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39 Money-Saving Products That Are Genius Purchases

39 Money-Saving Products That Are Genius Purchases

Buzz Feed14-06-2025
Soot sprite dryer balls that'll look sooo cute bouncing around in your dryer. Besides being adorable, they prevent you from having to buy dryer sheets over and over again. They might even reduce drying time, prevent wrinkles, and soften clothes, all without coating your stuff in a waxy residue like the sheets do.
An airtight Deli ProKeeper people on FridgeTok (yes, real thing) are raving about. It offers a sleek-looking place for your cold cuts and cheese, keeping it fresh for longer so you can actually eat all of it. If you've ever lamented seeing condensation-soaked ham in your deli drawer, this one is for you.
And a Bluapple that extends the life of your produce without any extra work from you. Just toss it into your fridge or fruit bowl, and the packet inside will absorb ethylene gas (the main culprit behind mushy apples and overripe bananas). Produce could last two or three times longer, and you'll finally get to eat everything you buy.
L'Oréal Paris BB Cream, a green-tinted formula that combats redness through the power of color theory. It doesn't stop there — it also works to even complexion, hydrate with vitamin E, and set the perfect stage for you to apply your makeup on. Turns out you don't have to drop $50+ on Dr Jart+'s Cicapair Color Correcting Cream!
An ultra-affordable E.l.f. color corrector that comes in a ton of shades to help counteract different types of discoloration, like redness and dark spots. Mix and match to create the perfect foundation for the rest of your makeup routine.
White caulk tape if you've noticed (and proceeded to ignore) some cracks in your previous caulk job. Use the waterproof sealing tape to fill in gaps before they get any worse, and the problem gets more expensive. Reviewers say this is easier and cleaner looking than liquid caulk, so there's no excuse to keep putting this off!
A cold brew coffee maker that lets you make your java at night (when you're actually awake), so all you have to do is stumble to the fridge in the morning. Just pour coffee grounds (or tea leaves!) into the pitcher and let them steep overnight, and you'll forget aaalll about paying $8 at your local coffee shop.
A pair of mesh jelly sandals because I will not let you spend almost $800 on jellies. With these, you can try out the trend, let your tootsies breathe, and shout "Row, shmow!"
A set of thick velvet slipcovers to instantly transform your drab couch into something new and fabulous. Goodbye, stain-covered gray couch and HELLO new couch of my dreams.
A 12-pack of soft microfiber makeup removing towels you can score at a major steal: less than $2 per cloth. They work just as well as the famous Makeup Eraser, but 20 TIMES less expensive.
An Erase-A-Hole putty to fill in pesky cracks in drywall, plaster, and wood so you can actually get that security deposit back, no matter how many holes you put into the wall.
Hanes Ultimate crew socks because Zoomers have decreed low ankle socks passé. These simple Hanes socks are thick, comfortable, *cheap* — and some happy customers have said these are better than Nike.
Dryer vent cleaners to banish all the dust and debris that's been hiding just beneath the filter that you actually do clean regularly. How sneaky! It'll improve your dryer's performance and prevent fire risks, all without the need to buy a new machine.
A tinted lip balm that reviewers say works as a very good, affordable replacement for Clinique's "Black Honey," the $25 "universal shade" that has a Shakira-level of fame and adoration. This ~$7 alternative is nonsticky, buildable, and melts onto your lips like buttah.
Or Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick offering super long-lasting staying power (up to 16 hours!!!), so you can enjoy a luxuriously vibrant pout all day, even after eating and drinking. Reviewers say this is not only comparable to, but BETTER than brands like MAC, Chanel, and Anastasia Beverly Hills.
A digital luggage scale so there are no surprises when it's time to check your bag. Nothing more annoying than having to wear three sweaters and two hats while carrying an extra pair of shoes onto your flight just to avoid an extra charge.
A Baccarat Rouge 540-inspired moisturizing body wash offering an affordable solution to your dependence on that beloved (but pricey) fragrance. Thanks to the notes of white jasmine, red currant, and sweet amber, shower time has never smelled better.
A pack of Miracle-Gro water storing crystals that'll prevent both under- *and* over-watering, which I believe are the top two killers of plants. When you water your houseplants, the crystals retain the moisture and release it as the soil dries. We are NOT buying replacement plants this year.
The Pink Stuff, an all-purpose paste that you can use to clean basically any surface — it works on everything from marble and wood to rubber boots and car steering wheels. Hiring a professional cleaner will be a thing of the past. And the future? Sparkly clean items as far as the eye can see.
Instant cocktail packets for those who would like the swim-up bar experience but lack a pool or the money to pay a bartender. Just mix this powder with liquor, water, and ice, and you'll have an instant tropical cocktail...without the jaw-dropping bar tab.
Ohora semi-cured nail strips offering a professional-looking manicure, even if your past at-home attempts yielded less-than-stellar results. Apply them like stickers, seal them under a UV lamp, and you're done! These waterproof strips will look and feel like a gel manicure and last up to two weeks.
A pack of pants extenders, compatible with any buttoned bottoms, that'll be way cheaper than buying a whole new pair of pants. That's right — it actually *was* a good idea to save that old, tiny pair of jeans! Call your friends and ask for an apology.
A pack of sofa shields to protect your couch from your cat's claws without sacrificing style. You paid good money for that cute couch; you gotta let it shine! The transparent protectors cling to the sides of your couch and ensure couch scratching is way less enticing.
A trio of hydrating lip sleeping masks that 150+ reviewers say offers a Laneige-like experience for just a fraction of the price. The berry extract and vitamin C work to moisturize lips as you go to bed, proving that beauty sleep is a real thing.
Miss Mouth's Messy Eater Stain Treater Spray renowned in the parenting community thanks to its uncanny ability to erase stains from most fabrics in record time, all without harsh ingredients like chlorine, sulfates, or perfumes. Just spritz some on spilled juice, melted Popsicles, chocolate (hopefully), and more to watch them go *poof* and disappear.
The Wand, if you insist on drinking two-buck Chuck despite the dire consequences. This mini handheld filter could possibly reduce your wine-induced headaches by removing histamines and sulfites in alcohol, aka the stuff that can potentially cause a nasty hangover. It'll be like you sprang for a really fancy bottle of natural wine! Bonus: It claims to revive oxidized wine, so you don't have to toss an open bottle.
A FlexiSnake with teeny-tiny hooks that latch onto hair, soap scum, and grime and a rotating handle that gives you 360-degree access to your gunked up drain. Just insert, spin, and pull up whatever hairy monster is lurking down there. Wizards don't have to call plumbers, and neither should you!
A mouse jiggler USB port that shows up as a regular mouse on your computer. It simulates moving a cursor one pixel every five seconds, keeping Slack or Team from going into Away mode. Now, you can take a long lunch without your micromanaging boss asking where you are. Time is money, so this thing basically *makes* you money.
A set of massively popular double-brushed microfiber sheets so soft and cuddly, you'll feel like you're staying at a 5-star hotel. You'll forget aaaalll about thread count when you slide into these sheets.
Luigi's Sink and Drain Plunger that works as your personal plumber to pull up hair, food debris, and other gross stuff lurking in your pipes. The plunger works on any drain small enough to be fully covered, and the flexible bellow is as much as 10 times more effective than a regular rubber cup plunger. Mama mia! This thing is useful.
A pair of charcoal shoe deodorizers to help you reclaim your sneakers from the dreaded Stink. Just slip the cloth tubes into your shoes and let them save you from buying a new pair of shoes. To "recharge," leave them in the sun.
Reusable microfiber pads that are compatible with a Swiffer WetJet. Good for the environment *and* your wallet!
And a hair thinner and cutter so effective, your hairdresser will forget what the back of your head looks like. Reviewers swear by this little tool for everything from trimming bangs and maintaining short haircuts to styling wigs.
Silicone snack bags that are just as thick and easy to seal as Stashers, but at a price that won't scare you back to using disposable ones. These are microwave-, oven-, dishwasher-, and freezer safe, so you can throw them through the kitchen gauntlet without worry. Store leftovers, travel with snacks, get your makeup through airport security, or even poach food in them — the world's your oyster!
Mother Earth-approved bamboo towels said to replace up to six month's worth of paper towels. They're stronger (see watermelon pic) and more durable than the other kind, so you can reuse 'em. You don't need to perform any intense math equations to know this a money saver!
A Billie dermaplaning razor kit that will make quick work of peach fuzz, stray hairs, and eyebrows in need of a touch-up. Now, you can extend the time between threading appointments — or skip them altogether. They're designed with a cute reusable handle, making them less wasteful than competitors.
An 18-karat gold-plated cherry keychain because dropping almost $100 on the one from Coach is honestly kind of ridiculous. Reviewers say this one is almost identical!
A roll of peel-and-stick subway tile backsplash to hide your offensively boring kitchen or bathroom walls. The waterproof and heat-resistant tiles interlock and stick right onto surfaces — no expensive remodel needed.
Eos' Shea Butter Vanilla Cashmere body lotion with a heavenly caramel-vanilla smell that could compete with anything from Bath and Body Works or Philosophy. The fast-absorbing shea butter and oil offer a lovely amount of moisture, so you can feel like a freshly baked cake as you walk out the door.
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37 Products With Results That'll Make You Say 'No Way'

All-in-one decor paint that's basically a DIYer's dream in a can. It's a clay-based formula that glides on like butter, dries quickly, and doesn't require a primer or top coat for most projects — yes, even if you're painting wood, metal, laminate, or glass. Whether you're flipping a thrifted dresser or breathing new life into kitchen cabinets, this paint delivers a soft, velvety matte finish that makes every piece look like it belongs in a cozy farmhouse Pinterest board. A deep-conditioning hair mask, aka a reviving potion for fried, dyed, and damaged strands from too much heat styling or bleach. It'll help make your hair look smoother, shinier, and stronger — *and* less frizzy too 'cause muggy, humid days are right around the corner. A lightweight gel cream from Nivea packed with Q10 to help plump, firm, and moisturize skin around your thighs, butt, and stomach. It quickly absorbs into your skin and feels cooling, so applying it will feel luxurious and not cause you to stick to your bed sheets post-application. Miss Mouth's Messy Eater Stain Treater Spray that's gone totally viral 'cause it's a stain-fighting MIRACLE. Parents swear by it for cleaning everything from ketchup explosions to juice disasters, but don't let the "kid" branding fool you — it's a miracle worker for adults, too. Red wine? Gone. Spaghetti sauce? Don't know her. Just spray, blot, and prepare to be amazed like you're watching a live magic show in your laundry room. A screen-cleaning brush for all of the dust, pollen, and mystery lint that's built up since... well, have you ever cleaned it? This handy brush works with the handle or snaps onto the included long arm to reach higher spots. It grabs every stubborn speck ruining your view (and maybe even your sinuses) when you crack the window for some "fresh" air. A hair identifier spray that'll make you wonder how you ever dermaplaned without it. This genius mist highlights even the tiniest peach fuzz, ensuring no hair is left behind. Just spritz it on, and watch as every strand becomes visible for precise removal. A lawn dog spot repair treatment to help regrow grass and repair damage from your pet's urine, digging, and zoomie areas — aka the areas that aren't the prettiest to look at. Now you'll have fresher and more even-looking grass that everyone (including your fur baby) will love to run around in! L'Oréal Paris BB Cream aka a solid alternative to Dr Jart+ Cicapair Color Correcting Cream, because they're both designed to neutralize redness and even out your skin tone — but L'Oréal's is a lot more affordable. Bonus: It can double as a base for makeup, making it very versatile — we love! A jewelry-cleaning pen to breathe some serious life back into your bling. This pen is filled with a gel that'll help scrub away grime, oil, and other mystery gunk dulling your diamonds. Your bling is gonna have that "Just walked out of Tiffany's" energy even if your necklaces, earrings, or rings have seen a thing or two — and are most definitely not Tiffany's (can't blame you). A Catrice "Instant Awake" Under Eye Brightener that's like a little magic wand for tired eyes — the color correcting formula works across all skin tones to help neutralize dark circles and instantly brighten up your under eye area. Say goodbye to looking exhausted and hello to looking wide-awake in seconds. A pet brush to give your furry friend some five-star spa energy for very little dough. It'll seriously help deshed by helping remove up to 95% of loose fur in minutes, so that your couches, clothes, and literally anything else you own won't have nearly as much shed on them. It works on cats *and* dogs, and the comfy grip makes grooming way less of a chore for you. Reviewers say it rivals the Furminator (which is more expensive, btw!) so your wallet and lint roller are thanking you in advance. A Briotech spray with hypochlorous acid, an antibacterial ingredient that can help reduce inflammation, redness, and irritation. Spritz this on your face as needed (like after a workout!) to help target acne-causing bacteria and soothe skin. Reviewers compare this to the Tower 28 SOS Spray, which is pricier (and has the same key ingredient)! A nail and cuticle oil for people with weak, peeling nails that are overstaying their welcome. You'll get softer and stronger cuticles thanks to the moisturizing jojoba oil and conditioning sweet almond oil ingredients. Just make sure to apply this daily for the best results! Bissell stain-removing pads designed to permanently remove stubborn pet stains that make your carpet look a little icky. Just stomp on it to release the formula on tough stains, and leave it for up to 24 hours. Once you peel off the pad, the stain will be gone! Mielle's Rosemary Mint strengthening oil to help strengthen and promote hair growth at the root thanks to the mint, rosemary, and biotin formula. Reviewers with all hair types, from "very-straight" to "type 4c" love this product! A Pikk-it tool that'll easily remove the hair in your vacuum's roller brush — it's hurting your $$$ machine's ability to clean! You can use it for hairbrushes, too, 'cause ripping out stray hairs with your finger is just not as effective. Zesty Paws allergy supplement with probiotics and other nutrients that can help aid digestion, promote healthy skin, improve immune function, *and* add shine to your dog's coat. Reviewers say their dogs eat this "like candy" and are shocked by how well it works. A Dermora exfoliant foot peel if you have cracked heels, calluses, or dead skin all over the bottoms of your feet. So just slip on these booties for an hour and watch your feet shed for the next 5—7 days. You'll be GAGGED at how much skin comes off, but you'll be equally satisfied with your baby-smooth feet. A pack of carborundum sponges to help scrub away burnt messes like magic — no elbow grease (or harsh cleaners) required. These gritty little powerhouses use a compound of silicone to tackle rust, grease, and gunk on pots, pans, grills, and sinks. They're reusable, cuttable, and able to give the glow-up your cookware's been begging for. A crack weeder tool made to tackle those obnoxious little weeds that pop up between your patio pavers, driveway cracks, and sidewalks. You know... the ones that make your outdoor space look like it's trying to start a forest. With its sharp, L-shaped blade and comfy grip, this tool lets you slide into the tightest cracks and pull weeds at the root. It'll effectively help get rid of those eyesores so your home is one step closer to being featured on HGTV. A self-tanner to help you get a sun-kissed glow that looks so good, people will think your tan came STRAIGHT from Aruba — even though it came from this mousse. It has *no* horrible scent (aka you won't smell like a wet dog), and it takes just one hour to develop an even (!!) tan. A TikTok-famous lip plumper set for straight-up lip alchemy — the ginger gloss amps up the volume of your pout with a spicy tingle (that isn't overwhelming, btw) for a fuller look during the day, while the minty overnight mask keeps your lips hydrated by morning. Reviewers say the plumper "delivers on its promise." A Tibet Almond scratch remover stick, a quick fix for old furniture that looks a little beat up. Just rub it over a scratch and watch it basically disappear before your very eyes with no color matching, no mess, and (best of all) no stress. It's like the beauty filter of home maintenance, and your floors, tables, and cabinets are ready for their glow-up. A Roc retinol night cream with squalene that can visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles over time and lock in moisture. Apply this non-greasy, non-comedogenic, and dermatologist-recommended cream before bed so you can wake up to ✨glowy✨ skin. A box of Color Catcher sheets that'll soak up loose dyes before they can ruin your white clothing — 'cause dye can still leak when the washing machine is set to cold water! So now you don't have to carefully separate your laundry between darks, whites, and colors. Just toss everything in the machine, add this sheet (and detergent), and you're set! Laundry day just got a teensy bit easier. A Venus Visage teeth-whitening pen if coffee, wine, tea, smoking, or soda stains have taken a toll on your pearly whites. Just apply it twice daily for 30 minutes to see the best results. Its soft tip brush and formula are also good for people with sensitive teeth! A roll of scar tape that's medical grade and made out of silicone to help fade the appearance of scars from acne, injuries, burns, and more. It's soft, breathable, and stays in place throughout the day. Just cut it to size, stick it on, and let the magic happen. No greasy creams, no complicated routines, just smoother, less noticeable scars — and a whole lot of "Wait, where'd it go?" moments. Ogx Argan Oil of Morocco Curl-Defining Cream, a frizz-fighting, curl-popping miracle your waves and coils have been waiting for. Packed with Moroccan argan oil, it defines your curls without making them crunchy, adds shine without making them greasy, and smells so good you'll want to sniff your own hair (don't worry, we won't judge). Whether you're air-drying or diffusing, this lightweight cream brings the bounce and the drama... the good kind at least. Juno & Co.'s Clean 10 Cleansing Balm with a blend of vitamin E and pearl barley to remove makeup with EASE. Say goodbye to those wasteful makeup wipes when you can swipe this on — it leaves no residue or oily mess on your skin. So take this as your sign to ditch the pricier versions by Farmacy Green Clean, Dermalogica, and Elemis! A Howard Products Feed-N-Wax wood polish and conditioner if your wooden floors, cabinets, and furniture have seen better days and need a little TLC. The beeswax and orange oil will not only condition and protect your wooden surfaces, but also get the color back to normal quickly! Etude Dear Darling Water Tint because did you know you can get a lip stain *and* rosy blush from just one product? Some reviewers say it's similar to Benefit's Lip Tint because the color, pigment, and anti-smudge formula are "very, very close" to the OG — and who doesn't want a cheap 2-in-1 product? A shoe stretch spray if your new kicks are too tight and possibly causing those dreaded blisters. 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A fruit and veggie wash so good, it'll make you question why you ever thought rinsing with water alone was enough. It helps strip away *all* the gunk — we're talking wax, agricultural chemicals, soil, and invisible germs from everyone's grabby hands at the grocery store. Just spray, rinse, and boom: your produce is clean and ready for snacking (or TikTok-worthy meal prep). A hair-lightening spray that gradually brightens your hair up to two shades — all you have to do is spritz it on, add heat (your blow dryer or flat iron), and watch your strands get that sun-kissed glow like you just got back from a beach vacay. It's made with citrus and chamomile, doesn't have that harsh bleach smell, and works on both natural and color-treated blondes.

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time4 days ago

  • Buzz Feed

33 Products With Truly Amazing Results

A crack weeder tool so you can finally whip your backyard patio into shape and invite guests for a summertime barbecue. This stainless-steel tool is designed to get into tight sidewalk cracks and remove stubborn thistles, weeds, and moss with ease, so your knuckles don't end up scratched and bloodied. A lawn dog-spot repair treatment that'll regrow the grass so your backyard looks downright luscious for guests. No one wants to dine al fresco on a patch of dirt. It's designed to reverse scorch marks from your pet's urine, damage from digging, and wear in high-traffic areas. A green-tinted L'Oréal Paris anti-redness BB cream for neutralizing redness while simultaneously priming and hydrating your skin. You'll be ~flush with compliments~ on your makeup, but no one will be able to see the rosiness peek through. Phew! A pack of carborundum sponges because these are the heavy hitters you'll want for stains and gunk that no other sponge is strong enough to handle. And on the topic of heavy hitters, a deep-conditioning hair mask to repair your dry, damaged, bleached, frizzy hair from the inside out, leaving your mane smoother, shinier, and stronger. It works on all hair types, and one reviewer said it made their hair feel "like butter." Ummmmm, wow, need! A TikTok-loved lip plumper set if you want temporary lip injections without the needles (or the $$$ price tag). You'll get two products: a ginger plumping treatment and a minty nighttime mask to hydrate your juicy pout. A jewelry cleaning pen so you can return the sparkle to your gems that look a little cloudy, which makes sense considering you never take them off, not even to shower or exercise. Remember when you had to scrub with a toothbrush, hoping you were getting all the nooks and crannies? Not anymore! A Pikk-it tool that'll remove tangled hair that's lodged in your vacuum head and totally messing with your vac's absorption powers. (And ofc your fingers can't reach the hair!) You can also use it to detangle hair from the bristles of your hairbrush. A bottle of Miss Mouth's Messy Eater Stain Treater spray for, yes, messy eaters, but also muddy footprints, pet accidents, period-related stains, and more. Parents swear by this stuff for its magical ability to make that mess *poof* disappear without using chlorine, perfumes, and sulfates. I'm not a parent, but I am giddy at the thought of not having "period" underwear anymore because I can just spray the stains away. And on the topic of stains, a pack of Bissell stain-removing pads because owning a pet is messy but these pads are up to the task. Pee? Check! Poop? Check! Vomit? Check! (You can even use them to clean up your wine spills.) Just lay them over the spot, give 'em a stomp to activate their cleaning powders, and watch the stain disappear — no bulky carpet steamer necessary! A Catrice "Instant Awake" Under Eye Brightener to conceal evidence of a stressful work week, broken sleep, or just genetic dark circles. And the $6 price tag? *chef's kiss* A hair-lightening spray if you want to avoid a hefty salon bill and don't mind being patient. With consistent use, you could go lighter by two or more shades! Honestly, I am stunned at how light some users' hair is, especially those with dark brown/black hair. An immunity-boosting allergy supplement so your poor pup can find relief from itchy skin and allergies. These soft chews deliver a dose of probiotics and other nutrients to help improve immune function, aid digestion, promote healthy skin, and add shine to a dog's coat. A box of Color Catcher sheets that'll save you from major headaches when your favorite white T-shirt and your new red denim jacket take a tumble together. The sheets are designed to grab any dye that leaks or bleeds, so you don't end up with unintentionally tie-dyed clothes. A shoe-stretch spray for softening too-tight boots, loafers, sandals, gloves, and more. You paid good money for those super cute leather boots and by golly you're going to get them on your feet, muscular calves be damned. A cruelty-free Essence Lash Princess lengthening mascara because you're tired of mascaras that don't live up to their promises. This one won't let you down — I promise! It's lightweight, won't transfer, doesn't smudge, and lasts all day. Consider your expectations exceeded! Or a tube of E.l.f Cosmetics Lash Xtndr tubing mascara to make you say, I was so silly as you think back to 30 seconds before using this mascara when you were considering expensive lash extensions. Why would you even want them when you have this lengthening and defining formula, which, BTW, wipes clean with just water. No smudging, no flaking, and no copious amount of scrubbing to remove mascara at the end of the day. A true blessing for thin, fragile lashes! All-in-one decor paint if your FYP is all home makeovers, and you feel inspired to zhuzh up your space. This time-saving paint has a primer and top coat built in, and dries in 30 minutes. Yep! Slap it on wood, metal, laminate, fabric, and more, both inside and outside your home. Someone get HGTV on the phone! A lightweight gel cream from Nivea so good, your friends may think you have a filter on your skin. (That seriously happened for one reviewer!) With consistent use, you may notice plumper, firmer, more moisturized skin, thanks in part to a superhero ingredient called Q10. A nail and cuticle oil that'll restore your shredded nails after a gel mani. A combination of sweet almond oil, vitamin E, and jojoba softens the cuticle and strengthens your claws so you'll be proud to show them off. A roll of 10M wood grain tape for zhuzhing up your bathroom mirror without actually forking over the money for a new one. A container of oatmeal paw butter because your pet deserves a little spoiling. This balm moisturizes dry, cracked paws and snoots and is safe if licked or swallowed. An easy-to-apply, one-hour self-tanner to please both seasoned and beginner self-tanner users. No unpleasant fake tan smell, easy application (according to reviewers), a natural-looking tan (read: not orange), and results in an hour? No wonder this product has more than 30,000 5-star reviews. Juno & Co.'s Clean 10 Cleansing Balm if you want to wipe away the day's makeup with ease, even the "waterproof" stuff and sunscreen. This one's made with Japanese pearl barley, which can help nourish, brighten, and fade hyperpigmentation. Dozens of reviewers say it's similar to or better than the Elemis Cleansing Balm, so if you're having difficulty swallowing Elemis's $68 price tag, try this instead. A roll of scar sheets so soft and comfortable that you may forget you're wearing it. These breathable silicone sheet sits on top of a scar, creating a barrier that protects against irritants, locks in moisture, and potentially prevent the overproduction of scar tissue. Ogx Argan Oil of Morocco Curl-Defining Cream that'll smooth frizz, define your curls, add softness to your strands, and probably lead to you developing a superiority complex because of how good your hair looks. A pet brush for deshedding your furry little monster. The stainless-steel teeth are designed to reach deep, effortlessly loosening and lifting fur before it ends up embedded in your couch fibers and every black T-shirt you own. The Etude Dear Darling Water Tint, because some days you want to rock a beautiful flush of color on your lips but have absolutely no desire to whip out the lip liner and two different shades of red lipstick, only for the color to completely disappear after lunch. This long-lasting stain will give your lips a juicy pop for the whole damn day. A Howard Products Feed-N-Wax wood polish and conditioner to revive your dinged and dented cabinets and table. This is a heck of a lot cheaper than actually replacing them, and using it on a regular basis can actually help keep the wood hydrated so it lasts longer. Relatedly, a Tibet Almond scratch remover stick if you want to feel like a sorcerer, waving your magic wand (aka this product) and making surface scratches, watermarks, and water stains disappear. A dropper bottle of Mielle's Rosemary Mint strengthening oil so you can see what all the internet hype is about. This biotin-infused hair-strengthening oil helps smooth split ends, moisturize dry scalps, and deeply nourish 3a–4c hair — so it's no surprise that it has 80,000+ 5-star reviews and counting. A Briotech spray that harnesses the same star ingredient — hypochlorous acid — in the Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Spray to help reduce redness and soothe irritation. A mint-flavored teeth-whitening pen for a solution to yellowing teeth that'll be a heck of a lot quicker (and taste a lot better) than those irritating whitening strips that slip and slide. You can use each pen ~20 times and should expect your teeth to lighten four to eight shades.

What Are Emoji?
What Are Emoji?

Atlantic

time29-06-2025

  • Atlantic

What Are Emoji?

In the arenas of ancient Rome, the thumbs-up was a matter of life and death. So scholars have extrapolated from the elusive history of ancient gestures. The fates of defeated gladiators were determined by an emperor or another official, who might heed the wishes of the crowd: Thumbs hidden within closed fists were votes for mercy; thumbs-ups were votes for death. Today, the 👍, now flipped into a gesture of approval, is a tool of vague efficiency. Deployed as an emoji—as a hand summoned from a keyboard, suspended between literalism and language—it says 'okay' and declines to say more. But lately the crowds of the internet have found new ways to channel the old dramas. On the matter of the 👍, the arbiters of our own arena—internet-savvy young adults—have rendered their verdict: The 👍 is no longer definitive. It is no longer, for that matter, necessarily positive. 'Gen Z Has Canceled the Thumbs-Up Emoji Because It's 'Hostile,' ' one headline put it, citing data gathered in surveys and in the wild. Particularly as a reply to messages that contain words, Zoomers say, the 👍 is dismissive, disrespectful, even 'super rude.' It's a digital mumble, a surly if you say so, a sure but screw you. It is passive aggression, conveyed with pictographic clarity yet wrapped in plausible deniability. News of this emoji revisionism spread for the same reason so many of Gen Z's pronouncements do: Young adults, speaking internet with native-language ease, have an air of authority. But the news also spread because it was a warning of sorts about online communication at large. The double-edged 👍 meant that you could mean 'yes' or 'sounds great' while saying 'no,' or even 🖕. In online conversations, you can think you've said one thing and be read as having said another. Some have argued that the internet is creating a new kind of Babel. Here, in a cheerfully cartoonish form, were intimations of just that. Different groups of internet users—in this case, generations—can speak the same language and a different one. From the May 2022 issue: Jonathan Haidt on why the past 10 years of American life have been uniquely stupid Emoji (derived from the Japanese for picture and written character) were meant to bring humanity to conversations conducted across digital distances—to introduce a warm splash of color and expressiveness into a realm of text. Emoji are common property: Anyone can use them. Any group can define them in its own quirky way. But the resulting ambiguity can fuel tensions as well. Emoji have given rise to new codes of bigotry (🐸👌🥛) that allow their users the same plausible deniability that the 👍 does. Emoji can be cute, and they can also permit hatred to hide in plain sight. Have emoji enhanced communication, or abetted chaos? If emoji belong to everyone and no one, who gets to say what the default meaning might be? Emoji are less a language than they are 'insurgents within language,' Keith Houston writes in Face With Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji. As his lively exploration of the form usefully puts it, they are the 'lingua franca' of the web, and the route they have traveled is more complicated than you might think. Their antecedents are ancient (Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese characters, Mesoamerican pictograms), though the journey from their modern birthplace (Japan circa the turn of the millennium) to their current ubiquity has been quick. That doesn't mean it has been smooth. Houston is contagiously enthusiastic about 'vibrant, vital emoji.' 🤗 He is also alert to the mixed blessings of the icons' versatility, their 'many-splendored entanglement with the written word.' Emoji, he writes, are 'a colorful and symbiotic virus whose symptoms we have only haltingly understood.' 🦠 Ambiguity, for emoji, is both a feature and a bug. One symptom of their elasticity is that no one can agree, exactly, on how to categorize them. Ever since their emergence, they have stirred debate among linguists. On their status as a language—implicitly recognized in 2015, when The Oxford English Dictionary named 😂 as its 'Word of the Year'—the consensus is 🤔: They are language-like without being language. (Houston suggests that 'body language' is a helpful way to think about them.) They're symbol-like, yet unlike most symbols, they constantly change in meaning and number. Can they function as punctuation (❣️🤡😬🔥)? Maybe they're better viewed as tactfully ambiguous conversation-enders—useful, as the writer Katy Waldman put it in 2016, for 'magicking us out of interpersonal jams.' Exiting his own definitional jam, Houston turns to the rich story of how emoji came to be. The ones most familiar today are typically attributed to the Japanese engineer Shigetaka Kurita; in 1999, a series of images that he designed were shared among users of Japan's main mobile carrier (teenage girls were the envisioned customers). Even the origin story of emoji, though, is muddied by questions about who really made them what they are. There are other contenders for 'first emoji' honors, Houston points out—so many, he writes, that 'it is no longer possible to imagine that emoji were ever 'invented' in the strictest sense of the word.' Instead, they evolved as so many technologies do: through a combination of accident and intention. In emoji, Japan's singular aesthetic traditions—manga and anime, in particular—achieved a form of universality. Emoji made use of manpu, the genre tropes commonly understood to convey amusement, anxiety, and other emotions. Exploding in popularity as digital chatting caught on—an ascent that accelerated when Apple, Google, and their fellow behemoths became emoji adopters—the pictograms acknowledged no national boundaries. In 2011, a year after emoji officially came under the supervision of a nonprofit called the Unicode Consortium, Apple introduced an emoji keyboard to its U.S.-marketed iPhones, bringing hearts and party poppers and sun-yellow faces to text messages throughout the land. The website Emojipedia, aiming to provide an exhaustive catalog of emoji, arrived in 2013. In 2014, a campaign got under way on the digital-petition site 'The Taco Emoji Needs to Happen,' it announced. The petition received more than 30,000 signatures, and the 🌮 was born. Taco Bell had been the catalyst. Two years later, an article titled 'A Beginner's Guide to Sexting' outed another 🌮 meaning, one its corporate sponsor likely never anticipated (vagina). Emoji, the not-quite-a-language language, were becoming part of the world's linguistic—and commercial—infrastructure, importing some of the unruliness of IRL interaction into virtual spaces. People used emoji to accentuate (👏🎉😂). They used emoji to hedge (😑🤔🌤️). They used emoji to joke (😜). They used emoji to flirt (😍😉). Emoji were pictures that could extend people's voices, visual icons that could help convey intended tone. They said nothing precisely, and that allowed them to express a lot: enthusiasm, sarcasm, anger, humor. They followed the same broad arc that the internet did; having originated as quirky novelties, they were becoming utilities. By the mid-2010s, the 'staid old Unicode,' as Houston comes to call the Consortium, had discovered the headaches accompanying 'emoji fever.' The organization, launched in 1991, was composed of a rotating group of engineers, linguists, and typographers charged with establishing coding consistency across the internet's static characters (letters, numbers, and the like); its goal was to enable global communication among disparate computers. Now it found itself overseeing dynamic characters as the public clamor for more emoji mounted. The Consortium was the gateway to new emoji: It invited the public to suggest additional icons. But its technologists were gatekeepers, too. They reviewed the applications, assessing the level of demand. They were the ones who decided which images to add—and which to deny. (Durex's campaign for a condom emoji fell short.) The annual unveiling of their decisions became, in some quarters (🤓), a much-anticipated event. Each new 'emoji season' brought fresh collections of icons to users' devices. But each also stirred reminders of the icons that weren't there. Faced with feedback from users frustrated by icon selection that could seem capricious and unfair, the arbiters did their best, Houston suggests, to gauge popular support for new candidates. But lapses in the lexicon were obvious, as a mere sampling reveals. Early on, 'professions' were depicted as masculine by default. 'Couple' was a man and a woman. The woman's shoe was a ruby-red heel. Representations of food reflected the pictograms' Japanese origins and U.S. tech dominance, but not their worldwide story. In the quest for more choices—and in response to users' campaigns—the Consortium added, among many other emoji, an array of food items. (They were not always culturally authentic: In an attempted nod to China's culinary traditions, a takeout box joined the lexicon.) In 2015, the group introduced five 'realistic' skin-tone options for humanlike emoji figures. The update brought unintended consequences. Lined up next to other hues, the sunny yellow originally meant to scan as race-neutral (in the lineage of the classic smiley face, Lego mini-figures, and the Simpsons) now read, to some, as racist. Light skin tones, intended to reflect users' skin color, evoked, Houston notes, a similar reaction: Some saw the choice of those light-hued symbols as a 'white power' gesture. Complexity, when emoji are involved, will always find its way back. The Consortium's Emoji Subcommittee—a 'crack team of emoji wranglers,' in Houston's words—had its hands full. Gender updating in particular proved challenging. Early Unicode guidance on depicting emoji people had emphasized, but not required, striving for gender neutrality. To move beyond stereotypes, should equity or androgyny lead the way? Same-sex couples and same-sex parents were soon included. Women were liberated, as one peeved op-ed writer had urged, from 'a smattering of tired, beauty-centric' emoji career options: 16 professions, available in male and female versions, were added. To Houston's surprise, the 2017 gender-focused emoji season met with no political or press furor—perhaps owing to public 'emoji fatigue,' he speculates. (Androgyny lived on that year, for the most part, as fantasy—through the magical figures issued in the new batch 🧙🧚🧛🧜🧞.) How much control, at this point, the subcommittee can exert over emoji denotation and connotation isn't clear. Unicode's emoji now coexist with platform-specific icons that users can customize for themselves (think: stickers, Bitmoji, Memoji). The latest iterations, such as Apple's Genmoji, use artificial intelligence to create ever more adaptable pictograms. Meanwhile, Unicode's emoji are becoming only more protean: The 💀 has expanded from a mark of disapproval to a sign of amusement (death via laughter). The 😭 might suggest laughter too now, in addition to its sobs. When words have oppositional meanings like this, context typically helps clarify which one applies—thanks to accompanying text, you can probably tell whether the 🍑 you just received is a fruit, a body part, or a call for impeachment. The 👍 and other emoji similarly used as stand-alone replies are part of a different class: They bring ambiguity without resolution. They bring a whiff of Babel. But myths have their own ambiguities. Although the Babel story conjures the arrival of a dystopia—a people perpetually lost in translation—it's also a creation myth: an ancient attempt to explain why people with so much in common are divided by their languages. Understandably, we tend to focus on the ending of the Babel tale, but it begins with humans in community. Only later does language divide them. For most of human history, communication barriers have made us illegible to one another. Emoji float, merrily (mostly), over the barriers. And their ambiguity is essential to their buoyancy. Emoji, as images, can never be tethered to one meaning. Even if 'emoji season' ceases to yield new crops, the icons that exist will keep evolving. They will keep challenging us to evolve with them. The namesake of Houston's book, the 'face with tears of joy,' has long been the world's most popular emoji. It has also been, according to recent reports, the subject of another Gen Z pronouncement: The 😂 is cringe. What it communicates, above all, is the hopeless unhipness of its sender. I use it anyway, mostly out of habit but also because, to me, joyful beats cool every time. And my 😂 are in good company. Each day, around the planet, billions of 😂 ping across screens. Their usage might decline in the future. Their primary meaning might change. For now, though, they are what we have. For now, because of them, we can laugh together across the distance.

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