The Sponsored Products I'll Never Stop Buying
Haven't been paid by these companies in years, but their products have become staples in our home.
Look at baby me modeling!
For many years, I made a living, in part, by writing about products and integrating them into this website. These were literally called "integration posts," and they were what gave me the leeway to do the writing I loved, both here and elsewhere. But they weren't exactly a hardship - I always really enjoyed the challenge of being presented with a new product or brand, seeing how it worked in my life, and then creating a story around it.
It was also, honestly, just super fun to get to try out new stuff all the time, from makeup to washing machines to married-people dating services. Which is all to say that, of the bazillions of things that I've written about over the years, there are a few that may have started out as brand partnerships, but then quickly evolved from a novelty to a must-have - products that I ended up loving and religiously keeping stocked in my house, long after my formal relationships with the brands ended.
Olay Total Effects Tone Correcting CC Cream with SPF 15
I was so excited about this partnership - you have to understand, a year earlier I'd been crying under my law firm desk, and then there I was, cheesing it up in a full-page ad for a major beauty brand (this is when magazines still more or less existed). WHAT.
The product we were supposed to use for the shoot was Olay's new CC cream - remember when everyone freaked out about BB creams and CC creams for a minute back then? - and here's what I said about it in the ad copy: "What's great about Olay's CC cream is that it moisturizes, fights wrinkles, protects skin from the sun, AND evens out tone...in one easy step." Which, yes - while also being lovely and weightless. Nearly ten years after I (and subsequently my mom) first discovered this product, we both use it daily - it's a phenomenal dupe for wayyyy more expensive products.
Me, dressed as a garden sprite (or something) at a 2014 party for Caldrea
I first discovered this room spray while searching for a nursery freshener (because, if you recall, our nursery was actually just...our hallway). A couple of years later I started working with Caldrea, and this was my favorite product of theirs to promote - it just smells fresh and light and non-cloying, and I adore it. (Their Basil Blue Sage candles are another favorite.)
Anyway, the baby I originally bought this stuff for is now a preteen, and yet still: I have not one, but two bottles of Sweet Pea within my direct line of sight as I sit here today.
Remember this DIY plumbing-pipe table?!
I'm not a person who gives a ton of thought to things like additives; my assumption is that we're all basically walking around in a cloud of chemicals and hormones, so one little product change probably won't make a massive difference (even though of course even the smallest changes are valuable, I am also very stubborn). Milk, eggs and meat are where I take exception: I always buy the fanciest possible brands in hopes that any animals involved were lovingly massaged to death.
When I discovered Fairlife ultra-filtered (high-protein, low-sugar, lactose-free) milk via our partnership, my attitude was along the lines of "sure, why not?" And now it's the only brand of milk I buy. Both for the "sure, why not" reasons, but also because it's delicious (omg their chocolate milk is so good) and because it lasts a million times longer than traditional milk brands. This one is a no-brainer.
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Aaaand a few more recent discoveries, just for fun (none of the below are brands I've worked with, but all are highly recommended based on personal experience):
I wanted the Lulu and Georgia version of this light, but went hunting for a more affordable version...and this one completely transformed my dining room for a fraction of the price. (If you're even a tiny bit handy and have an existing junction box, you can totally handle installing it yourself.)
Lavido Vanilla, Patchouli & Jojoba Body Lotion
I don't think I've ever gotten a free sample of something and then actually gone and immediately purchased the product...until now. The owner of Shine Beauty (you have to check out her IG; she has great recs) gave me a little pod of this stuff, and that night my daughter and I put it on before bed - and both immediately got all weird and obsessive about it. Don't let the patchouli part fool you: It's not overpowering at all, just delicious.
Plate & Pattern Seagrass Plates with Liners
When I have a bunch of kids over, sorry, but I'm not passing out my beloved Noritake Cher Blanc. Paper plates are wonderful and I so enjoy the ease of cleanup when you're dealing with a crowd, but they make me feel guilty. Enter this set of four deep plates (really more like bowls) and adorable liners - when you're done, you just dump the liner in the trash, ta da. I've been giving these as gifts to people who do a lot of outdoor entertaining, and they do a great job of toeing that line between cute, functional, and good for the planet, hooray.