12 Things That Delighted Us Last Week: From Sexy Crocs to Terry Firkins

Over the years, Strategist writer Martha Tuber has tried everything from mesh flats to mules to scratch that barely-there sandal itch without actually showing off her toes. (They’re perfectly fine toes, just not regularly-pedicured, she’d like to add.) That is, until she tried avarcas, a bare-bones-style sandal-slash-slingback from Spain. Unlike your average sandal, the avarcas have a “single-band upper that starts at the ball of the foot and ends mere millimeters below the tip of the outsole — long enough to hide my poor, neglected toes but still open so they can breathe,” she says.

The Teva Voya Infinity — a.k.a the Mary-Kate Olsen Tevas — has long been cemented in Strategist canon. It’s strappy, looks good, and feels-like-nothing, but, as Strategist senior writer Lauren Ro notes, “We’ve heard they don’t work for all feet, so we wanted to see if there was anything better out there in the ‘strappy sporty sandal’ genre.” Among the pairs she considered are these uncharacteristically sleek Crocs. Compared to the Tevas, she says, “these skinny thongs have an ergonomic footbed and a square toe, making them a nice, comfy alternative.”

When it comes to the little pants or big pants debate, Strategist contributor Sable Yong is solidly team big pants. “I crave comfort, function, and the confidence big pants broadcast,” she says. But at five-foot-two, she typically has to get said big pants hemmed — except for Gap’s especially barrel-like barrel jeans, called the Horseshoe. They “emanate a sense of ease and functional style, looking casually flowy while not swallowing my footwear in their gaping maws,” Yong writes. “Never in my life have I received so many compliments on a pair of jeans.”

News of a Sabrina Carpenter photo dump hit the Strategist staff slack channel early Monday morning, and in our typical fashion, we immediately zoomed in — specifically on the Short n’ Sweet singer’s nightstand, where we spotted a single hair tie and a pillowy silk sleek mask. As the team tried to pin down exactly which mask it was, Strategist junior writer Bella Druckman looked to her own nightstand. “There, lo and behold, was my Drowsy sleep mask with the exact black Velcro, silky sheen, and relative size to a single hair tie as the mask on the singer’s nightstand,” she reports. And FWIW, it’s our favorite luxury sleep mask, too.

“Hair spray is a major, major part of my life and my daily routine,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart told us when we asked about the things she can’t live without. Currently, her spray of choice is this one from Color WOW. “My biggest test is, especially during a game and if I have a tight top knot, my hair has to be slicked back and pretty clean and not falling out of place,” she says. The Color WOW passes the test easily.

Writer Ambar Pardilla’s latest Strategist Brain musings include a strapless swim dress, some chic water shoes, and this classy Firkin (as in: fake Birkin). “Of course, it’s sold at Zitomer, the Upper East Side pharmacy that carries everything from Louis XV’s toothpaste to Mason Pearson hairbrushes,” she writes, adding, “It’s about the size of a large L.L.Bean Boat and Tote.”

Editor’s note: The Firkin is currently sold out.

While Strategist senior kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman counts herself as one of the lucky ones — “which is to say I live in a Brooklyn apartment with a backyard,” she writes — as a renter, she doesn’t want to spend too much money on her backyard setup. To that end, she set out on a hunt for all different styles of outdoor lighting and surfaced a variety of string lights, table lamps, and these hanging lamps from Fatboy. “During the few larger gatherings I’ve had since I got it, people have gravitated toward it and can see one another well when standing nearby,” she reports. “Plus the fully rounded globe shape is modern and cool; it looks like the moon from far away.”

When our resident wardrobe basics writer Brenley Goertzen noticed Leset’s Margo Tee “was gaining traction among fashion people, from Leandra Medine and Magasin newsletter writer Laura Reilly to celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman,” she was intrigued. So, she tapped five Strategist writers (including herself) to determine if the tee is truly that great (and if it’s worth the $78 price tag). While all the writers were impressed by the tee’s 100 percent cotton material and general sturdy feel, many of them felt it wasn’t quite enough to justify the price.(Although when considering the recent $58 Prime Day price, a few writers felt it was worth the splurge.)

This week’s collection of newly released products included a seasonally-appropriate collaboration from Material Kitchen and Van Leeuwen. The ideally weighted stainless-steel scoop “means no more digging around in the carton with a tablespoon,” according to our writer Katherine Gillespie.

When celebrity aesthetician and founder of Shani Darden Skin Care Shani Darden goes to the drugstore, her shopping list includes beauty and skincare products for both her kids and herself. While her acne days are past, her kids’ (ages 16 and 12) certainly aren’t, so she buys them this acne treatment that she recommends using at night (rather than in the morning, as Neutrogena recommends). “It’s a 2.5 percent concentration [of benzoyl peroxide] and kills bacteria and inflammation and is really good for people struggling with acne,” she adds.

As a child of the Tumblr flower-crown era, Strategist contributor Sarah John has a weak spot for dramatic hair pieces. “There’s just something about a well-placed headband, scarf, or pair of barrettes that projects a sense of ’90s-movie popular-girl empowerment,” she writes. This summer, her hair piece of choice is a jumbo scrunchie — the sheer one from Wrap Life, specifically. She loves that the scrunchie has a “grand, theatrical silhouette that leaves me feeling very dressed up with very little effort and elevates my lazy-morning high buns into something much more polished,” she says.

Editor’s note: Sarah’s huge scrunchie is currently sold out, but the chiffon one is still available.

“I didn’t realize until I had a child of my own that, with so many hotels transitioning their bathrooms toward sleek rainfall showers over combo tubs, it’s easy to find yourself without options for washing a wobbly infant,” writes Strategist contributor Carlye Wisel. To avoid the balancing act of bathing a child in a “ceramic-tile hellscape,” she bought an inflatable duck bathtub and never looked back. “Whether used as a freestanding modern bath at Susurros del Corazón or at Grandma’s house in Colorado, it’s possibly the smartest baby-travel item I’ve come across to date, not to mention a joy to spot from across a chaotic hotel room,” she adds.