ByKat Hours Updated
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Coffee Break: Daily Chair

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gray ergonomic office chair

When I combed through reader comments a while ago to round up the best office chairs for women, one of the more affordable options that got a few shoutouts was the Branch Daily Chair — and it's on sale in the big Amazon Prime Day sale today (here's our roundup).

This one has a lot of the characteristics of the more expensive options, including a 4″ seat height range (17-21″), 3″ armrest range (SO many readers said this was essential!), and a “1” optimal armrest adjustment during assembly,” which I'm assuming means in width, not height. You can also adjust the tilt tension, as well as the backrest tilt.

Amazon has 4 colors of the chair on sale, marked 20% off from the regular $269 (the sale ends tonight); you can also find the chair at BranchFurniture.com.

Sales of note for 3/26/25:

  • Nordstrom – 15% off beauty (ends 3/30) + Nordy Club members earn 3X the points!
  • Ann Taylor – Extra 50% off sale + additional 20% off + 30% off your purchase
  • Banana Republic Factory – Friends & Family Event: 50% off purchase + extra 20% off
  • Eloquii – 50% off select styles + extra 50% off all sale
  • J.Crew – 30% off tops, tees, dresses, accessories, sale styles + warm-weather styles
  • J.Crew Factory – Shorts under $30 + extra 60% off clearance + up to 60% off everything
  • M.M.LaFleur – 25% off travel favorites + use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
  • Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
  • Talbots – $64.50 spring cardigans + BOGO 50% off everything else

118 Comments

  2. We have discussed a lot about not settling for “not the best fit” when it comes to SOs/men/partners and I personally feel the same way about friends. Especially if friends are family we choose. But then I wont be left with many and already have very few. Curious about how the wise hive deals with this.

    1. I kind of differentiate between ride and die friends and everyday friends. Ride and die friends will be with me for life even if we’re countries apart, but everyday friends will probably be gone if I change jobs or move a neighborhood over.

      1. Yeah, basically this for me too.
        Ride or die friends I have very few – two from college and one from high school, and none of them live near me. They’re soulmates in a similar way that my husband is, just not romantic.
        Locally I have a lot of more casual friends that I met through our kids and the friendships are more situational. I fully expect we’ll drift if the kids drift apart or if they move away. Often it’s tied to a specific interest. For example I have one mom friend that I basically only discuss books & go to the theater with. I have another mom that I walk with most days. I wouldn’t associate with someone who was cruel to me or others, but I don’t hold these friends to the standard that I hold my husband and besties to, and some of them have very different values & politics than me.

      2. Agreed. And adding to that, that friends don’t need to be as compatible as a partner — there’s certain friends I discuss kid things with, and with others I talk politics, etc.

        That said, if someone is treating you badly, let the friendship go. I have no patience for friend drama.

      3. +1. For every day friends, I am much less picky, because as another poster commented, I prefer to have one spouse and many friends (or at least more than one friend). Obviously, I am not going to stay friends with someone who treats me poorly, but I can overlook a lot more for casual friendships. I have higher standards for my ride or die (lifelong) friends.

    2. At least in my life, I like to have one spouse and many friends. If you want to have one spouse and one friend, go with the strategy you’re describing here.

      1. This is a great way to put it. I have lots of different kinds of friends, and as long as they’re good at being a friend in at least one way, that’s good enough for me.

    3. I have 3 friends, I wish I had more but honestly it makes me pretty uncomfortable to hang out with people who I have a big moral divide with especially if they are actively engaging in things I’m against. I guess a lot of this is a me problem in that I won’t lie so I’m just awkwardly quiet when someone is talking about something I disagree with.

        1. Anything radical and environmental I probably believe in. Zero waste, vegan, child free, car free, anti-capitalist, etc. This isn’t a ‘phase’ either I’ve lived this way for 20 years and work as a do gooder.

          1. So you can’t be friend with people who engage in pretty normal things like having household waste, having children or a car?

            I’m actually surprised you found three people to be friends with you.

          2. I can engage with them as long as they don’t expect me to validate their lifestyle choices. None of my friends live the same life as me but they also dont lie about it. I have a friend with a kid for example, she had a kid because she wanted to, doesn’t pretend it’s anything else. I’m completely fine with that.

          3. Yeah, and I don’t mean this kindly, you sound like a giant pain in the ass to be around.

          4. Vegan anti-natalism has received a lot of criticism especially from indigenous perspectives. I wouldn’t have known that’s what you meant by anything radical and environmentalist.

      2. Can you give examples? I’m curious how others draw these lines. EG I don’t use Amazon but I’m friends with others who do. I try to thread the needle of being clear about my Amazon stance without being overbearing about it.

        1. Yeah, I live basically every unpopular belief system out there: vegan, zero waste, car free, Amazon free etc. I had a colleague spend a whole 5 minutes talking up a restaurant that didn’t have any vegan options, it was so awkward, then she asked why I didn’t take her recommendation. There’s also the issue of people who try to use me to absolve their guilt. ‘I don’t eat a lot of meat/I only eat ethical meat’….never true, or ‘I could never live without my SUV’… etc I don’t think I’d have issues with friends who have different values if they owned their decision but they never do.

          2. The problem is I don’t say anything. I just don’t contribute to the conversation because I’m not going to call someone out nor am I going to provide platitudes. So it’s just silence.

          3. I’m not sure why these things are coming up, but if I can be honest, it sounds like you may be projecting a judgmental vibe, which is why you’re getting these defensive responses.

            You can decide what your dealbreakers are, but this seems pretty limiting. And I say this as someone who is fairly selective about whose company I keep.

          4. I’m not judgy at all, my closest friend works for one of the big consulting firms. We get along great because he 100% admits he does evil for money, never pretends it’s ethical or makes excuses. The existence of someone with different values generally makes people uncomfortable . But I’m sure you won’t believe me.

          5. It’s too bad, as the things you believe in and live are tremendous goals, and honestly I think they are wonderful. It’s too bad you can’t be more accepting of others, as I for one would want to learn things from you. But I would definitely not be friends if you ?gave me the silent treatment or made it clear life is never grey.

          6. Even if you are car free, every single thing you buy or eat is delivered by car or truck. You aren’t car free; you just don’t own a vehicle.

          7. Not shocked at all that you don’t have many friends. Why would anyone want to be friends with someone who judges them for perfectly reasonable choices and values that happen to be different from theirs, and who doesn’t respect their own path to making choices or arriving at those values? Friendship doesn’t require wholesale agreement on values, but it does require respect. You obviously don’t respect anyone except your three friends– after all, you accuse people with different values from you as never owning their own choices. (Have you ever considered that no one wants to discuss their choices and values with you on a deep level, because you haven’t done anything to earn their trust, and likely actively push them away?) No one wants to be friends with someone who disrespects their choices and values, especially critical ones like whether to have children. You’re not willing to *be* a friend, so no, you don’t get to have any.

            It makes absolutely zero sense that one of your only friends is someone who works for a big 4 consulting firm and admits that he does evil stuff for money. If this is true (which I doubt) you are entirely undermining your own position that you don’t like hanging out with people who are engaged in stuff you’re actively against. Stupid.

            Also, people aren’t trying to use you to absolve their guilt, good grief. They’re probably just trying to diffuse the tension you create in every conversation, or signal to you that they do respect your values and share them at least to an extent, even if they don’t make the same choices that you do.

    4. I think you can have different types of friends. I also don’t think old friends need to agree with you 100% and you don’t need to approve of all their life choices. It’s kind of like family in that way. You should certainly not stay with friends who don’t treat you well, but they also don’t need to be the same fit.

      Where I do think romantic and friendship relationships overlap is that you do need to put effort into both.

    5. I am 40 this year and lamenting to my parents about not having many friends. My dad said, that he and my mom have very few friends, and they credit that for a lot of their peace and happiness in life, that they don’t have friends just to have friends, they form relationships with people who they really enjoy. I thought it was interesting because my grandmother was the opposite, she was quite outgoing and had friends who she enjoyed interacting with and did not take into consideration integrity and values. It lead to clashes over time and when she became vulnerable in her 90s, they took advantage of her financially. It has made me rethink friendship.

    6. Ok but you totally are judgy because the 2 friends you mention here have both felt the need to explain their actions.
      – “We get along great because he 100% admits he does evil for money, never pretends it’s ethical or makes excuses.”
      – “ I have a friend with a kid for example, she had a kid because she wanted to, doesn’t pretend it’s anything else. I’m completely fine with that.”

      What in the actual what?

      1. I do bad things too, like flying! I just never lie about it and pretend I needed to, it was something I wanted and I prioritized myself over the planet, NBD.

        1. How wonderful that you’re so morally consistent and never lie to yourself about the true cost of your actions.

          I honestly think this mentality of only wanting to associate with those who are 100% aligned with you is (ironically) directly related to our consumer culture. “I’ll take a medium latte with oat milk, light on the foam two pumps of caramel and a vegetarian Libra brunette friend”. People are complicated, and if you want friends, you need to overlook (some) faults. Because they’ll be overlooking some of your own.

        2. This is wild to me. I am the vegan, child-free by choice, single by choice, leaning tree hugger hippie in my group but no one lies about why they do things? Everyone works for money, we all know this. No one thinks what we are doing at work is saving the world. The folks with kids all had kids because they wanted to. I’m so curious what other people have told you about why they had kids? People all drive the cars they want because well they want to. We fly because we want to. No one tries to pretend trash is good, or recycling is not a scam, or that air travel isn’t terrible for the environment. I am so curious about this! I mean sure there are people who in social circles will make niceties, but only being able to find three people who will say they do things because they want to (vs trying to save the planet) . . .

          1. Yeah up above the commenter posted “I’m not judgy… I just sit there silently while people talk about stuff I disagree with… but I know you don’t believe me”

            So to me this sounds like the commenter assumes what I’m thinking, doesn’t ask me anything to find out what I think about what I’m saying even if she disagrees with me, and is therefore kind of judgmental, but doesn’t say what she really thinks or feels. So I guess she’s right that I don’t believe her, but I am happy for all the awards you won, Greta Thunberg, you do deserve them

  3. I know some folks here have had plastic surgery. I’ve lost a bunch of weight, and am considering it down the road, but am stuck on how I’d manage to take the time off work! What did y’all do?

    3. There are medical reasons you may need skin surgery after weight loss. I don’t think you need to tell everyone all the details.

    4. I had a septo/rhinoplasty – coverage was the same as if it had just been purely medical vs. a combo. The septoplasty part was necessary and I felt zero guilt about taking FMLA leave. Three weeks-6 weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things!

    5. Hi–I just had a boob job, abdominal lipo, and a tummy tuck. I’m 5 weeks out. I was on painkillers for the first week, and then moved to Tylenol the second week. I was not working (I just left a job in August.). I would recomment taking about 10 days off. You can do this if you bookend this with a long weekend, and schedule carefully. I will say that the lipo and tummy tuck resulted in normal healing symptoms, including the fact that I couldn’t really straighten up fully (you got a chunk of your abdomen removed, so your body is literally tightened down in the frong) and swelling/pain from bloating with the lipo, because your lymph system is not working 100%. All of this mostly subsideded by week three. I could have WFH for the second week, but working a full load would have been difficult. I really started feeling close to 100% healed just this week.

      The boob job (I was small, and got a tasteful augmentation, not huge) was not painful, and I really truly could have gone to work four days later. Would everyone had known due to swelling? Yes, 100%. But I think I look completely natural now, and no pain.

      Long answer–I think you need AT LEAST 2 weeks if you’re doing more than minimal lipo or a tummy tuck.

      I would say–I am so, so happy with my results and wish I did this years ago.

  4. What are your best tips for taking notes and studying? My 14yo is starting to do this now and I’m trying to remember what I did. Stars in the margin, boxes around important vocab… what else?

    1. I just ordered the book “Outsmart Your Brain,” which includes a chapter on note-taking, for my teen.

    2. For me, physically writing things down was always superior to typing, the physicality helped me connect to the content. Flash cards (the act of writing them, then using them) was similar, for all kinds of content. Making a ‘study sheet’ for a particular test was good – had to write out/organize the content, then used it for review. Writing things out helped me organize things in a way that made the most sense to me. And summarizing content in your own words helped with understanding.

      1. Not just for you – data shows that writing things down is superior generally to typing.

    3. I quite liked mind mapping at her age. It’s a good way to learn to prioritize and systematize information without learning things by rote, especially if you are visually minded. I used Tony Buzan’s methods.

    4. Cal Newport’s blog used to do Monday Masterclasses about note-taking. They should turn up with searching. Those + Anki got me through a dual degree program.

      1. (Anki isn’t necessary now, but will be useful if kid decides to take up a second language or go pre-med — something where you need to memorize a lot of vocabulary).

    5. There’s lots of good research on this. Far and away the most important thing is to not fall into the trap of passively reviewing your notes and thinking you know the material. Effective studying means actively engaging with the material, summarizing in your own words, frequently quizzing yourself, teaching others, working problems (if applicable), mapping out concepts and figuring out how topics fit together.

      This is aimed at college students, but a good summary: https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/studying-101-study-smarter-not-harder/

    6. -actual handwriting when taking notes
      -made myself flash cards and had my parents quiz me

        1. My kids’ school has a learning specialist who works one on one with students on things like this. Study skills, note taking, organization, reading comprehension, testing strategies, etc.

        2. They help people who forget to put words into sentences and people who can’t figure out sentences with missing words

    8. I’m an actuary who studied for exams while on the job for many years, so I have some expertise.

      Depends on what you’re studying. If it’s all math related, nothing beats working the problems over and over, by hand, to commit the methodology to muscle memory.

      If it’s facts/words/ideas, read as long as you’re sure you’re paying attention and not just running your eyes over the words. Making lists in your notes helps better than highlighting or underlying or putting stars around things. Have a notebook or pad of paper and write down what you just learned before you move on. You’ll end up writing it down again when you study your notes, and you’ll probably eliminate a lot of stuff that you’ve learned is not key information. Get it down to index cards, then quiz yourself on the index cards.

      Everything is written by hand. Not on the computer.

    9. Check out Ana homoyoun at green ivy consulting. She has books and an e course that have been super helpful for my 12 boy.

  5. I have 36 inches along a wall where a computer desk could fit. But all good / useful desks that are big enough to have drawers are more like 48 inches, where the last foot extends to be in front of a window. If there IS a good 36” desk with drawers out there, someone needs to post links (searching for “36 inch computer desk” yields all sort of larger dimensions). Otherwise, just accept the aesthetic downside for a better configuration? I’m never going to live a camera-ready life.

    1. Are you handy? If so this is pretty easily solvable, I cut down a vintage wood desk and refinished it in a similar situation (I wall mounted mine but you could also add legs).

    2. For a similar situation, I just got a simple, drawer less desk and a separate little rolling drawer unit.

    3. On Wayfair you can search for desks by max dimensions. If you read the reviews carefully, you can find decent quality stuff.

      Or another suggestion, get a 36″ desk without drawers and buy a standalone filing cabinet you can place nearby. Some of the filing cabinets are really attractive and may even coordinate with the desk you pick out.

    5. IKEA Lommarp is cute. Just under 36 inch. Only one drawer, but you can hide some stuff.

      There is also IKEA Smastad from the kids’ section, which is also just under 36 inches wide, and has drawers.

    6. Or see if there is a 36-inch long desk available that has one or two shallow but full-depth drawers just under the writing surface, above where your knees would go. Those shallow drawers are deceptively capacious, almost ludicrously so!

  6. What are some of your favorite fall recipes? Looking for great recipes with in season produce – Brussels, squash, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, kale, etc

      1. +1 also all the pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, chocolate chip pumpkin muffins/bread/cookies, apple cakes, apple challah.

    3. Homemade apple sauce. Wash the apples, no need to peel or core them. Cut them in half and put them roughly cut side down in the big pot you boil pasta in. Add a very small amount of water, bring it to a simmer, put the lid on and barely simmer (apples will release liquid) until the apples are mushy. Use a food mill to run the apples through, and the skins and seeds will stay behind. Delicious with nothing added – I don’t add sugar or any spices. But if you like cinnamon or nutmeg, you could add those. I find it best without.

    4. I don’t know the source, but my husband makes a delicious kale & delicata squash salad with a maple dressing and pepitas. So tasty, and pretty.

    6. Roasted root vegetables with tomato and kale — I amp up the seasonings and the amount of kale from what the online recipe offers, but it is delicious and healthful.

      Otherwise, lots of roasted brussel sprouts (sometimes with bacon/pancetta, sometimes with maple syrup) and sweet potato/chickpea rice bowls.

    7. I have a salad I make that is so so delish, and is the epitome of Fall:

      Roast butternut squash or sweet potato
      Salty cheese like ricotta salata (this is hard ricotta) or feta
      Sweet ish fruit – pomegranate pips, dried cherries or cranberries
      Diced apples
      Sunflower seeds
      Oniony something Green onions or shallots or chives
      Base of spinach or spinach arugula mix
      Tons and tons of fresh dill

      Make an apple cider-mustard vinaigrette, with a ton of whole grain mustard, so it’s spicy.

      This salad is DELECTABLE.

      If you’re feeling fancy, very narrowly mandoline or slice fennel, and “pickle” the fennel in orange juice for at least 30 mins.

      If you want a protein component, chicken-apple sausage or chicken go well in this salad. The chicken-apple sausage makes it seem fancy.

  7. Add on question to the about all-inclusives: if I don’t want to put my kid in “camp” every day and I also don’t want to play lifeguard so he doesn’t drown, is an all-inclusive not for my family? Just doesn’t seem very restful.

    1. I’ve never put the kids in any of the kids programs when we travelled to all inclusive because the point is to spend time together. I’m usually in the pool or ocean with the kids but if you’re not a water person, maybe take turns with your DH. Like each day one person is ‘on’ for water duty. The pools are huge enough that unless your kids are excellent swimmers, I would not rely on the lifeguards.

      1. You can usually attend the kids program events as a family. We’ve done that a few times when there were things that sounded particularly interesting to our kids.

    2. We’ve never used kids camps, my kid learned to swim relatively late (age 6) and we absolutely loved all-inclusive resorts for the 0-5 age range. I was often in the water with my kid but I didn’t really think of it as “playing lifeguard” because it’s not very stressful swimming. A lot of these resorts have shallow kiddie pools where little kids can stand up easily. You can bring or borrow a float for the kid to splash around on. And at resorts like Beaches there are waterparks with small slides, etc. that a non-swimmer can do in a life jacket. So there’s a lot of ways to have water fun together. Until your kid is a strong swimmer you can’t just sit in a lounge chair and bury your nose in a book, but that’s not what I want to do on a family vacation anyway.

      I do recommend bringing grandparents if you can. The extra adults make the vacation a lot more relaxing.

    3. Can your kid swim? When I was young my parents just let me roam free around AIs when I wasn’t in the camps. My parents had me in swimming lessons as young as possible.

      1. i’m OP – my 10yo is autistic, and he can swim, but his preferred mode of hanging out in the water looks like he’s drowning (treading water very lazily). he doesn’t make a lot of sense when asked direct questions so this would be kind of like lifeguarding him.

        1. It’s super expensive but the Beaches resorts famously have amazing programs and resources for autistic kids. If it’s in the budget I’d definitely look at that chain.

          I think at any resort you could give a heads up to the lifeguard.

          1. a friend did that (and got the butler!!) but she put her kids in the camp and also paid for a babysitter one of the nights.

      2. These days most resorts don’t really allow this until kids are at least 10ish. Under that age they need to be in the official camp or supervised by an adult.

  8. What are you all thinking about the lawsuit brought by the states against TikTok? Part of me thinks it’s absurd and then part of me thinks that plenty of corporations in the world would never act for the public good if not for government forcing their hands.

    1. I worry that social media is our generation’s cigarettes: addictive, terrible for us, and it will take decades to fix the mess.

      1. Agreed – not to mention the long-term consequences on the brain that may not be reversible.

        1. +1

          Also agree.

          It is shocking to me that my 19 year old niece no longer has the attention span to sit through a movie or read a book.

    2. To me it’s part of a process to put better guardrails on social media whereas right now there really aren’t many.

    3. The discovery should be interesting.

      Like the Tobacco companies, knowing full well about the addictive properties of their products and discussing how to hide it.

      Similarly TicToc / Facebook talking about their research on brain function and how to manipulate us….. all to make money / sell more ads.

    4. Corporations are not good moral actors, they must be forced, always. I know that’s unpopular to say since so many people are capitalists, but corporations will never do the right thing by choice.

      1. Agreed. This is why we should never rely on corporations for things like paid maternity leave or health insurance.

      2. Libertarians will tell you that when corporations are free to act in their own best interest, they will do the right thing, because it will also be the most profitable. I have now decades of experience working at very high levels in several large US based corporations, and I did not find that to be even remotely close true! And I also stopped dating libertarians (apropos of yesterday’s post.)

      3. TikTok vs. Douyin seems like an example of how the same company develops a platform differently in different markets and legal/regulatory environments.

    5. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Congress basically nonfunctional at this point and every legislation gets wrapped into budget bills? Seems like a lot of the state legislation re chemicals, additives etc will force companies to act more than any other entity can.

  9. low stakes question for today: what’s your favorite eyeliner? i guess i prefer gel because I don’t like sharpening things and I’m not skilled enough for liquid

      1. Quickliner is my ride or die. Every time I try something else, I come back to these.

    2. Are you familiar with self-sharpening eyeliners? I, too, dislike sharpening things. These are like crayon pencils and have a sharpener in the cap, so when you replace the cap and twist it back on and twist it back off, you’re sharpening the pencil.

      Smashbox Always Sharp is my favorite daily black eyeliner. Stays put, stays black. (Wait for a sale – no need to pay full price.)

    3. Wet n Wild Breakup-Proof. It’s like $3 and is the best of the drugstore eyeliners I’ve tried. I use E.L.F. Powergrip primer before the eyeliner.

    4. I find the gel liners transfer to the upper lids of my hooded eyes, so I can’t use those. What I do is use a liquid liner (Stila is good) in a non-black color, and I just do the base of my lashes, not a heavy, thick line like you think of when you think of liquid liner. No wing at the corner. Good colors that don’t look too harsh are browns and grays, though I’ve delved in a forest green too.

      Sometimes I add a little basic kohl (charcoal gray or brown) over the outside corners of the liquid liner after it dries, and I run the slightest amount of the kohl under my lower lashes, just the outer half of my eye. The kohl will move around during the day, and I often smudge it intentionally after applying it.

  10. What are some of your hacks that make your life a lot easier?

    1. Kids’ birthdays: I order items immediately when a) my kid receives something and loves it, or b) we discover awesome books in the library or a thing in the store that looks like it might be fun. I have a well stocked kids’ gift section in my gift closet, lol. I only do gender neutral gifts like games, puzzles, books, legos, craft kits, …

    2. Grocery stock: Once we get to 1 item left in pantry, it goes on the whiteboard grocery list immediately. No thinking about “Do we need coffee, pasta or chickpeas?”

    3. Taking 1 day a month where I do a power-2-hours to deal with scheduling appointments, bills, and other small tasks that take 5 min each but require context switching. Doing this batched frees up so much brain space.

    1. The birthday gift closet is a popular one on the moms page but my kid loves to shop for each of her friends and since age 5 or so has had very strong opinions about what they each want.

      1. Same. It would make my life easier, but there is something to be said for kids learning how to pick out a gift.

      2. Agreed. I used to keep one but around mid-elementary-school, the offerings on hand would not be acceptable to my kiddos, so the items just sat there and we ended up ordering something anyway. It’s easy enough to find something on Amaz0n week-of and have it there in time for the party.

    2. I keep a separate hat and sunglasses everywhere I may want them, usually with sunscreen and AirPods.

      I do curbside pickup because I can slowly build my shopping list in the app and then have an employee find all the little small things that I need for one-off recipes that would take me ages to find in store.

      I write my friends’ birthdays on my physical calendar so I remember to text them.

      I text all of my friend groups every 3-4 months the same message (but sent individually) to start the process of picking a day to get together.

    3. Small things, but I’ve found they help me:
      1. I keep a running list of gift ideas on my computer, so when a birthday or Xmas comes up I don’t have to wrack my brain to remember that thing they mentioned that one time
      2. Sunscreen everywhere, so I can (and remember) to reapply

    4. I keep a running grocery list on my phone (in Notes), with an asterisk next to an item that is “must buy” and a caret next to an item that I have purchased and is no longer needed. I don’t erase the items as I buy them, so they are all perpetually listed.

      I keep hints to all my various passwords in the notes to my Contacts on my phone. (I am not on social media, for the most part, so I don’t have apps pulling information automatically from my Contacts List.)

      I bought two folding one-step step ladders (from Walmart or Target? Can’t remember, but for a VERY low price), and I keep one by my fridge to get at stuff stored over the fridge and in other high kitchen cabinets, and one in my closet, to reach up to the top shelf from time to time.

      1. Oh, and also I bought a 12-pack or 10-pack of generic white wash cloths from Target, and keep them on my kitchen counter in a trifle bowl (very elegant!), and use them for all sorts of wiping down and wiping up, in lieu of paper towels (which I still have for that subset of tasks that need a paper towel, but I don’t use them for general wiping any more).

        Finally, I store food in the fridge in a cereal bowl or soup bowl, and cover the bowl with an upside down plate, to cut down on using foil, plastic wrap, and wax paper. Goes straight from the fridge into the microwave, with the topper already in place.

  11. Is foundation primer a scam to buy another product, or have I not found the right one?

    I’ve always subscribed to the school of thought that if I need a primer, I probably have the wrong foundation. Alas, now I’m in my mid-40s and things aren’t sitting like they used to. So maybe I need to give primer a solid try. I did buy that Elf power grip stuff and I hated how it felt on my skin. It also highlighted every bit of texture, and then some. I’d be willing to try more of a lotiony balm, though. There used to be a Loreal Infallible primer that was pretty decent but it’s since been discontinued. Smashbox broke me out.

    1. I like Benefit Pore Minimizer. Foundation seems to go on more evenly and stay on longer when I use it. (Drug store dupe is Maybelline baby skin primer). Both seem to last forever

    2. For my middle-aged skin, I’ve discovered that the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel moisturizes without making me oily and acts as a really good primer under makeup because of the dimethicone in it. No breakouts, either, but everyone is different!

    3. I’ve always been sunscreen -> foundation/BB cream -> translucent powder. But I have a sample of the Charlotte Tilbury setting spray, and I do notice that if I spray that over my foundation/BB cream right after I brush it on, it really does last better. I’ve never found a primer that performs better than that, and I really don’t feel like I need another layer of cream or lotion.

      So my BB cream (it’s almost always BB cream) is still “wet” but already blended in with the brush, then I spray the setting spray, and I brush that around a bit too. Blush and powder go on after that sets a bit.

    4. Does your makeup not look right when you put it on or does it wear off in a way you’re not happy with? If the latter, I use a setting spray instead of a primer because my skin also dislikes primers. I use Wet n Wild’s Fight Dirty setting spray – keeps my makeup looking great all day and no trouble with break outs. (I have trouble with primers and with many regular setting sprays breaking me out, but this one is an exception.)

      https://www.amazon.com/wet-wild-Chamomile-Blemishes-Antioxidants/dp/B09NX371TN

    5. I’m an Urban Decay All Nighter spray fan; it never irritates my rosacea, makes everything, not just foundation, stay in place and not smudge, and has held up for conferences and business travel in the heat and humidity of Charleston, New Orleans, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

    6. I love Smashbox Photo Finish but can’t wear it for more than a few days at a time before my skin needs a break. I pull it out for Visible Days and otherwise spare my skincare routine the need to clean up after it.

    7. The Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Blurring Balm is THE most amazing product but only in the “Universal” not the tinted (for some reason). I used up two entire containers in like 3 months. It blurs the skin and gives it a very slight glow but doesn’t look oily and doesn’t interfere with foundation. You can also wear it by itself.
      However, many primers in my experience don’t really do much, or even worse, make foundation “pill” or crack, etc.

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