10 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Oil Sprayers to a Retro Hair Dryer

Among the items that singer-songwriter Smokey Robinson told us he can’t live without is this nourishing body lotion from Bulldog Skincare that’s formulated with soothing aloe vera. “It is very, very good for my skin. I found that my skin is clear and what have you,” says Robinson. The entire line is formulated specifically for men and includes a variety of products including shower soap and beard oil.

Before she crowned these WÜSTHOF kitchen shears the very best in our brand-new Best in Class guide, Strategist senior editor Kiki Aranita put a dozen pairs to some not-so-conventional tests: snipping dead twigs, slicing open plastic planter pots, cutting through flat-iron steaks, and using them “to cut thick fabric, because why not,” she writes. This pair, which was also recommended by multiple pro chefs, came out on top because it is the most well made, easy to use, and versatile of the shears she’s tried.

As grilling season approaches, author-photographer Todd Selby has some slick advice: Get yourself one of the olive oil spray bottles he can’t live without. “I love grilling, and my favorite part is spraying olive oil all over the place — on the grill, on the veggies, on the fish — and watching the flames leap around,” he says. “If you don’t want your stuff to stick to the grill, you’ve got to use oil on everything.” Plus, he adds, “The spray bottles have a nice matte sheen to them, so they kind of look fancy.”

Though Strategist contributor Sarah Leon “had a dream of basil, rosemary, thyme, and lavender scattered throughout the garden, like a Tuscan chef’s garden, but in Brooklyn,” she couldn’t foot the bill to build it until she found these concrete-esque planters at Walmart. They look deceivingly hefty but are actually lightweight, have a hole with a plug for drainage, and are so affordable that Leon ultimately bought eight of them. But they sell out fast, so take Leon’s advice: “I’d suggest stocking up now, in bulk, before they sell out again — and I have to say, I told you so.”

If you didn’t catch our recent roundup of comfortable shoes that celebrities love, here’s the newest addition to the mix: Ariana Madix’s favorite (and only) recovery slides. “When I was on Dancing With the Stars, my feet were just in the worst condition,” she says. Luckily, the costume department gifted her these Oofos sandals, which she says became “the only shoes I could actually walk in because my feet were so beat-up.”

Though Strategist contributor Sara Gaynes Levy acknowledges that “the best baby bottle is one that your kid happily takes,” there’s no denying “there are still qualities that separate the good from the great.” In our new guide to the best baby bottles, she named this anti-colic bottle the very best because it’s easy to hold, comes in multiple sizes, and stacks neatly in diaper bags. “I found that using them meant that my second and third kids spit up way less than my first did,” Gaynes adds. “I know I can’t prove it was the bottles, but I really do think they helped!”

When Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo was looking for her ideal diaper bag, her long list of criteria included being easy to carry and wipe clean, looking good with every outfit, and being just as handy for carrying a laptop as baby stuff. She tried three other contenders before naming this stylish LeSportsac, which doubles as a tote and a backpack, as her favorite. “It’s more than just a work bag, or a diaper bag, or an alternative to a purse for sightseeing, and I plan on carrying it long after my son is out of diapers and carrying his own backpack,” she writes.

We’re here to let you in on Strategist contributor Kelsey Mulvey’s best-kept beauty secret, which she generously shared with us this week. To achieve a bouncy blowout each time she washes her hair, Mulvey uses Velcro rollers and dries her strands with the Conair Bonnet Hair Dryer, which, she writes, “is exactly like the space-age domes that are synonymous with 1960s beauty salons.” Though she now owns a Dyson Supersonic, she reports, “Nothing gets my hair looking as good — even shampoo-commercial-worthy — as the Conair Bonnet Hair Dryer.”

If you haven’t caught up on the latest Bluey buzz, the latest episode, “The Sign,” has fans wondering if the end of the beloved children’s show is near. And though we might not know what lies ahead for the Heeler family, these action figures based on the plot of “The Sign“ “would make a great addition to any fan’s existing Bluey toy collection,” writes Corsillo in our latest installment of Don’t Dillydally. The set includes the bride and groom, Frisky and Uncle Rad, as well as flower girls Bingo and Bluey.

In the eight years that we’ve been interviewing celebrities for our “What I Can’t Live Without” column, we’ve heard all about different kinds of water bottles, from classic S’wells to trendy Owalas. However, in rounding up all the water bottles that have been recommended on the Strategist, we found that a number of famous folks, including Rob Lowe, are enamored by motivational water bottles that encourage them to always be hydrating. “This is my baby. On set, they’ll be like, ‘Where’s the baby?’” he says. But he finds it actually gets the job done: “I’ll go hours and hours (without drinking water) and then be like, Oh, damn it. And then I’ll just go glug, glug, glug, glug, glug to catch up.”