10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Lefty Scissors to a Sparkly Le Creuset

As someone whose “style has always revolved around niche, highly specific color pairings,” Strategist contributor Viv Chen knew this little book of color combinations was coming home with her after she spotted it at Pegasus Books in Berkeley. The chromatic dictionary, which is chock-full of pages with vivid color swatches, is now Chen’s “color-combo cheat sheet of sorts.” It’s helped her learn “how to wear specific shades of red and green together so I don’t end up looking like a Christmas tree,” among other things. “This book has all the answers,” says Chen.

For its 100th anniversary, Le Creuset released its Dutch oven — which we’ve dubbed our favorite classic Dutch oven — in a new color: Flamme Dorée, which has a finish Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo describes as “a subtle mineral coating that shimmers when it catches the light.”

“A jewelry box is one of the most important investments you can make (beyond a chain) — not only does it help you keep your costume ‘diamonds’ from your real diamonds, it sits prettily on your dresser, too,” writes our in-house jewelry collector Ambar Pardilla. But choosing that perfect jewelry box is about as personal as picking out a piece of fine jewelry, so she found options for all sorts of tastes, including this rather groovy option from Bea Bongiasca and Wolf. “You’d see the same shades of green, pink, yellow, purple, and turquoise on Bea Bongiasca’s own enamel,” Pardilla adds.

You’ve probably heard us mention the Gapaissance, which has been led by Gap’s EVP and creative director Zac Posen. We spoke to him back in 2017 when he was a Project Runway judge, and seven years later, it turns out he still swears by the same left-handed dressmaker’s shears. When he uses one of his three pairs, he says, “It’s my Edward Scissorhands — Zac Scissorhands — moment.”

One of the more voracious readers on staff, Strategist writer Tembe Denton-Hurst says that in addition to a book, “I have an armful of thingamabobs whenever I read, all of which have to follow me from room to room.” Since note-taking on the page itself feels sacrilegious to her, Denton-Hurst relies on these sticky tabs to mark passages she wants to remember. And sometimes, she adds, “When I disagree with whatever the author is saying, I’ll stick a tab on it so I can come back and silently argue.”

It’s hard to believe that it’s been eight years since Strategist beauty columnist Rio Viera-Newton first published her skin-care Google doc. But now here we are with the latest update from Rio, focusing on “all the products, tips, and tricks I did to clear my acne just in time for my wedding.” One in particular stood out: a cleansing balm that she tried after some ruthless cheek breakouts. Free of any pore-clogging ingredients, the cleanser is unique because of its packaging: “You twist the jar, and it dispenses enough balm for you to wash your face,” she writes. “There’s no scooping or digging necessary, so you never come into direct contact with the product.”

Strategist writer Dominique Pariso has been on the sex-toy beat long enough that when she sat down to watch FX’s new miniseries Dying for Sex, she could identify just about every toy. This rechargeable massager appears when Molly, the main character whose terminal cancer diagnosis sparks a journey of sexual self-discovery, gets a wand vibrator delivered to her hotel room (“Charged to her ex-husband Steve’s credit card,” no less, Pariso adds). “While Steve exclaims that the toy’s price tag is a steep $200, it actually retails for a very affordable $49,” Pariso reports.

This January, the mid-century rancher that Strategist contributor Justine Harman lived in with her husband and children burned down in the Pacific Palisades fires. “In the hours and days that followed,” she says, “people asked the same question: What do you need?” While she didn’t quite have an answer back then, she says, “the best personal gifts I received felt either like a homecoming or an upgrade from my former life.” Falling into the latter category, these designer towels from Tekla “are super-absorbent, never smell weird after a wash, and have a tiny bit of stretch that makes (and holds) perfect post-shower human burritos.”

After running three marathons last year, New York associate editor Jeremy Rellosa received some news from his PT: He had overdone it and had a nagging IT-band as a result. As he recovers, he’s running in more cushioned shoes, specifically these ASICS. They’re available in a limited-edition color for the brand’s collaboration with Bandit, which he says is “arguably the most popular running-apparel brand at the moment.”

[Editor’s note: The limited-edition Bandit version of the ASICS are no longer available, but you still find the shoes in a variety of other colors on the ASICS website.]

Every once in a while, a celebrity will make the case that their preferred pen is the very best, and this week, it was author Katie Kitamara who went to bat for Pilot fine-point pens. As for evidence, she says, “The mark that the ink leaves is very decisive and doesn’t require very much effort, but it also doesn’t bleed through the page.” She orders them in boxes, and if her point was compelling, you might, too.