What I bought for sale on Black Friday

A rare commerce newsletter

At some point this year I made it a rule for myself that I’d unfollow any influencers whose entire thing was trying to sell you stuff, especially when all the stuff they were hawking came from Amazon or fast fashion places. Here’s how I judged who to unfollow: if the only feeling that consuming their content inspired in me was a feral need to open their LTK or Amazon storefront to browse their picks, I unfollowed them. If they posted other stuff that was interesting, or expressed some sort of perspective that felt important, they stayed. You might be surprised by how many influencers fall into the first category. In total I think I unfollowed like 20 accounts. A lot of people seem to exist online just to sell you stuff and make some money off of affiliate linking.

I try to walk a line between consuming and overconsuming, shopping and overshopping, and trying to be an ethical consumer when I can. Every time I open any app on my phone, someone is trying to sell me something I don’t really need but can easily convince myself that I want.

So: I don’t trust people who try to sell you poorly and unethically made shit because they’re making a commission from those sales, and I don’t trust the reviews on places like Amazon, which run the gamut from “illegible” to “definitely AI generated.” You can’t even really trust a lot of reviews on clothes websites because so many of them are written by people who agreed to submit a review in exchange to win like, a gift card or something. I’m far from perfect, but to try to be a better consumer, I spend a lot of time not on Wirecutter or Consumer Reports (fun fact: CR was my favorite magazine when I was a child. I was never normal, and have always been like this), but on Reddit, the mecca of recommendations online now that Google has become enshittified and overrun with sometimes-wrong AI responses. Specifically, I love r/bitcheswithtaste and for local stuff, r/nycbitcheswithtaste, both subreddits where people (mostly women who tend to be around my age, give or take a decade on either end) ask for and receive recommendations for everything from accountants, to Broadway shows, to bed sheets. Sometimes in the NYC subreddit people coordinate hangouts and meetups, or invite strangers who have nowhere else to go to their Thanksgiving dinner tables. I’ve traded in a lot of Instagram time for Reddit time this year, and while I don’t think it’s better (it’s still screen time) it definitely doesn’t feel worse than watching everyone you’ve ever met go on vacation to Japan without you.

Black Friday is when I do most of my shopping for holiday gifts and stock up on stuff I use regularly to get me through until the next Big Sale. Here’s what I bought this year. When I received recommendations to inform my purchases I’ll note that below. Many of these sales continue through Cyber Monday, and I don’t get commission on these recommendations — I’m in it purely for the love of the game.

Glossier Doux

I’m a sucker for creamy, warm, vanilla scents, and this newer fragrance from Glossier is just that. I’ve been wearing Glossier You since it was released and was ecstatic when Glossier rolled out two new scents this fall. Some people say it smells like pickles, but I didn’t detect any brininess or vinegar-y notes — I guess this just goes to show how subjective fragrance is. Try in-store at the Glossier flagship or at Sephora before you buy if you’re skeptical! I got a bottle for 30% off during Glossier’s Black Friday sale, and I stocked up on other Glossier products I needed (milky jelly cleanser, mascara) and a couple Christmas gifts for my 21-year-old half-sister who always loves their limited-edition holiday balm dot com flavors.

Currentbody LED red light mask

I wouldn’t describe myself as much of a skincare girlie — thanks to my parents’ genetics I’ve always had good skin (and bad teeth, and an entire family tree of mental illness, but I’ll take the good with the bad). I use a simple cleanser on my face morning and night, SPF and moisturizer when I remember (I know. I try to do it every day!), and occasionally my jade roller and Dieux undereye mask I keep in the freezer. I get the occasional pimple I treat with hydrocolloid acne stickers (more on that later). But I am not immune to Big Skincare, especially in my 30s, and I’ve inevitably seen 547934075390 Instagram ads for LED red light masks, which look absolutely insane and always make me laugh when an influencer posts a picture or video of themselves having a relaxing morning or evening in front of their fireplace, reading a book all cozy on their couch, with this glowing red serial killer mask on. I’ve spent a lot of time searching the benefits, whether it’s a scam, and looking at before/after pictures of people who use theirs regularly. Finally, I found a Black Friday-eligible discount code in the replies on r/30PlusSkincare and bit the bullet, buying one from a brand I saw referenced constantly, Currentbody. I will report back on its efficacy, and in the meantime, if you’re my neighbor and we’re friends, you’re welcome to test-drive mine before you buy your own.

Coming Soon Glassware

Instead of having to scramble and run out for a bottle of wine as a host gift 20 minutes before we leave to go to a holiday party this year, I decided to exercise foresight (interesting concept) and bought pairs of these cocktail glasses on a Black Friday sale from one of my favorite home goods stores in New York City, Coming Soon. They’re cute and chic and can be used immediately if needed.

World Spa day pass

I’ve been planning a spa day with a friend of mine, but I decided to wait to buy a day pass until World Spa, our Brooklyn day spa of choice, ran its Black Friday sale. I saved $20 on a Friday day pass, bringing the cost down from $100 to $80. Not bad at all! I couldn’t figure out where to apply the promo code on mobile, but it’s very apparent when you’re on your computer, so if you decide to buy one, pull out your laptop for this purchase.

Tuft & Needle mattress

Somehow I have been sharing a full-size bed with a 6’1” man and two large cats, and for Christmas, we decided to treat ourselves to a queen bed upgrade. We like our Tuft and Needle mattress just fine, and when we upgraded, we saved a few hundred dollars during T&N’s 25% off Black Friday sale.

Sheets

I am very particular about my bedding. I know what I like, and I know what I don’t like, and I can’t stand sleeping on a bed with terrible sheets. For the past four years I’ve been using a very specific kind of hemp-and-cotton blend sheets from West Elm that were always on super-sale until they discontinued them entirely (note from my friend Corey, who recommended these to me: “They have a really nice texture! I feel like a sugar baby in Sorrento when I sleep on them!”). West Elm even put out a press release announcing the launch of these sheets, for some reason. Now, as I mourn the end of my time with my full-size, discontinued West Elm sheets, I’ve once again turned to r/NYCbitcheswithtaste to find my next sheets. The consensus seems to be: the expensive DTC brands are not worth it; start with two particular sheet types from Target and go from there before you invest hundreds of dollars in expensive and potentially mediocre sheets from another brand. So, following their advice, I bought a set of Target’s Solid Performance 400-count Threshold sheets and a set of their Casaluna washed hemp solid sheets to try to recreate the magic of those West Elm sheets, both on sale at Target during Black Friday. I will also keep emailing West Elm customer service until they offer the hemp-and-cotton sheets again.

Peace Out Skincare

I don’t often need an acne sticker (brag) but when you need one, you need it asap. So I stocked up on Peace Out Skincare’s acne dots and also bought their retinol undereye stick because what the hell, I love a gimmicky anti-aging product. 35% sitewide sale all weekend, BTW.

What Lo Wants dress

I love a size-inclusive, woman-owned clothing brand, and I’ve had my eye on this mesh dress from What Lo Wants for a LONG time, so I finally bought it for 30% off. Assuming it fits, I’ll for sure be getting my $48 worth from this dress all winter.

Stuff I didn’t buy

• A fancy nice new big wool coat from Aritzia. They were sold out of the boxy wool ones in 2x, and I like buying em big so I can layer sweaters etc underneath. Plus, I already have a coat that’s perfectly serviceable for another season…I don’t need another one (see how I’m trying to convince myself? It’s almost working).

• One of those Sezane cardigans that I see fashionable New Yorker women post about constantly. As friend of the newsletter Amanda Richards noted, it only goes up to 3/4x, or size 14/16 (lol, the French). A huge miss for Sezane — fat people, myself included, LOVE cardigans.

That’s all from me for now! Speaking of size-inclusive, woman-owned brands, I have another newsletter I’ve been aching to write about one such founder who appears to be attempting to pivot to trad wife content in a weird misplaced bid for engagement. If I have time this week I may write about this absolutely fascinating and terrible phenomenon…

What did you get for sale on Black Friday?? Sound off in the comments.