Introducing… Gold Stars

I’ve thought for a while about the best way to showcase my favorite products on my blog and socials, and then what to name it! The name was sorted when I told my friend that a new skincare product got a “gold star” from me, and I’m excited to kick off my new series.

Gold Stars will feature blog posts on products that I love and recommend, that are worth the money, and that I will continue to buy. From eye creams to candles to weighted blankets to sports bras, I’ll be including all sorts of products that I use on a daily basis and feel add value to my life.

Over the past year or so, I’ve really focused on getting rid of stuff I don’t need and use. I am not exaggerating when I say that I now only have 20% of the things – furniture, clothing, shoes, accessories, home goods, beauty products – that I had when I first moved back from Chicago. A big part of this process was identifying which products I’ve bought because I thought they were *cool* or *trendy* but don’t actually like (I fell for a lot of the deficit advertising gimics!) and then on the flip side, which products I hit empty on and rush to replace, or want to buy in multiple colors.

We don’t need new things all the time, and we can’t fall into the advertising traps that tell us buying new things makes us better, more worthy, and more desirable. My goal with this series is not to shill new items frequently, it’s rather to show you the vetted products that make my day-to-day life a little better, are good quality, and were a smart investment for me and my lifestyle. If you’re in the market for something similar, great! If not, also great!

Lots of these Gold Star items will be things I purchased once many moons ago but still have, which is a testament to the quality and level of usefulness. The beauty products obviously need to be replaced far more often, but I come back to them time and time again.

Gold Stars will be on my blog feed, with each product getting its own feature post, but will live in the category to which each product belongs – ex: my favorite candle will be in the “home” section of my blog! They’ll also be found in my menu under “shop” in one concise location.

I’m really excited about this series! Expect to see the first post up this weekend 🙂