store was having a half-off sale on “almost everything.” I assumed Blundstones would be excluded, as they always are from sales, but somehow they weren’t. (They were excluded if you bought them online, though.) I would have regretted not getting Blundstones for $90 more than I would have regretted spending the $90, so I got the one pair that fit me: this dark olive color that I actually quite like.

Probably my most-worn pair of jeans this year. I have them in the medium-blue wash and just really like the classic and casual color and fit. Simply a very good pair of jeans.

It’s placed in a nook on my stair landing, and while it might not be the most glamorous purchase, it finally solved the problem of having too much kitchen stuff to actually fit in my kitchen. Huge peace of mind for daily life and therefore the best thing I bought this year. Its deep and tall shelves, plus the top, actually hold so much.

I will talk up these sweatpants to anyone who’s willing to listen. I don’t know if I have ever worn a pair of sweatpants as much as I have worn these. Apparently, Strategist readers like them, too, as evidenced by ourCyber Monday best-sellers story.

I almost forgot that I bought my first Manolos this year (on sale at Net-a-Porter or else I couldn’t have afforded them). It already feels like I’ve had them for years. They were permanently glued to my feet this summer. You wouldn’t be able to tell that, though, as they’re still as pristine as they were right out of the box. If you believe in the cost-per-wear philosophy, these have paid for themselves a thousand times over, essentially — admittedly, I’m bad at math.

Maybe this is boring, but I am so in love with my Ikea Lommarp desk. It’s a really beautiful shade of dark blueish-green that feels a little romantic and makes me excited to sit down and write. Most of the time, it’s a cluttered mess, but it manages to look cute anyway. My goal next year is to try to scratch together a little more time to use it for nonwork desk activities like letters and drawing. Fingers crossed!

I heard a lot about this sunscreen on TikTok for a few months before I bought it and kinda bought into the hype, but it’s genuinely really good. I got my first tube in January and have rebought it several times over. It’s the best face sunscreen I’ve ever used because it doesn’t feel like sunscreen at all; it feels like a light moisturizer. And I think it gives your skin a slight glow without being too much — I have oily skin, so I never want to go overboard on shine. I can wear it every single day, and I think it has genuinely kept me from getting burnt, especially over the summer. I even got my partner, who really hates the feeling of sunscreen, hooked on it. And it’s really not superexpensive!

As a runner and girl who just has way too many shoes (running and non-running), my and my boyfriend’s entryway was a constant mess and tripping hazard. After a year of using an old bookshelf to store the shoes, it was time to get ’em out of sight. This did the trick and is so cute. The drawer is the perfect space to store our dog leash and Baggus. I changed out the knobs to match our apartment even more.

I saw this thing during a casual scroll and couldn’t believe this solid wood desk was just $50. Initially, it didn’t look like I would get it — unfortunately, it was posted on the@fbmarketslutInstagram — and when I messaged, there was already someone who planned to pick it up. Luckily, that fell through and I went up to the Heights in my Volvo to pick it up the same day. It’s a little too big for my room, but I don’t care. It is spacious, features the perfect honeyed wood, and has become a home for my journals and books. The previous owner was also fabulous and said she once wrote a novel on it, which feels like good juju.

I finally snagged a pair of Asics Gel-Kayano 14s, shoes I’ve been eyeing for a while. I got a restock alert on January 1 and promptly jumped on them. I would have preferred a snazzier color, but I’m glad I got these silver ones (there are other matte styles, but I wanted something with shine). I’m not a person who likes to wear sneakers or any type of athleisure out, really, but these are cool enough to bust out on occasion — and not just on the weekend. They are always sold out, but signing up for the Asics in-stock notification system seems to do the trick.

Editor’s note: These Gel-Kayano 14s are currently sold out, but you can sign up for restock notifications on theproduct page.

I’ve been putting off buying a jewelry box for years. I found this on Mercari for a steal and finally went for it. It was initially so I could build up my jewelry collection, but since buying this, I’ve worn the pieces I already own so much more. It’s really helped having everything laid out and organized (who would’ve thought!). Also, I was surprised that the bottom tray was big enough to hold all of my sunglasses. It’s truly saved me so much drawer and counter space.

The affection I feel toward this thing is excessive. It’s been so helpful for keeping my kitchen and closets organized, and I love making labels for homemade pantry items like a spice blend or yuzu bitters — it makes them feel special and fancy.

Middle school wasn’t friendly to me, and I have the acne scars and hyperpigmentation to prove it. Foundations or tinted sunscreens that promise a skinlike finish seem to never offer the level of coverage I’m looking for: full. I started getting into Tower 28 last year when I was going through chemo and my skin became super sensitive, and I wanted to find some products I could wear to feel less like a gremlin at the hospital. (All of Tower 28’s products are formulated with sensitive skin in mind, and I also appreciate that they’re at the lower end of the price spectrum at Sephora.) “Tinted sunscreen” is probably a misnomer here: It’s like a full coverage foundation with SPF, but it’s never ever cakey or uncomfortable on the skin like so many foundations are. I wear it on days I want to look more put together but not instantly identifiable as someone wearing makeup. The finish is a touch glowy, so I like to set it with a bit of their new pressed powder in the shade Palisades Pink. My skin is still sensitized from treatment, but I can layer on Tower 28 without worrying about a reaction or breakout.

I am humbled by how much I love these soft, comfy, high-waisted sweatpants, which feel like walking through a cloud. Before I bought these, I hadn’t made an Old Navy purchase since my youth: Whenever late spring rolled around, my mother would bring me to stock up on those $2 flip-flops for summer. Fast-forward a few decades and I’ve begun hearing more and more murmurings about Old Navy being that girl, particularly for athleisure and basics. I took a low-stakes Black Friday gamble on these sweatpants, and I want to wear them every single day for the rest of winter and then move to a place that’s cold in spring and summer so I can keep wearing them. I now feel foolish for all those lost years of throwing my money at trendy athleisure brands, hoping their joggers and sweatpants would wow me the way these ones have.

I’ve been usingthis cork yoga matfrom 42 Birds since this spring, and in the past seven months, I haven’t touched the other three mats I own. It’s definitely my top recommendation for a yoga mat and one of the best things I bought in 2024 because it’s probably my most-used fitness-workout item. I use it for stretching before and after my runs, at-home workouts like weighted or kettlebell sessions, and yoga. Cork yoga mats aren’t necessarily new, but I’m surprised they haven’t taken over because they’re leagues better than traditional rubber or PVC mats. Cork is naturally antimicrobial; it doesn’t smell, and it barely needs cleaning, unlike rubber and PVC. Those materials also make for mats that are much heavier to lug around: The average rubber mat weighs four to five pounds, while cork mats are usually two pounds or less. Plus, cork has a soft, natural feel that doesn’t get slippery when wet. I mentioned this model in our guide toyoga mats.

I haven’t been so pleased with a pair of frames in a long time. (I got the Webster in Amaretto.) Way more than I would typically spend but totally worth it.

Code Name Orange Juice is a two-woman show based in New York, and I’ve been eyeing their wares all year. I tend to buy vintage jewelry over new because I prefer my pieces to have some weight. CNOJ’s Replicant collection is a nice middle ground because the new pieces are cast from vintage pieces the brand finds in scrap piles. I finally decided to go for this tooth charm during the brand’s Black Friday sale and am very excited to style it in the new year.

One of my favorite purchases this year is one I made right at the buzzer: I picked up a pound of Fortunato Brothers marzipan for Christmas Eve. Their fruits are fun, too, but I much prefer their Feast of the Seven Fishes shapes. I picked up two shrimp, a little squid, and some clams and mussels.

This is the first purchase I made after starting my job at the Strategist, and it has served me well in the 10 months since it arrived at my door. I’ve used it to measure everything from my sourdough starter to cornmeal for a fresh batch of corn muffins. The biggest drawback — the short auto-shutoff time of two minutes — has never been a problem. Given that it’s ourfavorite less-expensive kitchen scale, I don’t think you can do better for the price.

Before I purchased this vacuum, I was relying on a humbleBissell FeatherWeightthat was good enough for my college dorm room but inefficient in my one-bedroom apartment. When my Dyson V8 arrived, I immediately unboxed it and vacuumed my entire home, uprooting months and months of dust and crumbs that I knew existed but could never reach. I am now a nearly daily vacuumer and can rest easy in my mostly dust-free home.

I feel inordinately guilty about the waste I generate when I’m cleaning, so I went on a spree to replace all my cleaning products with more sustainable options. First, I substituted my Bounty paper towels with bamboo ones from Reel. Then, I swapped out my Mrs. Meyer’s all-purpose spray for Branch Basics’ glass starter kit. It comes with three reusable glass bottles and a super-concentrated cleaning solution — you fill the bottle with water and a certain amount of the solution, shake it up, and you’re good to go. It cleans great, I can rest easy knowing the solution doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals, and the bottle is so large that it will probably last me until this time next year.

I bought these right at the beginning of this year at Peress, the great old-school lingerie and slipper store on Madison Avenue that closed over the summer. The slippers are hands-down the best thing I’ve bought this year — I wear them every single morning and night, and they feel both cozy and elegant (thanks to their pastel-purple color and semi-ridiculous wedge heel). The shearling has barely matted after all that wear, and they just feel like something I’ll have and love for years.

My hair hit a wall this summer — it went dry and brittle, with ends splitting like no tomorrow — and none of my usual tricks could revive it. After some rave reviews from Tembe, Rio, and Dom, I thought I’d finally just cut everything from my routine and use the K18 shampoo, conditioner, and mask. The brand tells you to use the mask in place of conditioner (there’s some debate about this; some people say you can use conditioner if you wash it out after four minutes, but since the bottle says not to, I just avoid), so I only use it midweek, when I know I’m not going out, as ditching conditioner makes my hair a nightmare to style. But after a few months of consistent use of the product, my hair has come back to life, with shine, softness, and even elasticity. If you want a quick fix or to zhuzh up your hair for the weekend, try another mask (like theVerb Ghostor thePhilip Kingsley’ Elasticizer), but for slow and steady work, this is the best.

Are you sick of hearing aboutthis panyet? I’ve been using it every day.

Another thing I use pretty much every day and proselytize about all the time is a combi-steam oven. We finally finished a gut renovation of our apartment at the beginning of this year, and one of my favorite appliances that we put in is this oven, which works as a regular oven for baking, roasting, broiling, etc., but also has a steam function, and you can set it to a specific humidity in addition to temperature, which makes it great for baking bread (which I have not yet done), as well as for sous-vide cooking (which I use it for frequently) and steaming all kinds of foods (like frozen soup dumplings, which I just did last night).

I bought my largest rug fromRevival. It’s also a vintage Turkish rug but cost much more than the one I purchased fromthis shop, so I think the pricing is just really good. As far as the rug itself, it was exactly as the posting described — clean and scentless — and it arrived surprisingly fast from Turkey. Visually, it ties the bedroom together well. And the fact that it’s vintage and a little faded helps give the room dimension. Most of the stuff in the room is noticeably new, so it’s a balancing element.

I’m still obsessed with thisvibrating back wrapI bought over the summer for my partner. My only wish is that there was a continuous setting instead of the 20-minute cycle it runs on. I use it practically every day while working in my home office, and I’m always amazed at how long the relief from the heated massage lasts.