The REAL SIMPLE Best & Brightest

Is it just me, or is America getting...shoppier? Lately everywhere I look, someone’s trying to sell me something. They’re pitching me on Instagram, or I’m being upsold by that “Frequently Bought Together” list on Amazon, or the company I gave my number to for a discount is texting me about a new “can’t-miss” sale. Thanks to all these semi-bespoke bots matching me algorithmically with products, temptation abounds to acquire, well, more. I actually love shopping, but the idea of filling my home with junk does not appeal. What I’m looking for, and maybe you are too, is the good stuff. The things I really want or truly need.

The June issue is all about that good stuff because—here’s my unabashed flex—REAL SIMPLE is aces at product recommendations. Our gift guides are world-class; our Clever Items are beloved. Our beauty picks are based on science, with proven ingredients and dermatologist-backed advice. We never miss, because we have the taste, the access, the editors, and our excellent testing labs.

That all culminates in our June 2024 issue, which we’re calling Best and Brightest. It’s filled with the products, the people (hi, Busy!), and the ideas we’re currently crushing on, and nearly every page is shoppable. We've even created a Pinterest board with links to products, where inspiration meets action.

As always, we stand by every single item in here. Anything with our REAL SIMPLE Selects seal has been rigorously tested in one of our three labs, our own homes, or both. (We spend almost 50,000 hours a year evaluating products—more than 5,200 items so far!) The rest has been thoroughly vetted by our editors, who have decades of experience among them. You probably don’t need another source yelling at you to buy something. But we’re not just another source. We’re REAL SIMPLE.

The Best: Products

Everything on this list has earned the REAL SIMPLE Selects seal, which is not given out to just anything. Nope. We have three powerhouse testing labs in New York City, Des Moines, and Birmingham that span over 100,000 square feet and more than 50 test kitchens. And over the past two years, we’ve spent nearly 50,000 hours testing thousands of products. We’ve spread mud across tiles and cleaned it up, dropped containers full of soup from various distances, tested air quality, and so on. Then, in many cases, we brought top-performers home and into the real world for further testing. With all the data points in mind, we make our official product recommendations. These are some of our current faves that get two thumbs up—and, yes, that coveted seal. 

Our Cover Star: Busy Philipps

Who belongs on the cover of a magazine when the issue theme is Best & Brightest? Busy Philipps, of course! The actress-slash-author-slash-advocate-slash-multihyphenate has literally gone on the record as being sparkly! Of course, she’s not wrong. There’s something just so fizzy and lovely about her. If you follow her on Instagram, you’ll totally agree. (If you don’t, you should! She uses the platform to talk about anything and everything including—but not limited to—new haircuts, her ADHD, bigger world issues, and dogs.) We caught up with her on a sunny day in Los Angeles to talk about her Insta account, her new partnership with the American Civil Liberty Union’s Artist Ambassador Program, personality hangovers, and more. 

The Brightest: People, Ideas & a Few More Things

And everything on this list is, well, flat out awesome. To make it, we started with a crucial first step—a brainstorm doc. Everyone on the REAL SIMPLE staff made their nominations and we looked to see where there was overlap. Next, we weighed and we debated and we whittled. Ultimately, we’re pretty pumped about how it came out. The people, products, and ideas on this page are seriously giving us life right now. Scroll through!