Reviews

Thanksgiving Gifts for Hosts and Hostesses, Family, and Friends

Posted on September 20, 2021

Sure, it’s about the food! But Thanksgiving also means showing everyone you love just how grateful you are for having them in your life. Maybe someone you know had an especially tough year (and haven’t we all?), and you want to cheer them up.

Or maybe it’s time to say thanks to all the unsung heroes in your life, from your kid’s teacher to the mail carrier. If you’re a guest at someone’s house this time of year, don’t forget to bring along a little something for your host or hostess to show how much you appreciate their hard work to pull together the Thanksgiving menu (C’mon! You know your grandma wouldn’t want you to show up empty-handed!). These gifts, big and small, make lovely acknowledgements of each person’s special place in your world. Add a handwritten card with one of our favorite Thanksgiving quotes or Thanksgiving Bible verses for the perfect finishing touch. Whether it’s something for the amazing home cook, the wine lover, the baker, and more, we have something special to give to anyone you want to say “thank you” to this time of year.

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Serving Board as a thanksgiving dinner gift

Bamboo Lotus Serving Board

$48.00

This unique hostess gift is great for all of your entertaining friends.

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Spreader Set

$49.00

Surprise your hostess with these pretty spreaders that encourage us all to be a little kinder.

Stonewall Kitchen 7 Piece Breakfast Gift

$49.00

Surprise your hostess with these pretty spreaders that encourage us all to be a little kinder.

WHITE ORCHILD WOULD MAKE A BEAUTIFUL THANKSGIVING GIFT

Petite White Orchid

$75.00

Send this beautiful and surprisingly easy-care orchid to thank your host or hostess for his or her hard work. Moth orchids bloom for months!

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13 mom-approved products to put on your baby registry

Posted on September 16, 2021

Practicality beats Pinterest vibes when it comes to baby necessities.

Years before my pregnancy test went from minus to plus, I was nesting for my baby. Like most first-time moms, I had pinned several crafty and whimsical versions of a nursery for my future son or daughter. I envisioned a custom bassinet shaped like the moon, handmade out of old rustic wooden pallets. On my Amazon wishlist, I had saved cute little pacifiers that looked like mustaches, which happened to pair perfectly with the derby hat I found on Etsy. Thanks to Instagram, I favorited numerous formal ensembles, complete with matching patent leather shoes, all suited for every major holiday.

When the time finally came to grab the Target scan gun and begin building my epic baby registry, I had a bit of a reality check — thanks to my best friend and veteran mom Hillary — and had to start from scratch. She handed me a copy of the book “Baby Bargains” and tossed me every solid colored cotton onesie known to man and baby bottles that help with reducing gas and acid reflux, and we definitely weren’t leaving without registering for every diaper in every size. Hillary let me keep the rattle that looked like a coffee cup, but beyond that, my registry had been shaped up with some sense.

As I figured out pretty quickly, while my Pinterest picks were perfectly precious, they were insanely impractical. Now that I have been a mom for two years now, experience has proven to me that frills are fussy and practical is key. Outfits with suspenders and bow ties are super fun, but hand-washing is for the birds. (Speaking of things that are machine-washable, that lavender baby detergent may smell heavenly, but you are going to be in rash hell if you clean your baby’s clothes in it.)

If you’re struggling with what to put on your baby registry, help is on the way! Here are some great ideas to get your registry going while your baby is growing.

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HALO Sleepsack

$29.99

As instructors will tell you in every parenting class, tiny babies don’t use blankets. New babies can be swaddled or put to bed in a sleepsack. This soft and cuddly version will keep your baby warm and cozy, and the swaddle feature will help them stay asleep as they work through their startle reflex phase.

WubbaNub Pacifier

$14.99

Maybe giraffes adorn your child’s nursery or maybe cats are your jam. Either way, WubbaNub has a ton of cute pacifiers perfect for any baby. The cute little animal attached to the paci allows for easy positioning and significantly decreases the chances of losing it under the crib in the middle of the night.

Ergobaby Omni 360

$180.99

Maybe giraffes adorn your child’s nursery or maybe cats are your jam. Either way, WubbaNub has a ton of cute pacifiers perfect for any baby. The cute little animal attached to the paci allows for easy positioning and significantly decreases the chances of losing it under the crib in the middle of the night.

Reviews

Best Pacifiers of 2021

Posted on September 15, 2021

The right pacifier can soothe a fussy baby, but there are a lot to choose from.

Pacifiers can be total lifesavers, but it’s hard to know which one your baby will prefer. And let’s be honest, the best pacifier is the one your baby will take, right? Which means you’ll probably have to try a few to find the type your little one loves. So where to start? As you start shopping for pacifiers, here are some questions you may find yourself asking:

What is an Orthodontic Pacifier?

A buzzword you’ll frequently see on pacifier packaging is “orthodontic.” It means that both your baby’s top and bottom jaw are in the correct position when the pacifier is in their mouth, so it doesn’t interfere with jaw growth and development. As your baby grows, you’ll need to make sure the pacifiers do, too—a bigger paci is usually needed at three months and six months (you’ll see the age specifications on the packaging).

Are Silicone or Latex Pacifiers Better?

Silicone is firmer than natural latex, so silicone pacifiers are sturdy and long lasting, and they won’t break down as quickly as latex pacis. But since silicone is a synthetic material and sometimes undergoes chemical treatments, some parents prefer a more natural material like latex rubber (made from the sap of rubber trees). Latex pacifiers are eco friendly since they come from a sustainable source, and they’re softer than silicone ones, but latex also breaks down faster than silicone. Keep in mind that a latex allergy, although rare, is a possibility, so if you think your baby might be allergic to latex, you’ll need to stick with silicone pacifiers.

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Loui Classic Pacifier

$12.50

Opening a Loui pacifier feels like a little gift in itself. Packaged in a beautiful matte gray box with a clear peekaboo window, this beautifully minimalist pacifier is about as cool as it comes. And the better news? Your little one will likely agree. Loui’s classic paci is made from medical grade silicone and is lightweight and super soft. It’s easy to grip and features a natural-shaped nipple. There’s even a scalloped design if you’re looking for a little extra style.

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WubbaNub Pacifier

$14.95

Part pacifier, part snuggly stuffed animal, WubbaNubs are pure genius. It’s a pacifier your baby can easily grab a hold of and hang onto. With a stuffy attached to the pacifier to help weigh it down, the WubbaNub miraculously stays in your baby’s mouth for longer than half a second, which makes it an easy choice for parents. Plus, they’re easy to spot in the diaper bag. The pacifier is a Philips Avent Soothie, so this is a good choice for babies already familiar with the Soothie’s shape. The downside: the animal doesn’t detach, so it can be difficult to get thoroughly clean. If you prefer to take the animal off, check out the Soothie Snuggle (which also uses the Soothie pacifier) and the Dr. Brown’s Lovey.

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NUK® Airflow Glow-in-the-Dark 6-18 Months 2-Pack Pacifiers

$5.99

Tired of searching through your little one’s crib in the dark for their lost pacifier, afraid to turn on any lights in fear of waking them up? Here’s a pacifier that’s easy to spot no matter how limited the light is…because it glows in the dark! As long as the plastic design on the outside of the shield gets enough exposure to brightness when the lights are on, it’ll create a gentle glow when the lights go out. The downside: this pacifier is constructed from multiple pieces (as opposed to single-piece construction), so it’s harder to keep clean. Plan on replacing these more often.

Reviews

18 best laundry baskets and laundry hampers of 2021

Posted on September 14, 2021

From a space-saving collapsible laundry basket to stylish wicker hampers, here are highly rated options from retailers ranging from Wayfair to Walmart.

Alongside doing the dishes and vacuuming, one of the most dreaded household chores for many is cleaning a week’s worth (or even more) of dirty clothes during laundry day. Whether you go to a laundromat or have a portable washing machine at home, one of the essentials that could help make laundry day easier is a dependable hamper that can bring loads of clothes to the washer and from the dryer (or from a clothesline outside with much warmer weather here and on the horizon). To help, we gathered top-rated laundry baskets and hampers to consider adding to your washing routine.

Threshold Wicker Hamper

$48

From Target’s in-house home decor brand Threshold, this hamper is made from hand-harvested abaca fiber and uses a metal frame. It features handles on each side and a liner that’s removable and machine-washable. It has earned an average 4.8-star rating over more than 330 reviews.

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Seville Classics Handwoven Oval Laundry Hamper

$67.99

This bestselling laundry basket boasts an average 4.7-star rating over more than 5,300 reviews on Amazon. It features two separate compartments — each side comes with its own machine-washable bag with built-in handles to secure it to the hamper. The basket is handwoven and water-resistant as well. There are two cut-out handles on the hamper to carry it to and from the washing and drying machines. You can choose between two shapes — Oval and Rectangular — and colors like Mocha Brown and Natural.

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Honey-Can-Do Rolling Hamper with Removable Laundry Bag

$67.99

This bestselling laundry basket boasts an average 4.7-star rating over more than 5,300 reviews on Amazon. It features two separate compartments — each side comes with its own machine-washable bag with built-in handles to secure it to the hamper. The basket is handwoven and water-resistant as well. There are two cut-out handles on the hamper to carry it to and from the washing and drying machines. You can choose between two shapes — Oval and Rectangular — and colors like Mocha Brown and Natural.

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Check Out These Smart Alarm Clocks

10 Best Smart Alarm Clocks of 2021

Posted on September 13, 2021

You don’t typically need much from your alarm clock as long it goes off when you need it to. But with technology improving everyday, additional features of a smart alarm clock — like various music streaming capabilities and a smart assistant — can make your everyday tasks a lot easier.

When shopping for a smart alarm clock, our Rothman recommends considering the following:

Smart assistant capabilities: “If you’re going with one with a built-in smart assistant, make sure it’s compatible with other devices you have,” she says. For instance, an Amazon Echo Dot would work best if you also had an Amazon TV or other Alexa-compatible devices.
Bluetooth features: Most (but not all) smart alarm clocks have bluetooth enabled so you can stream your own songs and music. Otherwise, some clocks include a USB port, SD card or aux port to sync music.
Wellness content: Some clocks provide a reading light, guided meditations or sunrise wake-up to gently prompt you awake.

Echo Dot

$59.99

A speaker, assistant and alarm clock in one, the Echo Dot is a great choice for helping you with everyday tasks while taking up minimal space. You can ask Alexa to wake you up to music, set recurring reminders or have her tell you the weather and daily news. Note that while this model can display the time and weather, it doesn’t have an actual screen display. If that’s a dealbreaker for you, you can try the Echo Show 5.

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Wake-Up Light

$99.99

Not only were our Lab experts impressed with this alarm clock, but it also has a cult-following with over 10,000 reviews on Amazon. Instead of waking you up with a loud buzzer sound, this sunrise clock uses a special simulated sunrise setting with the choice of various nature sounds to gently wake you up. You can even use the alarm clock as a reading lamp, radio or even a morning mood booster, thanks to its warm glow and adjustable brightness settings.

Nest Hub 7-inch Smart Display with Google Assistant

$99.99

It has its own speaker, but if you have other Nest speakers in the house, you can broadcast messages throughout your home and alert family members to gather or even chat from room to room. You can tell Google Assistant to stream music, pause and play YouTube videos or tell you the latest sports updates. The Sunrise Alarm wakes you up gently with calming sounds.

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Reviews

INFLATABLE HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS WILL TRANSFORM YOUR LAWN INTO A GRAVEYARD

Posted on September 1, 2021

You have your Halloween wreath, you found some pretty Halloween lights, and you’ve decked out your door. Now it’s time to finish up your festive outdoor scene with a fun Halloween inflatable.

Often self-inflating and containing lights for a pretty nighttime glow, Halloween inflatables are some of the easiest decorations that you can add to your home. Most come with everything you need to secure them safely to the ground, and they weigh almost nothing, so you can set them up and take them down with ease.

Show your spirit in 2021 with these top-rated inflatable Halloween decorations.

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Jack -o Lantern inflatable Halloween decorations.

4-Foot Halloween Jack-O’-Lantern Inflatable

$29.99

Prefer classic holiday decorations? This three-tier pumpkin inflatable self-inflates when plugged into a standard electrical outlet, and it lights up for a nice warm glow at night. Stakes and tethers come with the blow-up, so you’ll be able to set it up easily.

Marshmallow man inflatable Halloween decorations.

10-Foot Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Inflatable

$45.99

If you’ve ever seen Ghostbusters, your brain instantly knew what this inflatable was from. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man has been turned into a Halloween decoration that will tower over trick-or-treaters. The white creature comes with lights, so it’s as easy as plugging the inflatable in to have it inflate on its own.

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Ghost on Pumpkin inflatable Halloween decorations.

6-Foot Halloween Inflatable Blow Up Ghost on Pumpkin

$29.99

If you invest in this ghost-on-pumpkin inflatable, it will last for years and years, thanks to its weatherproof and fadeproof material. Plus, the scary ghost changes colors to spook the kiddos even more. It embodies everything that we love about Halloween.

Reviews

THE 10 BEST MINI LAPTOPS TO GET WORK DONE ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

Posted on August 31, 2021

Whether you want a cheap Chromebook or a versatile two-in-one laptop, we found the best mini laptops for you.

Laptops are smaller, thinner, and more powerful than ever before. But they all vary in size and shape. Although most laptops these days have a 13.3-inch display size, some are equipped with screens as large as 17 inches and weigh as much as 9 pounds. So, we’ve scoured the internet to find the most powerful and portable laptops money can buy. To separate the best from the rest, we compared more than 30 different mini laptops. We scrutinized them and compared their included ports, operating systems, screens, battery life, keyboards, trackpads, and processors.

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Microsoft Surface Go 2

$478.00

Key Specs

• CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y processor (dual-core)

• Display: 10.5-inch PixelSense touchscreen with 1,920 x 1,280 pixels

• Memory: 4GB of RAM, 64GB eMMC storage

• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, USB-C, Surface Connect Port, microSD card slot

• Battery Life: 10 hours

The Surface Go 2 is an ultra compact, 10.5-inch tablet that’s a capable Windows 10 PC. A budget of just $400 will get you the entry-level Surface Go with 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM, but you’ll have to pick up the trackpad and keyboard separately.

During our test with the Surface Go 2, we found that it was powerful enough to handle a steady stream of apps without slowing down. The Surface Go 2 is also a wonderful video chat companion with twin microphones that help increase clarity and reduce background noise.

Overall, Surface Go 2 is a compact and versatile PC that’s perfect for work or play. If you’re looking for a practical, affordable, and stylish mini laptop, you won’t be disappointed.

Acer Swift 3 Mini Laptops

$609.00

The Acer Swift 3 is a laptop that manages to find that sweet spot between price and performance. It features a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a massive 512GB solid-state drive — all impressive specs for a laptop that typically costs less than $700.

What makes the laptop really shine, though, is its extensive battery life. You can expect 13 hours of use before needing to recharge. This laptop has received glowing reviews from both Laptop Mag and Wired for its convenient fingerprint sensor, impressive performance, and lightweight design.

Its biggest downside is that it lacks a touchscreen, but at least you won’t have to worry about fingerprints dirtying up its high-resolution display!

If a touchscreen is important for you, the HP Envy 13-inch laptop is an excellent alternative that packs a powerful processor, a large 256GB solid-state drive, and a convenient fingerprint reader to unlock the laptop.

Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 Mini Laptops

$355.98

Lenovo’s Chromebook Flex 5 is our favorite Chrome OS laptop for less than $500. It has a sleek design, a sharp 360-degree touchscreen, a backlit keyboard, plenty of power for a fast and fluid user experience, and access to Android apps via the Google Play store. Weighing less than 3 pounds, the 13-inch Chromebook is also impressively portable.

The best part? The product’s versatile display hinge allows it to instantly transform from a traditional laptop to a big-screen tablet. An optional Lenovo digital pen makes the Flex 5 a surprisingly capable tool for conquering productivity tasks, as well as creative projects.

Thanks to its dual-core Intel processor, it’s a cheap laptop that’s built to last and deliver a reliable performance for years. Its onboard wired and wireless connectivity features are just as dependable, making it as futureproof as possible.

23 IRRESISTIBLE HALLOWEEN CANDLES THAT YOU CAN FIND ON ETSY FOR SPOOKY VIBES

Posted on August 31, 2021

When we think of Halloween-level ambiance, we immediately think of turning the lights down low and sparking a few candles to get just the right creepy vibe. And with these Halloween candles, you can truly choose how ghoulish you want to get.

Are you into the theatrical side of the season, looking for a color-changing candle that melts into a pool of blood-red wax? Do you prefer a refined, subtle vibe, using tapers, tea lights, and sculptural shapes to set the mood? Or are you purely interested in enjoying the rich scent of the autumn season, with its olfactory reminder of all the macabre celebrations in store?

No matter your spooky preference, these are 23 standout Halloween candles — all available from makers and small businesses on Etsy — that’ll light up the witching season.

Human Brain Candle in Skull Candle Holder

$34.00

This two-piece Halloween candle is for die-hards only. Choose the colors for both the brain and skull and the seller will craft it just for you. Just make sure you allow some time for delivery.

Eyeball Floating Halloween Candles

$2.49

A pool full of bloodshot-red fiery eyeballs will definitely make your guests do a double-take! These floating candles come in a set of three, and you can take a cue from the seller and fill a glass bowl with water and red food coloring to really amplify the look.

Small Skeleton Beeswax Candles

$12.80

This skeleton candle is for the sensitive souls out there. Available in a pair, this dainty 3-inch piece displays incredible detail and is touted by reviewers for its beautiful look.

50+ BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUMES FOR 2021, BECAUSE IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START SHOPPING

Posted on August 30, 2021

From the spooky to the kooky, here are more halloween costume ideas than you’ll ever need.

It’s no secret that we love a good Halloween costume here at BestProducts.com, and apparently we’re not alone: 61% of Americans said they’d dress up in costumes last year, spending more than $8 billion on their festive outfits and decorations — and that’s despite COVID restrictions.

This year, as things continue to open up and people continue to become vaccinated, we have a feeling those numbers are only going to increase this year — regardless of whether or not we’re able to mark the occasion in person at a bar, out on the town, or trick-or-treating with the fam. Just remember, no matter how you celebrate, do it safely!

Whether you prefer to dress up in a theme with your crew, use some DIY inspiration to craft something unexpected and original, want to get the whole family involved, or prefer to do something quick and easy, we’ve gathered up some of the best Halloween costumes for 2021 that are sure to be a hit, no matter how or if you choose to celebrate.

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Money Heist Costume

$27.99

In honor of the first installment of the fifth (and final) season of Money Heist dropping September 3, why not dress as everyone’s favorite antiheroes? All you need is a red jumpsuit and the signature Dalí mask to pull of the world’s greatest heist…stealing the best Halloween costume award from all of your friends.

Bezos in Space Costume

$24.99

As if this year couldn’t get any weirder, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went to space with three others, all in under 15 minutes. You may not have a spaceship of your own, but you can rock a blue spacesuit just like Jeff did. Don’t forget the cowboy hat — it’s possibly the most important part.

Marilyn Monroe Costume

$24.99

Live out your Seven Year Itch dreams in the iconic white halter dress Marilyn Monroe wears in the movie. The classic Hollywood movie moment has been recreated for years, and for good reason. Not only is it a chic outfit, but it’s pretty easy to recreate!

Don some white heels to stay true to the original look, or go for a sassy leopard pair instead. Just don’t forget the wig and a set of pearl earrings to top off the look.