The 20 Best Things Strategist Staffers Bought in April

I try to bring a salad to the office most days and was sick of using up a Tupperware for it each week. I bought this one for its removable tray and really nice non-plastic dressing container. While I like the salad bowl, it is absurdly large and a little unwieldy (it doesn’t fit in my work bag). I’ll continue to use it, but I am definitely on the hunt for something slightly smaller.

I have a few pairs of these socks in the low-cut fit and they’re some of my favorites. I’m always slightly annoyed when they get dirty and I’m forced to wear my other, lesser (to me) socks. So I decided to put matters in my own hands and buy more. These hit a little higher on my calves than I would like, but I still like them a lot and the colors and designs are very fun. I also bought these, these, and these in the lilac and pink colorways. Next time I’ll buy more of the low cut.

It had been a while since I bought everyday walking sneakers, and with a trip to Paris coming up — plus a summer’s worth of long walks around New York — it felt like time to start hunting. I tried some beige Adidas Tokyos that didn’t fit quite right, some burgundy Sambas that were a little too wintery, and then finally went to New Balance, where I found these. I love that they have a fairly slim silhouette, are a little ’70s-looking, and are white without being too white, thanks to the cream leather panels.

Usually I stock up on my skin-care during Sephora’s sale, but this time I only bought this lip oil, which rang up at a satisfying $12-ish after the Rouge discount. I already had one in the Sesame shade, and this time went for Cashew, which is a sort of pinkish brown that will be nice for spring. These oils are great because they’re actually moisturizing — I always feel like my lips stay less dry after using them, even after the oil has faded.

I preordered the latest issue of Steak Zine, by the folks who make Cake Zine, one of whom is a friend. It’s their first non-sweet-related volume and extra-special because I have a couple of other friends who wrote pieces for it. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I already know that it’s going to be great; everything they put out is, and I highly recommend checking out their previous editions if you’re unfamiliar.

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks getting my backyard ready for summer. This has involved a lot of cleaning and sweeping, branch removal, and multiple trips to Lowe’s (one of which involved transporting 21 extremely heavy bags of pea gravel). I also moved around some furniture, including a previously neglected iron bench we found on the street a couple of years ago, to create an extra seating area. The bench requires a cushion to be able to sit on it, so I finally ordered this one. Bench cushions are surprisingly expensive, and after messaging with two different Etsy sellers whose custom versions ended up being nearly $200, I gave up on that dream and instead simply searched for an existing one at a decent price point, with the right measurements, in nice colors (I got the mocha).

Since late March, I’ve had a baby-tee itch that needed scratching. Perhaps I was finally over shirts so large that they fit like tunics. Lo and behold the latest from Los Angeles Apparel, which I discovered on a walk-in whim one especially sunny Tuesday afternoon. I immediately walked out with one in navy and came back not a week later for the black and white. They’re not so short that they reveal any midriff, but fit snugly and comfortably. My favorite things about them are the thickly ribbed collar and perfectly short sleeves; both fit high and snug on my neck and arms, respectively, creating an overall elongating effect. They’re more elevated than an ordinary crewneck and the perfect no-brainer shirts to pair with any trench and bottom as the weather flips and flops.

I received a sample of this in a recent Sephora order and was surprised to find myself considering cutting the tube open for more product. So I held out until this month’s Sephora sale to purchase the full size. My skin picking this year has been well documented across the site. As I’ve cycled through products, this face wash has stood out for its truly cleansing effect (my skin is squeaky clean afterward) and its improvement on my pores and scars — they look smoother and smaller after consistent use. A little goes a very long way, and it lathers richly, with teeny particles that help exfoliate. I love that I can let it sit on my face as a quick midweek mask when I need a pick-me-up.

My boyfriend and I are both tinned-fish aficionados, so it takes a lot to impress us. He opened up a couple cans of Wild Planet tuna to make us tuna salad for lunch, and when we took the first bite, we immediately looked at each other like, Wow, this is good. The tuna isn’t fishy at all, just clean and fresh tasting with a firm, meaty texture. Plus, all the fish is wild caught with a focus on sustainable sourcing practices. We just placed another big order of the albacore as well as the chicken and some of the premade salads for easy lunches.

I’ve been battling some stubborn fungal acne along my jawline, so I’ve given my skin a break from testing and exclusively used this moisturizer from fungal-acne-safe skin-care brand Malezia. Honestly, I might just keep using it indefinitely because it’s one of my favorite moisturizers I’ve come across in a while. The formula is infused with urea, which helps mildly exfoliate my chronically clogged skin, plus hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, allantoin, and glycerin. It has a lovely lightweight texture and feels soothing but not sticky or heavy on my skin. I just re-upped with two more tubes, and might even take out a subscription.

I’d never owned a proper work bag and always felt a little embarrassed and unprofessional when schlepping stuff around in one of my backpacks — looking more like I was heading to class or a hike rather than a meeting. I had always admired this particular totepack of my sister’s, and Strategist writer Jordan McMahon liked it, too. It doesn’t hold a lot, but it’s just the right amount of bag for my purposes, and I love the caramel color and structured material.

I just saw — and loved — the Domenico Gnoli show and noted this children’s book among the exhibits. We are big fans of The Phantom Tollbooth in our household, so Norton Juster tales with illustrations by Gnoli that recall engravings by Holbein and Breughel? Had to have it.

I’ve desperately needed new jeans since the one pair I really liked ripped a few months ago. Perhaps because I find them flattering on me, or because I was a teen in the 2010s when high-rise jeans were the go-to style, I’ve been a devoted high-rise-jeans wearer my entire adult life. But ever since I read Bella Druckman’s love letter to the low-rise jean, I’ve been a bit low-rise curious. I ventured to my local Abercrombie to try on her recommended Curve Love Low Rise Ultra Loose Jeans and was surprised by how much I actually liked them. I ended up buying them in two colors and have been wearing both nonstop. I bought my usual size, which actually fits me a little more like a mid-rise than a true low-rise (I may have been a child, but I remember the true low rise of the aughts). However, the fit is loose enough that you could probably wear them a little lower if you so desire. And speaking of loose, the legs are blessedly wide, which I appreciate both for the style and for getting an easier fit over my thighs. (My fellow thick-thighed gals surely know the struggle of trying on jeans that don’t even fit over your legs!)

In a continued effort to make my workspace more ergonomic, I bought this laptop stand from Target. It lifts my laptop a few inches off my desk, so I’m not looking down at it all day while working. It also has a spacious drawer where I can tuck all the doodads that were cluttering my desk before.

This American-made welder’s jacket (minus the anti-flammable chemical treatments) is like the spring-jacket version of the vintage Polo Country barn coat I get complimented on all winter long. Besides sharing a verdant hue, both of these jackets have a gigantic interior pocket spanning the entire back side that’s perfect for carrying a book and sunglasses case without an extra bag. The lightweight cotton ripstop material is just enough to keep the morning chill from settling into my bones, as long as I’m moving briskly.

My wife is about to enter her third trimester, and after trying countless different configurations of regular bed pillows and throw pillows, this adjustable pregnancy pillow is what finally allowed her (and by extension, me) to sleep through the night once more. Of all the options we considered, we liked that this one had a mostly cotton cover and that it’s really easy to mold into whatever shape she needs it to be for side sleeping at any angle or even for sitting while watching TV. We also appreciate that it comes with a cotton storage bag to keep it from getting dirty while traveling — our doula calls it the Santa bag.

In 2024, I was convinced that the quickest manicure was Essie’s Expressie and Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri. This month, I figured out a better solution: Manicurist and Tenoverten’s the Outlast. As advertised, this top coat is “chip defying” and the finish glossy (reminding me of a magazine cover).

To know me is to know that I don’t wear sneakers regularly. But I have to get my daily steps in. These are helping admirably by being comfortable, supportive, and bouncy. Other friendly neighborhood walkers have even eyed them! Just know that they run small. I’m a size 7, and I sized up to 7.5. Important for some toe wiggle room.