Tembe Denton-Hurst
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Articles by Tembe Denton-Hurst
Murdle Stopped Me From Doomscrolling
I’ve tried all kinds of strategies to get my screen time down. I got a Hatch to banish my phone from the bedroom at night, set time limits on my apps (easily bypassed), and swapped my nighttime scroll for a Kobo. All of these strategies have made some impact, but nothing has been as effective at tearing me away from my finely tuned algorithm as Murdle. The logic game started online but has since evolved into a book with many editions.
The 7 Very Best Silk Pillowcases
As a tosser and turner, I have been sleeping on satin pillowcases since childhood. They have served as a backup for when my sleep scarf or bonnet inevitably slips off my head. For curly-haired people like me, polyester satin pillowcases have long been a go-to for cutting down on frizz, preserving hairstyles, and avoiding split ends. Sleeping on silk is the same idea, just fancier due to the higher-quality material.
New-Stuff Alert: A MoMA-fied Tripp Trapp High Chair
24 items in this article 1 item on sale! 24 items in this article 1 item on sale! For this week’s “Don’t Dillydally,” we’ve rounded up a range of newly released products we’re particularly excited about, including a new colorway of the iconic Tripp Trapp chair, a stylish glider from Babyletto x Nate Berkus, and the first U.S.-compatible lighting collection from Matilda Goad. New! You can now save this product for later. New shades of a smartphone-friendly digicam.
Medicube, Mascara and Monopoly: The Best Prime Day Deals Under $10
73 items in this article 73 items on sale! October Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our October Prime Day coverage. Today is the last day of October Prime Day, and it has been an eventful one. As with previous Prime Days there are lots of deals, but I was surprised to find so much useful stuff in the under-$10 bin, from volumizing Maybelline mascara to Hanes sweatshirts to baby socks.
Medicube, Mascara and Monopoly: The Best Prime Day Deals Under $10
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This Prime Day, Just Buy It in Miniature
15 items in this article 15 items on sale! October Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our October Prime Day coverage. I often use Prime Day as an opportunity to stock up on my boring beauty essentials like body oil (one year, I bought seven bottles of Aveeno) and Bioderma micellar water. But this year, I’ve taken a different approach given the proliferation of travel-size beauty products.
If You’re Planning on Buying an Advent Calendar This Year, Get It On Sale During Prime Day
17 items in this article 17 items on sale! October Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our October Prime Day coverage. This year’s Advent calendars have arrived — and there are a lot more of them than usual. You can find one for just about anything, from candy or tea to LEGOs or Hot Wheels to hair accessories or lip gloss.
If You’re Planning on Buying an Advent Calendar This Year, Get It On Sale During Prime Day
17 items in this article 17 items on sale! 17 items in this article 17 items on sale! October Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our October Prime Day coverage. This year’s Advent calendars have arrived — and there are a lot more of them than usual. You can find one for just about anything, from candy or tea to LEGOs or Hot Wheels to hair accessories or lip gloss.
$17 Laneige, 20 Percent Off Summer Fridays, and More Lip Stuff on Sale for Prime Day
14 items in this article 14 items on sale! October Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our October Prime Day coverage. We’ve written about lip products a lot at the Strategist. We’ve chronicled our favorite lip balms and lip stains, asked after the lip combinations other people are wearing, and even written about a lipstick balm that looks good on practically everyone.
The Rise of the Beauty Super Dupe
Earlier this month, the beauty side of the internet erupted when Yise Beauty founder Molly Sims posted a tearful, now-deleted video about the launch of a product she alleged was just too similar to her Wide Awake Brightening & Depuffing Eye Cream. According to Sims, it not only copied her product’s name, but its marketing was a crib, too. The concealer in question was from Bobbi Brown’s Jones Road (its, well, Wide Awake Concealer).
Book Review: ‘The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman,’ by Deesha Philyaw
Book Review: ‘The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman,’ by Deesha Philyaw - The New York Times
My Early Predictions for the Best Beauty Advent Calendars of the Year
28 items in this article 1 item on sale! As we reported last week, Advent calendars have already started to arrive. Usually they land in early-to-mid-October, but this year the timeline has been pushed up to mid-September, similar to how the good Halloween decorations now pop up in July. The Liberty Advent calendar is already live, as is the Anthropologie one, both of which tend to sell out long before Christmas.
The Drugstore Hall of Fame
One hundred carefully considered, fully vetted essentials. Over the years, our writers and editors have surfaced hundreds of Best in Class drugstore items — we even have a column dedicated to the topic. It’s where we go for mascara that’s just as good as something twice the price and our first stop for sunscreen that won’t pill or leave a cast.
Lots of Bins Are 30 Percent Off at the Container Store This Weekend
25 items in this article 25 items on sale! September marks a New Year of sorts. It’s back to school and the end of summer, a transition that carries an air of seriousness. That makes these last warm days a good time to declutter the corner you’ve been neglecting or to tackle that awkward one you’ve been stumped by. That’s where the Container Store comes in. It’s one of our favorite places to shop for all things organization.
Is Marlon James's ‘The Disappearers' the novel of the century?
The first thing to go in The Disappearers, Marlon James's provocative new novel, is innocence. The book opens with a journal entry by Edmond “Eddy” Porteous, a 19-year-old student who has signed up for a community staging of Fortune and Men's Eyes , a 1967 Canadian play by John Herbert about a young man, Smitty, and his experience in prison.
The Disappearers Is Excellent
The first thing to go in The Disappearers, Marlon James’s provocative new novel, is innocence. The book opens with a journal entry by Edmond “Eddy” Porteous, a 19-year-old student who has signed up for a community staging of Fortune and Men’s Eyes, a 1967 Canadian play by John Herbert about a young man, Smitty, and his experience in prison.
$13 Clinique Black Honey, $16 Olaplex, and Other Deals From Ulta’s 21+ Days of Beauty Event
Every year Ulta hosts a sales event called 21+ Days of Beauty that feels a little like a game show and Advent calendar smashed together. Here’s how it works: There are daily deals that hold for only 24 hours and weekly deals you can shop for a bit longer. Thankfully Ulta offers a peek into future deals, so you can mark your calendar if you’re looking for something specific.
Poplin Maxi Dresses, Cotton Sweaters: J.Crew’s End-of-Summer Sale Is Actually Good
32 items in this article 32 items on sale! Whether you subscribe to the idea that summer is coming to a close or not, the end-of-summer sales have arrived. J.Crew is currently discounting lots of its warm-weather fare, from lightweight sweaters to breathable cotton-linen shorts. Some of the items are even an additional 40 percent off when you use the code SHOPSALE, a very, very good deal.
Poplin Maxi Dresses, Cotton Sweaters: J.Crew’s End-of-Summer Sale is Actually Good
33 items in this article 33 items on sale! 33 items in this article 33 items on sale! Whether you subscribe to the idea that summer is coming to a close or not, the end of summer sales have arrived. J. Crew is currently discounting lots of their warm weather fare, from lightweight sweaters to breathable cotton-linen shorts. Some of the items are even an additional 40 percent off when you use the code: SHOPSALE, a very, very good deal.
Are All Hypochlorous-Acid Sprays Created Equal?
In the past few months, I’ve noticed there are a lot more hypochlorous-acid options than there have been over, say, the last decade. When the Strategist beauty team recently got together to talk about how we were adjusting our skin-care routines for summer, most of us were incorporating some kind of hypochlorous acid, and I was surprised to find we were using different sprays.
What Good Weather Skin Founder Franchesca Hashim Buys at the Drugstore
10 items in this article 5 items on sale! Here at the Strategist, we love hearing about everyday stuff that actually works. That line of thinking extends to the drugstore beauty products in our medicine cabinets, shower caddies, and makeup bags. In our series “Beauty Aisle,” we talk to folks in the beauty industry — aestheticians, hairstylists, makeup artists, dermatologists, and the like — about the go-to affordable products they keep stocked.
19 New K-Beauty Brands Are Coming to Sephora. Here’s What to Buy.
14 items in this article 2 items on sale! Sephora isn’t a stranger to K-beauty — the retailer has stocked brands like Laneige for years and steadily added to its assortment since. Just last week, I spotted a tube of my favorite Aestura moisturizer in the checkout aisle. That said, it isn’t my go-to if I’m looking for the latest K-beauty launch. That could change, though, thanks to a new partnership with the biggest beauty retailer in South Korea, Olive Young.
19 New K-Beauty Brands Are Coming to Sephora. Here’s What to Buy.
14 items in this article 3 items on sale! Sephora isn’t a stranger to K-beauty — the retailer has stocked brands like Laneige for years and steadily added to its assortment since. Just last week, I spotted a tube of my favorite Aestura moisturizer in the checkout aisle. That said, it isn’t my go-to if I’m looking for the latest K-beauty launch. That could change, though, thanks to a new partnership with the biggest beauty retailer in South Korea, Olive Young.
This Moisturizing Leave-In Conditioner Saved My Dry, Shedding Hair
As someone with fine, curly hair, leave-in conditioners can be difficult to incorporate into my routine. Most leave-ins for curly hair are thick creams packed with oils, formulated to deeply moisturize hair and keep it from drying out between wash days. This is ideal in theory, especially since my hair can get very dry, but I’ve found that it also weighs my curls down, leaving things looking defined but flat — more Rick James than Diana Ross.
What Marlon James Can’t Live Without
18 items in this article 4 items on sale! 18 items in this article 4 items on sale! 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 author Marlon James — whose novel The Disappearers, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize, is out on September 1 — about the horse lamp, the chili crunch, and the sketchbook he can’t live without. New! You can now save this product for later.
New Stuff Alert: Bode Made Merch for the Yale School of Music
17 items in this article 1 item on sale! For this week’s “Don’t Dillydally,” we’ve rounded up a range of newly released products we’re particularly excited about, including a relaunch of Gap perfume, an ice-cream maker that also makes snow cones, and a National Eczema Association–approved retinol. New! You can now save this product for later. $52 Gap has relaunched its ’90s-era fragrances for a new generation of scent-obsessives. There are five scents, all of which our writer Arielle Avila tested.
I’ve Been Seeing Dark Pedicures Everywhere This Summer
15 items in this article 2 items on sale! 15 items in this article 2 items on sale! A few months ago, I had an urge to try a dark pedicure. I am adventurous with my nails but reliably conservative with my toes, sticking to a classic, thin French tip with a single coat of sheer pink for the base. But a singular Pinterest image began calling to me — a photo of a woman wearing flip-flops with brown toenails.
The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Is a Good Time to Buy Fancy Fragrances
12 items in this article 12 items on sale! 12 items in this article 12 items on sale! Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale has been a boon for beauty this time around. There’s been deep discounts on some of our favorite items — from oversize Creme de Corps to three-wick candles with spalike scents. Particularly impressive to me, though, has been the fragrance offerings. Many popular scents, like the ubiquitous Le Labo Santal 33, are discounted, with some available in both full- and travel-size bottles.
Quince Makes the Best $24 Candles I’ve Ever Tried
The world of home fragrances, which encompasses candles, incense, diffusers and sprays, is fast growing. That includes the prices. Candles that were sub-$25 are now at least $30, and I expect that number to rise. Affordable candles that smell nice are increasingly difficult to find, especially ones that don’t smell like artificial fruit or give you a headache. But then there’s Quince.
We Tried Zouck’s Fancy New $75 Sunscreen
The summer of mineral sunscreen continues. One of the newest is from a brand called Zouck, which no fewer than three Strategist editors flagged it the day it launched. The brand promises “a truly cast-free mineral sunscreen powered by high-quality actives and designed to make suncare feel as indulgent as skincare.” The collection includes four products: two mineral SPF formulas, one lotion and one stick, plus a face oil, and a nighttime moisturizer.
What the Strategist Beauty Team Is Buying From the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
24 items in this article 21 items on sale! 24 items in this article 21 items on sale! Nordstrom is having its anniversary sale, which is when it discounts its new products for a limited time. The beauty selection is particularly good this year. There are jumbo-sizes of fan favorites and gift-worthy sets. There are over 500 offerings, which is a lot to sift through.
What the Strategist Beauty Team Is Buying From the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
24 items in this article 21 items on sale! Nordstrom is having its anniversary sale, which is when it discounts its new products for a limited time. The beauty selection is particularly good this year. There are jumbo-sizes of fan favorites and gift-worthy sets. There are over 500 offerings, which is a lot to sift through.
The Summer We Gave Up Braiding Hair
It’s braids season. That time of year when braiding shops fill with women eager to protect their hair and make styling easy as they enjoy park hangs, pool days, and vacations. Most years, a dominant style emerges. Summer 2025 was boho braids, an evolution of knotless, where curly tendrils are added to braids for a layered, dimensional look. This year, for the first time in all my summers of getting braids, it’s natural-hair cornrows.
The Summer We Gave Up Braiding Hair
Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. It's braids season. That time of year when braiding shops fill with women eager to protect their hair and make styling easy as they enjoy park hangs, pool days, and vacations. Most years, a dominant style emerges. Summer 2025 was boho braids, an evolution of knotless, where curly tendrils are added to braids for a layered, dimensional look. This year, for the first time in all my summers of getting braids, it's natural-hair cornrows.
The Soak That Solved My Stinky Gym Clothes
As a Caribbean woman, I am loathe to use me and smelly in the same sentence, but I have to admit my workout clothes smell rank. After a sweaty session, I often peel them off and toss them in the laundry, allowing the bacteria to settle into the fibers and multiply.
I Found a Powder Blush That Blends Like a Cream
I’m a big blush fan — a makeup look isn’t complete for me without it. For the past ten years I’ve stuck to cream formulas, which are easy to apply and buildable. I’ve waxed poetic about the Merit Flush Balm, which creates a pretty wash of color on the cheeks, and I recently opined about Glossier Cloud Paint still being an excellent option. Powder blush, on the other hand, has always intimidated me.
I Found 20 Percent Off a Dyson Airwrap and Our Favorite Cleansing Balm at the Sephora Sale
13 items in this article 13 items on sale! 13 items in this article 13 items on sale! In case you’re in need of a beauty wardrobe refresh, Sephora’s having a sale. Until July 7, lots of stuff is discounted, including things that were available during Prime Day, such as the Dyson Airwrap and the Shark FacialPro Glow, which senior writer Dominique Pariso says gives her similar results to an in-office treatment.
I Found 20 Percent Off a Dyson Airwrap and Our Favorite Cleansing Balm at the Sephora Sale
13 items in this article 13 items on sale! 13 items in this article 13 items on sale! In case you’re in need of a beauty wardrobe refresh, Sephora’s having a sale. Until July 7, lots of stuff is discounted, including things that were available during Prime Day, such as the Dyson Airwrap and the Shark FacialPro Glow, which senior writer Dominique Pariso says gives her similar results to an in-office treatment.
I’ve Had 4 Days to Look, and These Are the 20 Best Beauty Deals
32 items in this article 32 items on sale! 32 items in this article 32 items on sale! Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our Prime Day coverage. I have been on the beauty beat since 2020, which means I’ve seen many Prime Days. There are certain deals I can bet on — like discounted Laneige and a cheaper-than-normal Dyson — but there are always surprises.
I’ve Had 4 Days to Look, and These Are the 20 Best Beauty Deals
Beauty (Australia) 21 hours ago This $17 Retinol Cream Left a 70-Year-Old’s "Turkey Neck" So Firm, Their Saggy Chin Is "90% Gone" InStyle - Isabel Bekele • 21h Over 800 Amazon shoppers bought it this month. For better or worse, there is no magic potion that can rewind signs of aging. However, there is an entire skin care market dedicated to mature skin. The catch?
I Tried the New Black Honey Mascara, Eye Shadow, and Nail Polish
If you’ve ever thought, I wish I could put Clinique Black Honey all over, it’s game time. Fifty-five years after the launch of its iconic lipstick, the brand has expanded the color to nail polish, eye shadow, and mascara. We first wrote about Clinique Black Honey back in 2017 when our then–fashion editor-at-large Amy Larocca said it was a perfect shade that “looks good on everyone.” Deals writer Martha Tuber is also a fan.
Charlotte Tilbury Is Discounted for the First Time Ever — and 24 More Prime Day Beauty Deals
Prime Day is here, and we’re updating this story hourly. To find the best deals in every category, follow all of our Prime Day coverage. Another Prime Day is upon us. This year, the sale runs from June 23 to June 26. I’ve been covering Prime Day’s beauty sales for six years, and this year feels ritzier than years past. There’s a lot of premium skin care on offer at 20 to 30 percent discounts, like True Botanicals face oil and, for the first time, Charlotte Tilbury.
Where Are Stylish Plus-Size Women Shopping Now?
I’ve been plus-size my entire life. By the time I was a junior in high school, I was firmly a size 14, and after that I fluctuated between size 18 and 20. This was difficult when I was a teen. I was often frustrated at the mall, where I would flip through racks for hours looking for the sole extra-large. When I got to college, I discovered the world of online shopping, which was a respite from the limits of in-person purchasing.
I Tried 6 Drugstore Brow Gels. I’ll Never Buy an Expensive One Again.
As someone with bushy brows, brow gel is a must. My go-to is the Anastasia Beverly Hills brow gel, which holds my brows in place and doesn’t flake. I’ve been so loyal to it that if you asked me a couple weeks ago whether I was on the market for a new one, I would’ve said no. Things changed, however, when my aesthetician friend Sydney Utendahl mentioned she’d been using Maybelline Super Lock and loving it.
The FDA Just Approved a New, Better SPF Filter
It’s almost become cliché to say that the best sunscreens are made elsewhere — we’ve even written in defense of American-made SPF after chatter online about our relatively short list of approved UV filters reached fever pitch. But now things have changed. For the first time in 27 years, the FDA has approved a new sunscreen filter: bemotrizinol, a filter that’s been popular in European, Australian, and Asian sunscreens for a while.
I Walked, Lifted, and Ran Errands in H&M Activewear. Here Are My Top Picks.
It’s well-known that I don’t believe in pricey activewear. I recoil any time I see leggings that cost more than $45 and roll my eyes every time a new, expensive brand picks up steam. I mostly stick to Old Navy, which is reliable and well-made. I have leggings from the brand that go back a decade with barely a stitch out of place. Recently, I’ve been eyeing H&M’s Move, the brand’s activewear line. I tried one set when it initially launched in 2022 but wasn’t impressed with the fabric.
The 10 Products the Strategist Beauty Team Uses on Their Brows
I was ruminating on brows recently and noticed that for the first time in a long while, we, as a collective, don’t have a coherent brow trend. Sure, some people are trying to make thin brows happen, but we know better than that now. Then there’s the bleached-brow trend, which is mostly confined to Brooklyn. Now, everyone’s sort of in brow no-man’s-land, left to their own devices and routines.
New Stuff Alert: A Ninja Espresso Machine and Summer-Weight Agolde
For this week’s Don’t Dillydally, we’ve rounded up a range of newly released products we’re particularly excited about, including soap that smells like sun tea, glove flats from slipper-maker Sabah, and an adult LEGO set that promises screen-free fun. New! You can now save this product for later. Featherweight jorts. New! You can now save this product for later. An upgraded point-and-shoot. New! You can now save this product for later. Powder that makes skin look filtered.
The Salve That Soothed My Sunburnt Skin
I went to Antigua back in April for my sister’s birthday, and after about 20 minutes on the resort, I knew I was dealing with a different level of sun. After a half-hour outside (with SPF on, of course), I was already looking a little tan. I’d previously learned my lesson with sun exposure when I got my first sunburn during a trip to Mexico almost a decade ago. Since then, I’ve traveled with lots of SPF and post-SPF skin care to soothe my skin and support repair.
What Aesthetician Sydney Utendahl Buys at the Drugstore
11 items in this article 2 items on sale! Here at the Strategist, we love hearing about everyday stuff that actually works. That line of thinking extends to the drugstore beauty products in our medicine cabinets, shower caddies, and makeup bags. In our series “Beauty Aisle,” we’re talking to folks in the beauty industry — aestheticians, hairstylists, makeup artists, dermatologists, and the like — about the go-to affordable products they keep stocked.
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