Shit I Bought and Liked: Three Favorites Under $30

For your kitchen, your face, and your errands

Shitters! Maybe it’s our five year anniversary getting me nostalgic, but we’re going back to our roots with this one! Today we have three life-changing products that are all under $30. It’s a shorter letter than usual, but short is good sometimes! Hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

Mini Water Bottle: The number of people who have stopped me to compliment this water bottle recently is truly off the charts. And it makes sense—it’s the cutest little thing! But it also happens to be so handy for when you’re on the go. I have a million and one bigger bottles, but they can be such a pain to lug around on errands and don’t always fit into my bags. Not this one, though! It small enough to fit into every one of my day bags, and the light weight coupled with the hook on the cap makes it comfortable and easy to carry by hand too. Oftentimes when I’m out and about, all I really need is a sip or two to keep me from feeling too thirsty, but prior to this, I was stuck either lugging around my bigger bottle or feeling parched after an hour or so.

Told you it was adorable!!!

Biodance Sheet Masks: Could I tell you what exactly is in these face masks? The label says collagen and they’re from Korea… that’s all I got, but that’s really all I needed to know. I bought them on a whim after a recommendation from Courtney Grow, and now I will never go without. At 4ish bucks a pop, they are a fraction of the cost of my other favorite masks (unbeatable in a pinch before an event, but unfortunately with a price tag to match). These are different though—it’s recommended to wear them for four hours or more, so I consider them more of a treatment than a quick fix. I wear them overnight, typically on a Thursday or Friday night, so I can go into the weekend with plump, hydrated, happy skin, and I swear it minimizes any redness and irritation. If you know something on your face overnight will annoy you (though I will say, it’s really not bad!), just pop one on after work and take it off before you go to bed. In this case you may need to see the results to believe them, but at $19 for a four pack, it’s well worth a shot. They sell out often, so order quick! 

Chopper contraption: There is a lot of dumb kitchen shit out there—Amazon is the breeding ground for most of it—but this isn’t one of those useless things that will just take up space in your cabinets collecting dust. Mine is in use multiple times a week, and I feel happy to have it every single time!  Sometimes, for me, the call between a healthy, home-cooked meal and an overpriced takeout order comes down simply to my willingness to chop. After a long day of work, the last thing you want to do is dice an onion, and who could blame you! But this has basically eliminated the problem. Yes I still cut the onions (and peppers, sweet potatoes—whatever else I need in my recipe for the night) into quarters, but into the chopper they go and voila—neatly chopped veggies with minimal effort and about 10 seconds of work! It’s insanely easy, incredibly satisfying, and has cost my delivery apps a very good customer (sorry guys). It comes with a million different attachments, three of which I understand how to use, but that’s really all you need. I originally worried that my more culinarily-inclined readers would turn their noses at this, but my friend (and cookbook author!) Roya Shariat says that she and her mom use one whenever they’re prepping for cookbook events, so this has a professional’s seal of approval! 

Other under $30 things I’m loving lately: This lip balm makes it way into every one of my bags whenever I leave the house—it also comes in a set that’s over our price limit, but great for gifting. It’s very like me to fall for a pricier version of something meant to be cheap, but this chili crisp by Brooklyn-based Onino is divine. It’s a little less spicy than some of the other options out there, but the marcona almonds give it such a nice, crunchy texture. I grab it at Big Night in Greenpoint or the West Village! I picked up this lip liner during the Sephora sale and it’s already skyrocketed to the top of my list—the formula is so smooth and this shade is my ideal for dinner and nights out. I had all the ingredients for these homemade Twix bars already, which basically means they were free? 

And speaking of things that aren’t $30… I’ve been eyeing Dutch Ovens for no other reason than nearing 30 (!) offers a good opportunity to upgrade some home/ kitchen/ life wares, which brings us to the inevitable Staub vs. Le Creuset debate. There’s a spirited discussion in our subscriber chat, but I thought I would open this up to the class:

I used to assume I’d be a Le Creuset girl when it came down to it, but this Staub version is tempting me!! Can’t wait to hear what you think.

xo!

Priyanka

This newsletter contains affiliate links, the proceeds of which go almost entirely towards buying Staub or Le Creuset for my friends’ weddings (I tend to gift more Staub, for the record)