Welcome to “Your Shopping Cart,” wherein we break out the top ten products that you, devoted Strategist UK readers, bought in droves. Think of this as the TL;DR of the Strategist UK: If your like-minded brethren are buying these items, maybe you’d like to as well.
Each month at the Strategist, we report on the best-selling items readers added to their shopping baskets. But this month, we wanted to get a little more granular. Last weekend was Black Friday weekend, and the internet was abuzz with excellent deals. So we were especially curious to take a peek into readers’ shopping carts from the four-day period.
We sorted through the top purchases from our exhaustive (and extensive) sales coverage, and the results are below. Some best sellers from the Strategist archives make an appearance as well as some surprising additions. Although many of these items were on sale during Black Friday weekend, it’s worth noting that most are back to full price — but we’ve highlighted which ones are currently on sale just in case you have more gifting to do.
Neutrogena’s gel moisturiser has been a dominating presence in our most-bought roundup for over 18 months now, and for Black Friday, the price dropped to a rare 50 percent off — with a jar costing just £6. So it’s perhaps no surprise that the product was the best-selling item over the weekend. As Chris Mandle, the Strategist UK’s very own gel-moisturiser correspondent noted, it hadn’t been this cheap for almost six months, and sure enough, the offer has already expired (it is now a still-respectable 30 percent off, which Chris considers “good enough to bulk-buy”).
Kids’ toys and games were big sellers this weekend, and the second-best-selling item was this expert-recommended star projector. While several of the items in our Top 10 this week are new entries, this has actually been among our most-bought items for four months (it even topped the list in November). Given that JoJo Maman Bébé had a Black Friday sale, it’s likely the popularity was bolstered by a particularly good deal (if you bought it on sale, let us know). Luckily, you can still get an extra 10 percent off if you sign up for JoJo Maman Bébé’s newsletter.
Another much-bought item was this personalised baby book, which, like the projector, has been on our most-bought list for the past four months. Wonderbly had a 25 percent off sale for Black Friday, which is likely why so many were purchased this weekend. The book can be completely customised for the recipient — for example, you can choose hardback or softback, select different coloured pages, and even add a message in the front (it’s worth noting that some of these options cost extra). Better still, the 25 percent off sale is live until Wednesday.
No wonder Uniqlo’s cashmere jumpers were such a best seller this Black Friday — its 25 percent off deal meant the already affordable (and cool-person approved) jumpers cost just £60. When we polled 14 stylish individuals to find the best cashmere for women, Uniqlo came recommended by five including The Water Cure novelist Sophie Mackintosh and Antony Gormley Studio coordinator Elena Davidson. Even better, the discount remains active, and there’s still a good selection of sizes across the 20 colours available.
This delightfully absurd game hasn’t been in our most-bought list before, but people bought it in droves this weekend (customers described it as Uno combined with a Nerf gun). Thanks to having over 20,000 reviews, it is one of the best-rated outdoor games on Amazon, too. One reviewer said they laughed so much their belly started to ache, asking fellow parents who had ever felt the urge to chuck something at their kids, “Why not a burrito?” We think it would make a great gift this Christmas, perhaps for an outdoorsy dad on your work secret Santa or for a nephew who is a little too glued to his Nintendo Switch.
While one of our best-selling olive oils doesn’t appear to have been on sale this weekend, it still made our most-bought list. We expect it’s because olive oil makes a great gift for anyone still on your list — we included a good olive-oil in our guide to the best gifts for pasta lovers, but it would also be a nice housewarming present for someone who knows their cold-pressed EVOO from their early-harvest oils.
This charming gift set was 42 percent off during Black Friday. Considering the contents (which include hand cream, body lotion, and lip balm, all made with beeswax and peppermint oil), we imagine many people bought it as a last-minute stocking stuffer. It’s no longer on sale, but for under £15, we think it’s still a solid gift option.
Speaking of Burt’s Bees, this nourishing almond hand cream also sold in droves. We’ve recommended it as a gift for all manner of people before, and this weekend the price dropped to just £6 (it has now gone back up a smidge to £8).
We noticed this lavender-scented spray, which Joe Jonas told us he couldn’t live without, was 25 percent off this weekend. Per Jonas, “Does it work? Who knows, but I like to think it does, and I like the lavender smell. I overdo it sometimes and spray it so much that our entire bedroom smells like the spray. My wife, Sophie, can get upset with me; she’s like, ‘Can you not spray it in my face please?’ She thinks I spray it too much, but I love it.”
A lot of CeraVe products were on sale this past weekend — including its smoothing cleanser and hydrating cleanser. But the best-selling CeraVe product was its moisturising cream, which contributor Daniella Morosini has rhapsodised about before (she says it even outperforms her go-to luxury lotions). Last month, this was the best-selling item on the Strategist UK, so no wonder people snapped it up when it went on sale. The good news is it’s still on sale — so there’s never been a better time to add it to your cart.
The Strategist UK is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Read about who we are and what we do here. Our editors update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.