When i am feeling overwhelmed with life / it is just a random tuesday i like to make myself a bowl of cereal and eat it on the kitchen floor, all lights off. Any time of day is great but especially nonpareil when it’s past midnight and there is just me and my milk and sugar. Just kidding if that sounds completely sociopathic
Oh it’s the best! Midnight cereal is my comfort activity! Always does the trick. Also my go to dinner when I’m jet lagged (I feel so vulnerable and raw when jet lagged!)
I love the praise for JCPenney! This isn’t about an un-sexy product but I hope you’ll go with me here… There are all sorts of reasons why people shop at JCPenney/Macy’s/Kohls/etc. if shopping there is out of necessity, those shoppers also deserve to have good products available to them! Lots of Substack chatter about fashion making someone feel better but it can also dignify someone and make them feel like the world cares about them instead of relegating them to an afterthought.
That is my Ted Talk. Sincerely, someone who grew up shopping at the mall and on sale but always wanted the new, full price stuff at Limited Too ✌️
highly agree with you, as someone who grew up never getting full priced clothes and who comes from a city where there is a significant amount of poverty - these places and their offerings matter. it can also come across pretty classist to look down on these stores when they are mainstays for so many. thank you for your ted talk!
Vanessa, I LOVE your statement “those shoppers also deserve to have good products available to them!” Agree 100% and when I volunteered at an interfaith resale shop, we were SO picky about what we put out to sell. It had to be perfect - no stains, rips, missing buttons, torn hems, janky zippers - because a lot of our clientele lacked funds to buy new, and they deserved the dignity of having quality choices. Inexpensive doesn’t have to mean trash.
I’m been an esthetician for 10 years and only this past year did I finally admit to myself that vanicream is one of (if not the) best moisturizers on the market
As a retired skincare addict, switching over to Vanicream and japanese brand Naturie saved my bank account *and* my skin. It's simple, effective, and I weirdly like the 2000's Microsoft font lol. Luxury skincare doesn't appeal to me much anymore. Also s/o to stores like Old Navy! Very "unsexy" marketing but half of my wardrobe's basics come from there.
skincare ravaged my bank accont and im happy to be recovering. ooo Naturie- what do you like from them? i love japanese skincare and some microsoft nostalgia lol.
I really love their skin conditioner, you get a huge bottle for like $7 depending on the sales on sites like stylevana, also really like their skin conditioning gel for the summer <3 It's formulated with Job's Tears extract and just makes the skin all glowy haha.
I started getting my jeans at old navy last year! $25 for 100% cotton button fly jeans (that have not had ONE thigh tear despite over a year of wear) is very satisfying
there's nothing quite so satisfying as sticking my paw into a tub of Eucerin advanced repair (lol what a name!) cream after a shower and globbing it all over myself. *the tub is key*
I was deep into my own pretty packing mania and my MIL put eucerin in me and my partner's christmas stockings. which i promptly forgot about until I was desperate. but then I was like - whoa. wow. it's comforting, so effective and an easy get during a grocery or cvs run.
see also: cheapie multipacks of hanes grey men's tees 4x my usual size. this is essentially what I live in during heat waves, hormonal puffiness, and any other time I can't summon the energy to 'outfit'. but dang those grey tees feel quintessentially me somehow.
must secure the tub! i freakin love a good drugstore product. and good plug on the men's tees - i havent nailed the sizing yet but 4x might be just what i need. thank YOU
Hi lovely, I’m sorry I think I may have recommended the Hanes little boy size 14/16 🙃, and I don’t think they worked out for you 🙈Try a men’s size s,m or l ( or your desired size ), stretch them out a bit around collar for that worn in look. And they are so much better washed. One last thing, make sure they are the 100% cotton ones because I think I they do a poly blend, Polyester is know ones friend in the summer. If you want to be ultra fancy pants you can hem the bottom for a slightly shorter silhouette
I agree the tub is key! I get tubs of Cerave and I’m totally happy with that as my lotion and moisturizer. I also appreciate the tub because you can get all of the product out when it’s running low (as opposed to with a pump) and they’re easier to recycle or even reuse.
I was going to say the same thing! I googled it yesterday while reading the book. And now this. I think it's fate. Totally going to be a Vanicream summer! Along with hot emotional affairs with dudes who work at the Hertz counter! Actually I might just stick to Vanicream...
This is not a revelation, but UNIQLO has so many great products and very unsexy marketing. Also, in the underwear world, I try not to get sucked into great marketing for $50 tiny pieces of fabric and just buy from GAP because… it’s fine!
I love this post!!!! and this is why you remain one of my favorite product recommenders (and critic of the product recommendation industrial complex) to follow
my number one unsexy but REALLY INCREDIBLE beauty product…the Eucerin 10% urea lotion, which has a very functional design and a kind of gross name (hard to make “urea” sounds chic)…but it is the BEST industrial strength heavy duty moisturizer for dry skin I’ve used! long live unsexy and exceptionally effective products
TY and amazing recommendation i honestly had a bad breakout years ago and a urea lotion is what did the trick to keep me moisturized and healed me. its a great ingredient
The feeling of abandoning expensive skincare products for something basic is the most freeing ever. In high school, my doctor recommended Cetaphil face wash and it’s equally boring as Vanicream, cheap and lasts forever. I’ve never looked back.
My mom loves Talbots so I take her. And 9 times out of 10, I leave with something for myself that everyone seems to love. They are all shocked when I say it's from Talbots. There are gems almost everywhere and finding them is almost all the fun of shopping.
I don't want to oversell it...there is plenty of terrible there too but hunt for the gems! And never buy anything not on sale because it always goes on sale within a few days at least 30%. And the extra 50% off sale can't be beat either.
Oh and if you mix a teaspoon or so of straight vegetable glycerin into a half cup of Vanicream, it thins it out beautifully and makes it silky smooth. You can also dump in Rx ampoules of cromolyn for itchies, but that's a different kind of story. Vanicream is a great base lotion for a wide variety os uses.
A PanOxyl bar of soap for washing the pits, groin, and feet…. I’ve never been so ~scentless~ and it’s amazing. Shout out to the TikTok girlies for this hack!
I have been dealing with the most debilitating case of postpartum BO and was so mad to spend $15 of Lume’s plastic tube of shower gel. Another ‘stacker suggested Lever soap but I can’t find it in store. Panoxyl is in store though!
i just looked up ride glide and i was shocked to find HOO HA was actually in the name. pretty sure its in comic sans font...this may be the best recommendation of all time debo. mic drop
Ladies room at barn .. the whole windowsill is lined with these labeled in Sharpies for each of our respective hoo-ha’s. 4 sure it’s designed for cyclists 🚴 but we’ve fully co-opted 🐴🐴
Because I’ve been dating (in my 50’s for years since I became a widower) I need to share that this whole “surprisingly good things that come in unsexy packaging” theme applies to men, too!
honestly...i was thinking a lot about dating analogies here while writing haha. i need to know your thoughts on it!! plz share if you can. and weleda is fantastic
I feel this way about Korean food. I've tried sexy packaged kimchi before and it in NO WAY comes close to the OG that comes in the ugly, clear plastic tub at your local Korean grocery. My first bite and I gagged - sugar? Kimchi is not supposed to contain sugar! Same for all the fancy versions or Korean food I see at Whole Food...
I wrote an article a couple of months ago about the OG scrubbing glove we use at Korean bathhouses. While googling, I was shocked to see high-end versions of it, packaged just so, selling at sexy retailers at like 10x the price!! I'm always amazed at what people are able to commercialize and market (remember decades ago we were saying this about water?). Never in a million years would I think this humble scrubbing glove would be one of them.
why do the words sexy and kimchi go together so well though? if i had a band i might name it sexy kimchi? but srsly youre right. i can only get my kimchi from an actual asian grocer..a lot of the other stuff is totally yuck.
thats so crazy about the glove! i remember that article and you just reminded me i need to get one of those 😂 its insane how everything and anything is commercialized now. i saw a $45 hair claw clip yesterday. nothing special about it...seems there are no guard rails anymore.
Love, love, love La Botte Gardiane! Found a pair of their fisherman sandals on super sale once years ago at the Steven Alan outlet that used to be on the UWS, and they held up to several summers of intensive city walking. The Shopify site is actually a major upgrade on their former site, which was truly daunting to navigate, haha.
oooo ive been wondering about the sandals! glad you love them and youre right the shopify is a major upgrade! i was scared to even consider trying an order before. slow but steadily improving.
One of my favorite "unsexy" finds is the La Roche Posay Cicaplast lip balm: https://www.ulta.com/p/cicaplast-b5-lip-balm-dry-lips-pimprod2040232?sku=2611317. I know that La Roche Posay isn't considered an "unsexy" brand per se, but after going through a winter with extremely dry chapped and cracking lips, none of the "fancier" and "prettier" lip balms like Fresh Beauty, Rhode, or Glossier were cutting it for me. I even tried a more expensive Tarte lip balm and it did nothing. The La Roche Posay lip balm was basic but it helped heal my lips. I now only use this product as lip balm.
When i am feeling overwhelmed with life / it is just a random tuesday i like to make myself a bowl of cereal and eat it on the kitchen floor, all lights off. Any time of day is great but especially nonpareil when it’s past midnight and there is just me and my milk and sugar. Just kidding if that sounds completely sociopathic
actually loling and likely going to try
Oh it’s the best! Midnight cereal is my comfort activity! Always does the trick. Also my go to dinner when I’m jet lagged (I feel so vulnerable and raw when jet lagged!)
Hahah i love this ! Glad i am not alone
You are not! I am a cereal fanatic. My favorite are the PB chocolate Puffins, with almond milk.
I love the praise for JCPenney! This isn’t about an un-sexy product but I hope you’ll go with me here… There are all sorts of reasons why people shop at JCPenney/Macy’s/Kohls/etc. if shopping there is out of necessity, those shoppers also deserve to have good products available to them! Lots of Substack chatter about fashion making someone feel better but it can also dignify someone and make them feel like the world cares about them instead of relegating them to an afterthought.
That is my Ted Talk. Sincerely, someone who grew up shopping at the mall and on sale but always wanted the new, full price stuff at Limited Too ✌️
highly agree with you, as someone who grew up never getting full priced clothes and who comes from a city where there is a significant amount of poverty - these places and their offerings matter. it can also come across pretty classist to look down on these stores when they are mainstays for so many. thank you for your ted talk!
Vanessa, I LOVE your statement “those shoppers also deserve to have good products available to them!” Agree 100% and when I volunteered at an interfaith resale shop, we were SO picky about what we put out to sell. It had to be perfect - no stains, rips, missing buttons, torn hems, janky zippers - because a lot of our clientele lacked funds to buy new, and they deserved the dignity of having quality choices. Inexpensive doesn’t have to mean trash.
I’m been an esthetician for 10 years and only this past year did I finally admit to myself that vanicream is one of (if not the) best moisturizers on the market
well thats validating !
As a retired skincare addict, switching over to Vanicream and japanese brand Naturie saved my bank account *and* my skin. It's simple, effective, and I weirdly like the 2000's Microsoft font lol. Luxury skincare doesn't appeal to me much anymore. Also s/o to stores like Old Navy! Very "unsexy" marketing but half of my wardrobe's basics come from there.
skincare ravaged my bank accont and im happy to be recovering. ooo Naturie- what do you like from them? i love japanese skincare and some microsoft nostalgia lol.
I really love their skin conditioner, you get a huge bottle for like $7 depending on the sales on sites like stylevana, also really like their skin conditioning gel for the summer <3 It's formulated with Job's Tears extract and just makes the skin all glowy haha.
I started getting my jeans at old navy last year! $25 for 100% cotton button fly jeans (that have not had ONE thigh tear despite over a year of wear) is very satisfying
there's nothing quite so satisfying as sticking my paw into a tub of Eucerin advanced repair (lol what a name!) cream after a shower and globbing it all over myself. *the tub is key*
I was deep into my own pretty packing mania and my MIL put eucerin in me and my partner's christmas stockings. which i promptly forgot about until I was desperate. but then I was like - whoa. wow. it's comforting, so effective and an easy get during a grocery or cvs run.
see also: cheapie multipacks of hanes grey men's tees 4x my usual size. this is essentially what I live in during heat waves, hormonal puffiness, and any other time I can't summon the energy to 'outfit'. but dang those grey tees feel quintessentially me somehow.
must secure the tub! i freakin love a good drugstore product. and good plug on the men's tees - i havent nailed the sizing yet but 4x might be just what i need. thank YOU
Hi lovely, I’m sorry I think I may have recommended the Hanes little boy size 14/16 🙃, and I don’t think they worked out for you 🙈Try a men’s size s,m or l ( or your desired size ), stretch them out a bit around collar for that worn in look. And they are so much better washed. One last thing, make sure they are the 100% cotton ones because I think I they do a poly blend, Polyester is know ones friend in the summer. If you want to be ultra fancy pants you can hem the bottom for a slightly shorter silhouette
this is such good intel youre the best!
Lastly if you want to be ultra super fancy pants 👖 you can have the sleeves hemmed so you have that “James Dean” shorter lewk ❤️
I agree the tub is key! I get tubs of Cerave and I’m totally happy with that as my lotion and moisturizer. I also appreciate the tub because you can get all of the product out when it’s running low (as opposed to with a pump) and they’re easier to recycle or even reuse.
Vanicream is essentially a minor character in Miranda July’s new novel. It’s about to have a breakthrough summer.
no freakin way! the book just came to me from the library and now im even more excited to read it.
Oh lucky you got a library copy. I couldn’t wait.
I’ve heard so many great things about her book this week.. & now this!!
It’s so great. I am highlighting every page and just LOLING the whole way through
I was going to say the same thing! I googled it yesterday while reading the book. And now this. I think it's fate. Totally going to be a Vanicream summer! Along with hot emotional affairs with dudes who work at the Hertz counter! Actually I might just stick to Vanicream...
so wild...i cannot wait to read this book
This is not a revelation, but UNIQLO has so many great products and very unsexy marketing. Also, in the underwear world, I try not to get sucked into great marketing for $50 tiny pieces of fabric and just buy from GAP because… it’s fine!
yes uniqlo is a great example of this!
I love this post!!!! and this is why you remain one of my favorite product recommenders (and critic of the product recommendation industrial complex) to follow
my number one unsexy but REALLY INCREDIBLE beauty product…the Eucerin 10% urea lotion, which has a very functional design and a kind of gross name (hard to make “urea” sounds chic)…but it is the BEST industrial strength heavy duty moisturizer for dry skin I’ve used! long live unsexy and exceptionally effective products
TY and amazing recommendation i honestly had a bad breakout years ago and a urea lotion is what did the trick to keep me moisturized and healed me. its a great ingredient
Hahaha UREA… VANIcream. We are truly stepping into the sheer terror zones of our “sexy zones” in our minds 😹😹😹❤️❤️❤️
😹
The feeling of abandoning expensive skincare products for something basic is the most freeing ever. In high school, my doctor recommended Cetaphil face wash and it’s equally boring as Vanicream, cheap and lasts forever. I’ve never looked back.
it is seriously liberating
My mom loves Talbots so I take her. And 9 times out of 10, I leave with something for myself that everyone seems to love. They are all shocked when I say it's from Talbots. There are gems almost everywhere and finding them is almost all the fun of shopping.
legit got a text from one of my best friends the other day that said "you know what is a gold mine? talbots" i was shocked...now i really have to go!
I don't want to oversell it...there is plenty of terrible there too but hunt for the gems! And never buy anything not on sale because it always goes on sale within a few days at least 30%. And the extra 50% off sale can't be beat either.
Oh and if you mix a teaspoon or so of straight vegetable glycerin into a half cup of Vanicream, it thins it out beautifully and makes it silky smooth. You can also dump in Rx ampoules of cromolyn for itchies, but that's a different kind of story. Vanicream is a great base lotion for a wide variety os uses.
wow such great info, thank you
I recently got a haul of new with tags Talbots cashmere sweaters from the thrift store…they are so chic and such good quality!
A PanOxyl bar of soap for washing the pits, groin, and feet…. I’ve never been so ~scentless~ and it’s amazing. Shout out to the TikTok girlies for this hack!
hot tip from the tokers...im into it
Yesssss!!! PanOxyl reco from derm for breakouts in family .. has completely forgotten it .. so great!!
I have been dealing with the most debilitating case of postpartum BO and was so mad to spend $15 of Lume’s plastic tube of shower gel. Another ‘stacker suggested Lever soap but I can’t find it in store. Panoxyl is in store though!
Godspeed!!! I hope it helps! For me it’s been incred!
My Saturday afternoon would not be complete without adding HOO-HA Ride Glide (speaking of fonts… omg)
Skin lubricant for the active lifestyle
Which.. in my vernacular, means .. riding horses
It says “do apply to your chamois”
??
Ok
It may also b an actual lube.. (???) but mine is in the ladies room .. w my name on it.. w 10 other tubes.. at the barn
It’s, like basically to prevent your v@g from ripping as u ride dressage horses 🐴. Link to follow
My work is done
i just looked up ride glide and i was shocked to find HOO HA was actually in the name. pretty sure its in comic sans font...this may be the best recommendation of all time debo. mic drop
Oh yea
Ladies room at barn .. the whole windowsill is lined with these labeled in Sharpies for each of our respective hoo-ha’s. 4 sure it’s designed for cyclists 🚴 but we’ve fully co-opted 🐴🐴
respective hoo has gave me a real hoo ha. you’re a hoot!
a hoot ha? okay I’ll stop
Because I’ve been dating (in my 50’s for years since I became a widower) I need to share that this whole “surprisingly good things that come in unsexy packaging” theme applies to men, too!
Also. I love Weleda’s Nurturing Night Cream.
honestly...i was thinking a lot about dating analogies here while writing haha. i need to know your thoughts on it!! plz share if you can. and weleda is fantastic
I feel this way about Korean food. I've tried sexy packaged kimchi before and it in NO WAY comes close to the OG that comes in the ugly, clear plastic tub at your local Korean grocery. My first bite and I gagged - sugar? Kimchi is not supposed to contain sugar! Same for all the fancy versions or Korean food I see at Whole Food...
I wrote an article a couple of months ago about the OG scrubbing glove we use at Korean bathhouses. While googling, I was shocked to see high-end versions of it, packaged just so, selling at sexy retailers at like 10x the price!! I'm always amazed at what people are able to commercialize and market (remember decades ago we were saying this about water?). Never in a million years would I think this humble scrubbing glove would be one of them.
why do the words sexy and kimchi go together so well though? if i had a band i might name it sexy kimchi? but srsly youre right. i can only get my kimchi from an actual asian grocer..a lot of the other stuff is totally yuck.
thats so crazy about the glove! i remember that article and you just reminded me i need to get one of those 😂 its insane how everything and anything is commercialized now. i saw a $45 hair claw clip yesterday. nothing special about it...seems there are no guard rails anymore.
Love, love, love La Botte Gardiane! Found a pair of their fisherman sandals on super sale once years ago at the Steven Alan outlet that used to be on the UWS, and they held up to several summers of intensive city walking. The Shopify site is actually a major upgrade on their former site, which was truly daunting to navigate, haha.
oooo ive been wondering about the sandals! glad you love them and youre right the shopify is a major upgrade! i was scared to even consider trying an order before. slow but steadily improving.
One of my favorite "unsexy" finds is the La Roche Posay Cicaplast lip balm: https://www.ulta.com/p/cicaplast-b5-lip-balm-dry-lips-pimprod2040232?sku=2611317. I know that La Roche Posay isn't considered an "unsexy" brand per se, but after going through a winter with extremely dry chapped and cracking lips, none of the "fancier" and "prettier" lip balms like Fresh Beauty, Rhode, or Glossier were cutting it for me. I even tried a more expensive Tarte lip balm and it did nothing. The La Roche Posay lip balm was basic but it helped heal my lips. I now only use this product as lip balm.
i havent tried this but the cicaplast line is amazing. i love using the thicker cream for my face. i m gonna have to try this!
Would love to know what you think! I haven't tried the face cream but definitely will give it a shot!
I’m all about the Burt’s Bees. It works great, it’s cheap, you can get it at any drugstore.