30. Everything I bought on Black Friday in 2024
And my honest review after 1 full year.
Today’s letter includes: my brutally honest reviews of last year’s Black Friday hauls (spoiler: that fancy French hairbrush didn’t magically give me French girl hair), the plastic surgery trend inspired by Trump’s inner circle, how a socialist mayoral candidate charmed the president-elect using classic desi uncle tactics, and Martha Stewart’s perfect takedown of today’s tradwife influencers.
Hi friends. Happy Black Friday week to all who celebrate. No one needs a lecture on refraining from buying things you don’t need or an exposé revealing the brands jacking up the prices a few weeks before so they can “put them on sale” during Black Friday. You’re smart, that’s why you’re here.
But even the most disciplined among us can get swept up when everything is one click and four easy payments away. Last year, I got strategic: I made a list of things I actually needed plus a few items I’d been eyeing for months, then committed to only buying things that were both on my list and genuinely on sale.
One year later, the verdict is in: here’s what was worth every penny and what I should’ve skipped.
Suri
Purchased: 2 Electric Toothbrushes with travel cases
After falling down a YouTube rabbit hole of dentist reviews, I convinced myself that my oral hygiene routine needed a luxury upgrade. The dentist in the video basically admitted that most electric toothbrushes clean equally well, but said he preferred Suri because it has the best design and comes with a mechanism to keep it off of the countertop. Paying premium prices for aesthetics makes the old me squirm.
But honestly? The new me thinks he was right. The sleek design beats having an Oral-B looking like medical equipment next to my sink. The travel case actually gets used for long trips (unlike the 47 other travel accessories I’ve bought and forgotten about), and the sustainable materials make me feel slightly less guilty about my vanity-driven purchase.
TL;DR: You’re paying for design over function, but sometimes that’s exactly what you want. No regrets about this bougie toothbrush.
DedCool
Purchased: Detergent, Room Spray, Build Your Own Sample Pack, Hand Soap
DedCool is a Gen Z fragrance brand. At the height of the clean girl aesthetic, their Xtra Milk Fragrance was much loved on TikTok. Curiosity got the best of me. I wanted to know what it smelled like.
Though I did not end up converting from my signature scent, I thought the perfumes were all nice for their price. The detergent is detergent that smells good but the scent is pretty subtle. I’m not fully sold on the idea of fancy detergent because they always come in such small quantities and this detergent is no different at 32 oz. The soap has a nice thick formula. My husband likes that it takes a firmer push to get the soap out so it dispenses just the right amount.
I love the room spray. I spray it all over my apartment, on my linens, on my dog (just kidding). A subtle scent for a room spray just makes sense - other “fancy” room sprays give me a headache and good old Febreeze doesn’t smell very premium. One bottle has lasted me the whole year and I will be stocking up this week. If you want $15 off your first order of $50 or more here’s a referral link.
TL;DR: Xtra Milk is a good scent. I would buy both the soap and the room spray again but I LOVE the room spray.
Ffern
Purchased: Subscription to their perfume
Ffern is another company that is really good at marketing. I honestly signed up simply because I was intrigued by it. You join a waitlist in order to get a spot on their ledger for their seasonal, small batch perfumes, which are mailed to your house. They send you a full bottle of perfume and a small sample to make sure you like it. If you don’t, you can send the full bottle back and wait for next season. Each release, they commission an artist and make a super artsy brand film.
I received 3 boxes before finally throwing in the towel. If DedCool’s Xtra Milk is on the subtle side, these are punching you in the face with a strong alcohol scent. Once the scent settled, it was always too fruity or too floral for my tastes. I kept waiting for next season to be better, but at this point I think Ffern’s nose and I just have irreconcilable differences.
TL;DR: Very cool marketing and product presentation, but just can’t get behind the perfumes themselves.
La Bonne Brosse
Purchased: N. 02 Brush
French girls do have really good hair and I wanted good hair too. I have never been very diligent about hair care and I almost always just air dry because I am lazy. Maybe this really fancy, expensive brush would transform my hair and all while I do nothing different! Of course, it didn’t. It is very pretty and high quality, I love the gold detail on the bottom of the wand. It looks stunning and maybe even a little old-timey on your vanity (although it gets dusty and idk how to clean it!). I read many articles about it before purchasing because I was skeptical that a brush should cost this much, but every beauty editor assured me that it should and it was worth it! Idk if it was worth it, but I don’t regret buying it.
TL;DR: A very beautiful hairbrush that you probably have to actually use regularly to see any benefit from.
Lunya
Purchased: Washable Silk pajamas and robe
I don’t need more pajamas, but the promise of temperature-regulating silk that you can throw in the washing machine was too tempting. The pajamas are undeniably luxurious and the cut is flattering, but turns out “cooling” silk in December is not the vibe, so these are seasonal. I made the rookie mistake of buying a pair in a blush color simply because they were marked down, despite knowing full well that blush makes me look like I have a vitamin deficiency. Learn from my mistakes: buy colors that actually look good on you, even if they’re not on sale.
The robe, however, has earned its place in my morning routine. The tapered sleeves are genius for anyone who actually uses their hands while wearing a robe (revolutionary, I know). No more soggy sleeves while doing dishes or accidentally dipping fabric into my coffee. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference in everyday functionality.
TL;DR: The pajamas are nice but seasonal, and don’t buy unflattering colors just because they’re on sale. The robe’s thoughtful design details make it the best purchase of the lot.
Blueland
Purchased: Dishwasher tablets
Sometimes the most boring purchases are the best ones. I wanted to feel better about my environmental impact without completely overhauling my life (realistic goals, people), and these tablets delivered. No more wrestling with measuring cups of powder or dealing with those plastic pods that always seem vaguely dystopian when they dissolve. These tablets clean just as well as the conventional stuff, maybe better.
The real test was whether I’d remember to reorder when I ran out, or if I’d just grab whatever was at the grocery store. A year later, I’m still using Blueland, which says something about both the product quality and my commitment to this extremely low-effort form of environmental consciousness.
TL;DR: Effective, sustainable, and idiot-proof. The holy trinity of household products.
If you do want a guide, Magasin says theirs is the most comprehensive for the fashion girlies. It is great that they did all the work of rounding up the relevant brands and telling you the sale %.
Anyways, pray for me and my incoming heartburn.
Lightscape is back for its 5th year at BBG. For those of you with children or who just like wholesome fun, it’s time to get tickets.
Scary! “Mar-a-Lago face” is the new cosmetic surgery trend. Plastic surgeons report a surge in requests for procedures inspired by the aesthetic favored by Trump’s inner circle—think heavy botox and dramatic fillers. One Beverly Hills surgeon told The Guardian that patients are literally bringing photos from Mar-a-Lago events as reference material. Ew.
Sweet? Zohran Mamdani met with Trump... And no one could have anticipated that Trump would like him so much? Everyone has commentary about it but I especially like the South Asian skills narrative honed through years of uncomfortable interactions with aunties and uncles.
“What Zohran did was not extraordinary statesmanship or youthful rebellion but simply the oldest trick in our collective cultural book, the desi art of letting the elder talk while quietly keeping the steering wheel of our own intent,” Kedar Gadgil posted.
Buy now, pay later has reached your grocery cart. Nearly 30% of Americans have used BNPL for food purchases, with services like Klarna and Sezzle making it possible to finance your weekly groceries. This is pretty alarming IMO - lawmakers should read the writing on the wall.
DOGE is dead after 10 months. The Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk’s pet project to cut $2 trillion in government waste, has quietly disappeared. Turns out cutting government bureaucracy is harder than posting on X about it.
Olive Young finally comes to America. The Korean beauty giant will open its first US locations in LA next May, putting Sephora and Ulta on notice. Skincare influencers are already planning their pilgrimages to experience the overwhelming joy of 47 different snail mucin products in one store.
Peak Design is hiring a Social Media Manager and Content Creator. It’s based in San Francisco paying 95K-115K per year.
Crown Shy has retained its Michelin star for the sixth consecutive year. Congrats king! I do love this restaurant and the open kitchen reveals one of the most diverse kitchens I’ve seen. Executive Chef Jassimran Singh is the first Sikh American to lead a Michelin-starred kitchen. Go eat at Crown Shy to celebrate.
Martha Stewart continues to be great.
“I was the original [expletive] tradwife,” she said in a phone interview last week, referring to current social media influencers like Nara Smith or Hannah Neeleman of Ballerina Farm. “And I was just as pretty as those girls, and more organized.” - Martha to the NYT
Meta made an internal game to reward employees for AI usage but are also judging them on how much they use AI in their performance review.
Rumor has it that Substack is suppressing free content. If you’d like to resist the algorithm pushing paid content only, then liking, sharing, quoting and restacking this newsletter will help! <3
I feel seen.
