If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what famous people add to their carts. Not the JAR brooch and Louis XV chair but the hair spray and the electric toothbrush. We asked comedian Rose Matafeo, the creator and star of Starstruck on HBO Max, about the canned tuna, underwear, and ballpoint pens she can’t live without.
I find this thickness perfect for anything, really, but I draw a lot with it. When we were filming Starstruck, I actually made these little zines for the cast and crew using the day’s call sheet — I called it the Starstruck Gazette. The nib is perfect — the tip is not as hard as a rollerball, which I like. And the ink is so beautiful — it’s loose enough when it comes out of the pen, but it also dries quickly, so it has a really gorgeous flow to it. I did try the thicker widths that Muji offers, but none felt as elegant as the 0.38. Also, I have it on good authority that the illustrator Liana Finck uses this exact pen for her drawings.
Being a curly-haired person, there’s a lot of trial and error. You go through so many heartbreaks in your life, and you waste so much money on curly-haired products. I first heard about this because they used it at a salon I went to in London. I don’t want to shout-out the salon, as they didn’t actually give me a good haircut, but they did teach me some things, namely that this product was worth investing in. I put it in when my hair is sopping wet and I coil the individual curls around my fingers. It’s so labor-intensive because it can take a long time — up to an hour. I put on an episode of This American Life and get to work. But at a push, I can get it done in 15 to 20 minutes.
As I’m getting older, I’m more aware of the importance of using sunscreen. I’m a quarter Scottish, so even though I’m half Polynesian, I go bright-red in the sun, which is not fun. What I like about this stuff specifically is that it’s superlight, so it doesn’t pill under makeup. It came recommended to me by my dermatologist — I have a dermatologist, when I can afford it, because I get acne sometimes. She recommended several other La Roche products, like the face wash and the moisturizer. I find the bottle so satisfying — it’s literally credit-card size, and the rattle when you shake it is so good.
This is one of two tuna brands that I love; the other is Minerva, which comes wrapped in paper and has a woman on the packaging. Minerva tuna is delicious, but it is top tier in terms of pricing, so I get this more often. The quality is incredible; it’s packed in olive oil, which I much prefer over brine or spring water. If you put this in a pasta dish, it’s going to be delicious. The other thing I love is the packaging. It’s the most perfect shade of pink and I love the font. I am very into fonts.
There are quite a few “period pants” on the market now, but Thinx was one of the first. They’re so good that I once ordered them from America to New Zealand. I first heard of them through a friend of a friend, who was doing a big order, so I got in on it. Depending on how heavy your flow is, you don’t need to wear a pad with them. They’ve lasted me for years. They’re a high waist and so comfortable. I wish they’d been around when I was a teenager.
I’m not a vegan, and I’m not vegetarian, but I would say lactose and me are not the best of friends. For me, milk is definitely the worst offender over, say, butter and cheese. All the “alt” milks have pros and cons; some of them are practically canceled, like almond milk, because it’s so labor-intensive to farm all the almonds for it. Oat milk feels like the most sustainable alt milk. It tastes delicious, like drinking porridge. Of all the oat milks, Minor Figures is my favorite, especially since Oatly sort of got canceled. I love the design of the carton; if I spy it in a café I’m visiting, I know I’m going to like it there.
I taught myself how to crochet in 2017; my friend gave me a crochet hook whittled out of wood and suggested I try it. I then became obsessed. I mainly taught myself on YouTube and have since made several cardigans and hats that nobody seems to want. I’m very obsessed with different wools and the different sizes of hooks. It’s a simultaneously stressful and calming thing; it’s stressful to learn it, but very calming to do it. Unfortunately, though, I recently injured my shoulder from crocheting; it’s something to do with how I was holding the wool. So that was embarrassing. If someone was going to get into it, I’d first suggest visiting a local craft shop, because they can hook you up with something based on your skill level and needs. On Etsy, there are a lot of sellers who sell sets of hooks, too.
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