8 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: Near-Platonic Ideal Workout Leggings

For the latest installment of “What I Can’t Cook Without,” senior writer Emma Wartzman chatted with chef and author Carla Lalli about the pantry and fridge staples she always keeps around. At the top of her list are the unflavored frozen noodles she uses to make the quick kimchi soup recipe from her just-released cookbook, Food Is a Feeling. “I think these are the best frozen ramen noodles you can get. Unflavored means you can use them in whatever application without boxing yourself in. They’re also good to make cold noodles with. They cook in about three minutes, and they’re super-high-quality. They are chewy and have a great toothsome bite, al dente–style. They’re so much thicker and more satisfying than the dried packets,” she says.

“Lugging lunch from home to work every day looks different for different people,” says Wartzman — whether you work at an office without any utensils, pile last night’s leftovers into Tupperware and call it a day, or meal prep salads you don’t want to get soggy. She spent several weeks testing 11 containers to cover every possible adult-lunch-container need. Among her top picks is Yeti’s insulated and versatile bowl. “There are no extras here: no dividers, no separate containers, no vent,” she says. The small version is just the right size for lunch portions of rice, bean, and grain salads, or other one-and-done meals Wartzman prefers.

Writer Kitty Guo has noticed a shift in the perfume scene. Alcohol is typically the first ingredient in most fragrances, but some newer formulas contain no alcohol at all and are instead composed of water blended with essential oils and other preservatives and stabilizers. She tried out several, including those by Clean Reserve, Bella Hadid’s Orebella, and her personal winner, this one by the Japanese luxury cosmetics brand Decorté. It’s a green floral scent that, after a thorough dousing of herself, lasted through “a long day of attending a work event, taking two dance classes in a row, and trudging through a downpour.”

For all of the work writer Jordan McMahon has put in to use his smartphone less, he still reaches for it to take photos and wanted to find an alternative. So he tested several screenless cameras, including the Camp Snap 2. “Beyond its charming, vintage design, it feels and works just like an old point-and-shoot camera,” he says. It’s lightweight, but the plastic doesn’t feel cheap, and it’s so simple to use out of the box that even his 3-year-old nephew got some use out of it. Outfitted with six filters, the images aren’t as crisp as an iPhone’s — and they’re not meant to be.

Writer Amelia Jerden first discovered Popflex, the activewear brand founded by Pilates guru Cassey Ho, while working on a swim-shorts story. Having been impressed with the fit and quality of several suits, she tested out 15 of the brand’s most popular tops, bottoms, dresses, and more. These leggings were among her favorites. “They are compressive enough to wear while working out without the awful sag I associate with cotton leggings, but are matte and plain enough you can easily pair them with a T-shirt or sweatshirt.” The pockets are finished with a thick seam you can fold over and are secure enough to hold a phone and earbuds.

One of the best meals writer Diksha Basu ever had was at two-Michelin-starred Gymkhana, an Indian restaurant in London. Perusing Whole Foods aisles one day, she spotted its line of sauces and knew she had to give its tikka masala a try, especially as that dish is one she tends to order from restaurants instead of making at home. She pitted Gymkhana’s against four other tikka-masala simmer sauces to see which could taste as good as takeout. Gymkhana’s reigned supreme. “It looked and smelled the most restaurant-y from the moment you opened the bottle. The tikka masala was thick and smooth, with a velvety texture. Caramelized onions gave it a mellow sweetness and jamminess, and there was just the right balance of cumin and coriander, with cardamom giving it a slightly floral quality.”

After testing more than a dozen court shoes over the years, writer Martin Cizmar has determined that these Reeboks are the best for playing pickleball, “offering perfectly respectable court performance while looking great at brunch before your match,” he says. The best part is that “they’re appropriately nonchalant without sacrificing stability or traction” and comfortable straight out of the box.

Like other makeup artists she knows, Tomomi Gonzalez uses the Grid-It for quick touch-ups on sets. “The different-size elastic bands keep everything in place: blush and powder compacts (open or closed)for quicker and easier application, loose Q-tips, and several face and eye brushes under one strap at a time.”