Welcome to todayās edition of Civilian Selects. Itās the shortlist of things I've been texting people about unprompted, mentioning in meetings when relevant and sometimes when not, and in one case, discovering on a work lunch with a team that flew in from Korea. Some of these are practical. Some are beautiful. All of them passed the only test that matters: I tried them, I love them, and I'm still thinking about them. That's the whole rubric. Let's go.
A sponsored thing: The fertility-plastic connection doesnāt end in the kitchen
When Netflix drops The Plastic Detox on March 16th, a documentary about fertility and plastics, everyoneās going to audit their home and forget to look at the thing their baby wears 24 hours a day. Classic. Kudos was already ahead of this: the first disposable diaper with a 100% cotton liner against babyās skin, OEKO-TEX certified, free of phthalates, fragrances, and parabens, and transparent about ingredients before New Yorkās new disclosure law required it. My son has been wearing them, and Iām obsessed. The founder is an MIT engineer who went through her own fertility journey while building this brand. The timing feels intentional. It wasnāt. Thatās the better story.
I am making bulletproof coffee in 2025 as if Dave Asprey is still relevant and my cortisol levels depend on it (they might). The blender itself, though is beyond impressive. It was a gift from a supplement brand and I donāt know how I lived without it. Cordless, powerful, takes up approximately zero counter space. Whether or not you are adding grass-fed butter to your morning beverage like itās 2014, this thing is the move. Itās totally replaced my Vitamix.
A sunscreen that doesn't feel like sunscreen thatās my go-to for spring. It feels like a moisturizer that happens to also be protecting your face from the sun like a responsible adult product. No white cast, no greasiness, no that-specific-smell that makes you feel like you're at a water park in 2003. Dermatologist-recommended and aesthetician-beloved for a reason.
A Merlette top on Amazon feels like finding a $20 bill in a coat you forgot about. The Reverie is soft, slightly structured, and has I-got-dressed-with-intention energy the best basics have.
I discovered this one in a meeting this week with the Celimax team, visiting from Korea, and I have not stopped thinking about it since. The finish is sheer and blurred in a way that makes your lips look like they arrived at that color on their own ā the Platonic ideal of pink, just sitting there on your face being perfect. The packaging looks like it belongs in a DESIGN museum. Korean beauty continues to operate on a different plane of existence than the rest of us, and this is evidence. P.S. Iām testing out the Celimax retinal, which Iāve already received texts about from friends, the next couple of weeks and will share my thoughts.
In the words of Justin Bieber, these are ready to stand on business. They look like trousers. They feel like sweatpants. This is the entire promise of modern dressing and Spanx has delivered on it completely. Wear them to a meeting. Wear them to your sofa. The pants do not care and neither should you.