15 items in this article
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Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photo: Myesha Evon, Joe McKendry
If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts — like mascara or a sleep mask. We asked Tracee Ellis Ross — who’s making her Broadway debut in Every Brilliant Thing from July 7 through August 9 — about the red lipstick, straight leg jeans, and crispy potato chips she can’t live without.
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I’ve been wearing this lipstick since I was 16 years old and thank goodness M.A.C hasn’t changed it. It’s matte. It’s full coverage, and it’s the perfect red. It can turn any outfit into something top-notch. It can make your workout feel easier. It can literally make you look like the most elegant woman in the world without a stitch of any other thing on your face. If you’re having a bad day, put on some Ruby Woo. There are Ruby Woo bullets in all of my purses. There’s one next to my desk at my Pattern office and one at my home office, too. There’s one in New York in my rental apartment; they are just everywhere.
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I have the giant version of this tote bag. Mine is blue and it has a T–E–R on the side. It’s the perfect carry-all. It’s great as a beach bag and has snaps along the top so you can close it. It has an inside side compartment that has a big side and then a zipper side, but it’s still light. It’s been my go-to for going back and forth to the theater. I think my favorite part of it is that it’s got a short handle and a long handle so you can tote it or you can carry it on your shoulder.
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I love a potato chip. I’m never gonna not love a potato chip. My favorite part of the Boulder potato chips, I’m just gonna read this to you. The ingredients are potatoes, avocado oil, sea salt, and that is it. They are not filled with garbage and they are thin and they are crispy and I put hot sauce on them or just eat them regular. They’re my favorite snack at night. I don’t have to watch a show or have a special occasion, I can just eat them whenever.
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I was a track runner in high school and then a cross-country runner, and I’ve been wearing Asic sneakers since then. They have a wide toe box and they’re also chic. I love sneakers that look like you know what you’re doing. And I love a white sneaker with variation. I have about 14 different pairs of the Gel Kayano. I have so many different colorways and one of my favorite things to do when I can’t sleep is Google Asics Gel Kayano collabs. That’s how I’ve gotten some of my best ones. But like right now at my door, there are four pairs that I’ve worn this week that I’ve taken off that are all different. I have a pair that was a Vivienne Westwood collab from so many years ago. I try not to wear them all the time because I can’t wash them. They’re like a mustard yellow with orange and white and black and they’re so good. Let me tell you another little secret. I have like five or six pairs on rotation that I wash in the washing machine. And right now, I’m not wearing them in life because they’re all at the theater and I wear them for the show as part of my costume.
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Let me be honest about Free City. I’ve been wearing Free City since Girlfriends. Nina, the owner of Free City, started at Fred Siegel back in the day, Ron Herman Vintage with her. I wore Free City in my life. That’s how it got onto Girlfriends. It’s my favorite T-shirt. The tags all have beautiful messages on them, but what’s great about them is they’re pre-loved, prewashed. The cotton is perfection, just the softest thing. But it’s also the shape that makes them so good. They have the perfect neck, the perfect little sleeve that’s like not a cap sleeve, but also not a full T-shirt sleeve. So it’s flattering on the arm. And they’re the perfect length when you tuck them in your jeans. I buy extra larges and XXLs to sleep in, and then smalls, mediums, and larges for different things. I like the small size if I’m tucking them into a nice pair of trousers. For the show, I’m wearing mediums and larges. I switch back and forth. I am a die-hard Free City super-shopper.
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I was never a huge jeans wearer. I have a tush, although I have less of one now as a grown lady. But many, many years ago, I went jean shopping and I found the perfect pair. They were vintage and so they were already very worn in with patches. And they became my favorite pair of jeans. They’re almost as soft as a pair of sweatpants. Ever since then, I would hunt, seeing if I could find another vintage pair just like them, but they’d never come up when I would search. I found one pair on eBay, but they were the wrong size and they were, like, $3,000. I bought mine for around $200, I think. Then recently, I went hunting and they had them on the Levi’s site because Levi’s did a redo. Now, obviously, they’re not the same as my special old pair. But it’s the same shape. They’re high-waisted. They have a zip. The high waist is like “muh, muh!” And they have just a nice straight leg. I have variations of sizes that I wear for the show. Depending on how I’m feeling, I go from 29s to 32s. You can wash them in the washing machine and they just keep getting better.
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I found this deodorant at an art fair in Paris that I went to because a friend of mine was showing their homewares. So I went wandering around this art show and found this very pretty deodorant. I love pretty things but it also smells extraordinary and it does not have aluminum. It smells like perfume or oil and so your armpits become little treasure troves of beauty. And, you know, armpits are not the most glorious places on your body, but this deodorant makes it feel like they are filled with diamonds and pearls.
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So here’s my thing about sugar. I don’t really eat sugar. I try really hard not to. My body just doesn’t process it well. But a girl’s gotta have treats, you know what I mean? And there’s nothing like unwrapping a little gold paper and finding some milky yummy chocolate in there with a hazelnut. My justification is that little hazelnut, that’s your protein. You gotta have a little protein with your sugar so you’re not eating it naked.
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If you could only get one thing from Pattern, this is what it would be. It’s the holy grail. It’s got a light hold. It seals in moisture. I use it to style my hair for a slick back. I use it for when I wash and go, which is not that much anymore just because at this age, I love a nice snatch of the hair. But it is my favorite and now it comes in three fragrances, which makes it even more exciting. So it comes in the Indigo Rain, which is our fresh, clean scent. It comes in Palo Santo, which is warm and sexy. And then it comes in our original scent. It lives in my shower, it lives in my purse, it lives on the dresser. It’s in my dressing room. I have the Indigo Rain and I have the jumbo Palo Santo in my bathroom cabinet. The other thing that’s so great about it is it works for everybody. I call it the primer. You know, you don’t wanna paint your walls without putting primer on them. It’s the primer. It’s the base for anything you need to do with your hair.
“It’s almost the only thing I wear. I get compliments on it in an airport line everywhere I go.”
“For a basic, good white T-shirt, this is the best. I’ve gotten maybe ten of them now.”
“These stay in. They can also tell when you have fallen asleep and switch to white noise.”
“I wear them every day. They’re not so baggy that you look foolish. They’re pretty elegant.”
“You don’t have to be very skilled to do it and get a really long throw, so it’s really satisfying.”
“These get just hot enough, but I don’t feel like they’re going to burn my hands or my scalp.”
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The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
