Rachel Miller

Ritual vitamins were recommended to me by a friend whose general taste/product choices I deeply trust. I didn’t take a vitamin of any sort before this, but she said that taking them genuinely brought joy to her daily routine.

Ritual’s marketing hook is that they only contain the vitamins women need (there is no men’s version), and they don’t contain anything extra. I mean, sure? I’m honestly not certain if I need to take vitamins at all, though my doctor has been bugging me to take a vitamin D supplement for like two years and this is the first thing that actually got me to do it. (Ritual contains 2000 IU of vitamin D, and that, combined with my doctor’s D recommendations, helped sell me.) The other hook is that they are non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and don’t contain any synthetic fillers or colors. Again…sure? To be totally transparent, this isn’t that important to me at this moment in my life. Maybe it should be, but I’m going to need to hear it from someone other than a vitamin brand. Ritual also claims that their vitamins are “joy promoting,” “battery charging,” and “skin-perfecting.” But I mean…what vitamins don’t promise this? I’m including all of this because it might matter to you, but the truth is, it did not matter to me.

But after I put my skepticism aside and gave them a shot, I found these vitamins to be as delightful as my friend told me they were. The magic mostly lies in both the (highly Instagrammable) bottle and pill design — WHY DON’T ALL PILLS LOOK AND FEEL LIKE THIS — and also in the magical minty tab. I didn’t realize it at first, but each bottle has a clear food-safe plastic tab at the bottomthat’s infused with peppermint oil; this makes the vitamins smell (and lightly taste) minty. It sounds like a small thing, but opening them the first time and getting hit with that amazing mint fragrance was genuinely wonderful. And overall, taking them each day is a legit lovely experience, so I actually do it. (One of my coworkers said they were the only vitamins she’d ever been able to stick with.) While I was sent the first bottle to try for free, I bought a second one during the third week because I didn’t want to experience any sort of break in my new vitamin, uh, ritual. And speaking of the third week, it was around that time that I noticed that my skin was really, really glowy. I started using pure rosehip oil several months ago and have been totally blown away by the results, but I noticed something new and extra after I started taking these. I can’t say for certain it’s the vitamins (I’m CLEARLY not a scientist), but given that nothing else has really changed in my life, it seems likely enough.

There are certainly cheaper vitamins on the market, but I am able/willing to pay $1/day for a vitamin D supplement (and then some) that brings me genuine, minty-fresh joy, and leaves me feeling like the sparkle emoji morning and night. ✨ —Rachel Wilkerson Miller

Get them from Ritual for $30/month.

Yi Yang

A sad truth is that no matter how clean of a person you are, some of your shoes will become stinky, especially that favorite pair of boots you’ve been wearing all season. In the past, I never knew how to deal with stinky shoes — I’d try airing them out, but the smell never really went away. The problem was worse with flats (because I usually wear them barefoot) and if they got caught in the rain for some reason, I considered them a goner (RIP, many of my shoes). Little did I know that there was a whole world of shoe-deodorizing products out there for tackling this exact problem.

While I was researching for a post, I stumbled across these bamboo charcoal bags that you insert into your shoes to remove odors. They’re supposed to suck up bacteria- and odor-causing moisture, as well as the odor itself, and leave shoes dry and fresh. I was immediately interested, but I didn’t want to bite the bullet yet — because $10 for two little bags of charcoal? Seemed liked a lot. But eventually, as more smelly shoes started to pile up at home, I decided to make the purchase. If it could save even one pair of shoes, I’d be getting my money’s worth.

I tried them immediately, first on my favorite black boots that I wear daily. They had started to smell a little musty, and the odor was beginning to transfer onto my socks. Overnight, the smell had completely disappeared, leaving only a leather scent behind. To say I was shook is an understatement. I then tried them on another three-year-old pair of flats that had not been smelling the best since, well, three years ago. After one day, it no longer smelled like anything. And keep in mind that I’m using the same pair of bags back to back! In the product description, it says the bags are reusable for up to two years; you simply air them out in the sun to rejuvenate ’em once in a while. I’ve been using the same pair now for six months, and they’re still highly effective. As it turned out, $10 was a steal after all. —Yi Yang

Get a pack of two from Amazon for $9.95.

Maitland Quitmeyer

I am ~Not Great~ at winged liner. On a good day, I’m running about fifteen minutes later than I should be, so there’s no time to break out fancy eyeliner tricks when it’s likely I’ll fuck it up and have to scrub it off my face anyway. But I like the look of a winged eyeliner paired with my almost-daily red lipstick, so when I got this Cleopatra Cat Eye Liner, I was both skeptical and hopeful (I contain multitudes).

Let’s cut to the chase: This stamp actually works, and it actually works really well. You just line it up with the corner of your eye, press it on, and release. Stamp both eyes to make them even (and for a Virgo perfectionist like myself, matching wings are really important!!). Then you can line your eyes as usual with the felt-tipped liner on the other end of the pen, connecting the wing to your lash line. That’s it!!! The above picture on the right is the finished result — and I’ll be honest with you, I had never drawn such picture-perfect wings before this stamp. ’60s-esque cat eyeliner in under 60 seconds? What could be better. —Maitland Quitmeyer

Get it from Lyda Beauty for $19.99 or get two for $34.99.

Rachel Christensen

Against all odds, humankind has survived and in some cases even thrived without providing our offspring reversible, easy-to-wipe giant yoga mats to play on — which is to say, you absolutely in no way need a $200 play rug. Still, I’m happy I own this.

I’m told Ruggish is owned by a friend of a friend of a friend of a guy who my husband went to a bachelor party with, so…full disclosure there. But the truth is, we were in the market for a new rug, and my 6-month-old daughter’s top two favorite things are 1) rolling and 2) hitting her head really hard on her way down from rolling over. This rug allows her to do both without any tears for her or heart palpitations for me. Each side’s design is nice (though the ~adult~ side doesn’t seem as aesthetically high-quality as the ~play~ side), it takes seconds to clean, and somehow my two cats who are usually intent on destroying everything I own don’t go near it.

It also just feels really nice to flip it over after the baby is down for the night and feel like a grown-up for a few hours. Speaking of which, wine wipes off of it really easily, too. ? —Rachel Christensen

Get it from Ruggish for $199.

Yi Yang

I’d only recently gotten into candles because of my (possibly irrational) fear of burning my apartment down. Though I am still very cautious about where and when I burn them, I now always have a stash of five or six candles in my apartment to burn after cooking dinner or when I have guests over. I’d never even heard of a wick trimmer until I read this post a couple weeks ago, and the discovery was kind of mind-blowing. I bought one right away.

You might think that a wick trimmer is a very extra thing to own, but it is actually so goddamn helpful. If you burn candles once a year, I wouldn’t say it’s a necessary purchase. But if you’re a daily burner, it’s a necessity. Candle tip: You should be trimming your wicks down to a 1/8 inch after every four hours of burn time — if you don’t, the flame will start smoking and stain the container.

Before I bought my trimmer, I made do with scissors, but getting the right angle can be tricky, especially after the candle has burned down a lot. The wick trimmer also catches the tip so you can remove it after cutting, unlike a pair of scissors that’ll leave the trimmings scattered inside the candle. It’s a small thing, but owning a wick trimmer has made burning candles so much easier and enjoyable. Highly recommend! —Yi Yang

Get it from Amazon for $9.95.

Adrianna Licitra

How many times have you said, “Starting today, I’m going to drink more water”? If you’re like me, you probably can’t even count that number. “Drink more water” has been on the top of my New Year’s resolution list for probably the past 10 years, and I have never been able to keep it up for more than a day or so — no matter how many doctors, friends, and websites tell me that it is the answer to all of life’s problems. Finally, when this winter had robbed me of every last bit of moisture and my skin was dry and cracking, I got serious about this goal and got this amazing tumbler.

Here’s how it works: You fill the tumbler with water and once you drink it all you slide one of the bands up to the top, refill, and repeat until you’ve drunk your daily recommended amount (or more). Easy peasy! My big problem was that I’d get busy and simply forget to drink, but having a visual way to track my progress throughout the day is so helpful. I used to barely finish one measly 16 oz. bottle, but now I’m consistently drinking at least the minimum recommended amount of water per day. (Sometimes I even drink way more!)

The tumbler is BPA-free and very durable. It’s double-walled to keep drinks cold, it never spills or leaks, and it’s dishwasher-safe! And I hate to be another one of those people nagging everyone else to to drink more water, but I did see a significant improvement in my energy levels, skin health, and constantly achy muscles, and I had fewer snack cravings… So basically, DRINK MORE WATER! It really does make a big difference. (Warning: When I first started, I had to pee just about every 15 minutes but eventually my body got used to being hydrated and my bathroom breaks went back to normal.) —Adrianna Licitra

Get it from Amazon for $14.23.

Bek O’Connell

No matter how much sleep I get, it seems like I can never get rid of the puffy, purple circles under my eyes. I’ve tried creams, gels, even putting cold spoons under my eyes. I almost gave up hope until I found these jelly-like eye patches. These shimmery commas do serious work.

Each container comes with 60 patches. They’re made with snail extract, which is known to help with blemishes and hyperpigmentation, so yes! It helps with those dark circles. It’s also moisturizing and can be used on other parts of your face to combat acne scars or smile lines. You can even put it in the fridge to help with puffiness. Despite being made out of snail goo, it smells pretty good. Plus, the gold makes the whole experience pretty luxurious. —Bek O’Connell

Get a container of 60 from Amazon for $10.50.