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sekritomgWELL, people are just dying to know, I'm sure.
LAMY Safari lilac 2016 special edition
$45
I have always used fountain pens and I own several, but this is the best one. The Safari should retail around $18-20 new, which is a good price for a great fountain pen. When I had a job with a work-from-home supplement I expensed a Caran d'Ache 849 I'd always wanted so I could put brown ink in it (don't worry about it) and that pen, which now retails for $72, is not nearly as nice as my LAMY. Now, LAMY does do limited-release colors of this pen, and the purple with black is my favorite colorway; I bought mine in 2016 when Choosing Keeping (great shop, worth a visit) was still on the Columbia Road, before they moved to Central. An interesting fact about this pen is that they released it with a special-edition ink that is now a cult item. I didn't buy any of it at the time because my go-to fountain pen ink color is schwarzblau, however, I did buy some violet blackberry ink last year to use in this pen and it's very pretty. I'm not a crazy fountain pen person, by the way, out here making swatches, I just like how fountain pens write.
Splenda Sweet Minis 500 count
$23.79
Much of what will be on this list are products from the UK, sorry! If it's any consolation these will cost something like £5-6 when you're over there, and they are small and easy to bring home, so stock up. Having said this, who doesn't want a very tidy travel dispenser for Splenda? I don't mind stevia in many sugar-free products, but it's not good on its own as a sweetener in tea or coffee. Unfortunately a lot of places you want to drink coffee and/or eat will not supply anything other than stevia, and so carrying Splena is essential, for me. This is a brilliant little product. I carry one everywhere. I use them at home. I don't think you should pay $24 to import them, however. Just buy a box of Splenda packets.
M&S Percy Pig paper straws
$4.99
I have only been a straw user for a few years, since I found these, because they're cute, they're cheap, and they're paper. To me the Percy Pigs are better for smoothies and iced tea and the Colin Caterpillars are better for diet Coke and iced coffee. If I can compost my straws, that's great. Speaking of which--
M&S 22 caddy bin liners 10L
£3
M&S have a lot working against them. On a UK grocery-to-grocery comparison they are one of the more expensive chains, up there with Waitrose. They are apparently guilty of recipe theft. They took diet Florida sparkling orange off of shelves. Apparently this is the same thing but if it's not called "diet Florida sparkling orange" the product loses all whimsy. What am I supposed to drink, normal diet soda with like an orange picture on it? How is that charmingly inept? Anyway, here's the best compost bags.
Malin + Goetz exfoliating peppermint body scrub
$32
I'm a man of the people and I want to use this kinda tingly scrub with a loofah. I first found it during the initial COVID lockdown on the Space NK website when I wasn't spending money on anything and really just wanted some nice products delivered to me. I have a strong sense that this isn't available in the US despite this company's products being reliably everywhere. I like how gender-neutral the packaging is.
Elta MD UV Clear Broad Spectrum SPF 46
$44
Now, here is a product you can't even get in the UK unless you import it from Hong Kong. This is something my dermatologist told me to start using more than a decade ago because I am incredbly acne-prone in a like disfiguring way, and also have very very fair skin that will burn in conditions other people would probably find highly unlikely, such as in the middle of winter (if it's sunny). Also also, my skin is very sensitive and many sunscreens will cause my skin to burn if they get into the pores when I'm sweating. So, yeah, I'll pay the $40/bottle for this, it works, it does what it says it does, it's incredibly non-greasy light sunscreen that's somehow also mineral-based. I'm not going to fuck around with sunscreen, I'll pay whatever I have to for the thing that works. If you showed me a better sunscreen that cost either more or less I would probably use that, but in the meantime this stuff is what does it for me. Bonus, this product is very good for the rest of your body for daily use. I don't like that they redesigned the bottle and it now costs $55 instead of $46, but I guess there's an extra ounce in there. Unfortunately you can't easily carry this around all day for reapplication, but I think it goes a little further than you'd expect because it's physical sunscreen, that is, the minerals in it literally block the sun, so like, I kind of think it doesn't wear off in the same way chemical sunscreen does? In conclusion I am annoyed that this sunscreen is now like a cult beauty favorite because the idea of using everyone's top-tier sunscreen weirds me out, but what can you do if you really need it and it works?
US postcard stamps
56 cents US
A lot of people don't know that it costs 17 cents less to send a postcard than a letter, and that the USPS makes special stamps priced for postcards. Moreover, the postcard stamp is always a smaller-sized stamp, whereas typical US Forever stamps vary wildly in size and are sometimes bad fits for postcards because they can be huge to show off the artwork. No comment on whether that's merited, but as an inveterate postcard writer and mailer I always have a good supply of postcard stamps. As with Forever stamps the postage is going up by 6 cents in July, so, you should buy some at 56 cents right now. Like Forever stamps, postcard stamps don't expire. I have friends who have sent hundreds of Postcards to Swing States at the Forever stamp rate and wasted hundreds of dollars that way. The worst thing I can say about these is that the designs are less interesting, less often updated, and right now you can choose between sailboats and autumn leaves. This is a reminder to buy like 300 postcard stamps soon.
R+Co Dallas biotin thickening conditioner
$38
I'm not sure what bioton is/does or when they added that word in, suffice to say this stuff does give you a little volume (which I love, let's all have big big hair) and it's not greasy-feeling or hard to wash out. It also comes in a travel size, how nice. It's probably worth saying here that one of these bottles of conditioner will last me, oh, a year or more? I'm not putting tons of this in my hair and I don't wash my hair very often.
Babybel light
Pricing varies
Oh god they just changed the name of this product to "Babybel Reduced Fat" in the US. I love the low-moisture quality of this specific cheese. It makes a more pleasing texture for me than regular Babybel, which isn't bad per se, but the light kind has a more toothsome, faker quality to it that is really pleasing to me. I also think the regular red-colored Babybel is a little more sour and less salty. I eat like two of these a day. I eat them after pilates. I put them in my lunch.
Dyson stick vacuum
Pricing varies
I'm not sure it matters which of these you buy, like, I'm not totally clear on what the difference between the $250 and $1,000 models is, like, surely something? I have a cat and I vacuum every day, and these things come with so many attachments you don't need a separate dustbuster. They sell replacement parts so you never need a new one. I really hate to spend money just to spend it, but I really think this is a case of the more expensive product being genuinely better, compared to a regular plug-in bagged vacuum. I got my first one of these for free because it was passed onto to me by someone whose house was too big to entirely clean on the battery life, but I have only ever lived in two-bedroom flats with one of these, and I don't use the max setting (which you only rarely need), and I have never had this issue.
LAMY Safari lilac 2016 special edition
$45
I have always used fountain pens and I own several, but this is the best one. The Safari should retail around $18-20 new, which is a good price for a great fountain pen. When I had a job with a work-from-home supplement I expensed a Caran d'Ache 849 I'd always wanted so I could put brown ink in it (don't worry about it) and that pen, which now retails for $72, is not nearly as nice as my LAMY. Now, LAMY does do limited-release colors of this pen, and the purple with black is my favorite colorway; I bought mine in 2016 when Choosing Keeping (great shop, worth a visit) was still on the Columbia Road, before they moved to Central. An interesting fact about this pen is that they released it with a special-edition ink that is now a cult item. I didn't buy any of it at the time because my go-to fountain pen ink color is schwarzblau, however, I did buy some violet blackberry ink last year to use in this pen and it's very pretty. I'm not a crazy fountain pen person, by the way, out here making swatches, I just like how fountain pens write.
Splenda Sweet Minis 500 count
$23.79
Much of what will be on this list are products from the UK, sorry! If it's any consolation these will cost something like £5-6 when you're over there, and they are small and easy to bring home, so stock up. Having said this, who doesn't want a very tidy travel dispenser for Splenda? I don't mind stevia in many sugar-free products, but it's not good on its own as a sweetener in tea or coffee. Unfortunately a lot of places you want to drink coffee and/or eat will not supply anything other than stevia, and so carrying Splena is essential, for me. This is a brilliant little product. I carry one everywhere. I use them at home. I don't think you should pay $24 to import them, however. Just buy a box of Splenda packets.
M&S Percy Pig paper straws
$4.99
I have only been a straw user for a few years, since I found these, because they're cute, they're cheap, and they're paper. To me the Percy Pigs are better for smoothies and iced tea and the Colin Caterpillars are better for diet Coke and iced coffee. If I can compost my straws, that's great. Speaking of which--
M&S 22 caddy bin liners 10L
£3
M&S have a lot working against them. On a UK grocery-to-grocery comparison they are one of the more expensive chains, up there with Waitrose. They are apparently guilty of recipe theft. They took diet Florida sparkling orange off of shelves. Apparently this is the same thing but if it's not called "diet Florida sparkling orange" the product loses all whimsy. What am I supposed to drink, normal diet soda with like an orange picture on it? How is that charmingly inept? Anyway, here's the best compost bags.
Malin + Goetz exfoliating peppermint body scrub
$32
I'm a man of the people and I want to use this kinda tingly scrub with a loofah. I first found it during the initial COVID lockdown on the Space NK website when I wasn't spending money on anything and really just wanted some nice products delivered to me. I have a strong sense that this isn't available in the US despite this company's products being reliably everywhere. I like how gender-neutral the packaging is.
Elta MD UV Clear Broad Spectrum SPF 46
$44
Now, here is a product you can't even get in the UK unless you import it from Hong Kong. This is something my dermatologist told me to start using more than a decade ago because I am incredbly acne-prone in a like disfiguring way, and also have very very fair skin that will burn in conditions other people would probably find highly unlikely, such as in the middle of winter (if it's sunny). Also also, my skin is very sensitive and many sunscreens will cause my skin to burn if they get into the pores when I'm sweating. So, yeah, I'll pay the $40/bottle for this, it works, it does what it says it does, it's incredibly non-greasy light sunscreen that's somehow also mineral-based. I'm not going to fuck around with sunscreen, I'll pay whatever I have to for the thing that works. If you showed me a better sunscreen that cost either more or less I would probably use that, but in the meantime this stuff is what does it for me. Bonus, this product is very good for the rest of your body for daily use. I don't like that they redesigned the bottle and it now costs $55 instead of $46, but I guess there's an extra ounce in there. Unfortunately you can't easily carry this around all day for reapplication, but I think it goes a little further than you'd expect because it's physical sunscreen, that is, the minerals in it literally block the sun, so like, I kind of think it doesn't wear off in the same way chemical sunscreen does? In conclusion I am annoyed that this sunscreen is now like a cult beauty favorite because the idea of using everyone's top-tier sunscreen weirds me out, but what can you do if you really need it and it works?
US postcard stamps
56 cents US
A lot of people don't know that it costs 17 cents less to send a postcard than a letter, and that the USPS makes special stamps priced for postcards. Moreover, the postcard stamp is always a smaller-sized stamp, whereas typical US Forever stamps vary wildly in size and are sometimes bad fits for postcards because they can be huge to show off the artwork. No comment on whether that's merited, but as an inveterate postcard writer and mailer I always have a good supply of postcard stamps. As with Forever stamps the postage is going up by 6 cents in July, so, you should buy some at 56 cents right now. Like Forever stamps, postcard stamps don't expire. I have friends who have sent hundreds of Postcards to Swing States at the Forever stamp rate and wasted hundreds of dollars that way. The worst thing I can say about these is that the designs are less interesting, less often updated, and right now you can choose between sailboats and autumn leaves. This is a reminder to buy like 300 postcard stamps soon.
R+Co Dallas biotin thickening conditioner
$38
I'm not sure what bioton is/does or when they added that word in, suffice to say this stuff does give you a little volume (which I love, let's all have big big hair) and it's not greasy-feeling or hard to wash out. It also comes in a travel size, how nice. It's probably worth saying here that one of these bottles of conditioner will last me, oh, a year or more? I'm not putting tons of this in my hair and I don't wash my hair very often.
Babybel light
Pricing varies
Oh god they just changed the name of this product to "Babybel Reduced Fat" in the US. I love the low-moisture quality of this specific cheese. It makes a more pleasing texture for me than regular Babybel, which isn't bad per se, but the light kind has a more toothsome, faker quality to it that is really pleasing to me. I also think the regular red-colored Babybel is a little more sour and less salty. I eat like two of these a day. I eat them after pilates. I put them in my lunch.
Dyson stick vacuum
Pricing varies
I'm not sure it matters which of these you buy, like, I'm not totally clear on what the difference between the $250 and $1,000 models is, like, surely something? I have a cat and I vacuum every day, and these things come with so many attachments you don't need a separate dustbuster. They sell replacement parts so you never need a new one. I really hate to spend money just to spend it, but I really think this is a case of the more expensive product being genuinely better, compared to a regular plug-in bagged vacuum. I got my first one of these for free because it was passed onto to me by someone whose house was too big to entirely clean on the battery life, but I have only ever lived in two-bedroom flats with one of these, and I don't use the max setting (which you only rarely need), and I have never had this issue.