Sometimes we need a little help from our friends, in this case the friends are 37 inventions that’ll help you do stuff better! Amazon is a treasure-trove of handy helpers, but it can be a massive pain to trawl through hundreds of thousands of products to find exactly what you’re looking for to make hard tasks look easy.
Whether you want to DIY haircuts that don’t look like your mom did it (no offense, mom) or get smarter, faster and more focused with minty fresh breath on what’s basically street-legal speed, you’ll find the tools you need to succeed in this list!
Enjoy Better Knife Skills And Fewer Kitchen Injuries
It sounds counterintuitive, but if you want to cut yourself less often while chopping, dicing or slicing, you gotta sharpen your knife. This little knife sharpener is a heck of a steal, and has over NINE THOUSAND Amazon reviews! It has two stages for sharpening – coarse and fine – so you can hone dull knives fast and finish the edge to a sharp angle. And there’s an edge guard for klutzes like me so the sharpener won’t slip of the counter mid-swipe!
Apply Perfect Winged Eyeliner In Seconds
If you’ve ever tried to freehand cat eye makeup or winged eyeliner, you know how crazy-hard it is to get it right. This eyeliner stamp lets simply press down once in the outer corners of your eyes for a fierce look in seconds. And it really works, judging by the 3,000+ five star reviews and gorgeous user photos! Go ahead and pretend you’re secretly a master makeup artist, we won’t tell.
Learn How To Stick To A New Habit
New Year’s Resolutions, new exercise and healthy eating habits, they’re so hard to continue after like, two weeks, right? They are for me after the shine wears off, anyway! For people like us, there’s this habit tracker calendar that gives you positive motivation since you get to check off every day you work towards your goal! There are suggestions for finances and health, but also creativity and reflection among others, so it’s a holistic approach to habit-making – think of it as a bullet journal but better.
Want A Faster, Smarter Brain? Try This.
Instead of reaching for another cup of coffee to shake out the mental cobwebs, try this Neuro Gum. Along with minty fresh breath, you’ll get instant energy, focus and clarity thanks to the “patented cold compression system” that gets you going 5x faster than caffeine. It doesn’t seem like something this powerful should be legal (and in gum form?) but it’s got a rapidly growing fanbase with over 300 stellar reviews! If it’s not going to make me any slower, stupider or sluggish, what’ve I got to lose?
These Instantly Grant You Better Baking Skills
Want to impress your friends and fam with your new, improved baking skills? Get this set of silicone baking cups and watch the compliments roll in. You won’t need to use any cooking spray or extra grease to get your muffins or cupcakes to release effortlessly once done, no butchering them with a butter knife or burnt bottoms, just a “lovely bake” (said in a posh British accent, of course). No promises on improving your crème pat, though!
Use This To Clear Up Skin Quickly
Looking at the amazing before & after pics of people who used this exfoliating facial scrub, I was astounded at the low price for results that wow. And it works fast, too – the lovely lady in the user pic above cleared up her skin in eight days! There’s a brightening version with french clay and green kelp, an anti-acne one with blueberry, lemon and charcoal, and an anti-aging exfoliator with Moroccan red clay and rose oil. Even more good news: the scrubs are 100% vegan, cruelty-free and don’t containe nasties like pthalates, sulfates, parabens and other junk you don’t want near your face.
Adult Better: This’ll Remove Wine Stains So You Can Party On
There’s no age limit to party fouls, especially when red wine is involved. But instead of throwing a rug over the stain or just ignoring it as we were wont to do in our younger years, mature us can use this wine stain remover instead. This is why adults can have nice things – we don’t stop making messes, we just know the secret, super-effective cleaners to erase the evidence!
These Will Help You Floss Every Day
Remembering to floss after brushing is such a chore, when you just want to be face-down in bed and unconscious at the end of a long day. Here’s a smarter way to make your dentist happy – these flossing toothbrushes have unique variegated length bristles that reach below the gumline and between teeth to sweep away hidden food, plaque and bacteria. Even though the brush is tough on dirty teeth, it’s still gentle on your gums, according to the universally glowing reviews.
Get Rid Of Fruit Flies In A Snap
Fruit flies are just plain nasty – each lady fly lays 500 eggs on your overripe fruit then bam, instant invasion. Stop them in their tracks with these fruit fly traps that use a non-toxic solution that won’t harm humans or pets. Somehow, they made it no-mess, so the sticky solution can’t spill out even if a curious kid drops the trap container. Gen-i-us.
These Gadgets Give You More Closet Space Just Like That
If you live in an older house or smaller apartment, you know the woes of small closets. I happen to share one of those with my husband, which is packed to the gills trying to fit two modern wardrobes into a tiny space. These cascading hanger gadgets more than double your closet space instantly since you can hang so many more clothes from one hanger. Vertical storage, it’s the future!
This Book Is A No-Nonsense Guide To Have A Cleaner House
Have you noticed how much better your mood is when your house is clean? It’s like you can breathe more easily and you enjoy your space so much more. Problem is, living with two kids, normally my house looks like the atom bomb went off in the living room. Ok, I can’t blame it all on the kids, so I probably do need this Unfuck Your Habitat book to learn the secret to maintaining that just-tidied feeling – it’s a no-nonsense approach to organization and getting your shiz in order!
This’ll Help You Toilet Train Boys Fast
To be honest, I’m kind of jealous I don’t pee standing up because this toilet training target light is so very cool. It attaches easily to the underside of the toilet seat lid and shines a light right where you want your boy to pee. Which is conveniently neither on the seat or on the floor, thank you very much.
This Gadget Helps You Butter Your Corn Better
A regular butter knife just doesn’t help butter your corn very well – the square of butter slides out and over the side of the corn while you chase it fruitlessly, rinse and repeat. This corn buttering knife must’ve been designed by a genius – it’s curved to perfectly hold the pat of butter to follow the shape of the corn so you get the job done in one go. Anything that gets hot, buttery corn to my mouth faster is a win in my book.
These Cups Cut Down On Dishwashing
It seems like my kids go through a bazillion plastic cups a day, every time they get a drink, they use a new one! These magnetic plastic cups are supersmart because they not only make your household more eco-friendly, they cut down on the amount of dishes you have to wash! The idea’s that the kids use the same cup all day, just stick it back on the fridge in between beverages then they can grab it whenever thirst hits. Why didn’t I think of that?!
This Knife Lets You Stop Wasting Food
It’s maddening when you can see there’s still peanut butter (or Nutella!) in the very bottom corners of the jar but you can’t reach it. This extra-long peanut butter knife is the helping hand you need – it’s specially made to get all the delicious spread from the rim, sides and bottoms of even Costco-sized jars! It also rates a staggering five stars across the board.
These Give You An Amazing DIY Massage
Who can afford a weekly massage to work out all those knots and kinks (besides the 1%, I guess)? Now you can DIY a massage that feels like a pro-masseuse with these trigger point balls. They have more squish or give than lacrosse or tennis balls, so they’re made for beginner to intermediate levels of mobility work. The flat bottom means they won’t roll away and stay focused on your trouble spots deeply and effectively!
These Will Organize Your Kitchen Drawers Like Kondo
No matter how tidy you arrange your kitchen drawers, it’s like an army of mischevious leprechauns creates chaos as soon as you close them. If you want things to stay where you put them, use this kitchen drawer organizers that has repositionable, adjustable dividers to customize storage to your needs. The silicone basemat is non-slip so wherever you put a utensil or kitchen tool, it’ll stay until you move it (take that, leprechauns)!
These Clippers Give You A Better DIY Mani
Forget dull nail clippers that bend your nails instead of cleanly cutting, these easy-to-use professional nail clippers are ergonomic and extra-sharp to get a clean cut, every time. They’re brushed stainless steel so they won’t slip, even if you’re cutting with wet hands. They also come highly recommended for people with arthritis or elderly users since they’re so much easier to hold than regular clippers.
This’ll Help You Bake Better Cakes
A whisk’s a whisk, right? Not so, my friend! This better batter tool has thicker blades which mix ingredients quickly and avoid overbeating so you get lighter, fluffier cakes! It also has tapered sides to easily scrape all of the batter off the sides of the bowl so you get every last delicious drop. It’s no one-trick pony, either – use it for gravies, stirring sauces or breaking up ground meat while cooking, too.
This Egg Poacher Will Make Tastier Breakfasts
Forget dry, tasteless cereal in a bowl – with this egg poacher you can get a gourmet breakfast on the table in less time than you think. Just crack an egg into each cup, add a bit of water and microwave just over a minute – ta da, fancypants breakfast on the table in as much time as it takes your bread to toast! Way faster than oatmeal and far tastier, too.
This Pillow Helps You Sleep Better
This adjustable memory foam pillow is the same idea as a very similar pillow that has over 12,000 reviews on Amazon BUT costs 2x as much. Save yourself some cash and get the same customizable pillow benefits as the heavily marketed one with this lesser-known-but-still-awesome version! You can add or subtract as much of the shredded memory foam as you want to get the perfect pillow density and height for your best night’s sleep, ever.
This’ll Help You Charge Devices Faster & More Efficiently
How much do I wish this power strip tower was called something clever like ‘Tower of Power”? Answer: very much. This little guy packs six surge-protected outlet plugs, four USB chargers, a wireless charger and a six-foot extension cord into one compact package. It’ll charge your devices faster and more efficiently and comes with an 18 month warranty – can’t beat that with a stick!
This’ll Streamline Your Kitchen Storage
If you don’t have a lot of kitchen storage space, finding a place to keep a bulky colander in addition to a necessary good-sized pot is a tall order. This pot with built-in strainer eliminates one bulky tool since you can cook and strain pasta or veggies and rinse and drain berries, fruit and veg all without resorting to the good-for-one-job colander. Plus it comes in a bunch of pretty colors so it looks great stored on the countertop, too!
This Gadget Helps With Pasta Portion Control
It’s so hard to gauge portion size for dry pasta, so this spaghetti measurer is here to help both your waistline and bank account! It’s embossed with cute little icons next to measurements for one to four bowls of pasta so you cook the perfect amount with no food waste or overeating. Unless you want to, because carbs are the best.
This Gadget Helps Tell Whether The Dishes Are Clean
This magnetic clean/dirty dishwasher sign is a much better indicator that the dishes have indeed been washed than the smell test. It’s also better than the decidedly unromantic texts I receive from my husband each morning telling me the dishes are clean – maybe he’s hoping I’ll empty the dishwasher?
This Ergonomic Mouse Helps Eliminate Carpal Tunnel
In this day and age, most of us are tied to a computer all day for work, or choose to use one for entertainment in our off hours both of which mean potential repetitive-use injuries to our hands and wrists. This ergonomic mouse takes the pressure off our joints and feels incredibly natural in the hand, whether you’re window shopping or gaming. And it’s flexible since it can be used by righties or lefties and works with all operating systems!
This’ll Help You Clean Your Electronics
We all know we have to clean our filty electronic screens but it’s hard to find a happy medium between chemical sprays which are no-no’s and just wiping the screen off on your jeans which doesn’t do much. This reusable, washable microfiber electronics cloth is your best bet and can be used on eyeglass lenses and allll your screens without scratching. It comes in a ton of patterns and with its own carrying case – I’m partial to the pineapples or owls!
Protect Your Hair From Heat Styling
Salon-fresh hair is the best but is hard to replicate at home – until now. This heat-protecting conditioning spray lets you style to your heart’s content and still have sleek, soft hair with no burnt ends, dryness or frizz. This lovely user says it actually makes her hair easier to straighten since it stays in such good condition!
Deep-Clean Your Ears
If you’re addicted to those disgusting by oh-so-satisfying ear cleaning videos online, you’re going to love this earwax removal kit to get squeaky-clean ears and improve your hearing! It includes six curettes with different tips like spirals and springs to get every crevice where gross wax might be hiding. It has over 700 glowing reviews and is under $10 – cheaper than a trip to the emergency room if you poke a Q-tip in too far!
Learn Calligraphy Easily
I love watching calligraphy videos online and often wish I was adept at creating those graceful swoops and lines. I can stop wishing and start doing with this Beginner’s Guide to Lettering And Modern Calligraphy. Every page has lettering examples, tips and tricks plus uber-important practice space so you’ll be well on your way to fancy writing quickly. At the end of the book there are 15 cool projects to test all you’ve learned and start producing some awesome work!
Make Better Pour-Over Coffee Like A Hipster Barista
Want a killer cup of coffee without a side of snark and questionable fashion choices from your neighborhood hipster barista? You’ll get just that with this ceramic pour-over coffee maker that comes in always-stylish black or white and makes a mean cup of joe. You control the hot water flow, timing and temperature with this single-serving brewing system that fits easily on top of any mug for professional-grade coffee in the comfort of your home.
This’ll Give You Whiter Teeth At Home
Yay for toothpaste technology! Now you don’t have to resort to uncomfortable whitening strips or expensive bleaching done in the dentist’s office, just use this activated charcoal whitening toothpaste for blinding results like this user photo! This person was a heavy smoker whose kid shamed him into whiter teeth, and got those sparkling results in just three months. The toothpaste is 100% natural, vegan and whitens teeth naturally with no flouride, hydrogen peroxide or sulfates!
This Kitchen Slider Will Save Your Back
Modern kitchen appliances are wonderful – huge KitchenAid mixers, coffee makers, soda water machines – but also ungainly and often heavy. This kitchen slider attaches to any counter or inside a cabinet, then you simply place the appliance on top to easily move it where you need it without pushing, pulling or throwing your back out when you need to mix a cake or make a cup of coffee!
Want To Style Your Hair Faster?
If you do your hair in two or more stages – blowdrying then straightening – then you know what a time suck that is in the morning. This Revlon One-Step Dryer Styler cuts your hair-doing time in half since you can do it all in one go! The hot-air brush uses ionic technology to give you a frizz-free, sleek style and the ergonomic, lightweight design means your hand won’t get tired halfway through.
This Brush Gives You Incredible Hair Volume
If you’re from the South and worth your salt, you know the saying “The higher the hair, the closer to God”. This spornette teasing brush will give your hair glorious volume that’ll make the angels jealous, bless your heart. Is it any coincidence that at the time of this writing, this wonder brush has 666 reviews?
This Rack Helps You Dry Makeup Brushes Faster
Once you go through the chore of washing your makeup brushes, it’s even more annoying waiting for them to dry and really hard to find a way to keep them upright while they do so. This collapsible makeup brush drying stand has your back, with room to hold 28 brushes and tucks away flat for easy storage.
Achieve DIY Haircuts That Don’t Suck
We’ve all been victims of haircut by mom gone wrong (if you were alive in the 80s, the words “bowl cut” send cold shivers down your spine). Thank the hair gods some Shark Tank-approved genius invented this CreaClip professional hair cutting tool set for better at-home haircuts. Now you can cut your own bangs, long layers and kids’ trims without looking like a hack job thanks to the “clip – slide – cut” tools that have a built-in level! We’ve come a long way, babies.