{"id":364370,"date":"2026-10-04T21:32:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T21:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364370\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T21:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T21:32:43","slug":"strategist-circular-8-things-that-delighted-us-last-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/364370\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Strategist Circular:\u2019 8 Things That Delighted Us Last Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n 14 items in this article
\n 3 items on sale!\n <\/p>\n

\n Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers\n <\/p>\n

We write about hundreds of products each week. Here, in our version of the Sunday circular, we\u2019ve plucked some of our recent favorites: expert-recommended essentials, life-changing stuff you didn\u2019t know you needed, newly launched gizmos, and very good deals we uncovered while trawling through the vast online-shopping universe \u2014 including pants for him and her<\/a>, an over-the-counter post-summer blackhead fix<\/a>, and the most likely early Prime Day deals<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n \"Madewell <\/p>\n

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Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to take gender out of clothes,\u201d says writer Diksha Basu<\/a>.\u00a0After her husband started wearing a pair of her beloved baggy Free People pants, Basu set out to find more comfortable bottoms they could share<\/a> (and both look terrific in). Six pairs later, they landed on these 100 percent cotton low-rise utility pants by Madewell, their favorite of the bunch. \u201cThe pockets are the right size, not too deep, and not so big that things fall out when we\u2019re sitting. The pants are relaxed enough for travel while looking put-together enough for work. I might need to get these in all the available colors,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n


\n \"JFC <\/p>\n

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Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

Senior kitchen and dining writer Emma Wartzman<\/a> spoke to fashion designer and cookbook author Peter Som<\/a> about the 11 kitchen essentials he can\u2019t cook without for this week\u2019s \u201cCelebrity Shopping<\/a>.\u201d Among them is the furikake \u2014 a Japanese seasoning made with seaweed, sesame seeds, salt, sugar, and sometimes dried egg yolk \u2014 that he keeps by his stove at all times. \u201cFurikake technically means \u2018sprinkle\u2019 in Japanese, and traditionally it\u2019s used to sprinkle over rice,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I essentially put it on everything. It looks really pretty, too, so even when you\u2019re making a random fridge-clean-out meal on a Tuesday, you just sprinkle some furikake on, and you\u2019re like, Oh, this looks nice.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"CosRx <\/p>\n

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Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

October Prime Day<\/a> is a few days away, on the 6th and 7th. Deals writer Sam Daly<\/a>, who has covered the event since 2018, has been deep in \u201cmegadeals mode.\u201d She rounded up over 100 of the best sales<\/a> most likely to take place across beauty, fashion, home, and more. Like this already-on-sale (and Strategist-approved<\/a>) snail-mucin serum. According to Daly, it\u2019s set to be up to half off, too.<\/p>\n


\n \"MZ <\/p>\n

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Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

Writer Brenley Goertzen<\/a> is no stranger to the work bag \u2014 she has tested well over 50. In her last year and a half of reporting, MZ Wallace\u2019s pouches, carry-ons, and backpacks were repeatedly praised by sources (including columnist Kim France). So she tested six of the brand\u2019s best-selling styles<\/a>. \u201cThis is my perfect city-schlepping tote,\u201d she says of the six-pocket Metro Tote, one of her favorites. \u201cThe main compartment is very generous and easily holds my MacBook Air and charger, a book, earbuds, and more. I never felt like it looked sloppy.\u201d Three detachable pouches make organizing all-day extras like gym gear and makeup easier, too.<\/p>\n


\n \"Caraway <\/p>\n

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Yes<\/p>\n

While we\u2019ve covered ways to brew coffee that don\u2019t involve plastic<\/a>, we didn\u2019t include plastic-free electric coffee makers \u2014 which, up until earlier this week, hardly existed. Wartzmann has spent the past several weeks testing Caraway\u2019s new ten-cup machine<\/a>, made entirely, from carafe to water reservoir, of stainless steel and glass. \u201cIt has all of the attributes I love about electric coffee makers: an intuitive setup, a one-button interface, and the ability to brew a lot of coffee,\u201d she says. Not to mention it produces clean, full-bodied, and great-tasting coffee every time, even rivaling our best overall pick (and Wartzman\u2019s machine of choice for years).<\/p>\n


\n \"Differin <\/p>\n

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Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

For the latest \u201cBeauty Isle<\/a>,\u201d writer Arielle Avila<\/a> spoke to dermatologist and Macrene Actives founder Dr. Macrene Alexiades<\/a> about her drugstore go-tos, like this over-the-counter gel she recommends for after-sun blackheads and whiteheads. \u201cTanning thickens the skin, and then all that sunscreen also clogs the pores. This is really good for that particular problem. It\u2019s a great trick. Just a pea-size amount at bedtime, and it will not peel the skin,\u201d Alexiades says.<\/p>\n


\n \"Away <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been fans of Away\u2019s spinning-wheel rolling luggage since 2016 (it is behind our best overall<\/a> pick). The brand just relaunched its entire range of check-in and carry-on bags, and \u201cwhile its new Series 3 suitcases and soft bags look very similar to the originals, I\u2019m surprised by how many small and useful upgrades they\u2019ve received,\u201d says writer Katherine Gillespie<\/a>, who spent a weekend upstate testing two pieces from the line<\/a>. From even smoother wheels that can now break to a concealable D-ring on the handle for attachments of your choice to a divider system for more intuitive packing, \u201cthe new features on these suitcases are functional rather than simply cosmetic,\u201d she says (and worth the splurge).<\/p>\n


\n \"Tsu <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to be emailed about sales and other updates to your saved products?<\/p>\n

Success! You’ll get an email when something you’ve saved goes on sale.<\/p>\n

Yes<\/p>\n

At the height of the A-list Gen-Z celebrity-perfume boom, writer Kitty Guo<\/a> wasn\u2019t all that impressed with the largely gourmand-leaning scents by Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande lining the shelves. Until she came across Troye Sivan\u2019s Tsu Lange Yor<\/a>: \u201cThey were by far the best, most interesting, and most sophisticated of the celebrity perfumes I sniffed.\u201d This set, featuring Tomato, Fig and Orange Grove, was released earlier this year and recommended to Guo by a friend. \u201cAll three are quite photorealistic \u2014 meaning they\u2019re not so much an artful blend of many notes and ingredients, but instead smack you in the face with exactly what they are,\u201d she says. While they\u2019re designed to be layered with other scents for more complexity, she\u2019s content wearing them on their own too.<\/p>\n


\n \"Abercrombie
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n Under $30 and 100 percent cotton, it\u2019s \u201cthe Goldilocks of tees\u201d from the brand.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"Ikea
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n A durable, versatile, and Best in Class dining chair among our 100 most-stood-behind Ikea picks.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"Mango
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n One writer has worn these to the office, the club, a wedding, a Harry Styles concert, and NYFW.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"Pace
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n Satin kitten heels that are truly walkable in for hours without toe pinching or sore soles.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"REFY
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n Beloved by a model and DJ for its eight-hour strong hold and feathery finish on the brows.\n <\/p>\n


\n \"Weck
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n Ballerina Farm\u2019s Hannah Neeleman uses these jars for her sourdough starter and everything else.\n <\/p>\n

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The Strategist<\/a>\u00a0is designed to surface\u00a0useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom\u00a0you can read about\u00a0here<\/a>. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"14 items in this article 3 items on sale! Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers We write about hundreds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64,135142,3096],"class_list":["post-364370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-sunday-circular","tag-the-strategist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}