5+ Things to Shop, Read, Watch, Try, and Buy for April 2024
An unfuckupable recipe! The shoes you'll wear for 10x summers to come! The viral beauty product that actually is damn good! And more! I can't stop with exclamations!
Happy Coachella weekend, to all who celebrate! While I may be a lapsed Coacheller (Coachellite? Maybe that.), for many years, I was an ardent practitioner, and started my decade-long devotion in 2004, back when the festival was held for two days over one weekend. My friend and fellow ELLE editor Leigh Belz and I made the pilgrimage from New York, flying to San Diego to pick up my high school Jeep before racing out to Palm Springs for the weekend. Radiohead and The Cure headlined the festival that weekend, and life was good.
I went back, year after year, with some major highlights coming at the end of my run, first in 2012, when I got to go with the Mulberry team, when it was led by the brilliant Emma Hill. The second highlight was 2014, which also was my last Coachella. My husband and I were in the early stages of our relationship, and ended up spending much of the weekend together. I was with some of my best friends, Outkast performed my favorite song, “Da Art of Storytellin’, Pt. 1”, and I was smitten with the man who I’d end up marrying. Core memories, indeed.
But back at the ranch: It’s April, friends, and that means I’m personally prepping for the impending birthday bonanza in my life known as Taurus season. (Anyone else have an inordinate amount of Taurus friends? Aren’t we lucky to have these brilliant and stubborn people in our lives?) While I’m going to spend the rest of the month figuring out what to buy some of my favorite people in the world, right now I have some excellence to share for the month ahead. From the one beauty product you should procure this spring to the books I’m currently obsessing over, welcome to the April installment of Things You Should…
As always, if there’s an item you’re shopping for or you need help sorting through the zillions of options out there, please don’t hesitate to drop me a comment and I will add it to my to-do list. (And why am I prompting you to comment? Because while I love DMs and always try to answer you there, my inbox is messy, and comments here are much easier for me to find and use as source material as I’m working on new things. Also, I love comments; they make me feel seen.)
SHOP: Milk Makeup Cooling Water Jelly Tint Lip + Cheek Blush Stain ($24)
The TL;DR on this viral product? Worth the hype, 1000%.
Need more info? Okay, for some context, I’m pretty obsessively interested in lightweight, longwear beauty products, so if there is a tint or a stain on the market, I’ve probably tried it. And if it gets buzz online, I’m immediately on it. I’m often disappointed by internet hero products, but there’s definitely a good reason these viral stains keep selling out. The colors are fabulous—I didn’t buy them all, but I swatched the four shades whilst in store—and Burst is the color I will be wearing all summer.
I use it as a blush and a lip stain, using my favorite MAC 187S Synthetic Duo Fibre Face Brush ($46), which I bought probably 13 years ago per makeup artist Kayleen McAdams’ recommendation and still adore. The product dries fast, but the brush lets me blend it in quickly. As for lips, I just go straight from the tube and then blur it a bit with my finger.
READ: None of This is True ($15) by Lisa Jewell
A few of you kindly recommended None of This Is True ahead of spring break, and I’m so glad you did. If you, like me, enjoy non-gory suspenseful books—think: Jessica Knoll (god she’s good) and Lucy Foley (I still think about The Paris Apartment on the reg)—then Lisa Jewell’s newest New York Times bestseller is essential.
Set in London (surprise, surprise), the story follows two women who meet by chance in a gastropub while out celebrating their respective birthdays, and end up working together on a podcast that turns into an incredibly twisted, true crime show. To say it’s suspenseful is putting it mildly; I couldn’t put it down.
More books: Also per your recommendations, I just read The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (loved), and bought Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, which came out last year and is a cult favorite, and First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, which was Reese Witherspoon’s January book club pick. I also found myself buying Jo Piazza’s new The Sicilian Inheritance after reading about it via Alisha Ramos’s excellent newsletter, Downtime.
And of course, I have Emily Henry’s new book Funny Story en route right now. It comes out on April 23rd, and is available for pre-order now.
WATCH: Ripley (on Netflix, now)
Full confession: I’m still early in my Ripley journey—three episodes into the show’s eight—but I’m completely intrigued. My feelings are a little complicated; this version is not like the 1999 film version, which is all gorgeous Italian light and stunning shots of outrageously beautiful humans like Jude Law. This telling of Tom Ripley’s journey stars Andrew Scott (a.k.a. Hot Priest from Fleabag) and the whole production is cold, sinister, and literally noir, starting with the fact that it was shot in black and white. I keep getting early Hitchcock vibes, and while disturbing in some ways, it ultimately is quite arresting and eerily compelling.
PS: I’m going to a screening of Challengers on Monday night for work. Will you keep you posted on how it goes!
TRY: Easy Mexican Shredded Chicken by Gaby Dalkin / @WhatsGabyCookin
Next month, New York Times bestselling author, chef, entrepreneur, content creator, and food and lifestyle writer Gaby Dalkin’s newest cookbook—Grilling All The Things, which I have already pre-ordered—will hit shelves, and I can’t wait. I used to be totally intimidated by the grill, until I had my pre-meme “How hard could it be? Boys do it.” moment. Learning how to barbecue set me free in a way I cannot explain, and if you don’t currently grill, trust me when I say: You can, and you should.
Until that cookbook comes out, I’ve been making some of my other favorites from Gaby’s repertoire, including the above recipe for shredded chicken, which definitely falls into my favorite category: Unfuckupable, just like my core four.
It’s wildly simple—you only need five ingredients: boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chipotle salsa*, olive oil, salt, and pepper—and only takes 30 minutes if you cook it in a dutch oven on the stove, as I do. It’s easy to make a double batch and use for bowls, salads, or tacos during the week, and you can customize the outcome with the salsa you use, which I also like.
*Gaby’s recipe is no-fuss and great, but if you don’t want to make your own, there are so many high quality salsas you can buy these days, which would make the recipe even faster and easier.
BUY: Doen x K. Jacques Bikini Sandals ($278) in Metallic Champagne
I’ve talked about my love for K. Jacques sandals in my original YCOHO fashion story, so it’s probably not surprising that I’m delighted by this exclusive collab with Doen. The strappy style is handmade in St.Tropez and was originally designed in the 1950s, and these two colorways are exclusive to Doen. And yes, I bought both. They are currently en route!
I’m curious about what summer sandals are pinging your radar right now? It feels like the major trends are still majoring, from sport-orthotic adjacent (see: Bottega, Jimmy Choo, Marni, and even the Birkenstock Arizona VL Cazador) to strappy minimalism (see Gianvito Rossi, Khaite, and yes, fisherman sandal are still a thing (per Prada, Loewe, and J.Crew). Let me know; I’m all ears.
PS: I tried to make it through a newsletter without repeatedly mentioning J.Crew, but alas, I cannot quit them. While I’m not including it here—because it hasn’t arrived yet—I bought the brand’s new seamed flare linen midi dress in the most heavenly shade of green on Friday. (Chrissy Rutherford mentioned it in an AMA the other day, which made me feel like I was in great company.) Which made me think: Is it too early to do a spring dress roundup? Do you need weekend-ish dresses? Or are you in wedding-guest mode and need more formal styles?
Also, most of J.Crew is 30% off this weekend, so I might have also purchased this Liberty-print bikini top and high-rise bottom, and also the side-tie version. And perhaps I also bought the perfect army green bucket hat with ties? It’s not on sale, but the price is reasonable enough.
Okay friends, that’s it for now. If you want to follow me on @hillarykerr, I’d love it. And if you have anything to say or ask (preferably nothing terribly mean), please drop me a note either via DM or in the comments below.
As always, thank you for taking the time to read this post. I’m truly so glad you’re here. If you like what you’re reading, please consider sharing this newsletter. (And if you have the time to like it, that would mean a lot to me!) All products mentioned are independently chosen, and some may be affiliate links. Your support is appreciated.
Yes to spring dress round up. My selection for weekend errands is looking a little tired and worn out.
Would love a summer sandal round up too! My favorite ones that went with everything from denim shorts to maxi skirts finally fell apart last year and I’m on the lookout for new ones!