Corporette.com

Updated: Feb 26, 2024 62 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Ring Light with Cell Phone Holder

Coffee Break

This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

A white ring light with long arm and phone holder, holding a phone

Many people bought ring lights early on in the pandemic when they started working from home, but I didn't (and was already working from home). I wasn't doing many video calls back then, and I certainly wasn't planning on launching a TikTok career. (OK, I do post videos of my cats.)

Lately, though, I've been bothered a bit by how I look on Zoom. I'm not talking about my face — it's just with the gray upstate New York weather, I'm often sitting in dim light, and I feel it looks a bit unprofessional. We don't have ceiling lights in our bedrooms or offices, and shining a desk light on myself looked a bit harsh. (Yes, I know, probably very few people I've spoken to saw it as “unprofessional” — if any — but it still bugged me.)

I wanted to spend as little money as possible on a ring light without buying a piece of junk — I'm hoping it lasts a few years — and I didn't want to potentially damage my laptop with a clip-on style.

The ring light I chose is very affordable and has three light options (“dramatic cool,” “dramatic warm,” and blended) and 10 brightness levels. It also has a non-slip phone holder, but I doubt I'll use that. It's handy, though! The long, flexible neck (arm? hmm) lets you position the light wherever you need.

I've only used it once so far, but it works great.

This ring light is under $20 at Amazon and available in white and black.

Sales of note for 9.30.24

About Kate Antoniades

Editor of Corporette since 2014, Kate Antoniades lives in her hometown of Rochester, NY. A cat person and Oxford comma loyalist, she loves thrift shopping and has too many craft supplies.

Comments

  1. Annelise

    What do you wear to conferences?
    My job is mostly WFH, and when we meet its pretty casual. However every so often I go to conferences or trade events where I do need to be business formal.

    The last conference I went to a lot of women were wearing statement dresses and blazers. I feel like the issue with dresses is that they’re harder to re-wear, and these are events where you see a lot of the same people – although I can’t imagine they remember what I wore. I did wear one of my dresses for the headshot that we use at all these events so I do think it would be odd to be wearing that dress.

    I like the idea of wearing a colorful blazer. These are formal-but-not-stuffy events and its good to visibly stand out of a sea of black/grey sometimes.

      • Anon

        This. Also, a gray dress opens up a few more color options for your blazers (looks less harsh next to brighter colors than black)

      • No Face

        This was my tried and true at conferences. Two black sheaths, numerous blazers of various shapes and colors.
        If I wanted to wear pants instead, I brought two black straight leg pants, a few black shells, and then the assortment of blazers. I wear loafers with all outfits. My lipstick and earrings are the interesting parts of the outfit, because they are easy to pack.

    • CK

      My conference outfit formula is a colorful blazer and comfortable ponte pants.

    • Anon

      I like wearing blazers so I can have pockets to put my phone and business cards in while standing around and mingling.

    • Conferences

      I love wearing bright clothes to stand out. My favorite is midi/long dresses as they work well for a variety of climates and I won’t freeze in air conditioning. I also love fun suits. Because they do stand out, I find rent the runway to be a great option for these sorts of things, particularly if the climate is different from your home.
      I typically only bring a small duffel or backpack so am thoughtful on how everything, particularly shoes, work together. and those shoes must be comfortable

    • Anon

      I wear the Merritt jardigan from mm La Fleur with a silk blouse and classic style trousers, full length. I like to be comfortable so I bring a big scarf/shawl kind of thing, because it’s very often freezing.

      I find it easy enough to mix up my look with different blouses. No one notices, honestly. I could wear the same thing every day for a three day conference. But I don’t.

    • Anonymous

      I attend a lot of conferences and trade events. My industry is THE MOST casual….aka guys wear jeans and hoodies, and suits stand out from a mile away. I tend to dress on the business side of business casual, are usually this formula:

      white jeans or very dark wash jeans + company shirt or blouse + grey or blue blazer or jacket with pockets + the most comfortable shoes. Loafers, ankle boots, or even sneakers if the rest of the outfit is dressed up enough. (again, SUPER casual industry). My main goal is more put together, less business.

      Every time I wear “kind of” comfortable shoes I regret it immensely by the end of the day.

      If I’m walking the conference floor, I really try to not have a bag…if I have to, a very small lightweight one. I refuse to take literature or swag from vendors; if we talk about something that I’m interested in, I’ll give them a card and ask them to email me instead. In the past 5 years I have never actually used literature to reference back to; only websites.

      • Anon

        I’m not OP but I’m heading a conference in a casual field soon, and I really appreciate this!

    • Anon

      This is why I miss the old J.Crew with colorful cardigans, tees with embellishments, and pencil skirts. It was so easy to mix and match dressy with casual for conferences where its not formal but I wanted to look cute and put together. I haven’t found anything to replace that look.

  2. Ellen

    This lamp is so cool, but too modernistick for me, as my living room is decorated in 1990’s kitsch, b/c my father gave me all of the furnitures and fixtures when he redecorated with Mom our house on the Island 3 years ago. I wonder if he would mind if I bought this piece anyway– I hope it can hold a new iPad, b/c I often use the iPad in lieu of my phone b/c my eyes are not what they used to be and having a larger type is always appreciated!

    I am hoping that Kat will run a survey on whether the new Gen Z’s have any intention of working the way we did when we were their age about 20 years ago. My experience has been that the answer is unfortunately “not” b/c they are just interested in how they are going to get promoted into partnership w/o having to do the dirty work we had to. As a result, I have NOT been able to find a young associate in the mold that I was, much to the chagrin of the manageing partner, who is beginning to slow down physically (he’s over 80, so it’s not a secret). He works from home, and rarely comes in except to attend firm events and dinners with the judge, who is also now on “senior” status, meaning that he does not have to have a full caseload any more. Fortunately, he has agreed to take on all cases from our firm, which is gold for me, b/c my success rate w/him is well over 97%, loosing only once in a while on motion’s to dismiss on cases that I eventually win anyway, after billing many hours for the firm; in reality, a win-win situation for us.

    The judge will be comeing in house at our firm as “of counsel” which really means he can just come in and collect a paycheck for showing up and reading the newspaper, and being available to meet with cleints and the manageing partner as needed. He will not get health plan benefits, b/c he already has them from NYS, which is non-contributory, meaning that he doesnt have to chip in. At our firm, we do have to kick in 20%, but I have a HCRA that Dad negotiated, which will pay me back for the 20% I have to pay. Dad knows every angle!

    Anyway, hope the hive is doing well–I haven’t posted for a while b/c I had a health issue, that I am now 100% over, but it was touch and go for a while. I will try and get back about 1x a week if I see good posts and am still shopping at Nordstrom on 58th Street! YAY!!!!

  3. Me

    Has anyone bought one of the in-home saunas that every influencer says is amazing? If so, honest reviews? The whole thing sounds very relaxing. If it also makes my skin look like I’m 25 again, that would be wonderful – I’m joking, of course.

    • Anonymous

      ooh, i haven’t but i want one! is this one of the weird portable saunas or like an actual sauna?

      • Me

        One of those weird, portable sauna blanket things. I definitely don’t have space for an actual sauna in my condo that’s the size of a tiny doll house.

  4. Anonymous

    Does anyone have any great recipes for pork tenderloin? Trying to think of something for dinner and y’all always have great suggestions…

  5. Anon

    My fellow tea drinkers – any caffeine free teas you like? I’ve never been a fan of herbal tea – mint, chamomile etc. I need to avoid caffeine due to arrhythmia. (PSVT just in case we have any electrophysiology ‘r3ttes)

      • Mpls

        +1 – Republic of Tea has a Cinnamon-Orange one that I like and do refills on, on the regular. Good Earth also has a rooibos version of their Sweet and Spicy Tea.

        I’ve also enjoyed the Apple Cider tea from Republic of Tea – it’s not the same as actual Apple Cider, but gives that vibe.

      • anonshmanon

        there is also green rooibos that has the bergamotte notes of earl gray.

      • Anon

        Mariage Frères has incredible Roibos blends. Rouge Bourbon and Rouge Opera are my favourites.

      • Anon

        Co-sign the decafe teas from Harney. They are the only ones I’ve had that don’t taste weird, like most other decafe black teas seem to.

        I like the TJ ginger and turmeric. Celestial Seasonings has a maple and ginger one that is pretty good. I also like fennel tea, it is not as sweet as some of the others.

    • Anon

      Tea Source has some excellent green and black decaf teas like earl grey etc.

      • Anon

        We have that one! My kids love it & have since they were wee. They call it “kid tea.” But it doesn’t scratch that cuppa tea itch for me unfortunately.

    • Anonymous

      If you want actual tea, I like the British decaffeinated ones. PG Tips, Tetley and Yorkshire are all good.

      I do think they might have caffeine traces, though.

      If you just want hot beverages, I like mint herbals, rosehip, linden flowers, lavender and rooibush.

    • CK

      I love the Yogi Honey Chai Turmeric Vitality. No caffeine. I’ve shared this with several coworkers who love it now too.

    • Seventh Sister

      Barley tea is really nice, the taste is more “tea-like” than some of the some of the non-caffeinated herbal teas. I buy mine at the Korean grocery near me but you can probably find it at most Asian supermarkets.

      • Anon

        I like barley tea lots. Have you tried iced barley tea? I find it so thirst quenching and satisfying.

    • Anon

      Twining’s English Breakfast decaf tastes the same as regular to me. It’s not zero caffeine though, I don’t think. Just a lot less than regular tea.

  6. Anon for this

    Husband just very gently and kindly pointed out to me that I always point out to him the look of really wonderfully organized spaces but I don’t like to spend the money on furniture which would allow things to be neatly hidden away. I’m not talking about straight clutter – we are really good about not bringing ‘stuff’ in and also clearing out things that no longer serve us. I’m talking about things like board games (which we actively use and play), camping supplies, etc.

    I think he’s right. I was raised without money and we were very broke at the start of our marriage, so it’s an adjustment to actually think ‘oh yeah, I think some cabinetry would work really well here’ versus ‘I have this 10 year old IKEA bookcase which is good enough I guess’.

    Are there any virtual designers who will do this for me? Any of you want to do this for me?

    • Anon

      I have hired a professional organizer for this task a few times and had a great experience. I don’t have a huge amount of clutter but just needed systems.

      Mine was happy to use what I had for organizing or she brought some pretty matching stuff with her that she sold me at cost. The few times I needed or wanted furniture or something she didn’t have with her, she’d send me a link after the session.

      I can’t recommend this type of service highly enough! Mine was $75 per hour, which was very reasonable for the amount of value she’s provided.

      • CapHillAnon

        Any chance that person is in or near DC? This sounds like exactly what I need!

      • anon

        I used someone similar and cannot recommend this type of service enough. While it is an investment up front, the organization system she implemented in the kitchen is still going strong 5 years later. They also have great advice on what works (looking at you big metal Husky garage shelves) and what doesn’t (anything flimsy or too small decorative baskets). Overall, it was probably less than $400 in organizational stuff that I ended up buying to get everything in order.

        • Anon for this

          Interesting! Is there such a thing as an organizer/designer hybrid? I think that’s what I need?

    • Anonymous

      I would probably just start visiting stores in my area that sold cabinetry and see what I liked. Home Depot, etc…maybe even a custom place depending on what I wanted to spend.
      Our stuff is stored on those plastic shelves you put together, though, because it’s in the basement and we’re too cheap to put anything nicer in a space no one uses.

      • Anon for this

        SO. I tried this and this is exactly what brought on the convo with my husband… I feel like we want some type of built ins but I can’t seem to spend the money…

        • AIMS

          I feel like this is my issue too to some extent. I feel like in an ideal world a designer/architect/organizer would tell me both what I need and where to get it/how to build it. But mean time I just keep looking and not figuring it out on my own.

        • Anonymous

          Is the problem that you don’t know your taste or what you like, because you’ve been used to settling and making do with whatever was available? Or are you sure of what you like and would want but just can’t bring yourself to spend the money. If it’s the first, and learning your style/taste doesn’t sound fun, hire a designer. If it’s the second, you do the choosing and your husband does the buying. And he gives you a deadline for when he’s going to buy something, so you can’t “just think about it some more” forever and keep backing out.

    • Anonymous

      Sounds like you don’t need organising, but some beautiful furniture!

      Where do you keep your board games now? In that IKEA shelf? What size is the shelf? Could you do less space for games? Are they in the room you would look for them if the IKEA shelf was gone?

      Maybe you could get a small and beautiful wood cabinet or sideboard style cupboard for your games? Something low and small, maybe hang some artwork on the IKEA wall instead.

      Where do you keep your camping gear? Garage? Entryway? Guest bedroom?
      Garage: metal cupboard or shelves, entryway or bedroom: seat with storage space?

    • Anon

      I’m a fan of furniture with built in storage rather than adding extra pieces. Get a tv stand with cabinet doors, a lift-top coffee table, a storage ottoman, etc. Even my bed frame has drawers for pajamas. It isn’t a minimalist look but it’s functional. Think of a room on a cruise ship: no potential storage space is wasted.

      • Vicky Austin

        We have a sofa with storage in the chaise and it is my favorite piece of furniture we’ve ever bought.

Back to Top

About

Work with Corporette®

Serious Stuff

work fashion blog press mentions