We’re right at the start of temptation-laden gifting season, but our own recent purchases were largely practical – from sporty swimsuits for summer to fancy toothpaste.

As always, this is a strictly #gifted free zone – we bought everything here with our own hard-earned cash and genuinely think you might like them too. Keep scrolling for our personal recommendations.

‍Catnip Magazine, $70, from Better with Friends‍

It’s a magazine about cat culture, of course I bought this. I rarely buy print these days, but I had to have this 216-page dream magazine from the minds behind such niche titles as Broccoli (“a magazine for cannabis lovers”) and Mushroom People (“a magazine for mycophiles”). Photographer and fellow cat lover Rebecca Zephyr Thomas had mentioned it to me ages ago, as she had shot for them and knew I would be obsessed; I’ve been waiting for its first issue to be released ever since. 

I couldn’t find it in NZ, and the shipping from its website was… extortionate, but eventually tracked one down from a store in Melbourne — and it is all I hoped it would be. This is what print needs to do to stay relevant, imo: embrace something extremely specific, approach it in a genuinely unique way and really play with the physicality of the medium (this has inserts, die cuts, other playful treatments). If anyone would like to fund a local cat magazine, I would happily edit it. - Zoe Walker Ahwa

‍La Roche Posay Effaclar Micro Peeling Purifying Gel, $27 

Not a ‘nice thing’ tbh, but I have two teenage sons and am desperately trying to teach them about the importance of washing your face. I had started them off with a three-step routine but realised pretty they were more aligned with my husband's concept of skincare (none) than mine, and that I was setting them up for failure. So I enlisted the advice of my resident skincare tragic Tyson Beckett, who suggested this cleanser that also contains salicylic acid, so could act like a really good 2 in 1. - Rebecca Wadey

Marks and Spencer swimsuit, $91

Relative to the amount of time I spend compiling shopping pages, I buy relatively few clothes. I lust after lots, but can (thankfully) afford very little. However, the time between spotting these bright blue togs on the Marks and Spencer website and clicking add to

cart would be counted in seconds, not minutes.

I was drawn to the bright blue shade and sporty zip, but the sensible coverage also appeals to my inner prude (to give you a feel for their target market; multiple reviews online attest to how well this style fared during aqua aerobics classes). These ones, with vaguely Mara Hoffman looking colour blocking, also caught my eye. Now to just work on my fear of the ocean and block out chatter about this being ‘the summer of sharks’. - Tyson Beckett

Marvis whitening mint toothpaste, $22

I ended up in a deep dive of The Strategist's celebrity recommendations (Amy Sedaris' is the pinnacle), and for some reason Amanda Seyfried's pick of this fancy toothpaste convinced me to buy it. The packaging is unbearably chic, to the point where I am hesitant to actually use it; it might also be the $22 price for a small tube of toothpaste… - ZWA

Marle hat, $180

Recently we had a heated discussion in the office about how almost no one thinks they suit hats, and I realised that just can’t be true of others so it can’t be for me either. At the end of 2021, before I was an official part of the Ensemble team, I got invited to a ‘meeting’ at Rebecca’s house where we sat, socially distanced, by her pool and drank gin and tonics and talked about work things. I was the odd one out because I was the only person not sporting a big, floppy hat. Two years later I'm part of the team -  contractually and sartorially. - TB

Academy Cinema private hire, $518

The reason I ‘can’t afford’ clothes? I choose instead to do fiscally irresponsible but very fun things like spend $500 on the private hire of a movie theatre. I did this recently with the boutique (16 seat) cinema at Academy for my brother’s very chill stag do and could not recommend it more.

They will play any film you provide on Blu-ray (Leroy chose Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift). Even though you could just watch a Blu-ray at home and save yourself half a grand, that’s nowhere near as frivolous and you also don’t get martinis and hash brown platters delivered to your seat in the living room. -TB

Reductress “More of a Weed Person” beer cooler, $26

This is a way of testing if my husband engages in my content; I bought this for him for Christmas. I’m one of those basic bitches who thinks that every Reductress post is written especially for her, so love this chance to own a piece of their art in my home (under the guise of Christmas gift-giving). - RW

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears, $55; Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and Power on the Internet by Taylor Lorenz, $51; Excommunicated by Craig Hoyle, $40

I’m trying to save money at the moment; I’ve done a great job, mostly, but turns out I’m channelling my shopping endorphins into books. I can’t be made to feel guilty for keeping authors and booksellers in business, right?

Britney needs no explanation, but 10/10 would recommend to anyone on the fence. Taylor Lorenz, Washington Post writer on internet culture, has done a thorough retelling of the rise of the internet, social media and influencer culture through a feminist lens, and I can’t wait to get stuck my colleague Craig Hoyle’s presumably harrowing account of living in and escaping from the Brethren Church. - RW

‍Kmart handbag holder, $14

I find it near impossible to leave Kmart without some kind of storage item, and this was the latest spontaneous buy. It’s actually genius because, who really knows how to store handbags?! Another storage purchase this month: a pill organiser. This was an attempt to actually take my supplements each day; so far, it’s working. - ZWA