1. Accidental Favorites
Not everything I use is cute or trendy. Some of it, I only started using because I ran out of the usual and had to grab whatever was closest. That’s how most of my go-to items became favorites, honestly. Accidents. Leftovers. Free samples I never meant to like.
Like this scarf I found at a thrift store six years ago. It’s a weird shade of green and looks like it belonged to a librarian in the ’80s, but I wear it constantly. Or that pen that only writes in brown ink? Weird, but somehow perfect. These are things that survive the clean-outs. They make the cut not because they’re flashy, but because they don’t suck.
2. Function Over Aesthetic
I feel the same about personal care stuff now. It used to be all trial and error. Trying to match packaging with mood. Buying the popular thing. But it turns out that what actually works doesn’t always look like it belongs on a Pinterest board.
3. Surprising Finds That Actually Work
One thing I’d never have predicted is how much I like this cream deodorant I got in a tiny jar from a random online shop. At first I hated that it wasn’t a stick. I thought, “Why should I have to use my fingers for this?” But two days in, I forgot I ever cared. It doesn’t leave white marks. It doesn’t smell like someone dropped a pine tree into a bottle of Febreze. And it works. That’s it. It just works. Way better than half the clinical options I tried when I was overthinking everything.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about shampoo. I was deeply skeptical of the solid kind. Like… soap? For hair? Sounds like a trap. But a friend gave me one in a little tin, and I tossed it in my bag for a trip thinking I’d use it once and never again. Turns out, I loved it. It lathers fast. It doesn’t leak. It lasts forever. I ended up buying a couple more, and now these shampoo bars are basically all I use.
They’ve even outlasted my bottled stuff. Which is hilarious because I used to stockpile giant bottles from drugstores like I was prepping for a drought. Now one little bar gets me through months. Plus it doesn’t feel like a chemistry experiment. No super artificial smell. No slimy residue. Just clean hair that doesn’t freak out in humidity.
4. Simple Wins and Slow Habits
There’s something really satisfying about getting to the end of a product and thinking, “Yeah, I’d actually buy that again.” Rare feeling. Most things I use once, forget, and then ignore until they expire and guilt-trip me from the back of a drawer.
What I’ve realized is I’m more consistent with things that ask less of me. Not “minimalist” in the aesthetic sense, but minimal in friction. The less I have to think, the more likely I’ll use it every day. If I can open it with one hand, apply it half-asleep, and not worry if I drop it on the floor—that’s a win.
I used to be obsessed with reviews. Read five blogs before I bought a face mask. Watch three YouTube videos about nail polish. But after a while, you realize most people are just saying variations of “it was fine.” So now I skip the hype. I will try one thing. If I like it, I stick with it. If not, I move on. No existential crisis required.
5. The Beauty of the Unimpressive
There’s something kind of freeing about not caring whether something is the “best” or not. I don’t need the best. I need the one that gets the job done and doesn’t give me hives.
Honestly, I’ve become suspicious of anything too pretty. If it looks like it was designed for Instagram, it probably wasn’t designed for real people with dry elbows and messy bags.
The real MVPs of my routine are always the ones that don’t talk back. They just sit quietly on the shelf and wait for me to remember how useful they are. They don’t leak. They don’t crumble. They don’t shout at me in neon font.
The older I get, the more I want my stuff to feel like background music. Not silence, but not a blaring distraction either. Just a steady rhythm that keeps things moving.
And when something truly earns a place on the “every day” list, it’s usually not because it was perfect from day one. It’s because I kept reaching for it. Despite other options. Despite shinier labels.
That’s kind of the secret, I think. Not everything has to be love at first sight. Some of the best things are slow burns. You use them once out of convenience, then again because it wasn’t bad, and before you know it—it’s a staple.
So here’s to the things that earn their place over time. The underestimated. The overlooked. The items that survive multiple bag dumps, drawer reorganizations, and half-hearted attempts to “try something new.”
You don’t have to be impressive to be essential. You just have to show up and not let me down.
That’s the bar.
