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Jamie Dimon 2019

Summary List Placement

Wall Street earnings season is about to get into full swing.

Big US banks are set to give fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 results in the coming days. Goldman Sachs is also planning on giving an update on a multi-year plan it laid out at its first-ever investor day last year.

Executives will lay out key drivers of their businesses and could shed insight on expectations and initiatives for the year ahead. While the fourth-quarter results will likely look brutal compared to the year-earlier period, thanks to factors like higher loan-loss provisions, lower fee-based revenue, and a less favorable interest-rate environment, bank watchers are thinking less about what kind of damage the coronavirus pandemic has already wrought and more about what lies ahead.

Meanwhile, bank stocks have been on a tear in recent weeks after struggling for much of 2020. The KBW Bank Index, which is a benchmark of banking-sector stocks, has risen some 35% since promising COVID-19 vaccine results were announced in early November.

"The market's finally appreciating that an economic recovery is going to lead to higher profitability for the US banking sector, driven by lower credit costs, possibly wider margins, and fundamental loan growth led by the consumer, and that's now showing up in stock prices," Gerard Cassidy, head of US bank equity strategy at RBC, told Insider.

Still, any economic recovery could have some drawbacks when it comes to banks growing their loan books. If the economy is doing better, some reason, banks might see loan volume fall, not rise. It's a tradeoff banks might expect in the new year as credit losses ease, D.A. Davidson equity analyst David Konrad told Insider.

Key to the story as well, of course, are interest rates. Net interest margin, or the difference between the interest banks charge borrowers and the interest they pay on deposits, is a key profitability metric. These margins collapsed this year as the Federal Reserve cut rates to near zero at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but could be bolstered if a strong economic recovery takes hold, inflation expectations pick up, and longer-term interest rates begin to rise.

"If the curve stays where it is today, we see less downward pressure on the margin. But if it increases, we think there could be actual margin expansion for the group by the end of the year," said RBC's Cassidy.

It's not so much that the Fed might raise its benchmark rate in the near term — the Fed has signaled that a rate hike might be off the table until 2023— but rather that a steepening yield curve could play out favorably for banks.

"If the yield curve steepening, if the long end of the curve really blowing out, is a sign that the economic environment is materially improving and that we're on a sustained path towards economic growth, then it makes sense that the yield curve steepening would have a very positive impact on banks," UBS analyst Saul Martinez told Insider. "That's an environment where loan growth picks up. That's an environment where credit costs come down because the economy is doing well."

When it comes to investment banking and sales and trading divisions, things should look pretty good. Trading revenues are generally expected to rise year-on-year, but could come back to earth a bit when compared to the third quarter's blowout results. Meanwhile, equity capital markets revenue is expected to come in strong for the fourth quarter. And with a big slate of 2021 IPOs still to come, that could very well continue.

When it comes to loan quality, that's perhaps the biggest question mark. Keep an eye on how banks adjust their loan-loss provisions, and what kind of outlook they give.

Here's a rundown of key dates to know, and what to look for in the first batch of results when JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citi, and Bank of America report.

When are fourth-quarter 2020 bank results? Here's a rundown of the big bank earnings calendar:

Friday, January 15

JPMorgan:earnings release ~7:00 a.m. ET, analyst conference call 8:30 a.m. ET
Wells Fargo: earnings release ~7:00 a.m. ET, analyst conference call 10:00 a.m. ET
Citigroup: earnings release ~8:00 a.m. ET, analyst conference call 11:30 a.m. ET

Tuesday, January 19

Bank of America: earnings release ~6:45 a.m. ET, analyst conference call 8:30 a.m. ET
Goldman Sachs: earnings release ~7:30 a.m. ET, analyst conference call 9:30 a.m. ET

Wednesday, January 20

Morgan Stanley: earnings release ~7:30 a.m. ET, analyst conference call 8:30 a.m. ET

Citi: a flurry of new shakeups, and all eyes on what's next when Jane Fraser takes the reins

As the exit of Citi CEO Mike Corbat approaches in February, industry-watchers will be keeping an eye out to get a clearer sense of the leadership style that his successor, Jane Fraser, intends to bring in.

"I think she hasn't been very visible," Jason Goldberg, an equity analyst at Barclays who covers large-cap banks, told Insider. "We certainly would expect that to change dramatically this year."

It would be beneficial, Goldberg said, for investors to get a sense of "what to expect, and how she's going to go about examining their businesses, their profitability metrics," and how she's going to try to close the gap between Citi and some of its peers.

On last quarter's earnings call, a group of analysts including Mike Mayo of Wells Fargo and Erica Natarajan of Bank of America peppered Corbat with pointed questions about his leadership of the bank, why he didn't immediately resign instead of announcing his forthcoming departure in 2021, and whether Citi had similarities with embattled Wells Fargo.

RBC's Cassidy said the key issue to watch as Fraser steps into her new CEO role at Citi will be whether she looks to trim the bank's global footprint and bring some of its success abroad back home.

"Even though from an asset standpoint and the global footprint, Citi is very large, when it comes to consumer banking in the United States, outside of credit cards, it doesn't have the size of its peers. So it will be interesting to see if she tries to bring in the global footprint in there," Cassidy said.

Nonetheless, among Fraser's chief tasks as CEO will be to get a handle on a regulatory consent order requiring the bank to fix its risk systems, as well as the fallout from Citi's mistaken $900 million payment to Revlon creditors in August. But it's likely bank watchers will give Fraser a moment to settle in.

"I also want to give her a little bit of time. She has the advantage from Charlie in the sense that she's been there for an extended period of time," D.A. Davidson's Konrad said, comparing Fraser to Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf, who stepped into his current role in 2019 after stints at the helm of Visa and BNY Mellon.

Citi had a number of big leadership announcements this week. It's forming a new wealth management division that will be led by Citi veteran Jim O'Donnell, according to a memo to employees on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Citi named Shahmir Khaliq as its head of treasury and trade solutions (TTS), effective immediately. Though it flies under the radar, TTS has for years been the industry leader in transaction banking and one of Citi's most powerful drivers of profit and growth.

The group, considered the backbone of the company by top execs, manages everyday cash and borrowing concerns for the largest companies — think Walmart, Boeing, and Microsoft — and government organizations across more than 100 countries. Net margins are wide, and revenues hit $10.3 billion in 2019, up 37% in five years.

But in 2020, as trade flows were disrupted amid the pandemic and companies spent less on their corporate credit cards, the unit saw average loan volumes fall 7% through the third quarter to $67.1 billion, while deposits soared 21% to $150.1 billion.

Meanwhile, Anand Selva, who previously was CEO of Citi's US consumer bank, has taken over for Fraser as head of global consumer banking at Citi.

And on Tuesday, Citi announced a handful of senior promotions for its consumer bank. In a memo, Selva announced that Gonzalo Luchetti, head of consumer banking in Asia Pacific and EMEA, would become head of US consumer banking, effective Feb. 1. And David Chubak, head of US retail banking, and Craig Vallorano, head of Citi Retail Services, will swap roles starting May 1.

Mark Mason, Citi's CFO, had said in September that the bank viewed the Revlon incident as a chance to make changes.

"We recognize that errors like this are unacceptable. And we also recognize that eliminating these types of manual touch points is a significant opportunity for us," Mason said at the time.

Read more Citi news:

JPMorgan: keep an eye on growth in credit cards, buyback commentary

JPMorgan Chase, which holds the largest asset base and market capitalization among all US banks, is somewhat of an industry signaller when it comes to moves like stock buybacks, which the Federal Reserve recently reauthorized in December.

At a Goldman Sachs industry conference in December prior to the Fed decision, Dimon said JPMorgan had "tons of excess capital" and pledged to buy back stock should the regulatory restrictions be lifted.

Given the lifting of those restrictions, US banks overall now plan to conduct more than $10 billion in share repurchases in the first quarter of 2021, Bloomberg reported. JPMorgan's board has signed off on the bank buying back up to $30 billion in 2021, up from the $24 billion it bought back in 2019.

UBS' Martinez doesn't see a ton of holes in the road ahead for JPMorgan, meanwhile, as the bank continues to boost its credit card business and cross-sell between its banking and card products.

"The cards business has consistently been taking market share" and the bank has been "effective in terms of being able to sell banking products to their card customers," Martinez told Insider. "From a business standpoint, I don't see why they wouldn't be able to continue that momentum in a better economic and banking environment."

One question that has for years loomed over JPMorgan is the retirement timeline for the long-time CEO Dimon. That being said, some analysts aren't convinced that Dimon is heading for the exit in the near future.

"I don't see Jamie Dimon retiring anytime soon," said RBC's Cassidy.

Read more JPMorgan news:

Wells Fargo: strategic update, details on investment banking push

To say Charlie Scharf, a one-time protege to JPMorgan's Jaime Dimon, has had his hands full since taking the helm of Wells Fargo in 2019 is an understatement.

The bank has announced a flurry of restructuring efforts and expense cuts since Scharf took over, all while dealing with its own consent orders and an asset cap imposed by the Federal Reserve following a phony account scandal that first emerged in 2016.

On Wells' most recent earnings call, and at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in December, Scharf said that the bank planned to give a strategic update and more details on its expected 2021 expenses in January.

Most recently, Wells spun off its $10 billion student loan book to buyers reported to include Apollo and Blackstone. It's also reportedly exploring the sale of its asset-management arm, which could fetch a price tag in the neighborhood of $3 billion dollars.

"They're a big company just on the edge of just trying to get a bit more focused. They've combed through the portfolio and are just looking to jettison things that aren't core to what they do, core to their customer base and where they have some sort of competitive advantage," Barclays' Goldberg told Insider.

So far, the executive's plans have been generally well-received by Wall Street analysts, even if Wells' stock price has lagged competitors. It's mainly a question of whether it will be enough to boost the bank, and how quickly that might happen.

"They'll have success in downsizing and restructuring the company. They'll have the asset cap eventually lifted and the company will get back up on its feet. The question is, is it going to take six months or is it going to take three years?" said RBC's Cassidy.

DA Davidson analysts wrote in their note that they see Wells' recent sale of its student-loan business and the potential that it could also offload its investment-management and corporate trust businesses as a plus.

Meanwhile, the fourth-biggest US bank by assets has also expressed an interest in bulking up the part of the firm that handles dealmaking and trading.

Though relatively small in those businesses compared to, say, a JPMorgan, Wells Fargo early last year unveiled a new financial reporting structure that broke out its corporate and investment bank, which had previously been housed in Wells' wholesale banking division, into its own business line.

It also named Jon Weiss, who had been running wealth and investment management, as CEO of the new CIB. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Wells is now looking to grow its market share in M&A and underwriting.

Part of that push could come from doing more deals with middle-market companies, but Wells isn't the first bank to have that idea. Others, including Bank of America, have already been making similar efforts.

Read more Wells Fargo news:

Bank of America: eyes on reserve releases, while seeing if tech bets pay off

Bank of America, meanwhile, is a prime example of how analysts view the benefits of banking at scale in the new year.

"We expect large, tech-oriented banks to show among the best medium-term operating leverage," Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a note in January.

Investments in digital technology should also be a boost for Bank of America, said Martinez at UBS.

"They've been investing in technology quite a bit and being very proactive in terms of looking at the client relationship in its totality, as opposed to looking at individual products. There has been maybe a little bit more of an uneven performance across the franchise than at JPMorgan, but in retail banking they're certainly at the top of the food chain," he told Insider.

Like most of Wall Street watchers, Morgan Stanley analysts pointed out in a note that they'd like to see further clarification from the bank on the "trajectory of forward reserve releases."

It's a question that will hound most of the banks this earnings season – as the pace of the economic recovery from the pandemic picks up, to what extent will banks feel comfortable winding down their loan loss provisions and letting go of reserves?

Read more Bank of America news:

powerful women 2021

Summary List Placement

From the boardroom to Hollywood and the floor of the House of Representatives, women today are making their presence known.

In 2021, the wage gap may still exist between men and women — and even more so between different racial groups — but with movements such as #MeToo and Time's Up maintaining momentum and more women involved in politics than ever before, women are also more powerful than ever.

On January 20, Senator Kamala Harris will be sworn in as the first female and first Black and South Asian vice president. President-elect Joe Biden has also recently nominated a number of women to cabinet posts.

Here are just some of the most powerful women in the world in 2021.

Kamala Harris, vice president-elect

Kamala Harris made history in August 2020 as the first woman and first Black and South Asian woman to accept the vice-presidential nomination alongside former Vice President Joe Biden. Harris, a United States senator for California, also previously served as the attorney general of California.

After being confirmed as vice president-elect on November 7, Kamala Harris addressed the nation from Wilmington, Delaware, saying, "While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities."

Harris also spoke out against the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol in January 2021 and the police response, saying, "We witnessed two systems of justice when we saw one that let extremists storm the United States Capitol, and another that released tear gas on peaceful protesters last summer ...We know this is unacceptable. We know we should be better than this."

Jill Biden, future first lady

After Joe Biden is confirmed as president of the United States on January 20, Jill Biden will become the first lady. Jill Biden previously served as the second lady under the Obama administration and has worked as an educator throughout her life — a role she will continue even when she moves to the White House.

Her areas of interest as the second lady included working with and advocating for military families, highlighting the importance of community college education, and women's issues ranging from breast cancer prevention and gender equality in the United States and abroad.

Susan Rice, domestic policy council leader and former national security adviser to President Obama

A former national security adviser to President Obama, Susan Rice was reportedly considered for the post of President-elect Joe Biden's vice presidential nominee. However, it was recently announced that the former Obama admin would instead be tapped to lead the Domestic Policy Council or DPC.

When announcing Rice's position, Biden said she will work to "align domestic policy, economic policy, and national security unlike ever before,"according to NBC.

Kristen Clarke, nominee for assistant attorney general for the civil rights division of the Department of Justice

Kristen Clarke led the National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee) as president and executive director prior to being nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to the position of assistant attorney general for civil rights.

Previously, she served as the head of the Civil Rights Bureau for the New York State Attorney General's Office and worked in the areas of voting rights and election law at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Following the siege of the Capitol by Trump supporters on January 7, Clarke tweeted, "This job is about justice. It's about equality. And under our DOJ, we'll move closer to the TRUE meaning of equal justice under law."

Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Nancy Pelosi entered politics in 1987 after winning a special election in California's eighth congressional district, which includes San Francisco. In 2002, Pelosi was chosen to be the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives.

In 2006, after Democrats took control of both the House and the Senate, Pelosi became speaker of the House. She was a critic of President George W. Bush's stance on the war in Iraq and a proponent of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act.

In 2010, the Democrats lost the House and Pelosi became minority leader once again. In January 2019, the Democrats regained control of the House and Pelosi was reinstated as speaker. Pelosi became a vocal critic of President Trump and led the impeachment trial against him.

On January 3, 2021, Pelosi was re-elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives by a narrow 216-209 vote.

Kathrin Jansen, head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer

The race to find the first effective and safe vaccine for coronavirus captured the nation's attention in 2020, and one of the most powerful players in the search for the vaccine was none other than Kathrin Jansen, head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer.

Beginning in March 2020, Jansen led a team of 650 experts, in collaboration with German startup BioNTech, to develop a successful vaccine against COVID-19.

"She's exactly who you want in that position. She fights for the vaccines she thinks are important," Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said, according to STAT. "People who think pharmaceutical companies are evil should spend time with people like Kathrin Jansen."

Queen Elizabeth II, monarch of the United Kingdom

As the longest-reigning monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II has held a place of power on the world stage for over 65 years. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey, when she was just 27. For the first time, the coronation was broadcast globally.

Queen Elizabeth has four children — Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. Charles was made the Queen's official successor in 1969 after he was granted the title of the Prince of Wales. Queen Elizabeth II is currently 94 years old, and though the monarchy does not typically interfere with political matters, the Queen meets regularly with her prime ministers.

Greta Thunberg, climate activist

Though Greta Thunberg is only 17 years old, the young Swedish activist has started a worldwide movement for climate change and is undoubtedly one of the most powerful female forces in the world today. Named Time's Person of the Year in 2019, Thunberg started out by holding school strikes for climate change outside of the Swedish parliament as a way to call attention to climate change.

Thunberg made national headlines in September 2019 when, after being invited to speak at the United Nations' Climate Action Summit, she traveled from Sweden to New York City on a zero-emissions yacht. Accompanied by her father and a supporting crew, the journey took two weeks to complete.

While at the UN Climate Action Summit, Thunberg delivered her now-famous "How Dare You" speech in front of leaders, lawmakers, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I'm one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing,"she said. "We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"

Since then, Thunberg has attended many climate protests and delivered a number of powerful speeches.

Melinda Gates, cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The wife of Microsoft cofounder and billionaire Bill Gates, Melinda Gates is a powerhouse in her own right. She started working as a product manager at Microsoft in 1987, where she met her would-be husband. One of the products she worked on during her time at the company included Expedia, a budget-friendly travel resource.

In 1994, Bill and Melinda Gates started the William H. Gates Foundation with the goal of placing computers and Microsoft products in libraries across the country. In 1999, the foundation was blended with the Gates Library Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation to form the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The charitable foundation seeks to improve education and help solve global poverty and health issues. In 2012, Melinda donated a whopping $560 million towards efforts to increase access to contraception for women in developing countries.

In 2015, President Barack Obama presented both Bill and Melinda Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their philanthropic work.

Oprah Winfrey, media executive, actress, television producer, and philanthropist

Oprah Winfrey is best known for her award-winning talk show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show,"which was on the air from 1986 to 2011. By the end of the show's first year on television, it had grossed $125 million, $30 million of which went to Winfrey.

Oprah's show was well-respected in a television landscape where many talk shows focused on tabloid topics and over-the-top-drama. Winfrey's personable interviewing style continued to attract viewers, as did her two most famous segments, "Oprah's Book Club" and "Oprah's Favorite Things."

Oprah was the first black female billionaire and became a generous philanthropist. Winfrey has advocated for girls' education across the world and Oprah's Angel Network has raised more than $50 million for charitable programs.

Oprah has also acted in famous Hollywood films such as "The Color Purple,""The Butler," and "Beloved."

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook

Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the best-selling book "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead." Before becoming Facebook's COO in March 2008, Sandberg served as Google's vice president of global online sales and operations.

As Facebook's COO, she turned the company around. Facebook, which previously suffered a $56 million loss, improved and made $22.1 billion in profits in 2018 under Sandberg's leadership. Sandberg also increased Facebook's ad revenue by 38% after touting the social media service as an advertising platform for small businesses.

Sandberg became the first female member of the company's board of directors in 2012. In 2014, Sandberg ended up on Forbes' billionaire list due to her high stake in Facebook. Her current net worth is $1.9 billion.

Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube

Formerly Google's senior vice president in charge of marketing, Susan Wojcicki has served as video-sharing website YouTube's CEO since 2014, the longest-tenured CEO in the history of the website.

In 2000, Wojcicki enabled Google to make revenue off its famous search engine by introducing AdWords, clickable text-only advertisements that appear on Google search pages. She later launched AdSense which revolutionized how businesses and other ad purchasers used Google across the web.

Wojcicki now leads YouTube, which reportedly has more than one billion monthly users.

Shonda Rhimes, award-winning writer and producer

Shonda Rhimes is an award-winning television writer and producer. She is the creator of "Grey's Anatomy," the longest-running medical drama on television. Premiering in 2005, the show is currently in its 17th season and won Rhimes a Golden Globe for best television series.

Rhimes is also the creator of "Scandal," which aired for seven seasons, "How to Get Away With Murder," and the 2021 drama series "Bridgerton."

Rhimes is a supporter and co-creator of the Times Up movement, which seeks to promote gender equality at studios and talent agencies and to pressure lawmakers into introducing legislation that would penalize companies that tolerate persistent sexual or gender-based harassment.

"It's very hard for us to speak righteously about the rest of anything if we haven't cleaned our own house," Rhimes told the New York Times. "If this group of women can't fight for a model for other women who don't have as much power and privilege, then who can?"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, representative for New York's 14th congressional district

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, often referred to as AOC, shook up the American political sphere with her election to Congress in 2018 when she defeated 10-term New York Democrat incumbent Joe Crowley, "the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House," according to Biography.

She is the youngest woman to ever be elected to Congress and is an active member of the Democratic Socialists of America and a Bernie Sanders supporter. She is also a proponent and co-author of the "Green New Deal," a congressional resolution that aims to provide a resolution to climate change.

During her term as a congresswoman, Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out on hot-button issues like abortion and border control, as well as cybersecurity and climate change.

Ivanka Trump, senior advisor to President Trump

Ivanka Trump is an American businesswoman, author, and former real estate developer known for being the daughter of 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, as well as gus senior advisor.

Trump has been criticized for her access to political figures and appearances at political events since her father's election in 2016, despite having no political experience.

In March 2017, Ivanka Trump announced she would become an unpaid employee of the White House.

"I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the President in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules, and I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees," Trump said in a statement. "Throughout this process, I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role."

As President Trump's term nears an end, sources told CNN that Ivanka Trump is considering a move to Florida in order to launch a political career of her own.

Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank

Christine Lagarde is a French lawyer and politician. She was the first woman to serve as France's finance minister, from 2007 to 2011. She later became the managing director of the International Monetary Fund from 2011 to 2019, and now serves as president of the European Central Bank.

Lagarde, despite being an influential financial player in France, has been involved in a few controversies throughout her career. She is a critic of France's shortened 35-hour workweek, and also advocated for debt relief during Greece's ongoing financial crisis.

In December 2016, Lagarde was found guilty of negligence after being involved in a dispute concerning Bernard Tapie, who claimed that the state-owned Crédit Lyonnais had defrauded him. The lender had reportedly sold his stock in Adidas in 1993.

In 2018, Lagarde ordered the case to arbitration and Tapie was awarded a whopping €403 million (then valued at $524 million) which caused an uproar.

Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany

Now one of the most recognizable female leaders in the world, Merkel entered politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Merkel joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party and was soon after appointed to serve in the cabinet of Helmut Kohl, the chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998, as minister for women and youth.

She later served as minister for the environment and nuclear safety and secretary-general of the CDU. In 2005, Merkel was narrowly elected German chancellor by just three seats. She became Germany's first female chancellor and the first former citizen of the German Democratic Republic to lead Germany after it was reunited. Merkel was also instrumental in the formation of the European Union.

In 2018, Merkel stepped down as chair of the CDU. Merkel is currently serving her fourth term as chancellor but has announced she will not seek reelection as chancellor in 2021. However, she continued to be a major voice on the world stage.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen is a German politician best known as the first woman to serve as Germany's minister of defense as well as the first woman to be elected president of the European Commission.

During her time as minister of defense, von der Leyen called for increased military spending in order to improve the state of Germany's defense system, in which many tanks and other military objects were not deployable.

Cynthia Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks

As CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, Cynthia Marshall is the first black woman to serve as the business leader of an NBA team. Prior to joining the Mavericks in 2018, Marshall worked with AT&T for 36 years as a proponent of inclusion and diversity.

Marshall was previously named one of Adweek's 30 Most Powerful Women in Sports and is an advocate for women's rights through her "HASU," Help A Sister Up, philosophy.

Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of the General Motors Company

Mary Barra has served as GM's CEO since 2014. According to Forbes, Barra has invested billions over the years in electric vehicles, self-driving cars, and ride-share service Maven. In 2018, Barra earned $21.9 million, the highest compensation of any leader of a Detroit Big Three automaker.

GM has ranked extraordinarily for its gender equality practices — it is one of only two global businesses that have no gender pay gap, according to Forbes. Barra is the first female CEO of GM, and the first woman to lead a major automaker.

Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin

In 2018, Marillyn Hewson was No. 1 on Fortune's list of the world's most powerful women. Hewson has led aerospace and defense company, Lockheed Martin, as its CEO since 2013.

According to a previous Business Insider profile on Hewson, Fortune credited the CEO with having placed Lockheed Martin in "the sweet spot to cater to the modern military's needs" and with "leading the charge to develop hypersonic weapons."

Forbes reports that under Hewson's watch, Lockheed Martin's stock has surged more than 300% and the company is on the brink of developing an innovative, supersonic aircraft that breaks the sound barrier without a sonic boom.

Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle

Safra Catz became the sole CEO of Oracle in September 2019, when her co-CEO Mark Hurd stepped down. One month later, Hurd passed away. Catz had served as co-CEO since 2014 when Oracle founder Larry Ellison stepped down.

Catz is known for her aggressive acquisition moves — during her time at Oracle, she has closed more than 100 deals. Her net worth is currently $1.2 billion, according to Forbes.

Ruth Porat, CFO of Google's parent company Alphabet

As the chief financial officer of Google's parent company, Alphabet, Porat cut spending on divisions that didn't provide significant revenue for the company.

According to Forbes, Porat was one of just a few top female executives who participated in the Google Walkout for Real Change, which protested incidents and mishandling of sexual harassment and misconduct.

Porat has also spoken out on the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace, saying, "If you can get cars to self-drive, why can't we solve this?"

Sonia Sotomayor, United States Supreme Court justice

Sonia Sotomayor was appointed to the United States Supreme Court by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009. She is the first Latina woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

Sotomayor has been involved in multiple landmark cases, including King v. Burwell, which upheld a component of the Affordable Care Act, and Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states. She supported upholding the under-fire aspect of Obamacare and also voted to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

Elizabeth Warren, senator from Massachusetts

Elizabeth Warren is a Democrat from Massachusetts who was elected to the US Senate in 2012. In 2019, Warren announced she would be running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.

Warren is a first-generation college graduate, earning her law degree from Rutgers University. In 2008, Warren led the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and in 2012 she defeated incumbent Republican Scott Brown to win her Senate seat.

During the 2016 election, she campaigned for Hillary Clinton, saying, "On one side is a man who inherited a fortune from his father and kept it going by cheating people and skipping out on debts. On the other side is one of the smartest, toughest, most tenacious people on the planet — a woman who fights for children, for women, for health care, for human rights, a woman who fights for all of us, and who is strong enough to win those fights."

In 2019, Warren became one of the most prominent Democrats to announce their bid for the presidential race. Warren outlined her policies and announced a $20.5 trillion plan to fund "Medicare for all," a healthcare initiative first proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders. However, on March 10, 2020, Warren removed herself from the race.

Ilhan Omar, representative for Minnesota's fifth congressional district

Ilhan Omar is the first Somali American to serve in Congress. A former refugee, Omar along with Rashida Tlaib are the first two Muslim-American women to serve in Congress after being elected in January 2019. The election of Omar, who wears a hijab, to the House of Representatives resulted in Congress changing its rules regarding headwear.

Ilhan Omar is a member of what people refer to as the "Squad"— four freshmen congresswomen: Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Despite coming under fire for reportedly anti-Semitic remarks and other comments that critics said made light of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Omar stands for what many see as diversity in the American political system.

Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand

Ardern first became associated with the country's Labour Party when she was 17, at which time she became involved in politics and the reelection campaign of Harry Duynhoven, a Labour Party member of parliament, according to Brittanica.

Ardern later entered the House of Representatives as its youngest member when she was 28 years old and, in 2017, became the leader of the Labour Party. In October 2017, at just 37 years old, Jacinda Ardern became the youngest prime minister of New Zealand in more than 150 years.

Ardern has been praised for her administration's quick and aggressive response to the coronavirus pandemic by issuing a nationwide lockdown and halting foreign visitation to New Zealand in mid-March. New Zealand is now considered "COVID-free," and only 25 people have died from coronavirus in the country.

Katrin Jakobsdottir, prime minister of Iceland

Katrin Jakobsdottir has served as the prime minister of Iceland since 2017. Before becoming prime minister, Jakobsdottir served as chairperson of the Left-Green Movement after being elected in 2013. She is Iceland's second female prime minister after Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir and does not support Iceland joining the European Union.

Jakobsdottir is an environmentalist and aims to make the country carbon neutral by 2040.

Serena Williams, professional tennis player

Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and four Olympic gold medals for tennis, making her one of the most accomplished female tennis players of all time. Williams and her sister, Venus, have competed against each other numerous times over their individual careers.

Serena Williams, a proud advocate for women, has won the most Grand Slam singles titles of any man or woman in the Open Arena.

Radhika Jones, editor in chief of Vanity Fair

Radhika Jones succeeded Graydon Carter, Vanity Fair's editor of 25 years, in 2017.

She made Vanity Fair all her own by steering away from glamorous, stylized covers and towards celebrities in a subdued style — Idris Elba in a T-shirt and a leather jacket, Kendrick Lamar in a hoodie, and Michelle Williams in a "conservative sweater," for example.

In an interview with WWD, Jones recounted receiving praise from Donatella Versace about Michelle Williams' cover.

"I had lunch with Donatella Versace, which was great. And she was like, 'I love that Michelle Williams cover. That is what a woman looks like in the modern world,'" she said.

Anna Wintour, editor in chief of Vogue, global chief content officer for Condé Nast, and artistic director for Condé Nast

Anna Wintour may be recognizable for her signature bob hairstyle and sunglasses, but she is also one of the most influential and powerful women in the fashion industry.

In her early career, Wintour moved between the fashion departments of several big-name magazines as their fashion editor. In 1976, Wintour moved to New York and took over as fashion editor at Harper's Bazaar and later took a position at New York magazine.

In 1987, she became chief editor of Condé Nast-owned British Vogue. Just a year later, she took over as editor of American Vogue, revitalizing the magazine and completely shifting the entire industry's approach. Rather than falling back on the supermodels of the 1980s, Wintour suggested that the magazine feature celebrities on its covers.

Wintour has been criticized as being aloof and cold. One of Wintour's former assistants wrote a fictionalized account of her days at Vogue — it would eventually be made into the movie "The Devil Wears Prada," starring Meryl Steep as the overbearing editor in chief and Anne Hathaway as her overworked assistant.

Kylie Jenner, businesswoman and reality TV star

In 2019, Kylie Jenner was named Forbes' youngest-ever self-made billionaire after reaching success through her cosmetics and makeup company, Kylie Cosmetics. The brand first launched in 2015 with the release of her Kylie Lip Kit, which included a liquid lipstick and a lip liner.

Kylie Cosmetics has since expanded rapidly and includes a wide range of cosmetics products. In 2018, Forbes reported that Kylie Cosmetics was valued at $800 million, and in 2019 it was valued at $900 million. Kylie Jenner has also launched a subset of her cosmetics company, Kylie Skin.

Jenner previously owned 100% of her cosmetics brand. However, in November 2019 it was announced that fragrance and cosmetics giant Coty Inc. had purchased a 51% stake in the company for a whopping $600 million.

Much of Kylie Jenner's influence and power comes from her social media presence as well. As of January 2021, Jenner has 208 million followers.

Rihanna, businesswoman and musician

Rihanna first found success in the early 2000s through pop hits like "Unfaithful,""Umbrella,""Disturbia,""Take a Bow," and more. However, more recently, the musician has found mega-success through multiple business ventures, including her makeup line Fenty Beauty, lingerie company Savage X Fenty, and high-fashion clothing line Fenty, which is owned by fashion conglomerate LVMH.

Throughout her career, Rihanna has also been an advocate for women's rights and spoken out against domestic violence, of which she was a victim of during her high-profile relationship with fellow artist Chris Brown.

"This happened to me," she said in an interview with Diane Sawyer. "It can happen to anyone."

Kate McKinnon, "Saturday Night Live" cast member

Kate McKinnon is one of only a few LGBTQ+ actors to be cast on hit comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live," and the first gay woman to be cast since Danitra Vance in the 1980s.

McKinnon won an Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for her work on "SNL." She has been praised for her impersonations of Ellen DeGeneres, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Sessions, and Hillary Clinton, whom she appeared alongside in the 41st season premiere.

Michelle Obama, former lawyer and first lady

During Michelle Obama's time as the first lady, she focused on the issues of poverty, healthy living, and education.

Obama attended Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude in 1985 with an undergraduate degree in sociology. She later attended Harvard Law School. After graduating, she met her future husband, Barack Obama, while practicing as a lawyer at the Chicago firm Sidley Austin. Obama was a summer intern at the time.

Michelle Obama was thrust into the national spotlight after her husband was elected as a senator for Illinois, and he later won the Democratic nomination for president. He served two terms as president, from 2008 to 2016.

Michelle Obama gave a number of powerful speeches during her time as the first lady and is regarded as an excellent public speaker. In 2016, while campaigning for presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention, she seemingly spoke out against Donald Trump and other critics, saying, "When they go low, we go high."

Obama currently works with her husband as leaders of the Obama Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization.

Rivian R1T

Summary List Placement

Rivian wants employees who are passionate, humble, and strong problem-solvers. If you interview with the electric-vehicle startup, demonstrating those qualities will help you leave a strong impression.

Insider asked Cindy Nicola, Rivian's vice president of of talent acquisition, and Helen Russell, the company's chief people officer, what they look for when interviewing job candidates. Their answers revolved around the key traits they seek in potential employees.

These are five ways you can leave a positive impression when interviewing for a job at Rivian.

Show that you've done your homework on the company

Nicola said she wants to see job candidates who have strong interest in Rivian and have researched the company before their interview.

"We want to see that they are prepared and that they are intentionally seeking Rivian out," she said.

Be specific about your accomplishments, but don't make it all about you

To figure out if a job candidate has the skills required for the job they're seeking, Nicola listens for the amount of detail they use to describe the work they've done.

"We want people that are able to be incredibly specific about what they've done," she said. "If you've ever solved a really tough problem, you never forget it."

But that doesn't mean you should ignore contributions made by coworkers. Russell said she pays attention to how often people use "I" and "we" during interviews since Rivian has a very collaborative culture.

"If they use the word 'I' and never use the word 'we' — huge red flag," Russell said.

Ask how the company works before you inquire about vacation days

Russell said she makes note of the kinds of questions job candidates ask her. Your questions should revolve around what it's like to work at Rivian, not how many vacation days you'll receive.

Russell recalled a potential employee she interviewed for a senior-level position whose first question was about the company's benefits plan. It didn't leave a good impression.

"That should be at the end of a long list of questions," Russell said.

It's okay to be vulnerable

Russell said she likes when candidates use examples from their personal lives during interviews, as it indicates they'll be comfortable being themselves in the workplace. She was impressed by one candidate who compared his approach to coaching his son's little-league baseball team to his strategy for leading mergers and acquisitions.

"The interviews that stand out are where people have shared life experiences as examples of a behavioral attribute that I'm trying to get at or something that was impactful to them," Russell said. "That also shows me that they're going to be comfortable showing up as them."

Also, Nicola said, it's good to be honest about your weaknesses and how you're working to improve them. But avoid cliches like "I work too hard."

"I'm not really a fan of that kind of response," Nicola said. "I actually really prefer when someone can be self-aware and be a little bit vulnerable, because we all have stuff to work on."

A follow-up note after the interview helps

Nicola said she wants her team to lead the follow-up process, but it doesn't hurt to demonstrate your interest by sending a note after your interview.

"Normally, we would send a follow-up right away," Nicola said. "And it's just nice when you get an enthusiastic, passionate response back."

Are you a current or former Rivian employee? Do you have a news tip or opinion you'd like to share? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com, on Signal at 646-768-4712, or via his encrypted email address mmatousek@protonmail.com.

Table of Contents: Masthead Sticky

Summary List Placement

A travel backpack packs like a suitcase but is small enough to wear on your back as you trudge through the airport or trek around a new city.
We tested nine of the top travel backpacks and determined that the Tortuga Outbreaker is the best you can buy with its generous capacity, functional organizer pockets, and customizable strap system.
If you're looking for a more traditional suitcase, check out our guide to the best carry-ons.

Basically suitcases you can wear on your back, travel backpacks are the favorite luggage of many a digital nomad, urban explorer, work traveler — and me. When you don't want to pack a carry-on or deal with a rolling suitcase, a good travel backpack is a one-bag solution. With plenty of room to fit all the clothes you need for a short trip plus organizer pockets for tech, accessories, and travel documents, it's a great way to travel light.

To find the best travel backpack, I tested nine of the most popular models on the market for capacity, packability, logical pocket placement, and carry comfort. I wanted packs that felt manageable in size and bulk but still allowed me enough room for all my usual packing needs. I stuck mainly to packs that opened like a suitcase — clamshells, front-loaders, and back-loaders — but I left some room for wildcards. At the end of this guide, you'll find my full testing methodology and a glossary of useful vocabulary to know as you shop for your travel backpack.

The best travel backpacks in 2021

Best overall: Tortuga Outbreaker
Best for short trips: Incase EO
Best for carrying more: Cotopaxi Allpa
Most comfortable to carry: Osprey Fairview/Farpoint
Best duffle-style travel backpack: Timbuk2 Impulse Travel Backpack Duffel

Prices and links are current as of 1/13/20. We are currently testing more affordable travel backpacks to determine the best budget option. We've added those backpacks as well as a luxury option we're researching to the end of this guide in a section called "What we're testing next."

The best overall

With a highly adjustable harness system, multiple utilitarian organizer pockets, and a four-to-five-day packing capacity, the Tortuga Outbreaker is the only bag you'll need when you travel.

Pros: Incredible organizer pockets, so many pockets (did I mention the pockets), fits four-to-five days' worth of gear, padded and fleece-lined tech pocket, adjustable harness system, wide hip belt, two water bottle pockets

Cons: Harness system does not stow

The Tortuga Outbreaker is absolutely loaded with compartments, pockets, and hidden gems. Basically, you can put a lot of stuff in a lot of places, and that's why we love it. We'll start with the basics. The front-loader bag opens to reveal a main compartment flanked by zipper pockets on either side. On the opposite panel are two large mesh compartments that I utilized to pack small items like socks and underwear. I was able to fit four to five days of clothes in here. But where it really excels is in its organizer pockets.

Inside the front panel is a deep organizer pocket with wallet-like divisions for cards and pens, a mesh zipper compartment, and a solid compartment perfect for travel documents. On the exterior of the front panel, you get two more zipper pockets, and you'll find a water bottle pocket on each side of the pack — a rarity for these travel backpacks.

The tech pocket is one of the most impressive at utilizing its space. The back panel zips open and lays flat for easy screening, and it features two well-padded fleece-lined pockets — one for a tablet and one for up to a 17-inch laptop. Opposite that, you'll find three large mesh zipper pockets for storing all your chargers and accessories.

All these pockets really mean you don't have to bother with an additional purse, backpack, or bag. Tortuga's pretty much utilized every inch of space in this backpack.

The suspension system is also impressive in its adjustability. You can move the entire thing, shoulder straps and all, up or down the pack to get the perfect fit for a variety of torso heights. The hip belt is one of the widest I tested and it does a fantastic job of redistributing weight off your shoulders — though, admittedly, it's a little dorky looking. Load lifters on the shoulder straps ensure the bag won't sag off your shoulders, creating pressure points.

One downside to this pack is that the harness system isn't stowable, so you may find things get caught as you try to shove it in the overhead. This bag meets carry-on requirements, by the way.

The Outbreaker is the most expensive pack on this list at $269, but for all you get, I think it's worth it. But if you're not into spending so much money on a travel backpack, you should also consider the Tortuga Setout which goes for $179. It's similar to the Outbreaker, but holds about a day's less gear, features fewer organizer pockets, the harness system is not as adjustable, and the laptop pocket isn't fleece-lined. You'll make some compromises, but you'll also save $90.

The best for short trips

The Incase EO is everything you'll need for short trips. Its main compartment expands to fit up to three days' worth of clothes, and it can easily transition into a day pack to wear while out and about.

Pros: Expands to fit more clothes and contracts to be used as a day pack, lay-flat fleece-lined laptop pocket, organizer pocket has depth for additional storage, carry-on friendly

Cons: Only fits one to three days' worth of stuff, organizer pouches don't zip closed, no hip belt, feels heavy to carry

The Incase EO is the smallest bag on our list by volume, maxing out at 25 liters, but it fits much more than it lets on. It's definitely an overnighter — maybe a weekender if you push it — but it's a well organized little pack that's easily a one-bag solution for light packers and quick trips.

It's also unique among our selections in that it's compressible. Just behind the main zipper is another perimeter zipper that contracts the bag down, effectively transforming it into a day pack.

The main compartment opens front-loader-style, and while it'll fit a couple outfits, you'll also want to utilize the space in the organizer pocket to stash some additional clothes. Instead of a flat organizer pocket, you'll get a couple of inches of depth in addition to some internal flat pouches. The organizer pocket does load from the top, so be sure to load it up with your more wrinkle-resistant items. The pouches within the organizer pocket are open at the top, so anything you put in them will simply drop in. I do wish they had zipper closures for added security.

There's also a small pocket hidden under the grab handle at the top of the bag. It's so well-hidden that I used the bag multiple times before I noticed it was there. It's lined with microfleece, so it's a great place to store sunglasses or other scratchable items.

The tech pocket comprises the entire back panel, and it fully unzips to lie flat for added TSA-friendliness. The laptop pocket is lined with microfleece for extra protection and fits up to a 16-inch laptop. Opposite that is a pouch to slide chargers and other accessories into, though I wish it had a zipper closure and some more pockets to better utilize that space.

Because this pack is smaller, it doesn't come with a hip belt or any way to attach one, and this pack ends up feeling pretty heavy when packed to capacity. But the shoulder straps are well-padded with air mesh, and the sternum strap has some flex to it so it doesn't cut into you while you walk.

Its small size also makes it easy to take on a plane as a carry-on.

The best for carrying more

Three spacious compartments in the Cotopaxi Allpa allow you to pack more than any 35L backpack we tried, and it still manages to stay a streamlined carry. But it does lack in organizational and tech pockets.

Pros: Easily fits five-plus days' worth of gear, has room for both a 15-inch laptop and a tablet, intuitive compartment placement, meets most airline carry-on requirements, comes with a rain cover

Cons: Lacks meaningful organizer pockets, no space for travel documents, tech pocket lacks space for accessories, shoulder straps are not very adjustable, hip belt may hit too high for those with longer torsos

The Cotopaxi Allpa structures 35 liters in such a way that lets you pack a ridiculous amount of stuff. I fit my entire five-day packing list including sneakers, a sweatshirt, and all my outfits. I didn't have to compromise or pack "creatively" or stick socks into pockets where socks didn't belong.

The clamshell design allows the pack to open like a book. On the right, you'll find an undivided expansive compartment. On the left, you'll find two smaller mesh pockets on the top half and a big compartment, half the side of the pack on the bottom. There's also a third compartment of the same size that can be accessed externally at the top of the pack.

A mesh pocket inside this compartment is the only externally accessible organization you'll find on this pack, so we might suggest investing in a travel wallet to store your travel documents.

Accessed by a zipper on the side of the back panel, the tech pocket has a velcro tablet pocket and enough room for a 15-inch laptop, but it lacks accessory pockets. Directly opposite that zipper is a quick-access zipper that lets you reach into the main compartment without unzipping the whole thing. Just don't mix up the tech pocket zipper with the quick-access zipper or you may have a mess on your hands.

The harness system is basic, but the contoured shoulder straps are comfortable, and the removable hip belt is streamlined and effectively distributed load weight. The sternum strap is vertically adjustable so you can get the right fit. And the entire thing is stowable within the back panel for storage and fitting into overhead compartments.

And speaking of overhead compartments, the Cotopaxi Allpa 35L meets all but the strictest airline carry-on requirements.

The most comfortable to carry

The Osprey Fairview/Farpoint is available in two fits with two torso sizes per fit. Each includes a wide hip belt and contoured back panel, making it an incredibly comfortable carry and a great choice for every body type.

Pros: Available in multiple styles for a great fit; wide hip belt, load lifters, and a contoured frame sheet make it very comfortable to carry; compressor straps hide external zippers; entire harness system hides away; carry-on compliant on most airlines; lifetime repair/replace warranty

Cons: Not the most fashionable pack, tech pocket at the front is a bit unusual

Osprey is best known for its larger hiking and backpacking packs, but it takes those utilitarian design elements that make a great large-capacity pack and applies them to smaller travel backpacks like its Fairview/Farpoint line. It results in a pack with a great capacity, logical organization, and the most comfortable harness system I tested.

Osprey offers two different fits, hence the different names. The brand considers the Fairview to be the women's fit and the Farpoint to be the men's fit, but each pack can be worn regardless of gender and may better be assessed based on your body type. The Fairview is better suited for those with smaller torsos and wider hips. The Farpoint is better for taller folks with broader shoulders. I have a small torso, so I went with the Fairview.

Within each fit, there are also two different sizes — measure your torso from the base of your neck to the top of your hips to determine what size pack will suit you best. The ability to get the pack that best fits your body contributes to the comfort of your carry in a big way.

The frame sheet in the back panel is also contoured to help the back hug your lower back and shift the weight of the load away from your shoulders. The hip belt is also wider than the other packs I tested which also makes a difference in redistributing weight.

The harness system is also ergonomically designed and it's one of the few packs on our list with load lifters to keep the pack tight from sagging away from your shoulders. The entire system stows away thanks to a hidden flap that rolls up and zips over the entire thing.

As far as the pack itself, it's a front-loader with one large main packing compartment with internal compressor straps. A combination tech and organizer pocket sits in front of that. It's the only pack we tried where the tech pocket is in the front, which provides less security, but the external compressor straps affix in such a way that completely hides the external zippers so no one can get to them without some serious effort. A quick-grab pocket on the front rounds out the pack.

Osprey Farpoint

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Osprey Fairview

The best duffle-style travel backpack

With one large main compartment, the Timbuk2 Impulse Travel Backpack Duffel lets you pack a ton of stuff however you see fit, and it throws in some small side pockets and a shoe pocket to further up its utility.

Pros: Large capacity with duffle-style design, both internal and external compression straps, carry-on friendly on many airlines, fits 17-inch laptop, rip-stop fabric

Cons: Tech pocket doesn't open flat, overstuffing could lead to lack of carry-on compliance, shoulder straps may be uncomfortable for those with narrow shoulders, lack of organizer pockets, sticky zippers

The Timbuk2 Impulse is the largest backpack on our list by volume at 45 liters, and thanks to its duffle-style design, you really get to utilize all that packing space. Rather than being broken up into smaller compartments, a U-shaped zipper flap reveals one large one that you can pack however you like. On the underside of that flap, you'll find three mesh compartments for organizing your smalls.

It also offers a few friendly details that set it apart from your typical duffle. On either side of the pack — or the top and bottom if you're wearing it — are separate zippered compartments. On the bottom, you'll find a water-resistant compartment for shoes or laundry, and on top is a similarly-sized more flexible compartment. Utilizing either of these compartments will cut into the space available in your main compartment though.

The tech pocket leaves something to be desired. It's accessed by a zipper on the side of the back panel, and though it's spacious enough to fit up to a 17-inch laptop, there are no pockets for accessories, and it doesn't open to lay flat. There's a distinct lack of organizational pockets on this pack and nowhere intuitive to store travel documents, but that's what you get with a duffle-style bag like this one.

The suspension system isn't the most comfortable, but it's perfectly serviceable. I found the shoulder straps to be a bit wideset for my narrow shoulders, but someone broader than me shouldn't have an issue. The sternum strap is vertically adjustable and the hip belt helps disperse the load weight quite well. It felt lighter than some of the smaller-capacity bags I tested, even when fully packed.

The Timbuk2 Impulse is carry-on friendly with many airlines, but if you overpack it, it could easily lose its shape and put you over the limit. The bag does have built-in compression straps both externally and internally that you should absolutely utilize to help the bag stay compact. Overpacking could also lead to sticky zippers, and the zippers on this pack are stiff and the best of times.

The entire harness system can be stowed in the back panel of the pack for stowing it away, but the clips that attach the shoulder straps are dependent on a small metal latch that doesn't seem the most durable. I haven't had an issue with it yet, but I'll update if I do.

What else we tested

Tortuga Setout ($180): The Tortuga Setout is the little sibling of our top pick, the Tortuga Outbreaker. Despite also being a 35L pack, I was able to fit about a day's less gear than the Outbreaker. The Setout's tech pocket is less impressive and it has fewer organizational pockets than the Outbreaker. Its suspension system is also less adjustable, so you make have to live with a slightly less comfortable fit. The distinct advantage, though, is that it's $90 cheaper. You'll make some compromises to save a few bucks, but they're minor compromises at best. This is still a wonderful pack.

Fjallraven Splitpack ($175): The Fjallraven Splitpack has a clamshell construction, but instead of the zipper being around the perimeter, it's up the middle, splitting the pack in half vertically. It's made of the brand's sturdy G-1000 Heavy Duty Eco polyester-cotton blend, and it feels like it's built to stop a speeding train. It holds a ton, but it lacks external organizer pockets and there's nowhere to safely stow a laptop. Poorly padded straps and the absence of a hip belt made it very uncomfortable to carry, and it doesn't meet airline carry-on requirements, so it was disqualified.

Speck Travel Backpack ($150): Speck loaded up this pack with all the bells and whistles including an external USB port and a built-in TSA-approved lock. I was able to fit four days' worth of gear in it, so it's got an impressive capacity, but all those extra add-ons made it feel much heavier when empty than the other picks on our list, and ultimately they're not necessary.

Patagonia Black Hole Duffel ($130): Patagonia's reputation speaks for itself, and this duffel backpack is built to last. Insider's VP of Commerce, Breton Fischetti, has had his for over a decade, and it's still in perfect condition. But the lack of tech pocket, the barebones suspension system, and the fact that it doesn't meet airline carry-on requirements were all strikes against it.

What we're testing next

AmazonBasics Carry-On Travel Backpack ($39): Like much other luggage, travel backpacks can be prohibitively expensive, so we're currently investigating packs for those who don't want to plunk down over $100 for a pack. This AmazonBasics pack was the cheapest one we could find, and we like how it appears to be laid out, but we want to put it through the same stress tests as the other packs to ensure it holds up.
Hynes Eagle 40L Travel Backpack ($40): This is another budget pick we want to stress test. It's more aesthetically pleasing than the AmazonBasics pack and has small design features we like such as a water bottle pocket and stowable shoulder straps.
Peak Design Travel Backpack ($300): This pack was recommended to me by Insider's Senior Transportation Reporter David Slotnick. He's been using it for years and relies heavily on it in his frequent travels covering his airline beat. This is a high-end luxury travel backpack, and it's the most expensive one we've ever considered, so we'll be putting it through its paces to see if it's worth the money.

The backpack glossary

Unlike the Jansport you wore in middle school, travel backpacks have a lot of component parts, many of which are designed to make the backpack more comfortable to carry and less strenuous to your back. But if you don't know the vocabulary, you may have a tough time understanding what you're buying. Here are a few must-know vocab words to give you a better understanding of backpack anatomy.

L: Backpack capacity is often expressed in liters, so if you see a backpack advertised as 35L, that means its total capacity is approximately 35 liters in volume. While the liter measurement can give you a general idea of how much stuff your backpack will hold, the way your pack's pockets and compartments are structured ultimately play a huge role in how much you'll be able to fit. We tested 35L backpacks that maxed out at three days' worth of stuff and some that could easily hold five or more days' worth.

Clamshell: A clamshell backpack features a zipper on three sides with the fourth side acting as a hinge. Clamshell packs open flat like a suitcase and have two equal compartments.

Front-loading: A front-loading backpack opens similarly to a clamshell pack, but instead of the zipper being located in the middle to create two equal compartments, it's located at the front to create one large packing space.

Rear-loading: A rear-loading backpack is exactly the same as a front-loading backpack, except the zipper is located at the back panel instead of the front panel.

Top-loading: Your middle school Jansport was a top-loading backpack. Instead of opening fully flat, you load your items in from the top. We've found that top-loaders provide a worse experience on a large scale than clamshells or front/back-loaders, so we've chosen not to include them in this guide.

Shoulder straps: These are simply the straps that go over your shoulders with which you carry your backpack. They are, in essence, what make a backpack a backpack.

Hip belt: Positioned at the bottom of the pack, a hip belt wraps around your waist, just above your hips. A properly positioned hip belt helps shift the weight away from your shoulders making larger loads easier to carry.

Sternum strap: A sternum strap crosses your chest and connects one shoulder strap to the other. It should sit just below your collarbone, and like the hip belt, it aids in weight distribution.

Frame sheet: A frame sheet is sewn into the back panel of a backpack and helps the backpack maintain its shape once fully loaded. It may be contoured or padded for extra comfort and can also help with weight distribution.

Load lifters: Load lifter straps help pull the top of your backpack closer to your shoulders. Not every pack has them, but if yours does, you'll find them coming over the top of the shoulder straps. Packs without them tend to fall away from your shoulders which adds strain.

Suspension/harness system: Every entry above from shoulder straps to load lifters is part of your backpack's suspension or harness system. It's everything that contributes to how you carry your backpack and how the load's weight is distributed across your body.

Compression straps: Compression straps can be located externally to help cinch down a packed backpack to make it smaller, or internally to help keep clothes in place if you haven't packed your backpack to capacity.

How we test travel backpacks

In order to test travel backpacks, we first researched the major players in the market, searching for large-capacity, front-panel, back-panel, or clamshell backpacks that fully unzipped and opened flat like suitcases. From there, we received testing samples of our top nine choices.

Packing and capacity: I tried to test backpacks with similar capacities, and most of them fell within the 35L to 40L range. A backpack with a 35L capacity was not disadvantaged for being unable to hold as much as a 40L-capacity backpack, but the configuration of pockets, compartments, and packing spaces played a key part in how easily each bag packs and how much it can hold.

I made a packing list for myself for the equivalent of a five-day trip: clothing, shoes, tech, and toiletries. I assessed how well I could fit all my essentials into the pack and how logically the compartments were placed. If I couldn't fit my full five-day haul into the pack, I noted how many days' worth of gear at which the pack maxed out. The first things I ditched were extra shoes, but I always made room for toiletries and full outfits. I packed with the assumption that I would re-wear jeans, so if you plan to bring a new pair of pants for each day of your trip, the number of days' worth of clothes you'll be able to pack will reduce dramatically.

Carry-on capabilities: Many of these backpacks can quickly exceed airline carry-on size requirements, especially if you overpack them in a way that distorts their shape. Our top five picks all meet most airline carry-on requirements when fully packed, though there's no guarantee you'll get away with overstuffing them.

Carry comfort: Because I tested these travel backpacks amidst the pandemic, I wasn't doing much actual traveling, so I did my best to simulate a travel experience. I fully packed each suitcase as outlined above, strapped the backpack onto my back, and walked around the block — half a mile — and up and down the stairs in my apartment building to test how comfortable the packs were to carry.

Durability: To test durability, I pushed each fully packed backpack (sans my laptop) down a flight of stairs three times — forwards, backwards, and sideways. I noted any scuffs, scratches, tears, or broken hardware. I also tugged on the zippers in every direction to test their strength and how well they could withstand stress.

Long-term testing: Though our initial testing period lasted roughly four months, we acknowledge that other issues could crop up with long-term use. We are continuing to test each of our top picks and we will update this guide with any issues we encounter.

My five-day packing list:

Socks x6
Underwear x6
Bras x2
Jeans x2
Sweatshirt x1
Sweatpants x1
Buttons down x4
T-shirt x5
Sneakers
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13-inch laptop
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Dopp kit of toiletries

2021 Ford F-150

Summary List Placement

As it did for so many, 2020 proved a challenging year for the auto industry. After COVID-19 forced American automakers to shut down factories and disrupted supply chains in the spring, US vehicle sales declined 15% from 2019.

Though the industry began to recover during the second half of the way, 2021 probably won't bring a rapid comeback, according to Bank of America, which predicted in a research note published on Monday that US vehicle sales will rise this year by just 2.5%, to 14.8 million units, from last year's 14.5 million units.

But as the auto industry slowly returns to its pre-2020 sales levels, now could be a good time to invest in automotive stocks, according to Bank of America, which said in the Monday research note that auto "stocks may just be at the beginning of a multi-year bullish trade." The bank has a "buy" or "neutral" rating on 80% of the automotive companies it covers.

Though electric-vehicle companies have attracted soaring valuations over the past year, Bank of America sees more upside this year in some of the auto industry's established giants.

These are the five automotive stocks BofA recommends for 2021.

Ferrari

Stock ticker: RACE

Bank of America's price target: $307

Why Bank of America recommends it: "Ferrari is a unique high-end luxury automaker, focused on design/production of luxury performance cars, along with its Formula 1 team and adjacent businesses. The company is an iconic asset, with resilient financial performance, significant intangible brand value, and a true high-end luxury status. We believe its balanced strategy of volume growth, price increases, and model introductions over our forecast period should drive outsized revenue/earnings growth."

General Motors

Stock ticker: GM

Bank of America's price target: $72

Why Bank of America recommends it: "We believe GM's Core business is being managed very well despite ongoing global cycle/macro pressure, driven by its proactive retrenching efforts to profitable markets/segments and investment in product. In addition, the efforts across its Future businesses are an unappreciated upside factor, including electrification (Ultium, etc.), autonomy (Cruise), and mobility services (Cruise Anywhere)."

Ford

Stock ticker: F

Bank of America's price target: $12

Why Bank of America recommends it: "Our Buy rating is predicated on our view that Ford is just starting to hit a more sustainable inflection in earnings, driven by the combination of a very favorable product cadence in the all-important US/NA [North America] market and restructuring efforts with its Global Redesign. In the face of a tough cycle/macro, we believe this self-help story will start to get more credit among the investment community, while improved execution and communication may allow Ford's multiple to recover over time."

Magna International

Stock ticker: MGA

Bank of America's price target: $105

Why Bank of America recommends it: "We view Magna as one of the highest-quality automotive suppliers, and believe its solid proprietary technology and customer relationships will allow it to grow via consolidation and takeover business over time. Despite a tough cycle/macro, we believe MGA's expertise of the complete vehicle/ components provides it with a unique competitive advantage amid the ongoing industry evolution and technological advancement."

CarMax

Stock ticker: KMX

Bank of America's price target: $121

Why Bank of America recommends it: "Our Buy rating on CarMax is based on both a cyclical and secular view. First, we believe that the record levels of trade-in/off-lease vehicles returning to the market in 2021+ will increase supply into the used vehicle channel and drive vehicle churn, which should re-accelerate volume growth. Second, CarMax remains focused on new store openings and expanding its online presence, which should drive incremental growth."

Table of Contents: Masthead Sticky

Summary List Placement

We tested 11 pillows and researched 14 (and counting) to find the most comfortable choices for every sleep position.
The Coop Home Goods Premium Adjustable Memory Foam Pillow is our top pick because it can be customized to the perfect fill for ultimate support and comfort.
If you're looking to outfit the rest of your bed, check out our guides to the best mattress, best bed frame, and best sheets you can buy.

Our sleep habits can have a major impact on our health and wellbeing. Central to getting a great night's sleep is having a solid setup, including a really comfortable, supportive pillow.

"A good pillow is absolutely a top priority," said Rebecca Robbins, sleep researcher, author, and post-doctoral fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, "No matter your budget, I really encourage people to splurge and invest in these products because they will help. The bed is the foundation of our sleep and if these elements aren't supportive and not cozy to your personal preference, you put yourself at risk for sleep difficulties."

With that in mind, we tested 11 different pillows and considered many others. I've been writing unbiased, meticulously tested product reviews for more than seven years and have a personal stake in finding a good pillow: I'm a living embodiment of the princess and the pea and have purchased more pillows than I can count in pursuit of a good night's sleep.

While I (a back sleeper) slept on every pillow recommended in this guide for at least three nights, individual preferences and anatomy vary greatly (see: how to find the perfect pillow), so I enlisted a stomach sleeper (my husband) and two side sleepers (my neighbors) to try each pillow for at least a night and considered feedback from other Insider Reviews editors who have tried or reviewed pillows over the last few years. You can read all about other pillows we tested and our methodology here.

Here are the best pillows in 2021

Best pillow overall: Coop Home Goods The Original Pillow
Best for side sleepers: Casper Original Pillow
Best for back sleepers: The Saatva Pillow
Best for stomach sleepers: Parachute Down Alternative Pillow, Soft
Best for neck pain: Leesa Hybrid Pillow
Best budget pillow: Beckham Hotel Collection Gel Pillow
Best luxury pillow: Saatva Memory Foam Pillow

Prices and links are accurate as of 1/13/21. We updated the format of the previous "What else we tested" section to be easier to navigate, and added a few brands to "What we look forward to testing."

DON'T MISS: The best mattresses you can buy

The best overall

The Coop Home Goods Original Pillow offers thoughtful features like adjustable fill, a washable pillow cover, and an unparalleled 100-night trial that make it the best choice for most people.

Pros: Completely customizable with removable fill, comes with additional fill if you prefer a firmer pillow, comes with a washable encasement, hypoallergenic, 5-year warranty, 100-night trial

Cons: On the firmer side and might not be the best choice if you don't like memory foam, testers in previous reviews thought it arrived with a slightly funny smell

In the better part of a decade that I've been reviewing housewares, it's rare that I've come across a product as thoughtfully designed as the Coop Home Goods Original Pillow. Made from hypoallergenic shredded memory foam, the fill in the Coop pillow is adjustable so you can customize it to the perfect loft for your sleep preferences. Other thoughtful features like a washable pillow cover, 5-year warranty, and 100-night trial make it the obvious choice for our top recommendation.

While adjustable pillows made from shredded foam have become more popular, the Coop stands out in a number of ways. The first is in the packaging. When you open the box, you're greeted by a bright yellow insert that walks you through how to customize the pillow and suggestions on how much fill to add or remove (it's more than you think) based on your preferred sleeping position. It also offers tips on how to check your alignment so that you get the most comfortable night's sleep. While the pillow arrives almost overfilled, it also comes with a half-pound bag of additional fill in case you need even more support.

I followed the package recommendations to remove about a third of the fill for back sleepers and then fluffed the pillow up a bit to redistribute the foam. The result felt deeply personalized and it was very comfortable to sleep on with a great balance of support and fluff.

In the time since I first tested this pillow, I've outsourced it to my neighbor for long-term testing (OK, she kind of refused to give it back) and she reports that it's still her favorite pillow to sleep on among the many on her bed. She's made some small adjustments to the fill to really dial in her personal comfort, but it's still as comfortable and plush as ever. I've also recommended this pillow to numerous family members and coworkers over the past several months; all have reported back that it is indeed a game-changing pillow.

One drawback? If you favor a softer, more down-like fill (like I do), you may find the Coop pillow has the same issues as all memory foam pillows: it's on the firmer side and tends to get a bit hot during the night. If that sounds like you, you might appreciate our other top pillows in the picks below. However, we think most people will love the customization of the Coop pillow, especially if you prefer the springy feel of memory foam.

Read our full review of Coop Home Goods' The Original Pillow

The best pillow for side sleepers

The Casper Original Pillow offers the loft and support that side sleepers need but with the soft and fluffy feel of a down alternative.

Pros: Soft and fluffy, 2-inch gusset that provides support for side sleepers, removable inner pillow, machine washable, 100-night trial period

Cons: Loft is not very adjustable, not as supportive as memory foam

The goal of a good pillow is to bring your neck in alignment with the rest of your spine. For side sleepers, this means bridging the gap between your ear and where your shoulder meets the mattress. But side sleepers are a tricky bunch because shoulder size and height can vary a lot from person to person, meaning one side sleeper might need a really lofty pillow while another needs just a little bit of lift. The Coop pillow is ideal for side sleepers because it offers a lot of customization to help fill that gap. But if you're not a memory foam fan, your next best bet is the Casper Original Pillow.

Made from down-alternative fill with a percale cotton shell, the Casper pillow feels a lot like the soft, plush pillows you'd find in hotel rooms. A 2-inch gusset (the strip of fabric between seams that gives the pillow more of a rectangular rather than oval shape) keeps the pillow lofted for the supportive lift that side sleepers require, but the plush fill still gives the "sinking in" sensation when you lay your head down. One of the side sleepers who tried the pillow over several weeks also loved that the pillow stayed cool throughout the night and kept its shape despite its softer fill.

You can adjust the fill a bit by removing the inner pillow, but all the side sleepers who tried it preferred the loft of the full pillow. We also liked that all parts of the pillow are machine washable and the company offers a 100-night trial to decide if the pillow is right for you.

Many of our editors have tried and loved the Casper pillow throughout the years, with one reporter even calling it his "Goldilocks pillow." If you want a balance of support and softness, we recommend giving the Casper Original Pillow a try; just keep in mind that it's not as customizable or adjustable as other pillows.

Read our full review of the Casper Original Pillow

The best pillow for back sleepers

Luxuriously plush, the Saatva Pillow offers an ultra comfortable, hotel-like experience and is particularly well-suited to back sleepers.

Pros: Moderate height that's ideal for back sleepers, plush like a hotel pillow, supportive latex core, 45-day trial period, comes with a pillow cover, cover and outer pillow are machine washable

Cons: Not very adjustable, too lofty for stomach sleepers

I've cycled through pillows throughout the last decade — from cheap Ikea and Target pillows, to bespoke offerings from high-end bedding brands — but never quite found my perfect pillow. That all changed when I tried The Saatva Pillow.

The Saatva Pillow is made from a supportive shredded latex core surrounded by a plush, down alternative layer and a satteen cotton liner. Its unique construction makes it different from any pillow I've ever felt before — it's got the hefty weight and support of a memory foam pillow, but with the plush, cool feel of a down pillow not unlike one you'd find in a hotel. Throughout testing, I kept coming back to this pillow and it quickly became my go-to for nights I wasn't actively testing anything new.

I've now been sleeping on this pillow for three months and it looks and feels as plush as it did on the day I got it. I love how my head sinks into this soft pillow, but it's still supportive enough to keep its shape all night long and when I wake up, the pillow looks just as plush as when I fell asleep on it. I'm a very active sleeper who likes to move around a lot in bed and take my bedding with me, so I love that the pillow is equally plush and comfortable from all sides and angles. It's still soft and supportive when I inevitably fold it, scoop it, or hug it throughout the night. It's also weighty enough that it doesn't move on its own or slip into the gap between the headboard and the mattress (a pet peeve of mine), and has plenty of structure for when you want to prop your head up for reading or watching TV. Finally, it's hypoallergenic, which is a must for allergy sufferers like myself.

While the Saatva pillow is my perfect pillow, it's not adjustable enough to be our top recommendation for most people. The only adjustability offered is the ability to remove the latex core, which also takes away the supportive part of the pillow. Multiple stomach sleepers who tried the pillow as part of our testing found it too lofty, even with the inner core removed. Some side sleepers might also find the pillow not quite lofty enough; we think it's best for back sleepers and those who prefer a plusher, cooler feel than memory foam.

While it was one of the most expensive pillows we tried, the company offers a 45-day trial period to determine if the pillow is right for you.

The best pillow for stomach sleepers

Soft, but not too thin, the Parachute Down Alternative Pillow has the perfect loft for stomach sleepers who want just a bit of cushion.

Pros: Soft and pillowy, made from hypoallergenic down alternative, folds easily for added support when lying on your side or back, stays cool, 60-day return window

Cons: Needs to be fluffed regularly to retain its shape, doesn't offer enough support for sleepers who spend the majority of the night on their back or side and therefore not the best choice for guest bedrooms, fill cannot be adjusted

Stomach sleepers generally require the least amount of pillow support, since your head and spine are already pretty close to alignment when lying on your stomach. Most stomach sleepers would benefit a soft pillow with just a bit of loft, and for that, the Parachute Down Alternative Pillow is our top choice.

This is the only pillow that received high marks for comfort from my husband, who is an avowed stomach sleeper and finds most pillows too lofty. The Parachute pillow elevates his head just enough to alleviate any neck strain, and the sateen cotton encasement keeps the pillow remarkably cool all night long; ideal for those, like him, who run hot. We purchased four of these pillows a little over a year ago, and they were our mainstay before I started testing and evaluating pillows for this guide. In a lot of ways, this pillow hits all the marks for me: it stays cool, is incredibly soft and comfortable, and is hypoallergenic. But while my husband happily drifts asleep with one of these pillows tucked under his head, I (a back sleeper) need to stack two or three to get the loft I need to fall asleep comfortably.

While the fill is thin enough that the pillow easily folds over for some support if you occasionally flip to your side or back during the night, it doesn't provide enough for those who spend the majority of the night in those positions. The pillow also won't offer much lift if you're looking to prop yourself up to read or watch TV while lounging in bed. Since stomach sleepers are in the minority according to the National Sleep Foundation, we don't recommend outfitting a guest room with these soft, thin pillows, but they're a great personal pillow for any stomach sleeper who has found other pillows too lofty.

While experts recommend fluffing your pillows daily to extend their life and maintain their comfort, we've found that these thinner pillows with less filling especially benefit from a daily fluff to keep their shape.

The best pillow for neck pain

The Leesa Hybrid Pillow's cooling gel side provides ice-like relief from neck pain, while the quilted side offers a more traditional pillow experience for nights when you don't need as much support.

Pros: Cooling gel helps relieve neck pain, good for hot sleepers, two different sides to choose from for optimal support, removable inner pillow for adjusting loft, inner pillow can be used as a travel pillow

Cons: On the heavy side, takes some getting used to, may be too squat for some side sleepers

As someone who has struggled with back and neck troubles, I literally feel your pain if you're currently dealing with a stiff or painful neck. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the first line of business is to make sure that your current pillow isn't causing or exacerbating your neck strain. Your pillow should support your neck in alignment with the rest of your spine in your preferred sleeping position, which can be a very personal thing. Sleeping on the wrong pillow for your body and preferences can actually make neck pain worse. While we think our picks for side, back, and stomach sleepers will help you minimize the chances of sleep-induced neck pain, if you're deep in the throes of an existing neck sprain you should check with your doctor before considering a new pillow.

Experts told us that a memory foam pillow is the preferred choice for neck pain because the material offers cushion and support to keep your neck aligned, and doesn't flatten or "sink" throughout the night like other more fluffy pillows. For this, we think our overall pick by Coop is a great choice since it has an adjustable memory foam fill that you can customize to your perfect loft. But if your pain is making it hard to even get to sleep, I highly recommend you try out the Leesa Hybrid Pillow.

The pillow's unique construction consists of a gel-filled cooling side and a quilted cushioning side, with a removable mini-pillow in between for adjustability. While the quilted side is plenty comfy, the gel-side is where the Leesa pillow truly shines. The gel provides an instant chilling effect that I found deeply soothing for muscle pain and neck strain; a similar effect to holding a wrapped ice pack up to your neck. On nights when my back and neck have really hurt, the Leesa has provided some much needed relief to help me fall asleep.

That said, this hybrid pillow has received mixed reviews from our testers over the years. With only two possible (and both relatively low) heights, it's also less adjustable than other pillows we tested, and best suited for stomach and back sleepers who don't need a lot of loft. It's also fairly heavy, and its unique design may take a few nights to get used to. And if you're not a hot sleeper or currently struggling with neck pain, the pillow's main selling points may be lost on you.

Read our full review of the Leesa Hybrid Pillow

The best pillow on a budget

At just under $20 per pillow, the Beckham Hotel Collection Gel Pillows are an inexpensive option that still offers a comfortable, supportive night's sleep.

Pros: Inexpensive, soft and stackable, sleeps relatively cool, machine washable, good for stomach and side sleepers, 30-day return window, hypoallergenic

Cons: Side sleepers will likely need two or more of these pillows, pillows are not adjustable

Experts we consulted for the guide stressed that a good pillow is a worthy investment; after all, you spend nearly one-third of your life laying on it. But if you're the type of person that can fall asleep just about anywhere or you're primarily concerned about price, the Beckham Hotel Collection Gel Pillow is the best bang for your buck.

I was intrigued by the sheer number of positive Amazon reviews — there are more than 25,000 five-star reviews, and we all know that reviews aren't always reliable. But when I tried them for myself, I understood why. These pillows are on the thinner side, but have a gentle, down-like plushness that sets them apart from other inexpensive pillows I've tried from Ikea and Target. While they're definitely more squishy than supportive, they're a good choice for stomach sleepers, back sleepers, and anyone who likes to hug, fold, or stack their pillows at night. I've spent several months now sleeping with these pillows on and off, and they haven't gone flat or gotten lumpy. They are a little less lofty and bouncy than when I first got them, but I actually like that, since it gives them a more lived-in feel.

"Gel pillow" is a bit of a misnomer; there's no liquid or cooling gel in these pillows like there is in some other cooling pillows. Instead, these pillows are filled with polyester gel fiber, which is similar to a down alternative in both feel and performance. The pillows stay relatively cool compared to denser materials like memory foam, but stop short of actively cooling you like the Leesa Hybrid Pillow.

While these pillows aren't adjustable, each pack comes with two pillows, so you can easily stack them to your desired comfort level. The pillows themselves are also machine washable and the company offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee — a rarity for Amazon-only pillow brands.

The best luxury pillow

If you love memory foam and are looking for something a bit more luxurious than what's out there, the Saatva Memory Foam Pillow offers a spa-like feel at a premium price.

Pros: Luxurious feel, soft, spa-like feel, stays cool, doesn't need to be fluffed, machine washable, 45-day trial period

Cons: Not very adjustable, firmer than down-alternative pillows

In my 30+ years of sleeping on pillows, I've come to the conclusion that memory foam is just too hot and dense for me. Then I slept on the Saatva Memory Foam Pillow. The pillow is made from a combination of solid and shredded memory foam, and the result is a luxurious and supportive softness I haven't experienced before in memory foam pillows. Its equal parts plush and supportive, and reminds me of a larger version of the pillows they use to support your head during a spa facial.

The pillow particularly appealed to the memory foam lovers among our testers, who concurred that it stayed remarkably cool and soft — qualities not usually seen in traditional memory foam. We also liked that it offered plenty of support for sitting up and reading. I love lounging on this pillow throughout the day, and whenever I lay my head down on it to sleep I feel like I'm a queen on the most luxurious hotel bed. If that's the experience you're looking for, this pillow may be right for you.

Loft-wise, the pillow has a moderate fill that is well-suited for side and back sleepers, but doesn't offer much adjustability; you can remove the memory foam core, but that takes almost all the support out of the pillow. And at $145, this Saatva pillow (along with Saatva's flagship pillow, which we recommend above for back sleepers) is the most expensive pillow we tried. While the company offers a 45-day trial period, it's a big financial investment to make for a pillow that might not offer the right loft for you.

Still, I have never once had to fluff the pillow; each morning when I wake up, it's as perfectly plush and springy as when I went to sleep on it. If you're looking to treat yourself to a spa-like experience, we soft memory foam pillow, we highly recommend the Saatva Memory Foam Pillow.

What else we tested

We researched more than a dozen pillows and tested 11 that fit our criteria while writing this guide.

Other pillows we recommend:

Zoma Pillow ($75.00): I really enjoyed sleeping on this memory foam pillow, which comes encased in a gray, mesh-like fabric. Unlike other memory foam pillows I've tried, it wasn't too hot or stiff and is a nice, moderate loft that works well for both side sleepers and back sleepers. Surprisingly, even my stomach-sleeping husband liked this pillow despite its moderate loft, since the pillow compresses pretty easily due to the softer memory foam and polyester filling blend. The gray pillow encasement comes off for easy cleaning and also hides stains well, so the pillow still looks brand new even after many nights sleeping on it. Unfortunately, the loft isn't adjustable; I found the compression flattened out the pillow a bit during the night, and I woke up with my head sunken into the pillow. This didn't cause me any neck pain and it was easy enough to fluff up the pillow again, but I prefer a pillow that doesn't compress as much during the night. If you like a malleable, softer memory foam pillow, the Zoma pillow may be a good choice for you.
Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow ($99.00): Like our best overall pick by Coop, this pillow is stuffed with shredded foam that makes it easily adjustable to your sleeping preference—just remove fill as needed. However, it lacked many of the attributes that made our top pick a standout, like a pillow protector, a longer trial period, and additional foam right in the box for those who need even more loft. Comfort-wise, it was similar to other shredded foam pillows we tested: supportive, with some bounce, and runs a teeny bit hot. While it's a top choice with other consumer review sites, we think the Nest pillow offers fewer features than similar pillows do at a lower price point.
Amerisleep Dual Comfort Pillow ($130): This memory foam pillow has two sides: a "comfort" side and a "support" side, but I found little difference between either. Both sides are relatively firm, and while the "comfort" side may offer a teeny bit more softness, both were too stiff for my own preference or the preference of my testers. It was relatively cool compared to other memory foam pillows I've tried and may be a good option for those who like a pillow that lays flat and offers a lot of support.

Pillows we don't recommend:

Zen Chi Buckwheat Pillow ($34.95): We didn't test this pillow for this iteration of this guide. It was previously our top pick for best buckwheat hull pillow but failed to meet our standards for inclusion because some Amazon reviews mention brand-new pillows arriving with wheat beetles on or inside the pillows or in the packaging — not exactly a quality that inspires a night of good dreams. While the pillow height and fill are adjustable, the company also doesn't accept returns or exchanges of any opened merchandise, which makes this a risky purchase if you're not sure you like the feel of buckwheat.
Le'Vista Hotel Collection Pillow ($22.99 for two): Formerly our best budget pillow, this Amazon-only brand has an unclear return policy (many report being charged a return fee) and gets middling reviews on the site. We didn't test it this time around because it didn't meet our criteria for returns. Still, $10 per pillow is a great price, and it might be worth a try if you're budget-oriented. Just keep in mind that customer service might be nonexistent and many reviewers claim the pillows flatten out quickly.
Tulo Pillow ($71): A few of our side-sleeping editors recommended this moderate-height memory foam pillow, but we didn't test it for this guide because it lacks many of the qualities of our top picks: it's not adjustable or washable, and the company doesn't offer a trial period or returns of open pillows.
Royal Hotel Goose Down Pillow ($159.99 for two): This goose down pillow was featured and recommended in previous iterations of this guide, but we ultimately excluded it this time around because the company doesn't appear to accept returns. If you have your heart set on a down pillow, check out our guide to the best down pillows.

Our testing methodology

There is no one-size-fits-all best pillow for everyone; individual anatomy, sleep habits, and preferences deeply impact how comfortable a pillow will be from person-to-person. For that reason, our rating criteria for this guide relied heavily on the following considerations:

Return policy and trial period: It's impossible to know how comfortable a pillow is going to be for you until you sleep on it, despite how comprehensive our guide aims to be. "The most important thing is trying the pillows out to see what works for you," said Robbins, which includes being able to touch, lay on, and sleep with a pillow before deciding if it's right for you. For this guide, we only considered pillows that accept returns of used merchandise for a full refund with at least a 30-day trial window, which gives you ample time to decide if a pillow is right for you.

Adjustability: We prioritized pillows that are adjustable, with removable inserts or shredded fill for dialing in your perfect loft. This creates a more custom pillow that would better suit your needs.

Ease of use: We looked at how well each pillow fit a standard pillowcase, whether the pillow came with a case or protector, and whether all or parts of the pillow were washable for better hygiene and pillow longevity.

Comfort: I slept on all of the pillows for at least three (sometimes agonizing) nights. I also enlisted a side sleeper and a stomach sleeper to try the pillows over the course of a couple weeks. For future updates, we will develop a diverse sleep panel and have them test our top picks for additional feedback.

What we look forward to testing

Vaya Pillow ($60): We're currently testing the Vaya Pillow, however, after noticing that the pillow we received looks significantly different than what is on the website, we contacted the brand and learned that the pillow we're testing is a newer version that's not yet available to the general public. We're waiting until the brand releases the new pillow to share our thoughts.
Coop Home Goods Eden Pillow ($79.99): Made by the same company as our best overall pillow, the Eden Pillow features the same adjustable fill feature, but with softer, gel-infused foam. It could be a good option for those who are intrigued by an adjustable pillow, but like a cooler, softer feel.
Sleep Number Comfortfit Pillow Ultimate ($129.99): This adjustable pillow has several smaller inner pillows that you can add or remove for your ideal loft. It's made from down-alternative fill and could be a good adjustable option for those who don't like the feel of memory foam.
Boll & Branch Pillows ($150 to $195): Boll & Branch reportedly tried 100 different prototypes, and at least five of our editors have tried its down and down alternative pillows. We'll be retesting and incorporating the feedback into this guide.
Brooklinen Pillows ($53.10 to $89.10): Brooklinen makes three different pillows in both down and down-alternative fills. Executive editor Ellen Hoffman reviewed the plush and mid-plush down options, and favored the mid-plush, calling it "a little bit of everything in a good way." We're looking forward to testing Brooklinen's options against our top picks for our next iteration of this guide.
Bear Pillow ($100): Breton Fischetti, VP of commerce, tried the Bear Pillow and said it improved his neck pain and helped him sleep better. Made from memory foam and "double ice fabric," the pillow claims to stay cool all night long. We'll be testing for a future update to this guide.
Hullo Pillow ($99): The Hullo pillow is made from buckwheat hulls, a traditional fill used in Japan and many other Asian countries. Since we no longer have a buckwheat pillow we recommend, we're looking forward to testing this popular model and reporting back on our findings.

How to pick the perfect pillow

Robbins told us the single biggest consideration when picking a pillow is your preferred sleep position: side, back, or stomach. The goal of your pillow is to support your neck in a neutral position aligned with the rest of your spine, but that alignment shifts depending on the position you're sleeping in. While we all move around during sleep — switching positions about 60 times throughout each night — most of us spend the majority of our sleeping time in one position.

Not sure what your sleep position is? Consider what position you typically fall asleep or wake up in. Robbins also has a neat exercise she performs with her clients: imagine you've been up for 24 hours and are presented with a big, luxurious hotel bed; how would you lie down on it to go to sleep? The position you envision is most likely your preferred sleep position and plays a big role in what type of pillow will work best for you.

Side sleepers: Around 65% of the US population are side sleepers, according to Robbins, and this position requires the most loft and support to bridge the wide gap between the side of your head and where your shoulder rests on the mattress. If you're a side sleeper, choose a lofty pillow — ideally with an adjustable fill since there can be a lot of variability in the size of that shoulder gap from person to person. Robbins said hotels and sleep clinics usually outfit rooms with side sleepers in mind, so if you're buying pillows for a guest bedroom, a side sleeper friendly pillow is usually a good bet.

Back sleepers: Back sleepers are the Goldilocks of pillow hunters — they need a pillow that is not too soft and not too firm, and with just enough support to lift the back of the head to be in line with their shoulders. Back sleepers tend to benefit from a medium, cushion-y pillow made from down or down alternative, though an adjustable pillow with at least one-third of the fill removed may work as well.

Stomach sleepers: In the minority are stomach sleepers, who need the least amount of support from their pillow. Typically a thin, very soft pillow works best for stomach sleepers — just enough fill to cushion their face from the flat surface of the mattress.

When should you buy a new pillow?

Even the best pillows aren't meant to last forever; for the best sleep, the National Sleep Foundation recommends replacing a well-used pillow every couple of years. Our fluffy little pillows absorb a shocking amount of dead skin and body oils night after night, which is the perfect breeding ground for allergens like dust mites.

You can tell if it's time for a new pillow if your pillow is lumpy or flat no matter how much you fluff it. Robbins also told us that a healthy pillow springs back when you compress it; if you fold your pillow in half and it stays put, it's probably time for a new pillow. (One caveat: it may not work with a very, very thin pillow.)

Taking care of your pillow not only extends its life and helps you sleep better, but can also ease allergies. The National Sleep Foundation and Robbins both recommend adding a pillow protector (an encasement that adds another level of protection from allergens, body oils, dust mites, and other pests) in addition to a pillowcase if your pillow doesn't already come with one (many of our top picks do), fluffing your pillows daily, and washing your pillow every couple of months according to manufacturer directions.

headphones on teal green background

Summary List Placement

Headphones are often chosen based on the wearer's particular lifestyle or music preferences. But whether you're a casual, passionate, or even professional music listener, you know the importance of having high-quality sound — and how the right headphones and volume settings are crucial to achieving this.

But daily wear and tear, app and desktop settings, and more can diminish your volume and listening quality. To once again achieve your perfect listening experience, you may need to make some adjustments. However, it should be noted that 85 decibels for a maximum of eight hours a day is considered a safe range for listening to audio.

How to make your headphones louder

Here are seven ways you can turn up the volume on your headphones.

Clean your headphones

You can easily overlook some of the most straightforward solutions. If you use your headphones often, there's a big chance they'll accumulate dust and ear wax buildup. Cotton swabs, alcohol wipes, or a small cloth are a couple of things that can help prolong their lifespan and sound quality.

Gently remove and wipe down the outer earpads with an alcohol wipe. As they air dry, take a cotton swab with rubbing alcohol and clean the crevices. Dab a small cloth or an alcohol wipe gently against the mesh to sanitize and remove any lingering dirt or wax. Be sure to let both sections dry before reassembling.

For wireless earbuds, use a small toothbrush or slightly damp cotton swab and lightly brush the earbuds' mesh until it's free of dirt. If there are silicon tips at the end of the buds, remove them and let them soak in soapy water for three to five minutes.

Boost the volume in your music app

Playback can sound different depending on what streaming platform or app you're using, as each has its own set of default preferences. But you can manage your favorite streaming music app's built-in volume settings. You just have to know how to access them to boost your sound volume.

On Spotify, you can tap into the app's Equalizer settings and get bass boosts or a surround sound experience, both of which can increase the volume on your headphones. You can go into the Advanced settings menu and toggle on the Higher Quality Audio feature on the Pandora app, though you might experience some music skipping as a result.

Tidal users can turn on Enable Normalization and adjust the sound settings. To do this, access the Settings menu from the My Collection tab before selecting Loudness Normalization. After tapping Enable Normalization, drag the Pre-amp slider to the right to increase the volume at which the "loudness" will normalize.

Use a volume boosting app

Created solely to help boost your audio output, these apps work with your phone's built-in audio tools to override its maximum setting. They can be found in the Apple Store and Google Play Store, and both are relatively simple to set up. Just remember that louder audio means the possibility of hearing damage, so be cautious when using these apps. Here's some you can try for iPhone and Android users.

iPhone

Android

Adjust your computer's volume and sound settings

Whether it's a Mac or Windows, interfaces can change the output of headphones.

For Microsoft Windows users, the "Volume Mixer" allows you to set volume settings for individual speakers or headphones. Right-clicking the volume icon or searching "Adjust System Volume" in the Windows Control Panel will open the window to change your sound settings.

To find the sound settings on a Mac, click the apple icon in the top left corner of the desktop, and open System Preferences to locate the Sound menu. From there, a list of output options will show you the volume levels of the connected device you're using.

If your headphones have a built-in amplifier or volume setting, adjust them first before changing your computer settings.

Adjust your EQ settings on your phone

Your EQ or equalization settings on your phone are usually "optimized" by the manufacturer for a standard listening experience. On iOS devices, there's a list of different EQ settings that vary depending on the environment or genre. In loud environments, the Late-Night setting gives a significant boost to sound.

Androids also have EQ settings that you can adjust until you find the kind of sound boost to your headphones you're looking for. The Advanced Sound settings under the Sounds and Vibration menu features the EQ controls for these smartphones. Android offers treble, bass, vocal, and instrumental sound settings to be more precise with your levels. But you can also tweak your decibel levels, and genre pre-sets to get a louder volume.

Disable volume limitations on your phone

Smartphones can have volume limit tools to help protect your hearing. When it comes to Androids, some have it while others do not. If you're using a Galaxy or any other relevant device, you can go into your Sounds and Vibrations menu, select the Volume option, and then adjust the Media Volume limiter. From here, you can toggle the setting off if a limit was previously set.

Apple's "Volume Limit" feature also has to be enabled and disabled. Here's how you do it.

1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Use the search bar or scroll for "Music."

3. Scroll down to the volume limit.

Note: You'll be able to see if "Volume Limit" is on or off.

4. Once disabled, slide the knob to the end to increase volume.

Apple also created the Sound Check feature that, when enabled, plays your music at a consistent level, regardless of how loud the sound file is. It's only applied to downloaded songs or ones streamed through Apple Music and can be found within the Music menu of the iPhone's settings app.

Buy a new pair of headphones

If all the other fixes fail, then it might be time for some new headphones. The process can be overwhelming, especially when you start getting into the different specifications and features between brands. But Beats by Dre and Sennheiser offer high-quality wired and wireless earbuds, while Bose and Sony are popular for their noise-canceling headphones. Some research has to be done to find the best fit for your lifestyle.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

Breville CS10001 Joule Sous Vide

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Every day, we round up the 5 best deals and bargains available on tech, home goods, fashion, and more.

We've sorted this list with the latest deals first. The prices and discounts are accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change without warning. For even more deals and savings across the web, check out the best online deals and sales happening now and Business Insider Coupons.

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26 cookbooks for every type of home cook update 4x3

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One of the best gifts for any home cook is a new cookbook that will inspire creativity in the kitchen.
Paired with a note, a cookbook can make a thoughtful and sentimental gift that evokes past travels, memories, and shared meals.
Here are some of our favorite cookbooks to give this year, including "The Pepper Thai Cookbook,""New World Sourdough," and "Xi'an Famous Foods."
Looking for more gift ideas? Check out all Insider Reviews gift guides here.
Sign up for Insider Reviews' weekly newsletter for more buying advice and great deals.

Cookbooks are some of my favorite gifts to both give and receive. They hit all the marks of a great gift: they're easy to wrap, ship quickly, and can be easily customized to fit the receiver. There are thousands of cookbooks out there to suit every skill level, lifestyle, and interest, from ones based on favorite TV shows to celebrity cookbooks to volumes on cuisines from every corner of the world. Paired with a note, a cookbook makes an easy and thoughtful gift for almost any occasion.

As someone who collects cookbooks and browses them regularly like some people browse coffee table books, I've come to appreciate what makes a great one — vivid photos, a fresh perspective, and rock-solid recipes.

Here are 26 of the best cookbooks gifts for every type of cook:

For the person experimenting with a plant-based lifestyle this year

"Vegetable Kingdom" by Bryant Terry, $17.39, available at Amazon

James Beard Award-winning chef and food activist Bryant Terry offers 150 vegan recipes in his most recent cookbook. Instead of trying to imitate meaty dishes, Terry's book celebrates the vegetable and all its parts: skin, husk, flowers, roots, and all. You'll find recipes for Pea Shoot and Peanut Salad, Grilled Spring Onions with Lemon-Thyme Oil, Cornmeal-Fried Oyster Mushroom Po'Boys, and more. A special hallmark of Terry's books is that they often contain a playlist to listen to while you're cooking, and "Vegetable Kingdom" is no different, featuring recommended tracks by Duke Ellington, Santana, Björk, and more.

For the person who loves pie but fears making it

"Pie Academy" by Ken Haedrich, $26.49, available at Amazon

A compendium of 255 pie recipes, "Pie Academy" is likely the last pie cookbook you'll ever need. It has nearly a dozen recipes for different types of pie crust, a troubleshooting section for when things don't go as expected, and chapters organized by seasonality and filling type. It's guaranteed to be a hit with the pie lover in your life, especially one who is interested in making pies but has always found them a bit daunting.

For the home cook that also loves to read

"Black, White, and The Grey" by Mashama Bailey and John O. Morisano, $18.39, available at Amazon

While not a cookbook, "Black, White, and The Grey," tells the story of one of the most celebrated restaurants in America: The Grey in Savannah, Georgia. Mashama Bailey, who is Black, and John O. Morisano, who is white, relate the story of how they turned a dilapidated formerly segregated Greyhound bus station into an award-winning restaurant. The dual memoir touches on race, community, and friendship, with some delicious food anecdotes along the way.

For the parent who wants to master their grill

"Franklin Barbecue" by Aaron Franklin, $18.15, available at Amazon

Aaron Franklin is the proprietor of the incredibly popular Franklin Barbecue in Austin, TX, known for its brisket, short ribs, sausage, and more. If you can't make it to Austin or don't feel like waiting hours in line for some of Franklin's own 'cue, try making your own with recipes in his cookbook. In it, Franklin breaks down everything you need to know about making Texas-style barbecue at home, from setting up a smoker to getting that elusive bark.

For the person with quarantine cooking fatigue

"Indian-ish" by Priya Krishna, $23.49, available at Amazon

In her debut cookbook, Priya Krishna (contributor to Bon Appetit, New York Times, and others) offers up beloved favorite recipes from her Indian-American family, including Tomato Rice with Crispy Cheddar, Malaysian Ramen, and what her dad calls Indian Gatorade (Shikanji). The recipes are largely vegetarian, creative, fun, comforting, and guaranteed to inspire anyone who feels stuck in a rut with their cooking in 2021.

For the person who spent 2020 mastering sourdough

"New World Sourdough" by Bryan Ford, $15.79, available at Amazon

This was the year of the sourdough starter, and few people are as well-versed in fermented breads as Bryan Ford, blogger and baker. We're not just talking about your classic sourdough boule; Ford is well-known for demonstrating the breadth of what you can do with a sourdough starter: from Sourdough Pan de Coco to Sourdough Discard Battered Fried Chicken.

For the cousin who's just learning to cook

"Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat" by Samin Nosrat, $19.91, available at Amazon

In this beautifully illustrated cookbook, chef and New York Times columnist Samin Nosrat outlines the foundations of cooking, from when to salt your chicken to how to make the perfect focaccia. All the information is presented in a fun, engaging way alongside original illustrations you'll want to frame and hang in your kitchen.

For your family member who loves "Emily in Paris"

"La Buvette" by Camille Fourmont and Kate Leahy, $17.60, available at Amazon

"La Buvette" is part cookbook, part guide to French living. Interspersed with recipes from the cookbook's namesake cafe are beautiful pictures of Paris, tips about shopping in France's vintage markets, and instructions on how to dry flowers. The cookbook is a lovely escape into Parisian living, perfect for any Francophile dreaming of a visit to the City of Lights.

For the sometimes-vegetarian

"Jerusalem: A Cookbook" by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, $23.41, available at Amazon

Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi were both born in Jerusalem in the same year — Tamimi on the Arab east side and Ottolenghi in the Jewish west. This cookbook is a unique, cross-cultural homage to the vibrant flavors of the city in totality with more than 100 recipes.

For the friend who lives for the next Li Ziqi video

"The Breath of a Wok" by Grace Young, $37.50, available at Amazon

Grace Young, a self-described wok therapist and advocate for the future of America's Chinatowns, has been teaching the next generation the ins and outs of wok cooking. I bought my first wok on her recommendation and it's easily my favorite pan to cook in. Her book "The Breath of a Wok" outlines key techniques for cooking in this versatile pan, like making use of the hot and cool zones and using the large bowl of the wok for deep frying.

For the person who recently moved

"Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm" by Molly Yeh, $22.99, available at Amazon

Molly Yeh is the star of Food Network's "Girl Meets Farm" and winner of the Judges' Choice IACP Cookbook Award. "Molly on the Range" explores home, family, her Jewish and Chinese heritage, and Yeh's Midwestern farm life. You'll find recipes for Sufganiyot, Chicken Potstickers, Challah Waffles, and more.

For the person who gets all their news from Twitter

"Cravings" by Chrissy Teigen, $24.54, available at Amazon

Supermodel, mom, and prolific tweeter Chrissy Teigen is also the author of two cookbooks. Her first, "Cravings," is a celebration of all things comfort food and includes selections from her Thai-American upbringing (Jok Moo), recipes from her husband John Legend (John's Fried Chicken Wings with Spicy Honey Butter), and favorites inspired by her travels to Italy and beyond (Lemony Arugula Spaghetti Cacio E Pepe). The book is filled with anecdotes and Teigen's signature humor, and the recipes are delicious and approachable.

For the person who can't get enough of "Cravings"

"The Pepper Thai Cookbook" by Pepper Teigen, $26.99, available at Amazon

If your giftee already has and loves "Cravings" and "Cravings: Hungry for More," they'll be thrilled to know that Chrissy Teigen's mom Pepper is getting a cookbook of her own. Pepper is a beloved fixture in both of Chrissy's books, on her website, and on her YouTube channel, where she has her own mini-series: Pepper's Corner. You can expect "The Pepper Thai Cookbook" to include dishes like Pad Korat (the version of Pad Thai served in her hometown of Korat), Pad Thai Brussels Sprouts, and Nam Prik Sloppy Joes. While this cookbook isn't shipping until April, it's already gearing up to be one of the most anticipated cookbooks of 2021 and makes a fun gift your recipient can look forward to in the coming months.

For the fan of the 'Great British Baking Show'

"Baking with Kim-Joy" by Kim-Joy, $22.20, available at Amazon

Fans of GBBO will likely remember series nine runner-up Kim-Joy's adorable and creative bakes, like her giant chocolate planet filled with "space turtles," or her "Silke the vegetarian mermaid" pie. Kim-Joy brings the same color and fun to her bakes in her debut cookbook, which includes Pigfiteroles in Mud, Tazhong Cat Buns, and a version of her Space Turtle Cake.

For the pint-sized cook in your life

"The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs" by America's Test Kitchen, $11.85, available at Amazon

I worked for America's Test Kitchen (ATK) for seven years and was privy to the care its team puts into each and every one of its cookbooks. ATK's series of cookbooks for kids is the epitome of that detail and care; every one of the recipes in this volume was tested by pro chefs and kid cooks. The recipes are specifically designed with kids in mind, outlining when to get an adult for help with handling hot ingredients or sharp tools. This is the book I wish was available to me when I was a child, and I've gifted it and the kid's baking book to every kid I know. I love getting reports from their parents about a new recipe they cooked or discovered.

For the friend who wants to master the essentials

"My Korea" by Hooni Kim, $27.49, at Amazon

Michelin-starred chef Hooni Kim's debut cookbook is a crash course in the essentials of Korean cuisine. The book's tagline is "traditional flavors, modern recipes," and that is an accurate summation of what you can expect to find in this cookbook — from Dolsot Bibimbap to Budae Jjigae to Hanjan's Spicy Rice Cakes. When I first laid my hands on this cookbook, I wanted to make (and eat) every single recipe. If you're looking for some solid foundation recipes, "My Korea" delivers.

For the person always posting pictures of their cheese board

"Platters and Boards: Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion" by Shelley Westerhausen, $19.29, available at Amazon

In her best-selling cookbook, author and food blogger Shelley Westerhausen shares 40 casual yet chic spreads (complete with meat and drink pairings) that anyone can make and enjoy. It's also a visual cornucopia that's just as satisfying to flip through as to use when hosting get-togethers when it's safe to do so.

For the friend who likes to Instagram all their food

"Ottolenghi Flavor" by Yotam Ottolenghi, $22.88, available at Amazon

Yotam Ottolenghi is owner and chef of some of London's most beloved cafes and restaurants. His recipes are some of the most colorful and beautiful out there, and his latest cookbook is no exception. "Flavor" is filled with mostly vegetarian recipes that not only pack a punch visually but flavor-wise, too. Ottolenghi and his co-authors expound the building blocks of flavor in three sections: process, pairing, and produce. The result is more than 100 'gram-worthy recipes from Spicy Mushroom Lasagna to Iceberg Wedges with Smoky Eggplant Cream.

For the self-described dessert person

"Dessert Person" by Claire Saffitz, $31.50, available at Amazon

Claire Saffitz may be known for her wildly popular Gourmet Makes series on YouTube, but she's a pastry chef at heart and her affinity for baked goods is out in full force with her new cookbook "Dessert Person." In this cookbook, you can find creative recipes for Babkallah (a babka-Challah mashup), Apple and Concord Grape Crumble Pie, Strawberry-Cornmeal Layer Cake, and Malted Forever Brownies. It's sure to please the dessert lover in your life.

For the history buff

"Jubilee" by Toni Tipton-Martin, $23.85, available at Amazon

Toni Tipton-Martin's personal collection of African-American cookbooks spans more than 400 titles and her knowledge of American food history is on full display in "Jubilee." Through recipes and stories, she relates the history of Black folks who shaped American cuisine into what it is today, from those who cooked under the confines of brutal enslavement to the chefs who ran White House kitchens. "Jubilee" is a masterful work of American history, as told through food.

For the person who had to cancel their vacation last year

"Pasta Grannies" by Vicky Bennison, $22.26, available at Amazon

Each episode of the "Pasta Grannies" YouTube series is an escape to a different region of Italy, where local grannies (or nonne) teach the audience to prepare and cook a regional dish — from classics like Spaghetti alla Carbonara to a pasta shape from Sardinia only three women know how to make. This cookbook takes some of the most popular videos from the series and turns them into tangible recipes you can cook at home. Between watching the video and cooking from the book, you can transport yourself to a little corner of Italy without leaving your home.

For the hummus lover

"Falastin" by Sami Tamimi, $24.49, available at Amazon

Longtime Ottolenghi collaborator (and co-author of "Jerusalem," another of our cookbook picks), Sam Tamimi, crafted his latest cookbook as an homage to Palestinian food. The book is rich in recipes, from multiple variations of shakshuka and hummus, to verdant salads, and colorful dips. Along the way, Tamimi tells the culinary history of Palestinian food — from the home cooks feeding their neighbors in refugee camps to the restaurateurs cooking for tourists in Bethlehem.

For the person homesick for their grandma's cooking

"In Bibi's Kitchen" by Hawa Hassan, $21.99, available at Amazon

This cookbook centers around grandmothers (or bibis) from eight south and east African countries. Throughout the book, we get to know the women whose recipes are featured and learn about their personal history and the history of their country. Along the way, you'll find recipes for Eritrean Doro Wat, Tanzanian Date Bread, Kenyan Kachumbari, and more. It's the kind of cookbook that makes think about your grandmother.

For your friend who knows all the best restaurants

"Xi'an Famous Foods" by Jason Wang, $31.50, available at Amazon

Xi'an Famous Foods started as a small family-owned market stall in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens. Its hand-pulled cumin lamb noodles have become so loved that there are now 14 locations all around New York City. In this cookbook, the son of the family and CEO of the business Jason Wang divulges some of the recipes that made his family business famous, as well as other classic dishes from Xi'an in western China.

For the person who lives by a cookie-a-day philosophy

100 Cookies by Sarah Keiffer, $10.97, available at Amazon

A good ol' chocolate chip cookie never goes out of style, but if you have a cookie lover in your life, consider gifting them this homage to baked goods. You'll find recipes for the classics (including four different variations of chocolate chip cookies) as well cookies you've probably never had before, like Banana-Espresso-Cacao Nib cookies.

For the parent who can't wait to host again

"Magnolia Table, Volume 2" by Joanna Gaines, $20.79, available at Amazon

Joanna Gaines of "Fixer Upper" fame builds on the success of her wildly popular first cookbook with this second volume of recipes. The book is built around recipes and ideas for gathering, like Sunday Pot Roast, Black Forest Cake, and Friendsgiving Casserole. While parties are few and far between right now, this book will satisfy the person in your life who is itching to connect with loved ones over the kitchen table again and give them some creative ideas for when that finally becomes a reality.

marijuana cannabis industry business v1 2x1

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If 2020 was the year for cannabis startups to tighten their belts and focus on weathering the pandemic, then 2021 is set to be a boon for companies that have emerged mostly unscathed, investors told Business Insider.

We asked top private equity and venture investors in the cannabis industry to name the startups they believe are poised for major growth this year. The startups that made our list range from dispensaries and cultivation chains like Ascend Wellness Holdings, to cannabis software firms like Dutchie, to companies working on biosynthesis and agricultural technology.

Most of the investors we talked to said that startups with strong management teams will have lots of opportunity in front of them this year, as more states open legal cannabis markets, and institutional investors start getting more comfortable with the industry.

There was a significant uptick in VC interest in cannabis startups in 2020, particularly on the software side, around August. A number of cannabis tech startups that made our list, including Dutchie, LeafLink, and Springbig, closed large funding rounds this year.

To put together this story, Business Insider asked a representative from each of the 17 investment firms that made our list of the top investors in the industry to name two companies that are poised for huge growth in 2021.

Each investor was asked to recommend one startup they invested in and one they hadn't. In total, investors gave us 26 names. Here's the full list, arranged alphabetically:

Abstrax

Founded: 2017

Located: Irvine, CA

Post money valuation: $25 million

Biggest funding round of 2020: $1 million raised in a convertible note deal. The company said it is looking to raise Series A funding this year.

Total raised to date: $2 million

What the company does: Abstrax is a California-based research firm that creates terpene profiles — active chemicals in the cannabis plant — for use in isolates, vaporizers, or even as food and beverage additives.

Why investors like the company:

Panther Opportunity Fund's principal Jordan Tritt says that Abstrax is "pioneering consumer sensorial experiences in the cannabis industry."

"Their cutting edge research, development and formulations have the potential to revolutionize various consumer packaged goods products," he continued.

Amuse

Founded: 2019

Located: Los Angeles, California

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $12 million

Total raised to date: $12 million

What the company does: Amuse is a cannabis delivery firm that connects consumers to dispensaries in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas.

Why investors like the company:

"We believe cannabis is gravitating toward an on-demand model and will look more like the traditional CPG model over the next few years,"Jason Adler, managing member at Gotham Green Partners, told Business Insider.

Adler predicts that as the cannabis market matures, consumers will learn their preferences and won't visit dispensaries as much.

"Our research showed that distribution could be extremely profitable, and the timing was optimal as delivery infrastructure and players could not keep up with the demand," he continued.

California doesn't have enough dispensaries, according to Adler.

"We could not find a player that we had conviction in, thus we decided to back Amuse, which has emerged as one of the leaders in the Los Angeles cannabis e-commerce delivery market," he said. "The business is poised for significant expansion in 2021 and we're excited for Amuse to open up its service to the rest of California and beyond."

Ascend Wellness

Founded: 2018

Located: New York, New York

Post-money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $68.2 million closed in August.

Total raised to date: $208.63 million, according to PitchBook. Ascend Wellness declined to disclose a figure.

What the company does: Ascend Wellness is a privately held cannabis cultivation and dispensary chain, known in the industry as multi-state operators or MSOs. It operates in Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Ohio.

The company said in an email to Business Insider that it focuses on limited license states east of the Rockies, "with flagship locations in desirable retail corridors serving key medical and adult-use markets."

Why VCs like the company:

Two VCs picked Ascend Wellness.

Salveo Capital's Michael Gruber says he believes Ascend Wellness's presence in key states like New Jersey means it will be well-positioned for growth.

"We are an investor in the company and had added additional capital to our investment this year. The passing of adult-use in NJ this November is a huge step, and with NJ in our belief will be an amazingly good market," Gruber said in an email. "This will also likely be key impetus to spur NY, PA, and CT to legalize adult-use as well."

Gruber added that Salveo is "bullish in general on private MSOs that are focused on key limited license states and where they have gone deep within a limited number of states, and where management has been able to execute in an efficient manner."

Silverleaf Venture Partners' Andre Haroche describes Ascend Wellness' growth as "astounding."

"They have a fantastic management team lead by industry-veteran Abner Kurtin and we wouldn't be surprised to see Ascend be publicly traded in the next year or so based on its momentum," Haroche said.

Bespoke Financial

Founded: 2018

Located: Los Angeles, California

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: Over $25 million across equity and debt, according to the company.

What the company does: Bespoke Financial is a fintech platform and licensed commercial lender that provides debt financing to cannabis and hemp companies.

Why investors like the company:

Bespoke Financial "is solving one of the biggest challenges in the industry" according to Yoni Moshe Meyer, partner at Casa Verde, by providing working capital.

Bloom Automation

Founded: 2016

Located: Woburn, Massachusetts

Post money valuation: $10 million

Biggest funding round of 2020: $1.8 million

Total raised to date: $3.2 million

What the company does: Bloom Automation is an agricultural technology company that designs robots that cater to cannabis growers. The robots can automate post-harvest processing.

Why investors like the company:

"Human hand trimming is typically the most labor-intensive part of the cannabis flower production process, and it presents a large obstacle for efficiently scaling flower production," said Steve Schuman, managing director of HALLEY Venture Partners. "Bloom has developed robotic trimming machines that automate the cannabis harvesting process."

According to Schuman, Bloom is the only advanced technology solution in this trimming space, providing a robotic solution to what is normally a time consuming and expensive task.

"We can easily see Bloom robots applied to many other agricultural and manufacturing processes when human-like vision and decision making is needed in real-time," he continued.

Canix

Founded: 2019

Located: San Francisco, CA

Post money valuation: $20 million

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: $2.6 million

What the company does: Canix is a software and hardware platform that helps cannabis companies comply with regulations, optimize operations, and manage inventory.

Why investors like the company:

Phyto Partners managing partner Larry Schnurmacher says he believes Canix has "the potential to disrupt the seed-to-sale vertical."

"The company was founded in 2019 by a former Facebook developer and is experiencing rapid growth as it builds out solution sets for cultivators, manufacturers, and distributors," Schnurmacher told Business Insider in an email. "Canix has demonstrated its ability to capture market share from incumbents and we believe this will propel its growth going forward."

Cann

Founded: 2019

Located: Los Angeles, CA

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: Declined to disclose.

Total raised to date: Over $12 million

What the company does: Cann is a low dose, THC-infused beverage brand that sells in California. Here's a look at the pitch deck Cann used to raise $5 million last year.

Why investors like the company:

"Cann is the first beverage brand to crack the code in the cannabis drink segment," Arcadian Capital's managing partners, Matthew Nordgren and KrishnanVarier, told Business Insider in an email.

"What we love about them is their approachable branding that appeals to the widest of consumer audiences, particularly the highly sought after mainstream consumer that's new to cannabis," they continued.

Nordgren and Varier say that the company's wide variety of flavors and quality ingredients "drive repeat purchases which is what truly makes it a great investment."

Connected

Founded: 2009

Located: Sacramento, California

Post-money valuation: Decline to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: $25 million Series A round closed July 2019

What the company does: Connected is a California cannabis brand that sells high-end marijuana flower.

Why VCs like the company:

Two VCs picked Connected.

Connected is "the leading flower company in California with a fantastic management team," said Navy Capital's Sean Stiefel.

The company dominates the premium flower market in California, Stiefel said.

"Connected Cannabis grows and manufactures high-quality cannabis flower at scale," said Gotham Green Partners' Jason Adler."Compared to most craft brands in the state, Connected has differentiated itself with an ability to produce a consistent quality product at scale and seamlessly introduce new strains in a relatively short time frame."

"We believe that the high-end flower segment will continue to benefit from several tailwinds, particularly the maturation of the consumer palate and new recreational markets with greenfield opportunities for expansion," Adler continued.

Dharma Pharmaceuticals

Founded: 2018

Located: Bristol, Virginia

Post money valuation: $50 million

Biggest funding round of 2020: $7 million

Total raised to date: Over $15 million

What the company does: Dharma Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held medical cannabis dispensary in Virginia.

Why investors like the company:

"Dharma Pharmaceuticals, which we now own a majority of, holds one of the four vertical medical licenses in Virginia, and with our operating team leading the way, was the first company to bring medicine to the Virginia market recently,"Mitch Baruchowitz, managing partner at Merida Capital, told Business Insider in an email. "With only 4 operators for 8.5MM people, and potential adult use coming, Dharma's opportunity for growth over the next few years is almost limitless."

Dutchie

Founded: 2017

Located: Bend, Oregon

Post-money valuation: $205 million, according to PitchBook. Dutchie declined to disclose a figure.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $35 million closed in August 2020. Read Business Insider's coverage here, where we got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Dutchie used to close the round.

Total raised to date: $53 million, according to Dutchie.

What the company does: Dutchie is an e-commerce software startup that connects cannabis consumers to dispensaries and allows them to order products from their homes. It also powers online ordering tools for the dispensaries themselves.

Why VCs like the company:

Three investors named Dutchie as one of their picks.

"Dutchie was an early mover in the B2C eCommerce space in cannabis, and while not a HALLEY portfolio company, B2C eCommerce is a large component of nearly every other product and service outside of cannabis,"HALLEY Venture Partners Managing Director Steve Schuman told Business Insider. "WeedMaps' recently announced $1.5 billion deal with Silver Spike SPAC is a validation of the growing importance of that piece of the puzzle."

In general, Schuman said, e-commerce feels fragmented and underdeveloped in the cannabis space, and his firm continues to look for solutions to help brands and dispensaries connect with consumers and patients online.

"Dutchie is the leading e-commerce platform in cannabis," says Gron Ventures managing partner Wilder Ramsey. "In three years it has grown from zero to more than $2.6 billion in annual GMV, making it one of the fastest-growing and most efficient commerce platforms of all time, in any vertical."

"This performance is testament to a remarkable team," Ramsey continued, "anchored by brothers Ross and Zach Lipson, who are setting pace for all of us in an industry characterized by torrid growth."

"Dutchie is already a success story and they are going big with their recent raise," said Panther Opportunity Fund's Jordan Tritt. "Their CEO, Ross Lipson, has already exited multiple businesses in the online ordering and delivery space and his timing is right with the increased digitization of cannabis favoring online ordering."

Eaze

Founded: 2014

Located: San Francisco, California

Post money valuation: $400 million, according to the company

Biggest funding round of 2020: $90 million Series D.

Total raised to date: $249 million, per Pitchbook.

What the company does: Eaze is a California cannabis delivery and dispensary service. Read more of Business Insider's coverage of Eaze here.

Why investors like the company:

"2020 was the year of cannabis delivery," Kyle Lui, partner at DCM Ventures, told Business Insider. This focus on delivery, according to Lui, helped Eaze grow gross revenues 150% year-over-year.

Eaze's transition to vertical integration across its network also helped improved margins and overall menu quality, said Lui.

Grassdoor

Founded: 2018

Located: Commerce, California

Post-money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: Declined to disclose.

Total raised to date: Declined to disclose.

What the company does: Grassdoor is a startup that delivers cannabis products from dispensaries to consumers in Southern California. The company declined to comment for this article.

Why VCs like the company:

Three investors selected Grassdoor.

Grassdoor has an impressive team and technology, Navy Capital's Sean Stiefel told Busness Insider. The company also has a "differentiated business model to go after the DTC delivery market," Stiefel said in an email.

"Because they developed their depot processes in parallel with their proprietary tech stack, they have been able to scale their business in an incredibly efficient manner," said AFI Capital Partners' Nico Richardson. "As a result, Grassdoor has become a leading delivery platform in less than two years of operation."

"Operating in DTC (direct to consumer) cannabis delivery, Grassdoor has a lot of competition,"Measure 8 founding partner Boris Jordan told Business Insider. "In a short period of time, the company has earned top marks from customers as the 'go-to' platform for cannabis on demand."

GrowFlow

Founded: 2016

Located: Seattle, Washington

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $8.4 million, closed in May 2020

Total raised to date: $8.7 million

What the company does: GrowFlow is a compliance and inventory management software platform for cannabis companies.

Why investors like the company:

"Despite facing significant competition in the compliance segment of the industry, GrowFlow has been able to differentiate through exceptional product development as well as an integrated POS platform that quickly gained traction upon release," said Jeb Spencer, managing partner at TVC Capital.

"The company currently has over 1,200 customers ranging from cultivators to retailers and transactions on the platform increased by a reported 196% this year. Over $2 billion in compliant cannabis transactions have been completed using GrowFlow's software in the last four years," he continued.

Happy Cabbage Analytics

Founded: 2019

Located: San Francisco, CA

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $1.5 million seed round closed in September

Total raised to date: $1.5 million

What the company does: Happy Cabbage Analytics is a software and data platform that helps cannabis companies target consumers.

Why investors like the company:

Morgan and Emily Paxhia, founders of Poseidon Asset Management, told Business Insider that Happy Cabbage, a company focused on the marketing aspect of the industry, aims to "provide the industry with smarter and more fitting marketing strategies based on consumer behaviors."

"As product and retail become more competitive," they continued, "smarter marketing will be a critical part of the industry's growth."

Headset

Founded: 2015

Located: Seattle, Washington

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $3.2 million

Total raised to date: $16 million

What the company does: Headset is a cannabis industry data analytics and market intelligence platform.

Why investors like the company:

Headset is "tackling data on the level that we feel is critical for the industry,"Morgan and Emily Paxhia, founders of Poseidon Asset Management, told Business Insider in an email.

"There is a lot of talk around 'data' from many companies, but the quality and sizes of the data sets really matter, as does the way the data is categorized," they said. "Myopic or narrow data sets could drive incorrect insights. Also, their data is 'real-time' which is critical to this industry which changes so quickly."

Poseidon says the industry saw this play out clearly in two very specific instances: when black-market vapes were linked to a spate of lung illnesses as well as during the early days of the onset of the coronavirus in the US.

"As investors, data is critical and we rely heavily on this to support our decision-making process. It is so hard not to name so many of our other companies who we believe are top companies in the industry," they continued.

Herbl

Founded: 2016

Located: Santa Barbara, CA

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: Declined to disclose.

What the company does: Herbl is a cannabis supply chain and distribution company.

Why investors like the company:

"Herbl is a California-based cannabis distribution company led by an all-star team of executives from Fedex, Gap, UNFI, Sonos and more," said Silverleaf Venture Partners managing director Andre M. Haroche."In just two years of operations the company has experienced explosive growth and is now the largest distributor in the industry, with hundreds of millions in annual sales."

LeafLink

Founded: 2015

Located: New York City (HQ), Los Angeles, Toronto

Post-money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $40 million closed in December 2020

Total raised to date: $91 million, according to LeafLink. The company also closed a $250 million debt facility earlier this year to support its payment product.

What the company does: LeafLink is a wholesale marketplace for the cannabis industry. The company says its e-commerce marketplace approach has "optimized and fueled the growth of the cannabis industry, creating new efficiencies in the wholesale buying process with supply-chain software and services."

Why VCs like the company:

Three investors selected LeafLink.

DCM Ventures partner Kyle Lui says LeafLink's payments product, LeafLink Financial, is "a much-needed solution that should see strong continued growth."

"LeafLink, a portfolio company since January 2017, is our top pick and best-performing investment," Phyto Partners' Larry Schnurmacher told Business Insider. He says the startup is the largest business-to-business marketplace in the cannabis industry.

Schnurmacher says his firm made its initial investment in the company's seed round. "We believe LL [LeafLink] will be the most valuable ancillary company in cannabis," he added in an email.

Gron Ventures managing partner Wilder Ramsey says that he likes Leaflink because it powers a third of the cannabis wholesale market in the US. This, he said, is "an incredible, winning position that would be difficult or impossible to achieve in a mature industry."

"Their new lending and logistics products are solving critical problems in the space, allowing customers to scale compliantly with far more flexibility, and we expect the company's services to be so ubiquitous and foundational in the space that in 10 years it will be no exaggeration to say the industry was built on Leaflink," Ramsey continued.

Leafwire

Founded: 2018

Located: Denver, Colorado

Post money valuation: The company says it raised a seed round in 2019 with a post-money valuation of $4 million.

Biggest funding round of 2020: The company says it currently has an open round and is crowdfunding on online platform SeedInvest.

Total raised to date: $1.6 million

What the company does: Leafwire is a LinkedIn-like social network for the cannabis industry to share news, promote events, and find jobs.

Why investors like the company:

"We really like Leafwire but have not found an opening in our investment queue for them," said Mitch Baruchowitz, managing partner at Merida Capital.

"We think their approach to connectivity is unique, their daily user count is strong and growing, and their Marketplace and Jobs platforms encourage companies/executives to interact in ways that create high ROIs on their time and money," Baruchowitz said. "Sticky ecosystems with user-friendly tech that deliver outsized value to cannabis companies have routinely grown into valuable companies over time."

MOR Analytics

Founded: 2019

Located: Newtown, Pennsylvania

Post money valuation: The company declined to comment for this article.

Biggest funding round of 2020: The company declined to comment for this article.

Total raised to date: The company declined to comment for this article.

What the company does: MOR Analytics is a healthcare software firm founded by two WebMD alumni. The startup is merging with Helix Technologies, a cannabis compliance software company.

Why investors like the company:

Jeb Spencer, managing partner at TVC Capital, said that MOR Analytics is "one of the more interesting software companies we have seen this year."

Spencer said that the company's healthcare data and evidence-based health outcome research "has the power to be highly impactful in the cannabis industry."

"MOR's recent announcement of their plans to acquire Helix Technologies makes this company even more exciting going forward," he continued.

Petalfast

Founded: 2020

Located: Irvine, California

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $1.3 million, raised through a convertible note with a $10 million cap, according to the company

Total raised to date: $1.55 million

What the company does: Petalfast is a marketing and communications firm.

Why investors like the company:

"Petalfast is a sales and marketing agency that takes its cues from the food and beverage industry, connecting California's top brands and distributors to extend their retail market footprint across the state," Arcadian Capital's managing partners Matthew Nordgren and Krishnan Varier said in an email to Business Insider.

"Leveraging their preferred distribution partner HERBL, they position their brand clients to capture share of wallet from retailers. They're the missing puzzle piece in the downstream supply chain that will ultimately be the blueprint for the largest cannabis markets across the country," they continued.

Puffco

Founded: 2013

Located: Los Angeles, California

Post money valuation: N/A. The company says its 2020 revenue was roughly $100 million.

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: The company says it does not have investors.

What the company does: Puffco is a startup that makes cannabis vaporizers, focused on concentrates.

Why investors like the company:

"Puffco represents an ancillary business we have not invested in, but continue to hold in high regard," said Andrew Schweibold, cofounder and CEO of Rose Capital. "Puffco is a manufacturer of vaporizers with a particular focus on concentrates, making the product category more accessible to consumers by providing elegantly designed, sophisticated alternatives to other traditional concentrate consumption methodologies."

Pureform

Founded: 2016

Located: Los Angeles, California

Post money valuation: $50 million

Biggest funding round of 2020: $2 million, closed in December 2020

Total raised to date: $10 million. The company says it has a Series A funding round planned for 2021.

What the company does: PureForm Global uses biosynthesis to produce cannabinoids from non-cannabis sources for use in consumer and pharmaceutical applications.

Why investors like the company:

"While many companies tackling bio-synthesis talk about commercialization in the next couple of years, Pureform is actually producing cannabinoids with 99%+ purity by the ton," said Yoni Moshe Meyer, partner at Casa Verde.

Raw Garden

Founded: 2015

Located: Buellton, California

Post money valuation: Declined to comment

Biggest funding round of 2020: Declined to comment

Total raised to date: Declined to comment

What the company does: Raw Garden is a California cannabis brand that specializes in concentrates. The company declined to comment for this article.

Why investors like the company:

"Not only is Raw Garden the #1 selling brand in California, but they're also doing work to revolutionize the cannabis supply chain via agronomics," Measure 8 Chief Operating Officer Kevin Gahwyler told Business Insider in an email.

"The company maintains a seed library of 15,000 distinct strain crosses and 25 million seeds. Today the industry is crippled with high input costs to 'ensure' quality," he continued. "We believe Raw Garden's focus on science-based, scaled production will continue to disrupt the sector."

Rebel Coast

Founded: 2017

Located: Los Angeles, California

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $1.8 million

Total raised to date: Over $5 million

What the company does: Rebel Coast is a California cannabis beverage startup, with products including a cannabis-infused sauvignon blanc and seltzers in a range of flavors.

Why investors like the company:

"Rebel Coast represents an early stage cannabis brand that was recently added to the BellRock Brands platform," said Andrew Schweibold, cofounder and CEO of Rose Capital. "An early pioneer in the beverage category, the company is focused on innovation and always injects a healthy dose of humor and lifestyle into the marketing of its line of THC-infused products."

Ricovr

Founded: 2018

Located: Princeton, NJ

Post money valuation: $13 million, expected closing in January 2021.

Biggest funding round of 2020: N/A

Total raised to date: $1.3 million to date. $1.5 million expected in January 2021.

What the company does: Ricovr is a diagnostics startup developing devices that can test for THC impairment through a small drop of saliva.

Why investors like the company:

"As cannabis becomes more commonplace in society, and the country gets closer to federal legalization, the industry will need to find better methods of measuring impairment," said Nico Richardson, managing director at AFI Capital Partners.

"This will be a key area of concern, not just for law enforcement, but also for employers. Ricovr's technology is rapid, low cost and mobile," he continued.

SpringBig

Founded: 2017

Located: Boca Raton, Florida

Post money valuation: Declined to disclose.

Biggest funding round of 2020: $11.5 million Series B, led by TVC Capital in August 2020. Read Business Insider's coverage of the round here.

Total raised to date: $20.2 million

What the company does: Springbig is a software platform that helps cannabis companies market, attract, and retain customers, among other uses.

Why investors like the company:

"SpringBig's widely adopted Marcom technology is currently being used by over 1,500 dispensaries in 33 states," said Jeb Spencer, managing partner at TVC Capital. "The company's software allows its customers to market to 25 million cannabis users on a regular basis, up from just 12 million one year ago."

Spencer says that the SpringBig is "the fastest growing company SaaS company we have encountered in the cannabis software space."

Aryeh Bourkoff latest headshot

Summary List Placement

It's been a stomach-churning year in media, with the pandemic providing a black swan event that has challenged even the smartest players.

Pivoting is the business plan du jour, and the telecom, media and tech sector bankers have been busy coming up with ways to seize the day for some and rescue plans for others.

In TMT, which refers to the telecom, media and tech sectors, merger and acquisition sector activity swelled to $387 billion in 2020, up 77% versus the prior year, according to Refinitiv.

Some players, like Jeffrey Katzenberg's Quibi, were dead on arrival after soliciting a huge amount of investment from banks. Others like cinema chain AMC Entertainment had to borrow money to stay alive. Univision and Verizon decided it was the right time to put assets on the block. Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, will bring many smaller media players to the public markets with bankers playing Pied Piper.

Investment bankers are used to working around-the-clock hours at breakneck speed, but this past year has put best-in-class financial engineers to the test, and the pace of dealmaking won't be slowing down anytime soon.

Business Insider talked to senior executives across the spectrum to identify the go-to media bankers in the sector to watch.

LionTree's Aryeh Bourkoff

They say all roads lead to Rome, and the same could be said of Aryeh Bourkoff, who sits at the nexus of the most headline-grabbing media transactions (and a lot more that happens behind closed doors).

Bourkoff, who built his own investment bank LionTree after years at UBS, is fond of quoting big thinkers in his annual looking-ahead letter.

Bourkoff's company was behind deals such as ViacomCBS' sale of book publisher Simon & Schuster to Bertelsmann's Penguin Random House; and audio firm Wondery's sale to Amazon.

LionTree advised on other agreements in the audio space with E.W. Scripps' sale of Stitcher to SiriusXM.

And in Spanish-language media, Bourkoff helped crunch the numbers on the Univision sale of a majority stake to ForgeLight, Searchlight, and Televisa. He also helped Jeffrey Katzenberg sell the Quibi library, which was picked up by Roku.

In his most recent year-end letter, Bourkoff shared Marcus Aurelius' observation that "Most of what we say and do is not essential," adding that media players must make decisions that are essential. Bourkoff, who is both down-to-earth and cerebral, told readers that if there's a wave, it's time to grab the surfboard.

Goldman Sachs' Kurt Simon

If there have been seismic, landscape altering deals then Goldman Sach's Kurt Simon was part of the conversations that created them.

Simon advised on AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner and its subsequent defense against activist investor Elliott Management at the beginning of 2020. He also advised Disney on its acquisition of Fox.

Goldman was also involved in some huge deals in 2020, including acting as lead advisor to S&P in its purchase of IHS Markit, information provider. The all-stock deal was valued at $44 billion.

Simon is vice chairman of the Investment Banking Division and co-chairman of the global Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) Group. He also serves as a member of the Investment Banking Senior Leadership Council.

Simon joined the firm as a partner in 2018 after 16 years at JP Morgan, most recently as global chairman of mergers and acquisitions. Before that, he was head of the TMT investment banking practice.

He earned a BA from Duke University in 1987 and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania in 1991.

Goldman Sachs' Sam Britton

Sam Britton has been busy the past 12 months with a lot of tech and media deals such as the sale of eBay's StubHub to Viagogo for $4 billion and the $7.5 billion sale of videogame company ZeniMax to Microsoft.

He's had some activism business to attend to as well. Britton was key to Twitter's activism advisory and investment by Silver Lake and also was part of eBay's activism advisory with Elliott and Starboard.

The San Francisco-based Britton, who's been in the business for 25 years, described tech M&A as being "on fire" in 2020.

"This is a business where experience begets more activity, and there's a virtuous circle there," he said of Goldman's ability to attract significant business.

He noted that companies are looking at both an IPO track as well as strategic acquirers as they turn to 2021.

"We've seen either the inclination to make those phone calls go down a little bit, or the success rate of those phone calls go down a little bit, in part because the IPO — the public alternative — is very, very attractive, whether through a SPAC or whether through a conventional IPO."

Allen & Co.'s Nancy Peretsman

Nancy Peretsman has been a fixture of the media deals for decades, but she's still close to the grassroots when it comes to spotting what's around the corner.

Peretsman is one of the most prominent women in finance, with decades of experience at boutique firm Allen & Co., where she is a managing director. Over the years, she's worked on Google's IPO , was a banker for AOL, and advised News Corp. in its purchase of Dow Jones.

In the past 12 months, Peretsman has advised on Fox's acquisition of Tubi, a $500 million deal; Twitter on its agreement with activist investor Elliott Management; Magic Leap on its private placement; and News Corp.'s sale of News America Marketing to Charlesbank Capital Partners.

Outside of media, Peretsman advised Deliveroo on its private placement financed mostly by Amazon.

"2020 was a year of extraordinary activity raising capital for a whole group of exciting companies. It's a new form of online media business," she said of the new crop of direct-to-consumer companies.

Peretsman also advised Graham Holdings on the sale of an audio venture to Spotify and Vimeo spinout from IAC. "It makes more sense to spin it off into the capital markets than to sell it," she said, of what will likely be a common theme this year.

Max Herrnstein, Morgan Stanley

Max Herrnstein has been in the media business for over 30 years as an investment banker, venture capitalist and strategy consultant. He currently chairs the Global Media & Communications Group at Morgan Stanley, having worked on a range of deals in digital media, advertising agencies, sports, music and broadcast and satellite communications.

In 2020, he worked on Disney's $11 billion bond offering in May, followed by Warner Music Group's $2.2 billion initial public offering in July. Herrnstein closed out the year as an advisor to Spanish-language media giant Univision, which sold a majority stake to Searchlight Capital Partners and Forgelight. The deal closed in December.

He has an A.B. magna cum laude and an MBA from Harvard University.

Moelis & Company's Navid Mahmoodzadegan

Navid Mahmoodzadegan is always in the midst of multi-billion dollar media M&A activity. As co-president and a founding partner of Moelis & Company, he's worked on a host of deals this past year, from Univision's stake sale to AMC Entertainment's exchange offer and capital raise to ION's sale to E.W. Scripps.

Among other deals, he was a financial adviser to Expedia on its $1.2 billion PIPE (private investment in public equity) and related financings, worth $4 billion.

Mahmoodzadegan's expertise crosses broadcasting, cable, publishing, entertainment, satellite and digital media sectors. He spent six years at UBS, most recently as the global head of media investment banking, and was a member of its Investment Banking Department Americas Executive Committee. He began his investment banking career at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

Mahmoodzadegan holds an A.B. from the University of Michigan (Phi Beta Kappa) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude).

Evercore's Jason Sobol and Nathan Graf

Evercore duo Jason Sobol and Nathan Graf had a busy year advising Red Ventures on its acquisition of CNET, which ViacomCBS sold for $500 million after buying it for $1.8 billion in 2008.

Among other deals, the two advised on the Scripps family's interest in E.W. Scripps' acquisition of ION Media for $2.65 billion in September. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway made a rare media deal, agreeing to pour $600 million into the mix to help the purchase along.

On a smaller scale, Evercore also advised Edmunds, which received an equity investment from Carmax in January 2020. Sobol also advised on McClatchy's sale out of bankruptcy court to Chatham Asset Management.

plaid investors 2x1

Summary List Placement

Things have not gone according to plan for fintech startup Plaid. But its investors now say that may be for the best.

In January, Visa agreed to purchase the fintech unicorn for $5.3 billion, giving Plaid's backers a sweet return on their investment — roughly seven years after the company raised its first round of venture capital.

But the deal fell apart on Tuesday, after regulators refused to approve it and instead sued to stop it, saying it was anti-competitive. In the face of that, both parties agreed to walk, they said in a statement.

That's the official story. But people familiar with the situation are saying that Plaid had "buyer's remorse," because the company believes it's worth much more now, and used the lawsuit as an excuse to scuttle the sale, according to Axios.

Plaid's cofounder and CEO Zach Perret now says he's in no rush to find a new buyer and is instead focused on growing the business. Still, there's plenty of speculation that a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, will come calling.

In any case, Plaid's current slate of investors will have to wait before they can cash out their shares. And there's plenty of them. Plaid raised $309 million in four rounds from about two dozen investors and had an estimated valuation of around $2.65 billion before the Visa deal, according to deals database PitchBook.

Plaid's software pipes data between consumer finance apps and banks. The acquisition would have been a critical move for Visa, one of the world's largest payments platforms already, to own that pipe as well.

The price tag on its potential sale to Visa would have made it one of the largest deals in fintech history, which invited a higher level of scrutiny from the Department of Justice. The department sued in November to stop the acquisition alleging that it was anticompetitive, after learning that Plaid was building a tool intended to directly challenge Visa.

"Continuing to pursue the transaction with Visa would have meant that we continued to litigate with the DOJ. And that process could have taken, minimally, many many months. More likely, more than a year," Perret told Insider.

Investors tell us they're happy

Plaid may have reason to celebrate staying independent. Early investors say they're convinced that the company will have an even better outcome as the pandemic accelerates adoption of its tools and other fintech services.

In 2020, Plaid said it saw a 60% increase in customer growth and has added "hundreds" of banks to its customer base.

"The world has changed a lot in the past year, and has created even bigger opportunities for Plaid to help consumers interact with the financial system with ease," said David Tisch, a cofounder of BoxGroup, an early Plaid investor.

Some of its venture capitalists think Plaid is well positioned to maintain that growth in 2021 and beyond, they say.

"The upside from here is massive," said Tisch, who invested in Plaid at the seed stage in 2013.

Hunter Walk, a cofounder of Homebrew, another early Plaid investor, said in an email that he's "thrilled for the team who can continue to grow the value of the company to their benefit (as well as investors)."

Of course, venture capitalists are eager for exits because they're on the clock to give returns to their own investors, like pension funds, university endowments, foundations, and high-net-worth individuals. Mark Goldberg, a general partner at Index Ventures, also a Plaid investor, said he's fortunate his backers "have a long-term view of the funds."

"The timing is less important than the size of the outcomes," Goldberg said. "Our view is that while we had a bird in hand with Visa, a little patience will really pay off in the long run."

Even so, instead of a massive, immediate multi-billion payday, here are the major Plaid investors that will have to wait.

Andreessen Horowitz

Andreessen Horowitz would have been a winner in Plaid's blockbuster sale to Visa. The venture firm invested later than other firms on this list, in 2018, as part of the company's Series C round of funding. But Visa's offer was for double the valuation of that round, so a quick profit.

When the acquisition was first announced, general partner Alex Rampell said it made sense because just as Visa is "a network of banks that service consumers and merchants," Plaid is a middleman for banks and fintech developers, such as Coinbase, Venmo, and Robinhood.

"To a certain extent, Plaid *is* the Visa of fintech, and for Visa, this is a smart bet on the future of financial services," Rampell wrote in the firm's newsletter around the time of the deal.

Now, Rampell said he's "excited" by the company's decision to stay private, even though he thinks the Department of Justice's lawsuit was "misguided," he wrote on Twitter.

Kleiner Perkins

Kleiner Perkins would have been one of the bigger winners because it led that last, Series C venture round in 2018. It was a $250 million round that gave the fintech its unicorn status.

The deal increased Plaid's valuation more than tenfold from the previous round, from $225 million in 2016 to $2.65 billion, Pitchbook estimates.

Mary Meeker, who was then a partner at Kleiner Perkins, helped Plaid raise the $250 million and took a seat on the board, another indication that Kleiner's investment was significant.

"We are excited about the evolution and potential ahead," Meeker told Crunchbase at the time.

The deal was among her last at Kleiner Perkins before she left to start her own firm, Bond Capital. A Kleiner Perkins spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

New Enterprise Associates

Plaid had a simple pitch, said NEA partner Rick Yang: "make money easier."

"It was a compelling and ambitious mission that aligned well with our deepening investment thesis around fintech," Yang wrote in a blog post around the time of the takeover news.

NEA has been there since Plaid's start, investing in the seed round in 2013. The firm has joined every financing since then, even leading the Series A round in 2015, and has a board seat.

So its payoff in the $5.3 billion Visa deal would have been healthy.

But since that is not to be, "as a board member I wholeheartedly support @ZachPerret and @Plaid's decision to remain an independent company," Yang tweeted on Tuesday.

He said there's "too much opportunity" to grow the business alongside the explosion of fintech, to be distracted by a lengthy legal battle.

BoxGroup

David Tisch, one of New York's top seed investors, got to know Zach Perret as an intern at TechStars, the startup accelerator that Tisch ran before he started his own firm, BoxGroup.

Tisch said he offered Perret a job there, but Perret turned it down to build a company, Plaid.

"A pretty great decision," Tisch tweeted back in January.

Instead of hiring Perret, BoxGroup became one of the first investors in Plaid in 2013. The firm did not participate in later rounds because it was limited by the size of its funds, Forbes reported. BoxGroup has since started taking outside capital to afford follow-on investments.

Tisch told Insider that he doesn't mind waiting a while longer for Plaid's exit.

"I think there is ideally alignment with early-stage funds and investors that this business is a long-term business and the most value is created by being aligned in that mindset," Tisch said. "Plaid is very well positioned as an independent company to continue building and remaining a vital part of the fintech infrastructure of the internet, and that is a massive opportunity."

Goldman Sachs Investment Partners

Goldman Sachs was an unusual choice to lead the fintech's Series B round of funding in 2016, but the bank said it was a no-brainer at the time.

Christopher Dawe, the bank's co-head of private investments, told Fortune that Plaid had become "indispensable" to financial players.

"Plaid is leading the way in making the next generation of financial technology possible by serving as the data layer between financial institutions and applications," Dawe said in 2016.

Later, Goldman Sachs served as an advisor on the takeover talks with Visa, a person familiar with the deal told CNBC. Now that the deal is dead, the bank will have to wait for its payday.

Dawe did not respond to a request for comment.

Spark Capital

Spark Capital, a venture firm known for its investments in Twitter, Cruise, Slack, and others, has participated in every one of Plaid's rounds since it led the fintech's seed deal in 2013.

Santo Politi, a partner at Spark, said that the firm's partners were first excited by the founders Zach Perret and William Hockey's enthusiasm to grow the company and fintech as a whole.

"A mere three years after our initial investment, the founders had taken the company from a concept to a private beta working with a few banks to becoming the infrastructure that consumers relied on to connect their bank account to third-party apps like Venmo, Coinbase, and Robinhood," he wrote on the firm's blog around the time the Visa sale was announced.

Politi did not return a request for comment.

Index Ventures

Index Ventures knew first-hand the power of Plaid. That's because it invested in consumer finance apps like Robinhood and Revolut that rely on Plaid's software to power their products.

In 2018, Index joined the startup's Series C round, which valued the company at $2.65 billion.

And while the dead acquisition means investors will have to wait longer for their exit, Index general partner Mark Goldberg said he believes Plaid can grow so much bigger in that time.

"If you had to characterize the insider investment excitement level, it's 10 out of 10," Goldberg told Insider on Wednesday.

"Plaid is the most strategic asset in fintech. The acceleration of digital finance in 2020 really opened our eyes to just how big the opportunity for the company is, and we're excited for the independent journey to continue," he said.

Homebrew

Plaid was one of the first checks that Hunter Walk's firm Homebrew ever cut into a startup. It participated in the company's seed round, which gave it a pre-money valuation of $10 million.

He's not too broken up about the Visa deal.

"Plaid is going to be a killer independent company," Walk said, "and I'm thrilled for the team who can continue to grow the value of the company to their benefit (as well as investors)."

Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners also invested in Plaid's $250 million Series C round in 2018. The firm said Plaid was a game-changer in the financial world.

"Nowadays, consumers increasingly rely on non-bank applications to manage their financial lives, often using multiple financial applications," managing partner Jeff Crowe wrote on the firm's blog around the time of the deal. "Plaid has been at the center of this paradigm shift."

Crowe did not respond to a request for comment.

Coatue Management

Coatue Management is competing with some of the most powerful venture capital firms in Silicon Valley for a piece of the hottest startups, and it's winning.

The hedge fund wrote checks in at least 14 unicorn startups, including Airtable, Rivian, UIPath, Oscar, and Chime in 2020.

Coatue invested in Plaid's Series C round of funding in 2018.

And many others

There are several other investors in Plaid that will have to wait for their payday, even if they are happy about the failed Visa deal.

These may include NewView Capital, Omega Venture Partners, PV Seed Fund, and even Visa itself. All of them were investors in Plaid's last C round, according to Pitchbook. And Plaid has a number of early investors like Flatiron Health cofounders Zachary Weinberg and Nat Turner.

Summary List Placement

There can be a lot of pressure on new couples around big holidays like Valentine's Day.
We found thoughtful gift ideas for your first Valentine's Day together from cool candles with romantic scents to unique virtual dates.
For more inspiration, check out our other Valentine's Day gift ideas for everyone in your life.

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and if it's the first one you'll be celebrating with your significant other, you may be feeling some pressure. You're probably looking for gift ideas that are thoughtful and show you care, but without being too extravagant. The best gifts for your first Valentine's Day together are shared activities, romantic classics, and small gifts that feel personal.

To help ease some of the anxiety you may be feeling, we rounded up low-key Valentine's Day gifts for new couples that are sure to be a hit whether you've been seeing each other for a few weeks or almost a year.

Here are the best gift ideas for your first Valentine's Day together:

A kit to make your own truffles

Make Your Own Chocolate Truffles Kit, available on Uncommon Goods, $38

Truffles are a classic for Valentine's Day. But this fun kit has the added benefit of being an experience you can do together as a couple. Spend a day in the kitchen customizing your creations with the included coconut flakes, peppermint, vanilla, and Himalayan sea salt.

Beautiful, farm-fresh flowers

Personalized Bouquet, available on Bouqs, from $39

Flowers are a classic for a reason — and sending an armful to grace their living room is a nice way to brighten up their living space every time they see them. The Bouqs Co. flowers are farm-fresh, sustainably harvested, and beautifully packaged. They're our top pick for flower deliveries online, but if you're looking for more options, check out the Insider Picks buying guide to the best flowers you can buy online.

A subscription to Disney Plus

Disney Plus gift subscription, $69.99

If your new significant other is a Disney fan, a year of Disney Plus will surely win them over. Whether they want to watch "The Mandalorian" or "Hamilton," they can access thousands of titles from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and 20th Century Fox. Plus, it's a good excuse to enjoy a home movie night as a couple for your next date. Here's everything to know about the streaming platform.

A cold brew coffee maker

Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker, 1 Quart, available on Amazon, $15.99

Are there small inconveniences in your partner's life that you could alleviate? It shows that you listen when they rant about their tiring commute, are well-aware of their cold brew habit, and know that they love taking a long bath at the end of the day but have nowhere to put a wine glass.

This $20 gem will make a quart of cold brew, fit comfortably in the door of most refrigerators, and save them as much as a few hundred dollars per year with convenient, at-home cold brew. It works well, but if you're looking for something more elegant, you may want to check out the $35 Blue Bottle Hario Cold Brew Bottle.

A smarter coffee service

Three-Month Subscription, available at Driftaway, from $44

In a new or old relationship, you can't go wrong with paying some mind to a hobby or interest your partner has. Do they love coffee? Introduce them to a cool, interactive coffee startup that gets smarter and better at its recommendations as time goes on by learning their palate preferences. They'll discover new beans that are still in their wheelhouse, and they'll think of you every time they have a great morning cup.

A membership that hand selects new vinyl records based on their music tastes

Three-Month VNYL Gift Membership Subscription, available at VNYL, $39

VNYL's team of curators studies your music profile — assembled via a quiz and connected Spotify, Soundcloud, Instagram, etc. — to handpick new albums that they think you'll love. Then, they send you a vinyl of their tailored pick to your door. If your partner is a music lover and has a record player, or music is something you've bonded over together, this is a cool subscription that will help both of you discover even more music to love.

A necklace of their zodiac sign

Zodiac Necklace, available on Mejuri, $90

Mejuri's popular zodiac necklaces are a great way to gift jewelry that manages to feel both luxurious and special — without breaking $100 or compromising on quality. The Canadian startup as a whole is a unique mix of approachability and elegance, which may be why they're known for waitlists that top out at 40,000 people.

A romantic candle from a cool brand

Daybed Candle, available at Otherland, $36

For a fresh floral scent that will last far longer than a bouquet, a romantic candle is just the trick. Otherland is one of our favorite candle brands and this alluring aroma includes notes of rosebud, peony blossom, and pear water.

Gourmet chocolates in a themed box

Valentine's Day Heart Assorted Chocolate Gift Box, 14-piece, available on Godiva, $34.95

For a new relationship, the classics are a great (and safe) tune to play, especially when it's delicious gourmet chocolates or chocolate-covered strawberries.

A fun and delicious hot sauce subscription

Small-Batch Quarterly Hot Sauce Subscription, available on Food52, $120

Tell them this is how you plan to keep things spicy all year long — with a subscription to gourmet, small-batch hot sauces.

A personalized video message from their favorite celebrity

Cameo Video Message, available at Cameo, from $15

A personalized video is a gift sure to impress. Cameo allows celebrities to send custom video messages to recipients. Browse the list and pick out one of their favorite actors, comedians, or athletes to give them a custom shoutout.

A funny, unique keepsake card

Schitt's Creek Valentine's Day Card, available on Etsy, from $5.75

No matter if you're celebrating your one-year anniversary in a week or you've only been seeing each other for a few months, you can't go wrong with a cute or funny card. Though it's small and inexpensive, going to the effort of ordering something unique off of Etsy instead of stopping in at the Walgreens near their house goes a long way.

A boozy brunch date that doesn't sound last-minute

Mimosa Diagram Glassware, Set of 2, available on Uncommon Goods, $38

Just started seeing each other or in favor of a laid-back Valentine's Day activity? Bring over commemorative glasses and bottles of Champagne and orange juice and have yourself the kind of brunch that requires a three-hour nap afterward. For something extra impressive, take care of the ordering in or cooking. Do they have a favorite blueberry muffin spot? Stop by on the way.

A nice wine delivery every few months

Six-Month Gift subscription, available at Vinebox, $158

Why not pick something you two can enjoy and learn about together? Vinebox sends a personalized wine flight to their door four times per year (six months equals two boxes) that's curated based on their personal tastes and preferences. Each vial is portioned to be one full glass of fine wine, and members get $15 toward full-sized bottles each quarter.

A unique virtual class or experience

Book an Airbnb Experience, available on Airbnb, from $6 per person

Too few people know about or take advantage of Airbnb experiences. And amidst the pandemic, they've taken many options virtual so you can enjoy them from the comfort of home. Take a tango lesson from experts in Argentina, cook with a family in Morocco, and more.

Check out your virtual options here, and use the reviews and ratings to steer you in the right direction.

A funny parody cookbook for 'Fifty Shades of Chicken'

Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook, available on Amazon, $9.95

Edgy, boundary-pushing, and avant-garde: It's the Fifty Shades parody cookbook. Grab it and a bottle of wine and stay in to make Valentine's Day dinner.

Mini waffles made with love

Dash Heart Mini Waffle Maker in Red, available at Bed Bath & Beyond, $9.99

Serving up breakfast in bed or making breakfast together is a great way to show you care. This mini waffle maker takes Valentine's Day to the next level by turning out perfect, heart-shaped creations.

A cute, funny anatomical heart

Heart Plush Figure, available on Amazon, $24.99

If you're looking for something sweet but low-pressure, a funny anatomically correct plush heart is a great way to go.

A future weekend away together

Airbnb Gift Card, available on Airbnb, from $25

Whether you want to do a local, outdoor getaway with your significant other now, or are planning a bucket list trip to take once it's safe again, an Airbnb gift card is always thoughtful. Digital gift cards are available for the popular home-sharing platform for amounts between $25 and $500 on Airbnb. You can also purchase Airbnb gift cards for $50 or $100 at Target and the funds never expire.

Ongoing date night ideas

Date Night Bucket List, available on Uncommon Goods, $18

Insurance that the months ahead won't contain much boredom, this Date Night Bucket List comes with plenty of fun and unique ideas. Couples can add their own, draw them at random, and add the date they checked off each "date night" in pencil on the back for a keepsake.

A complete survival kit for your next binge-watching marathon

Binge Watching Survival Kit, available on Barnes and Noble, $19.95

The nitty-gritty survival kit for your next Netflix and Chill binge-watching marathon. Pick your favorite movie, make popcorn, and spend an ideal Valentine's Day in.

A salt block for cooking

Presto Pizzazz Plus Rotating Oven, available on Amazon, $54

Who doesn't love a casual pizza night in? Cozy up together with a homemade pie with this easy gadget we named one of our top favorites in our guide to the best pizza ovens.

Looking for more Valentine's Day gift ideas? Check out these guides:

Summary List Placement

Wallets are one of the few accessories that we consider to be absolutely essential for everyone. They're the best way to conveniently and securely carry cash, cards, and other important items.
Whether you need to carry a ton of cash or prefer mostly cards, these best men's and masculine-style wallets out there. Pick one out and it will last you for many years.
While our favorite is the Bellroy Slim Sleeve, each wallet on this list is a solid option for storing your cards and cash.

While certain accessories are optional parts of your wardrobe, wallets are an absolute must-have for everyone. Beyond being an extension of your personal style, wallets are simply useful in day-to-day life. They conveniently keep cash, cards, and other small items secure in one place.

Wallets come in many different sizes, colors, and configurations, but the most important factor in picking one out should always be quality. A great wallet can last for many years — and you won't have to take any extra steps to make it last. We searched for and tested all of the best examples we could find to ensure you end up with a well-built, high-quality wallet. Take a look at our picks below and choose one based on your personal preferences. Whether that means you need a wallet that fits different sizes of currency for your world travels or an RFID-blocking wallet that will keep your cards safe from digital theft, you'll find it here.

Of course, we realize that different people have different needs, so we listed several other wonderful options. Men's wallets are generally meant to fit into pockets instead of purses, but gender shouldn't limit how you shop. The wallets in this guide are for everybody.

Here are the best men's wallets in 2021:

Best wallet overall:Bellroy Slim Sleeve
Best RFID-blocking wallet: Bellroy Apex Sleeve
Best wallet for cash: Bellroy Note Sleeve
Best wallet for a lot of cards: The Ridge Wallet
Best money clip: M-Clip V Series Money Clip

Updated on 1/13/2021 by Amir Ismael: Updated introduction. Checked prices and links.

The best wallet overall

The gorgeous Bellroy Slim Sleeve Wallet fits everything you need in a slim, efficient profile.

Pros: Slim, sleek, holds a lot, ethically sourced leather, simple design

Cons: You have to fold bills to fit them in

Bellroy is a relatively young company that released its first product in 2010. Founded by a few friends in Australia who set out to design optimal wallets in terms of size and card positioning, Bellroy has since released several different series of wallets for just about any use. You may remember seeing some of those wallets mentioned on Insider Reviews before.

The Slim Sleeve wallet is built using Bellroy's "nude" approach, focusing on eliminating as much excess material as possible to keep the profile slim. There are no buckles, trimmings, snaps, buttons, or fasteners. The only materials are leather and thread, with as little of each used as possible.

The bifold style can hold up to 12 cards plus cash. It has a total of four pockets: three for cards, one for bills. The two quick access card slots inside the wallet are perfect for your everyday credit card or commuter pass — I can pull my subway card out without having to take the wallet out of my pocket.

As far as materials go, the Slim Sleeve is excellent. Bellroy is a certified B Corp, a designation given to companies that meet rigorous standards for "social and environmental performance." What this means is that Bellroy sources its leather and materials ethically and sustainably. The leather is high-quality top grain, soft yet sturdy, and comes in several different colors. — David Slotnick

Read our full review on Bellroy wallets here.

The best RFID-blocking wallet

With RFID-blocking technology and a fully sealed magnetic perimeter, the Bellroy Apex Sleeve is just as secure physically as it is from electronic theft.

Pros: Durable, secure, RFID-blocking technology

Cons: Limited space for cash

Regardless of what type of wallet you prefer, choosing one that has RFID-blocking technology is always a good idea. RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification, refers to the information associated with your credit and debit cards. It is possible for tech-savvy thieves to nab your information without ever physically stealing your wallet, but RFID-blocking technology prevents it.

Many different wallets utilize RFID-blocking technology, but the Bellroy Apex Sleeve is our favorite choice because of the security it provides. The Apex Sleeve is made from molded leather, so it holds its shape. It also has a magnetic clasp, so the full perimeter of the wallet is sealed. The RFID-blocking technology makes this wallet secure, but the molded leather and strong magnetic clasp make it feel even more impenetrable. You won't ever have to worry about the contents of your wallet accidentally falling out.

There's room for 6-8 cards and a few folded bills. If you regularly carry a large number of bills, though, this might not be the best choice for you. — Amir Ismael

The best wallet for cash

If you prefer cash over cards, the Bellroy Note Sleeve will quite literally fit the bill.

Pros: Lots of space for bills, fits taller bills from different countries, coin holder, quality leather

Cons: None to speak of

When searching for the best wallet for cash, not only did we take into consideration how many bills it can hold, but we also considered which types of bills it can hold. The aptly named Bellroy Note Sleeve fit checked off all of our boxes for bills.

With a 4.02 inch height, the Bellroy Note Wallet can hold US dollars, Australian dollars, and taller bills like British pounds and euros. If you frequently travel or simply live in a country that has taller bills, you'll appreciate it. Plus, it has a coin holder, for all of your non-paper currency.

Although I haven't done much traveling lately, I appreciated that my US dollars were completely out of sight when in the Bellroy Note Sleeve. Although low-profile wallets are designed to accommodate US dollar bills, I've found that they can still stick out of the top when you have a lot of bills. I was able to fit more than 10 bills in the Note Wallet without a problem.

You'll also find ample sleeves for your essential cards, and a coin pocket for all that change you'll be getting back from spending cash. — Amir Ismael

The best wallet for lots of cards

Designed to carry everything you need and nothing you don't, The Ridge Wallet features a durable aluminum body and elastic straps that expand to hold up to 12 cards.

Pros: Slim, incredibly durable, built to last

Cons: Only fits a small amount of cash

If you just want something simple, straightforward, and high quality, consider The Ridge Wallet. Rather than being made of leather, like most wallets, it's made of a durable aluminum material.

The slim design allows for up to 12 cards, which makes it the perfect wallet for getting rid of clutter while still carrying all of your essentials.

Your cards slide into the wallet at the top and can be accessed by pushing up on the cutout at the bottom. They'll come out in a fanning motion, and from there, you can easily grab whichever card you need.

The back of the wallet is where you'll find the cash strap or money clip. I personally prefer the cash strap because it seems a little more secure than the clip design. And, when you're not carrying any cash, it doubles as a good spot to keep things you'd want quicker access to, like a metro card or bus tickets.

Even at full capacity, the wallet is slim enough to comfortably fit in your front pocket. — Amir Ismael

Read our full review on The Ridge Wallet here.

The best money clip

More than just a folded piece of metal, the M-Clip V Series will last a long time and will never lose your cash or cards.

Pros: Minimalist, holds a lot, well-built, great customer service

Cons: Bulkier than some money clips

Money clips are so simple that you might not realize there is much difference between them. However, which clip you pick can mean the difference between having a money clip that bends or stretches after six months and starts dropping your cash, or one that lasts a lifetime.

The M-Clip V series falls into the latter category. More than just a simple folded piece of metal, the V series has an opening mechanism. To add or remove something, you just slide the lever bars back, making the clip look a bit like a clothespin. You pinch them to open the clip, and when you're done, slide them back down to close it.

The V Series money clip is a little bulkier than some flatter clips, but it makes up for that by using a lightweight aircraft-grade aluminum. The spring mechanism is made with precision-machined stainless steel and is heat tempered to add to durability.

The inside of the clip is padded with Neoprene rubber grips — between these and the opening mechanism, there's virtually no chance of anything falling out of the clip. M-Clip says you can hold six to eight cards and at least eight to ten bills, which should be plenty for most needs. — David Slotnick

What else we considered

Ledlenser Lite Wallet, $79.95

Ledlenser is known for its powerful LED flashlights, headlamps, and lanterns, but the brand also makes a wallet with a built-in flashlight. While I was very impressed with the flashlight and emergency lantern, the wallet ultimately fell short. I initially thought it would be a good alternative for people who don't have smartphones, but the battery takes up a majority of the space in the wallet. Once it's filled with cards and cash it becomes extremely bulky. Most people do have smartphones with a flashlight function, but if you don't, I think it's better to go without it than to have such limited space in your wallet. — Amir Ismael

Gucci Signature Wallet, $430

It feels a bit counterintuitive to recommend a wallet that's so expensive (after all, this is where you store your cash), but we realize that designer items have a special place in some people's hearts. Although I personally wouldn't have spent my own money on this wallet, my girlfriend gifted this Gucci wallet to me about two-and-a-half years ago and it's held up wonderfully.

The leather is high-quality and the Gucci print is understated, which can't be said of all designer wallets. I also like that the wallet is embossed, rather than a printed graphic that likely would have faded away by now.

Since this is the wallet I use most often, I've tested it against many of the others in this list, and the only reason I don't recommend it as a top pick is simply that the value doesn't compare to that of Bellroy or the others. — Amir Ismael

Polo Ralph Lauren Pebbled Leather Billfold, $100

Ralph Lauren is one of my favorite brands to shop for timeless clothing, and their small leather goods and accessories are just as reliable in terms of style and quality. I had a similar Ralph Lauren leather billfold to the one listed above and I used it daily for nearly 8 years before replacing it with the Gucci wallet.

To be completely honest, I'd probably still be using it if I was never gifted a new one. The leather and stitching has held up well, and it's not nearly as expensive as some other designer options. But even so, it's still not as great of a value as our best overall pick. — Amir Ismael

Check out our other style guides

The best travel wallets

The best men's undershirts

The best men's underwear

The best suits in men's sizing

best wine club what we look forward to testing slide

Summary List Placement

Drinking wine from a wine glass lets you fully enjoy its aroma, taste, and texture.
For red wine, use a glass with a large bowl and wider opening to allow the wine to aerate.
For white wine, use a glass with a smaller bowl and opening and a long stem to keep the wine cool and concentrate its aromas.
If you don't want to buy two different sets of glasses, experts recommend a universal glass, which has a versatile shape to bring out the best qualities in red, white, and rosé wines.
See also: The best wine clubs

Table of Contents: Masthead Sticky

You've educated yourself on different grapes and varietals and picked out an enticing bottle of wine to enjoy. But to fully experience that wine at its best, you can't just pour it into any old drinking glass or mug.

"The architecture of the wine glass is the final step in the journey from [the] vineyard to your palate. The height of the stem, the shape and size of the bowl, and even the base of the glass are intentionally designed to highlight the true expression of each varietal," said Aime Dunstan, winery event manager at Cakebread Cellars. "Try pouring the same wine in glasses of differing shapes, and you will notice how the glass influences the aroma, flavor, and texture of the wine."

That's why there are different glasses for red wine and white wine, and even within those categories, they're split further into glasses for different varietals like Burgundy and Chardonnay.

"Red wine glasses tend to have a wider bowl and larger opening, which carefully brings out the aromas in a smooth and soft way. On the other hand, white wine glasses are thinner all around, which turn up the intensity and keep the temperature of the wine cooler while you sip," said Ronda Fraley, sommelier and founder of online wine club The Wine Party Co.

There are also universal glasses, which have a versatile shape that's not too wide or narrow and enhances the taste of all types of wine. "I suggest beginners get their 'feet wet' by starting with a universal glass and then letting their passion grow from there," suggested Aldo Sohm, wine director at Le Bernardin and Aldo Sohm Wine Bar. Sohm uses a universal glass as his standard tasting glass.

Our guide to the best wine glasses is split into three categories: red, white, and universal. All of our picks are based on research, expert input, and adherence to the typical features of each type of glass. Read more about our methodology here. For each category, you'll find glasses that suit a range of budgets, whether you want to invest heavily in the wine-sipping experience or stock up on low-maintenance glasses.

Here are the best wine glasses:

Best universal wine glasses: Schott Zwiesel, Good Trouble Glass, Gabriel-Glas, Zalto
Best red wine glasses: Spiegelau, Willow Park, Riedel
Best white wine glasses: Vineyard, Williams Sonoma Reserve, Grassl

Prices and details are accurate as of 1/14/21. We're in the process of calling in samples of the following picks and putting them through a variety of tests. We've removed Spiegelau and Orrefors from the white wine category because of frequent price fluctuations and stock issues. We've also added the Grassl Mineralite as an option in the white wine category.

SEE ALSO: The best wine aerators

The best universal wine glasses

Universal wine glasses, which have a bowl and opening that are not too big or small, are all-purpose chameleons that can be used with red, white, and rosé wines. They're excellent options for wine drinkers who want to keep things simple.

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The best red wine glasses

A red wine glass has a wider bowl and larger opening, both of which allow for better aeration of tannin-rich wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux. If you like wines from Burgundy such as Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo, get a glass with an even wider bowl and a more narrow opening; these varietals have more intense fruit notes, and the tapered shape helps concentrate and direct those notes to the nose.

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The best white wine glasses

In a white wine glass, look for a smaller bowl and opening and a long stem. These features help keep wines like Sauvignon Blanc cool and better deliver aromas to the nose. However, if you're enjoying a full-bodied white wine like an oaky Chardonnay, you'll want a glass with a larger bowl.

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Our methodology

We spoke to a variety of experts about the most important features of different wine glasses, the best materials, general price ranges, and their favorite brands. With their advice in mind, we then selected glasses for all budgets in our three categories: red, white, and universal.

Our next update will involve requesting samples of all the glasses, conducting durability tests, and bringing them to a wine expert to evaluate. Here are the durability tests we plan to do:

Gently knock over each glass with 150 mL water in it (a standard glass of wine) three times and note any cracks and breakage.
Hand wash each glass with warm soapy water and dry. Note any water spots. If the glass is dishwasher-safe, run it in the dishwasher.
For glasses used for red wine, note any stains after use.

Wine glass and wine drinking FAQs

How many glasses should you buy?

The number of glasses you should buy and the amount you should spend depends on how much you love wine and how often you entertain. "It all depends on the use and occasion," said Christine Collado, the general manager at wine shop Parcelle and former wine director at Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare. "If you're having a huge party and know that breakage is going to be an issue — maybe just get something you're not as attached to. If you're wanting to make an investment, $15 to $30 per stem tends to be the average range."

What glass do you use for rosé?

Good news: you don't need to buy an entirely different set of glasses just to enjoy this summertime classic. Although there are glasses designed specifically for rosé on the market, our experts agree that a universal or white wine glass works just as well; you could even use a red wine glass for an especially deep varietal.

Fraley said, "If rosé is your style of choice, I recommend going with a universal wine glass because it's a style that can be a bit of a chameleon. Bolder, deeper styles of rosé that look almost red, like those from Tavel, would benefit from the shape of a red wine glass whereas the lighter styles that are very pale in color, like those from Provence, would be better suited for a white wine glass."

Crystal or glass?

There are pros and cons to each, though the wine community generally seems to favor crystal for its beautiful yet durable construction.

"Crystal glasses can be spun thin while maintaining durability so you maximize the drinking experience and account for clumsy moments at the same time," said Fraley. That's because crystal contains traces of minerals like magnesium or zinc, which strengthen the material. However, since it's porous, crystal can corrode if put in the dishwasher, which is why handwashing is recommended.

On the other hand, glass is "a non-porous yet delicate material, which means that it won't corrode over time but it's more likely to break if you're not careful. It tends to be a bit more affordable so just look out for a thin, light glass that comes with a broken glass guarantee to get that enhanced experience with a little peace of mind," said Fraley.

In summary, go with crystal if you want something extra durable and you don't mind washing your glasses by hand and spending more money. Go with glass if you can deal with occasional breakage, prefer throwing everything in the dishwasher, and want something less expensive.

Stem or stemless?

"When you hold a stemless wine glass, body heat from your hands will increase the temperature of the wine, and nobody likes a warm glass of wine," said Dunstan. A stemmed wine glass offers greater temperature control, and holding the glass by the stem reduces the appearance of unsightly fingerprints. At formal events, true oenophiles will go so far as to sip from the same spot on the rim each time to limit lip prints as well!"

That said, you should also take your environment into consideration. If you're enjoying your wine outdoors in the company of children or pets, a stemless glass may be more practical and less mess-prone than a stemmed one.

Do you need to decant wine before pouring it?

Depends on the wine. It's recommended to decant older red wines because they produce sediment over time. The decanting process separates this gritty, bitter substance. Decanting (for both red and white wine) also exposes the wine to air and helps open up its flavors.

"We recommend decanting red library wines aged eight or more years in-bottle for 30-60 minutes. Exposing older vintages to a wider plane of oxygen speeds up the breathing process, enhancing fruit and oak aromas," said Dunstan.

What about swirling it around in your glass?

If you're unable to decant your wine, "a brief swirl in whatever rhythm you can manage in the glass will accomplish [the exposure to oxygen] for younger wines," said Dunstan.

A quick swirl of your glass before your first sip will release different aromas that wouldn't have appeared otherwise. And as you raise your glass to your nose and mouth, those aromas will be waiting for you in the bowl of the glass and make your overall wine experience more enjoyable. You can swirl your glass in any direction on a table, with your thumb and index finger at the base of the glass. If you're more confident you won't spill any wine, you can do it mid-air as well.

How do I wash my wine glasses?

It's best to handwash them with warm water and a small amount of mild, unscented soap, and focus on the rim and outside of the bowl. According to Riedel, you should "never hold the bowl and the base at the same time, as any twisting or pressure on the stem may cause it to snap." Then, use a lint-free cloth such as a microfiber towel to dry the glass. Letting the glass air dry may lead to streaking or water spots.

What's the best way to store wine glasses?

Because the rim of the glass is delicate, it's best to store them standing up, in a stable and secure place like a cabinet. Keep glasses away from dust, grease, and odor. Hanging racks, which store glasses bowl side down, also work, but there's greater chance of breakage in case the glass drops or is otherwise disturbed.

Check out our other wine guides

***EMBARGO 1/14 10AM ET*** Samsung Galaxy S21

Summary List Placement

Samsung just announced the Galaxy S21 lineup, which includes the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
All three phones have a new design with a matte finish and more striking camera module.
The Ultra model is also getting some extra perks like a dual telephoto lens and the ability to maintain a high refresh rate along with high resolution.
All told, it's a modest improvement over the S20 that brings upgrades to the design, performance, and camera at a better price.
Check out our guide to the best smartphones.

It's only January but Samsung has already taken the wraps off its latest flagship smartphone lineup, the Galaxy S21 family, which includes the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Building on the direction Samsung has taken in recent years with its Galaxy phones, some of the biggest enhancements coming to the S21 involve the phones' camera and design. The Galaxy S21 doesn't seem like a huge leap over the S20, but rather an iterative improvement that addresses some of the S20 lineup's biggest shortcomings.

But perhaps what's even more significant than the features mentioned below is Samsung's new pricing structure. The Galaxy S21 lineup is launching at an even cheaper price than Samsung's Galaxy S20 did last year, likely because this is the first major smartphone to launch at a time when 5G has become the standard and no longer requires a premium cost.

The Galaxy S21 starts at $799.99, while the S21 Plus begins at $999.99, and the S21 Ultra costs $1,199.99. The Galaxy S20 lineup, by comparison, started at $999.99, $1,199.99, and $1,399.99 at launch last year.

The Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra are launching on January 29 with preorders beginning on January 14.

Here's a closer look at the most significant updates coming to the Galaxy S21 lineup.

A new design with a matte finish

Samsung's Galaxy S21 lineup is getting an upgrade when it comes to how the phone looks and feels. The new phones will come with a matte finish that should make the devices less prone to fingerprint smudges, and a camera module on the back that looks more visually striking.

The new S21 phones also seem to have flatter edges compared to the curved approach Samsung has taken in years past, which could make the devices easier to grip. And of course, they come with the same borderless design and hole-punch-shaped selfie camera as Samsung's Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S20 generation phones.

Although we haven't had the chance to spend time with the phones yet, the new design generally seems like an upgrade that can help set the S21 lineup apart from its predecessors and other Android rivals.

Dual telephoto zoom lens on the Galaxy S21 Ultra

When Samsung launched the Galaxy S20 Ultra with a 100x zoom last year, some reviewers found that level of zoom was often too blurry to be useful.

Samsung hopes to address that limitation with the new dual telephoto lens on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which includes one optical 3X lens and another optical 10x lens. Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra can switch between these lenses as needed while zooming, which should hopefully result in crisper images when zooming at high levels.

Samsung also says the Ultra model should be better at taking photos in low-light scenarios as well. The Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus, meanwhile, will have a 30X zoom that should be better at minimizing blur from shaky hands, according to Samsung's claims.

A new 5-nanometer processor for better performance

Samsung's Galaxy S21 family comes with a new 5-nanometer chip compared to the 7-nanometer processor in the Galaxy S20 lineup, which means Samsung was able to cram more transistors into the new chip.

In plain English, that means phones running on the chip using the new 5-nanometer manufacturing process should offer longer battery life and better performance. Samsung started sampling 5-nanometer chips back in 2019, saying at the time that they could allow for a 10% boost in speed or a 20% increase in power savings.

Apple also began putting 5-nanometer chips in products like the iPhone 12, new iPad Air, and M1 MacBook Pro in late 2020.

Improvements to camera shooting modes like Single Take

Samsung is also making some updates to its shooting modes on the Galaxy S21 lineup. Single Take is the feature Samsung introduced last year that can take a bunch of photos in different modes with a single press of the shutter.

On the S21, Samsung is adding new capture modes to Single Take like slow-mo and highlight videos. Samsung's new smartphones will also have a feature that allows you to use both the front and rear cameras at the same time, a capability it's pitching toward video bloggers and influencers.

Portrait Mode is also getting an update that adds virtual studio lighting effects and improves the camera's ability to separate the subject from its background.

A screen that can boost its refresh rate for smoother scrolling even at a high resolution

The ability to crank the screen's refresh rate up to 120Hz isn't a first for Samsung phones, but the company is making some improvements to this capability on the Ultra model. This time around, you can actually boost the refresh rate up to 120Hz without compromising on resolution, unlike the Galaxy S20.

Samsung says you'll be able to keep the S21 Ultra's resolution at QuadHD+ even with increased refresh rate, adding that the phone will adjust the content you're viewing as needed so that battery life doesn't take a hit. That's especially helpful considering the Galaxy S21 Ultra's screen is compatible with Samsung's S Pen, which was previously exclusive to the Note lineup. An accessory like the S Pen probably works more fluidly when being used on a screen with a higher refresh rate, so it's great to see Samsung add some enhancements to this capability on the Ultra model.

The Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus also support 120Hz refresh rates, but Samsung has only specified the Ultra as being capable of maintaining that high resolution simultaneously. Samsung has improved the S21 Ultra's screen in other ways, too, saying that it should offer a 25% improvement in brightness and 50% boost in contrast ratio compared to the Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Summary List Placement

President Donald Trump entered the election year as just the third commander-in-chief in US history to be impeached.

He was ultimately acquitted, in an impeachment trial that would soon become a distant memory amid a pandemic that's killed over 386,000 Americans and left millions unemployed.

But with just a week left in office, Trump was impeached once again— this time for inciting a violent insurrection at the US Capitol. He's now the only American president who has been impeached twice.

Trump is just the 11th incumbent president who won their party's nomination but failed to win reelection. He was defeated by President-elect Joe Biden in an election he has baselessly written off as fraudulent.

To many, Trump has been the most controversial and divisive president in modern US history, but has enjoyed a remarkably steady approval rating thanks to his staunchly loyal supporters.

Even as polling has repeatedly shown that most Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, his overall approval rating has barely changed.

Here are Trump's biggest accomplishments and failures as president, measured by their overall impact and taking into account the general response from Congress, the public, and the world.

Accomplishment: Reshaping the federal judiciary

Trump's most lasting impact on the country will be the reshaping of the federal judiciary.

So far, Trump has installed three Supreme Court justices and 220 judges overall to the federal bench — all for lifetime appointments. Amy Coney Barrett became Trump's third Supreme Court justice on October 26, barely a week before Election Day.

By December 2019, Trump nominees made up roughly 25% of all US circuit court judges, according to an analysis by The Washington Post.

In four years, he's appointed 53 judges on the 13 US circuit courts. To put this in perspective, former President Barack Obama appointed 55 circuit judges in his two terms in the White House.

The courts get the final say in US politics, setting precedents that can shape the country for years to come.

Even though Trump was not reelected in 2020, his presidency will continue to have an influence on the direction of the US because of the sheer number of conservative federal judges he's installed.

Accomplishment: Space Force

In signing a $738 billion defense spending bill just a few days before Christmas, Trump officially established the sixth branch of the US Armed Forces — the Space Force.

The Space Force is the first new military service since the US Air Force was created in 1947.

Despite its name, the new branch has not been established to protect the planet from extraterrestrial threats, but is tasked with protecting the US military's assets in space.

"This is not a farce. This is nationally critical," Gen. John Raymond, who Trump tapped to lead the Space Force, told reporters recently. "We are elevating space commensurate with its importance to our national security and the security of our allies and partners."

Many of the details surrounding the Space Force must still be ironed out. In many ways, the new branch is simply a more centralized version of military missions in space that already existed from the Air Force, Army, and Navy.

Todd Harrison, who directs the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently told NPR: "It will create a centralized, unified chain of command that is responsible for space, because ultimately when responsibility is fragmented, no one's responsible."

Accomplishment: Tax reform

Three years into his presidency, Trump's signature legislative achievement remains a Republican tax bill that made sweeping changes to the tax code — the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

As Business Insider's Joseph Zeballos-Roig recently reported:

The law was the biggest overhaul to the nation's tax code in three decades, and the president pitched it as "rocket fuel" for the American economy.
It permanently slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35% while also providing temporary benefits for individuals and their families.
Critics argued it was a windfall for massive corporations at the expense of the middle class. Meanwhile, supporters of the tax cuts contended it would unleash an economic bonanza. Businesses would invest in their operations, they said, resulting in improved worker productivity and higher wages.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, among others, said the law would juice the nation's gross domestic product to 3% (or more, as Trump said 6%) and soon pay for itself and spread prosperity.
But the law has achieved none of the ambitious goals that Republicans put forward — and there are scant signs they ever will.

Accomplishment: First Step Act

Trump signed the First Step Act into law in December 2018, marking the first legislative victory in years for advocates seeking to reform the criminal justice system.

The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. It offers relatively modest changes to the federal prison system, but was praised as an important step forward by groups and activists seeking to end mass incarceration.

Business Insider's Michelle Mark summarized the key aspects of the legislation after it passed in the Senate last year:

The passage of the bill ... marked the first major legislative win in decades to address mass incarceration at the federal level.
The bill overhauls certain federal sentencing laws, reducing mandatory minimum sentences for drug felonies and expanding early-release programs.
The bill also makes retroactive a 2010 federal sentencing law reducing the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses.
The bill also aims to lower recidivism by offering more rehabilitation and job-training opportunities, and it includes provisions intended to treat prisoners humanely — banning the shackling of pregnant inmates, halting the use of solitary confinement for most juvenile inmates, and mandating that prisoners be placed in facilities within 500 miles from their families.

Accomplishment: Defeating ISIS's caliphate and killing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

ISIS shocked the world in 2014 when it took over a large swath of territory across Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate.

The terrorist group's territorial holdings were the basis for its so-called caliphate, and provided it will a major base of operations to conduct attacks across the world.

After a five-year effort led by the US, ISIS's caliphate was finally defeated in March 2019.

Trump has at times falsely claimed that ISIS is totally defeated, embellishing the extent of the US military's success against the terrorist organization during his presidency. Though the terrorist group has lost its territory — its so-called caliphate — it's still estimated to have up to 18,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.

In late October, a US raid led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Baghdadi was the world's most wanted terrorist up to that point and his death represented a major blow to the terrorist group.

"Last night, the United States brought the world's No. 1 terrorist leader to justice," Trump said at the time. "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead."

"Capturing or killing him has been the top national security priority of my administration," he added.

Failure: Charlottesville and George Floyd

Trump's response to a deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, remains one of the most controversial moments in his presidency.

It was emblematic of Trump's struggle to bring the country together after tragedies, and more generally. His response also typified his controversial record on race relations and white supremacy.

Trump blamed "many sides" for the violence at the rally, which resulted in the death of a counterprotester, Heather Heyer. He later said there were "very fine people on both sides."

The president was excoriated by Republicans and Democrats alike over his response and his failure to offer a swift and forceful condemnation of white-supremacist violence.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, often one of Trump's fiercest defenders in Congress, at the time said the president's words were "dividing Americans, not healing them."

"President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist, neo-Nazis and KKK members," Graham added.

In the wake of the brutal death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and the nationwide protests that followed, Trump also failed to rise to the occasion. He's done far more to divide the country than bring it together.

The president had peaceful protesters tear-gassed near the White House so he could pose for a photo with a Bible at a nearby church. He's consistently demonized anti-racism demonstrators, and controversially sent federal agents into US cities to squash unrest and intimidate the local population. Trump has elevated conspiracy theorists and people who've threatened protesters with guns.

Historians have warned that Trump's tactics mirror those of authoritarian regimes.

Trump has frequently employed racist rhetoric during his presidency, but especially during times of heightened racial tensions.

Polling shows that the vast majority of Black Americans believe Trump is a racist, and his approval rating with this demographic stands at 8%, according to Gallup.

Failure: America's global image is in shambles

America's global image has declined significantly under Trump, who has repeatedly insulted key US allies while cozying up to dictators.

The president's tendency to push important allies away and isolate the US, including by pulling out of landmark international agreements like the Paris climate accord, has had a palpable impact.

People across the world have expressed negative views on Trump. Pew Research Center in January 2020 released a survey of 32 countries that showed a median of 64% said they do not have confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs, and just 29% expressed confidence in the president.

Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has also left the US embarrassed on the world stage, and created a void in global leadership that China has rushed to fill.

Failure: Family separations and the deaths of migrant children

Trump in 2016 campaigned on reducing undocumented immigration, pledging to take a hardline approach.

He made good on that promise when coming into office, but has been accused of human-rights abuses and violating international law by the UN.

The Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on illegal border crossings led to the separations of at least 5,500 families and saw children placed in cages. Lawyers say they are still struggling to find the parents of 545 children who had been separated at the US-Mexico border.

The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics at the time described the practice as "nothing less than government-sanctioned child abuse."

After widespread backlash, Trump issued an executive order in June 2018 to halt the family separations, and a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reunite all those it had separated. But the fallout from the separations is ongoing.

Trump has falsely blamed his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, for the policy that saw thousands of children separated from their parents.

Meanwhile, at least six migrant children have died in US custody since September 2018, leading to widespread condemnation of conditions in detention facilities.

The UN human-rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, in July said she was "shocked" by the US government's treatment of migrant children and the conditions they faced in detention facilities after crossing the border from Mexico.

"As a pediatrician, but also as a mother and a former head of state, I am deeply shocked that children are forced to sleep on the floor in overcrowded facilities, without access to adequate healthcare or food, and with poor sanitation conditions," Bachelet, the former president of Chile, stated.

Failure: Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan

Trump's decision to unilaterally withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 has induced chaos throughout the Middle East.

It remains one of Trump's most unpopular decisions in the global arena, and has been condemned by top US allies who were also signatories to the deal.

The president has failed to thwart Iran's aggressive behavior in the region through a maximum pressure campaign, meant to squeeze Tehran into negotiating a more stringent version of the pact.

After a series of incidents in the Persian Gulf region in 2019, tensions between Washington and Tehran reached historic heights and sparked fears of war. This fears were exacerbated after Trump ordered a strike that killed Iran's top general, Qassem Soleimani, in early January. The strike led Iran to retaliate and fire on US troops in the region, and dozens were seriously injured.

Iran has essentially abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal, which was designed to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump's decision to pull US troops out of northern Syria in October is also among his most disastrous foreign policy moves. In doing so, Trump effectively abandoned US-allied Kurdish forces who bore the brunt of the US-led campaign against ISIS to a Turkish military invasion.

The withdrawal induced a humanitarian crisis and created a security vacuum that Russia, Iran, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an accused war criminal, all benefited from.

Trump has repeatedly pledged to end "endless wars," zeroing in on Afghanistan. He wanted to remove all US troops from Afghanistan by the November election, but that didn't happen. The US is engaged in ongoing but tenuous peace talks with the Taliban that have occurred in concert with ongoing violence in the country.

Meanwhile, The New York Times in June reported that US intelligence officials determined Russia has paid bounties to Taliban-linked Afghan militants to kill US troops.

The Trump administration has taken no known responses. Though the White House has claimed Trump was not initially briefed on the matter, reporting from multiple outlets suggests otherwise. Trump in a recent interview said he has not confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the matter.

Failure: Replacing the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare)

The late Sen. John McCain's iconic "thumbs-down" vote denied Trump a full congressional repeal (even a "skinny repeal") of former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.

But Trump has had success in dismantling parts of the law. His tax bill included a rollback of the tax penalty for those who did not enroll in healthcare, and the Trump administration has had some success in the courts regarding the individual mandate.

In December 2019, a federal appeals court struck down a core part of the law — the individual mandate. It did not overturn the entire law, sending it back to a lower court, and leaving the fate of Obamacare uncertain as an election year focused on healthcare intensifies.

What Trump has not done in his first three years is offer a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. As the Associated Press points out, as a candidate Trump promised "insurance for everybody" and a more immediate replacement to the nearly decade-old ACA.

The president said he would introduce a "phenomenal healthcare plan," during an interview with ABC News in June.

Failure: Impeachment

Trump was impeached in the House of Representatives on December 18, 2019.

The House approved two articles of impeachment against Trump, one for abuse of power over his dealings with Ukraine and one for obstruction of Congress over his efforts to stonewall the impeachment inquiry.

Trump urged Ukraine to launch investigations into his political rivals as he simultaneously withheld about $400 million in congressionally approved military aid from the country, which is fighting an ongoing war against pro-Russian separatists.

The president was acquitted in a Senate trial, but will still go down as just the third president in US history to be impeached. GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also made history by voting to convict Trump, marking the first time ever that a senator voted to convict a president from his or her own party.

Failure: COVID-19 pandemic

Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely go down as one of the biggest disasters in US history. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died, and millions are unemployed.

The US has the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, with over 23.1 million confirmed cases and over 386,000 reported fatalities (as of mid-January). The US has had more coronavirus cases than the populations of many countries. And more Americans have died from the virus than the number of US soldiers killed in combat in every war since 1945 combined.

Trump has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the virus and contradicted top public-health experts, flouting recommendations from advisors on his own White House coronavirus task force.

In March, Trump privately admitted to veteran reporter Bob Woodward (on tape) that he was deliberately misleading the public on the dangers of the virus in an effort to avoid inducing panic.

Public health experts have cited Trump's nonchalant approach to the virus and tendency to reject science as one of the primary factors in why the US emerged as the epicenter.

Trump has refused to accept responsibility for his failed response to the pandemic, blaming China instead.

Failure: The US economy

Trump often took credit for the robust US economy before the pandemic, ignoring that much of the growth began during the Obama administration.

The US is now facing one of the worst economic crises in its history under Trump, which is intrinsically linked to his disastrous response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus lockdowns in early 2020 and reduced consumer spending led to tens of millions of job losses as whole segments of the economy sputtered. The economy has since begun adding back jobs, but is far from a full recovery as the US struggles to contain the coronavirus.

Expanded unemployment benefits provided via the relief legislation enacted in late March have expired.

Roughly 22 million jobs were lost from February to April. Though nearly half of those jobs have been recovered, the unemployment rate is still at 7.9% (estimated to be about 12 million people). The pre-pandemic unemployment rate was 3.4%.

The US national debt is at the highest levels since World War II, and US economic growth is set to average just above 0% for Trump's first term because of the pandemic recession, according to The Washington Post.

Though the economy is still far from recovered, Trump also failed to bring Congress together to pass a second coronavirus stimulus package prior to Election Day as Americans across the country struggled to cover rent and other bills. The GOP-controlled Senate instead prioritized confirming Trump's Supreme Court nominee, essentially placing the economy and the livelihoods of Americans on the back-burner.

As of Election Day, Trump had not signed a coronavirus relief bill in roughly half a year.

Failure: Contracting COVID-19

As the president of the US, Trump is the most heavily protected person on the planet. The fact he contracted COVID-19 stands as a catastrophic failure and a national-security crisis for the US.

The president routinely flouted public-health recommendations before getting infected. Less than a week before he was diagnosed, Trump mocked former Vice President Joe Biden for routinely wearing a mask in public.

Top public-health experts have repeatedly urged Americans to wear a mask or face covering, touting the practice as the best tool available in fighting the virus.

Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 just days after essentially holding a super-spreader event in the Rose Garden at the White House to announce his Supreme Court nominee. Attendees did not social -distance, and many were seen without masks.

Well over a dozen people in Trump's orbit tested positive for COVID-19 after the event.

Failure: Damaging democracy

Trump has eroded democratic norms in many ways during his tenure.

He's repeatedly attacked the media, leading UN experts to warn that Trump's rhetoric raised the risk of violence against journalists. He's threatened to deploy combat troops to American cities, over the objections of their elected leaders, and ordered illegal actions like demanding poll workers stop counting ballots.

Trump's relentless dissemination of disinformation on an array of topics, particularly the electoral process, has led historians and experts on fascism to compare him to dictators like Benito Mussolini.

Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), a project that monitors the health of democracy across the world, in its 2020 report said the US has become more autocratic in the Trump era.

"The United States – former vanguard of liberal democracy – has lost its way," V-Dem's 2020 report said, adding that the US "is the only country in Western Europe and North America suffering from substantial autocratization."

The president's rhetoric has often been viewed as a source of encouragement by far-right extremist groups, and Trump has frequently equivocated when asked to condemn such people.

Though President-elect Joe Biden was the clear winner of the 2020 election, Trump has refused to concede. Trump rejected the results and has made baseless allegations of fraud.

Even as world leaders began to congratulate Biden, a major sign of the president-elect's legitimacy, Trump continued to deny reality.

After weeks of rejecting the election result and attempting to overturn the outcome, the president provoked an attempted coup at the US Capitol on the day lawmakers met to certify Biden's Electoral College victory. He riled up his supporters in an inflammatory speech, urging them to march on the Capitol and "fight like hell." They listened.

The pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6 destroyed property and clashed with police. Five people were killed in the process. Trump was subsequently impeached for inciting the violent insurrection.

After the violence, Trump released a video acknowledging that a new administration would take over, but he did not explicitly concede.

Trump's refusal to concede breaks from a democratic tradition in the US that dates back to its earliest days when President John Adams lost the 1800 election and peacefully stepped aside for Thomas Jefferson, a member of another political party, to take over.

The president is undermining the political system in the US and sowing doubt about the integrity of the country's elections. Every president prior to Trump allowed for a peaceful transition of power after they'd served two terms or lost an election.

Trump is also set to skip Biden's inauguration. He'll be the first outgoing president since 1869 to refuse to attend the inauguration of his successor.

Summary List Placement

As a team of product reviewers, we collectively try a lot of new products.
That means we can typically count on our teammates to have the best recommendations at the ready when we need to buy something new — whether it be a small impulse buy or a much more serious purchase.
We came up with a list of products and services we bought after reading our coworkers' rave reviews. Find those 19 picks, and the original reviews that sealed the deal, below.

As a collective, the Insider Reviews team tests a ton of products — home goods, food, clothing, and cool new services are just a few of the categories we try. At the end of the day, we're just as much consumers as our readers. So, it's only natural that when we need to buy new products for ourselves, we turn to the experts: each other.

Keeping reading for 19 of the products and services we've purchased after reading our coworkers' reviews:

A Leesa mattress

Leesa Mattress, available at Leesa, $849 (originally $999) [You save $150]

The original review: I slept on a memory foam mattress from popular online startup Leesa — and it was actually really impressive

"When I moved into my apartment, getting a mattress was a top priority. The only bed-in-a-box brand I had heard of at the time was Casper, but my coworkers knew the ins and outs of all the brands I had no idea even existed. I tapped into this wealth of knowledge and was ultimately led to Leesa. While it definitely is pricier than some of the other options I considered, I think it's so worth it — we spend so much time in our beds that paying more for a super comfortable mattress doesn't seem outrageous. My only qualm is that it makes waking up a little hard, because truly it is so cozy I don't want to get up."— Remi Rosmarin, former reporter

A Rent the Runway Unlimited subscription

RTR Unlimited, available at Rent the Runway, $159 a month

Editor's note: Rent the Runway's Unlimited plan is no longer available. In its place, you can now choose a four, eight, or 16 item plan ranging from $89-$199 per month.

The original review: I've used Rent the Runway's unlimited subscription for a year — and it's completely changed the way I shop

"Lauren Lyons Cole had been persuading me to try Rent the Runway Unlimited for months until I actually signed up last April. Between her recommendation and the annual credit card summary Chase sends its cardholders — which showed me just how much I'd spent on clothes the previous year, and quite frankly opened my eyes — I finally bit the bullet.

I now have a constantly rotating wardrobe of clothes from some of my favorite brands (Tanya Taylor, Joie, Parker, 10 Crosby by Derek Lam, Saloni, etc.) I could never justify buying, and the convenience of never having to dry clean. The service isn't cheap at $159 a month, but I'm actually spending far less on clothes these days; the last clothing purchase I made (besides my monthly RTR bill) was in October." — Ellen Hoffman, executive editor

"I second Ellen's feelings about Rent the Runway Unlimited! I signed up for it upon her recommendation, and now instead of just buying clothing left and right (which is what I was doing before), I've been checking Rent the Runway for similar styles every time I see something I want to buy — and 90% of the time, there's a better version of it there for me to rent. It cuts down on closet clutter and saves me a lot of money in the long run. — Sally Kaplan, senior editor

A Purple seat cushion

The Purple Royal Seat Cushion, available at Purple and Amazon, $79

The original review: I sit on this $79 seat cushion while I work — it helps improve my posture and makes sitting much more comfortable

"I asked for a Purple Seat Cushion for Christmas after editing Jessica Klein's review of hers a few months earlier, and it's amazing what an instant and marked improvement it's made! Besides improving my posture while seated, it has made sitting down all day for my desk job significantly more comfortable."— Ellen Hoffman, executive editor

The Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel 30-pack, $88, available at Sephora and a 5-pack, $17, available at Amazon

The original review: This daily facial treatment is pricey, but it's the only thing that's helped to prevent and clear up my cystic acne and uneven skin

"When my friends and peers tell me they have a holy grail product, I know they mean it. Having dealt with acne for half my life and knowing Sally has, too, I clung on to the fact that she clings on dearly to these strong skin peels. Since they are expensive, I bought the smaller sample pack first to see how my skin would fare. Sally set up the proper expectations in her review by calling out how strong the peels are and what your skin could look and feel like, so I didn't freak out after my first use. They've become a regular part of my skincare routine, but I don't know that I would've bit the bullet if not for Sally's review."— Connie Chen, senior reporter

The Laneige effective lip mask that lasts and lasts

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask, available at Sephora, $22

The original review: I finally tried this cult-favorite overnight lip mask, and it made my dry lips feel unbelievably hydrated by the next morning

"Convincing me to buy anything is a herculean task, and getting me to buy a $20 lip balm seems utterly laughable, but somehow Erin pulled it off with her winning description of the Laneige lip mask in her buying guide to the best lip balms. She talked about how big of a difference it made with her chapped lips in the winter, but it was this line that did me in: 'A 0.7-ounce pot costs $20, but I've been using my first one for over a year and I only just dipped past the halfway mark.' Long lasting and effective? Sign me up. So finally, after months of winter chapped lips peeling and using ineffective Vaseline, I finally decided to buy the lip mask, and I love it."— Malarie Gokey, deputy editor

A luxurious waffle-knit sweater from Everlane

The Cashmere Waffle Square Turtleneck, available at Everlane, $155

This product is no longer available, but you can find a similar Everlane sweater here.

The original review: I rarely spend more than $100 on anything, but I dropped $155 on Everlane's cashmere turtleneck — and I don't regret it

"We've already established that I don't buy things often, especially when they're expensive, but this sweater remains the most out-of-character purchase I've ever made. I spent $155 on a sweater (!) because of a conversation with my colleague Ellen in Business Insider's kitchen. She was wearing this Everlane waffle knit sweater that I'd been eyeing for months, so I asked her about it, I touched the fabric, and the rest is history. I ended up writing an entire article about why I think that sweater is worth it even though it's really expensive. Everlane's cashmere is just that wonderfully soft — especially when it's done in a waffle knit."— Malarie Gokey, deputy editor

A Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card here

The original review: 7 reasons to open the Chase Sapphire Preferred — even though the card doesn't come with as many flashy perks as the Sapphire Reserve

"I wasn't wise to the credit-card-travel-rewards game until David Slotnick joined Insider Reviews in December 2017, but I'm a lot savvier after editing all of his articles! David carries the more premium Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, but his comparison of the Sapphire Reserve and the Sapphire Preferred swayed me in the direction of Preferred instead, mainly because it carries a much lower annual fee of $95. I recently used 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (worth $900 as cash back) to book a three-night stay at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, which would have cost $2,400 in cash otherwise for the dates of my trip."— Ellen Hoffman, executive editor

"I signed up for this credit card based on David's review, and I timed it right when I'd be making some big purchases for my apartment so I could easily meet the minimum amount for the 50,000-point sign-up bonus ($4,000 in the first three months). Like Ellen, I opted for it over the Reserve because of the lower fee, and because it still earns me double the points on travel and food, which is where I spend most of my money anyway. I'm still hoarding my 80,000-plus points for our next vacation!"— Sally Kaplan, senior editor

A genius reverse-open umbrella that keeps you dry

Betterbrella Reverse Open Umbrella, available at Amazon, $22.95

The original review: This reverse-open umbrella will solve every annoyance you've ever had with them

"The reverse-open design of this umbrella is genius! It's on the bulkier side, so I can't stow it in my purse, but for rainy days there's no other I'd prefer to have on hand. I bought it after reading Mara's review since it was only $20 — about the most I'd want to spend on an umbrella anyway — and wasn't disappointed."— Ellen Hoffman, executive editor

A lot of Brooklinen bedding

Luxe Hardcore Sheet Bundle, available at Brooklinen, from $216

The original review: These sheets are one of the best purchases I've ever made — here's why

"I bought a set of Brooklinen sheets, a duvet cover, and a down comforter thanks to Ellen's insightful review. I've had them for over a year and they've held up beautifully. In fact, they've gotten softer over time. Prior to this, I bought expensive sheets from department stores, which never seemed to last."— Lauren Lyons Cole, former director of personal finance

An extremely warm pair of United by Blue socks

The Ultimate Bison Sock, available at United By Blue, $38

The original review: 20 cold-weather essentials we swear by for getting through the fall and winter months

"My coworker Amir Ismael first turned me on to United By Blue with their socks over the summer. I put them on, thought they felt nice, and then noticed my feet were sweating. I'll never need these things, I thought to myself. Then winter came.

The temperature was creeping down to what had become a very unfamiliar and unbearably uncomfortable level. Frantically, on Black Friday no less, I scrambled to find the thickest, warmest socks known to mankind. Then, serendipitously, a United By Blue sale popped up in my email inbox and I quickly recalled how my feet roasted and perspired in their socks. Oh how the tables had turned. Perchance to dream! I dusted off my wallet, rummaged into its bowels for my credit card, and blew a cool pair of Benjamins without thinking twice.

At $38 a pair, these Bison wool socks aren't cheap (frankly, they're almost more than I'm generally willing to spend on even a pair of shoes), but they're as thick as can be and even after about a dozen washes, they're still thick and springy as virgin wool. I'm wearing them at this very moment, and my feet and I continue to exist with profuse gratitude to Amir. If your feet are even remotely cold right now, buy these socks. Yes, I know they're $38, but if I've learned anything upon my return to the dreary, sludgy brown streets of the northeast, it's that you cannot put a price on a good pair of socks."— Owen Burke, senior reporter

Mighty Patch blemish stickers

Mighty Patch Hydrocolloid Acne Patches, available at Amazon, $11.86 for 36

The original review: These $13 pimple patches are smaller than pennies and really work at clearing my acne overnight

"After reading this review on Mighty Patch's Hydrocolloid stickers and asking Connie more about them in person, I bought some of my own. Flash forward a few months, and they're my best and last resort to surprise breakouts. I can't tell you enough how much I wish I'd had these in high school."— Mara Leighton, senior reporter

Bombas socks

Bombas Socks, available at Bombas, from $12

The original review: Meet Bombas, the cult-favorite sock startup that has donated 16 million pairs to homeless shelters since launching in 2013

"When I started working at Business Insider, Bombas was one of the first brands that really stood out to me because of how much time the founders spent engineering the gym socks. Coming from wearing basic Hanes or Fruit of the Loom socks that never hold their shape, I knew I needed to try them. Bombas socks are comfortable all around — they're cushioned, they never twist or move around, and the blister tab works wonders with low-top sneakers. On top of that, Bombas donates a pair of socks to someone in need every time a pair is sold. I do still have socks from other brands in my drawer, but Bombas are easily my favorite to buy and wear."— Amir Ismael, reporter

A Journy custom travel itinerary

Custom Travel Itinerary, available at Journy, from $25 a day

The original review: I tried an online concierge service that solves the most stressful part of traveling for only $25 a day

"Before I remembered Connie's feature on Journy, I was so stressed out by the details of planning my last international trip (researching restaurants abroad, mapping out must-see sights to group them by neighborhood, and allocating time for all the activities the group wanted to include) that I wasn't even enjoying the anticipation of a big trip. Using Journy was such a game changer — they took into account the sites I wanted to see, the one or two restaurants I really wanted to go to, and helped me keep both mine and my companions' preferences in mind without too much angst."— Mara Leighton, senior reporter

A Skyroam Solis WiFi hotspot

Skyroam Solis WiFi Hotspot, available at Amazon, $45

The original review: My new must-have travel gadget saved me a ton on cell phone data on my last international trip

"I'd rather be taking in the city than scrolling through Instagram while abroad, but that doesn't change the fact that 24/7 access to Wi-Fi is almost inconceivably convenient for international travel. That's what makes this mobile hotspot the best travel purchase I've ever made, and I owe it all to David. With it, you never have to listen in on another tour guide's explanation of a landmark again. Nor do you have to wander around the alleys of Athens alone trying to find a way back to your hostel. You can connect with friends, research restaurants, and make the most of your time without elaborate offline planning, a local phone, or highway-robbery cell phone bills."— Mara Leighton, reporter

A Greetabl gift box

Greetabl Gift Boxes, available at Greetable, from $10

The original review: Greetabl is the perfect way to send a small gift to someone you love — whether it's just because, or for occasions like birthdays

"When I first read Sally's review of Greetabl, it sounded like a cool concept, but I didn't have any occasion to use it at the time. I'm honestly not a frequent gift giver, but I loved the idea of sending a small, thoughtful surprise that wasn't just a card.

I kept Greetabl in the back of my mind, and an opportunity in the form of multiple friends applying to (and stressing over) grad schools gave me the chance to try the service for myself. Thanks to Sally's clear walkthrough, I knew exactly what to expect in the process and I quickly churned out a few small gifts, personalized to my recipients' personalities and adorned with photo memories of our friendship, to send as pick-me-ups in the midst of their grad school anxiety. Their surprised and happy reactions was probably the most satisfying part of the whole experience."— Connie Chen, senior reporter

"I sent a Greetabl to my friend for her birthday a couple weeks after reading Sally's review of the service instead of just a nice greeting card. It's a pretty inexpensive way to make someone's day, whether it's their birthday or for no particular reason at all."— Ellen Hoffman, executive editor

An American Express Gold Card

Learn more about the AmEx Gold Card here

The original review: 4 reasons to open the new AmEx Gold card, especially if you're a foodie

"As a mid-twenties urbanite, much of my paycheck goes towards food and groceries, so I signed up for the American Express Gold Card after learning that it earns 4x points per dollar at US supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year; 1x point after that) and restaurants, making it one of the most competitive cards for those categories. I also prioritized its superior airport lounge access. It didn't hurt that I signed up during a deal that gave applicants 20% back as a statement credit on US restaurant purchases for the first three months (up to $100)."— Mara Leighton, senior reporter

A pair of MeUndies Loungers

The Lounge Pant, available at MeUndies, $68

The original review: We tested what might be one of the best pairs of sweatpants out there

"When I first started working as a reporter on the Insider Reviews team, I think I heard a team member mention this exact pair of lounge pants at least once per week. Since they'd gained the unanimous respect of a group of product reviewers, I bought them out of blind faith. Two years later, I still wear them multiple times per week — and they're among the most comfortable pants I've ever owned. They're super soft, drape nicely, and put up with the abuse of an undiscerning laundry cycle remarkably well."— Mara Leighton, senior reporter

A memory foam pillow

Coop Original Pillow, available at Coop Home Goods, $59.99

The original review: The best pillows for your bed in 2021

"I'd needed a new pillow for a few months now and finally bought the Coop Original Pillow after editing my colleague Lauren's buying guide to the best pillows and her review of Coop. I'm usually not a memory foam person because it doesn't offer enough support for my head (I'd normally wake up with a dent in the pillow that almost touches my mattress) and it gets too warm to fall asleep comfortably. But with the Coop pillow, I can add more foam (the brand provides a bag with extra) to create a customized pillow with enough lift, and the foam is shredded into pieces that offer breathability as opposed to a big slab of foam. The pillow comes vacuum packed so it needed a week and a tumble in the dryer to air out. I had to adjust the amount of foam a few times before I found the right amount of lift and support I needed, but that's nothing compared to the great sleep I've been getting with this pillow."—Jada Wong, senior editor

An intense moisturizing hand cream

O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream, available at Target, $7.99

The original review:The best hand creams for dry, chapped hands

"I'm always on the hunt for the best hand cream once winter rolls around. Every winter, my hands get so cracked and dry to the point that they bleed, so I'm always in need of a heavy duty hand cream. This winter is even worse since I'm washing my hands more often than usual. Vaseline and Aquaphor usually do the trick, but I hate how oily the formulas of both are, so I headed to our guide to see what my other options are. I decided to give the best pick overall in our guide a try. This hand cream does not disappoint! It took less than 24 hours to see a difference in my skin and my hands haven't gotten to the point of bleeding since I started using this hand cream. I put this cream on every night before going to bed (since the formula is a little bit thicker than most other creams) and wake up with soft hands every morning. "—Victoria Gracie, associate distribution producer

trump thanksgiving

Summary List Placement

In the wake of last week's violent insurrection on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, some businesses are cutting ties with the Trump Organization.

On January 6, the Capitol went into lockdown as thousands of Trump supporters descended upon the building, resulting in chaos, damage, and violence. At least five people have died.

In the wake of the riot, politicians — including the Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy— have spoken out about the responsibility that the president bears for inciting violence. Prominent business leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, also spoke out against the siege; Business Roundtable released a statement calling on the president to "put an end to the chaos."

Platforms including Twitter and Facebook moved to ban the president's accounts. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey broke his silence on the ban last night, saying it sets a "dangerous precedent."

In a historic vote on Wednesday, Trump became the first president ever to be impeached by congress twice. If he's convicted by the Senate (a move that requires a two-thirds majority), they could vote on whether to bar him from holding office again.

But some actions have gone beyond statements: Businesses and other entities are severing their financial connections to Trump and the Trump Organization.

In the wake of the insurrection and impeachment, some groups formerly affiliated with the Trump Organization are opting to sever ties. The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Here are all of the businesses and entities that have publicly split from the Trump Organization so far.

New York City is ending its contracts with the Trump Organization.

Mayor Bill De Blasio said on Wednesday that New York City "will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization."

Insider's Grace Dean reported that the city had contracts with the Trump Organization to run two ice skating rinks (and a carousel) in Central Park, as well as a golf course in the Bronx.

The Washington Post reported that those contracts bring in $17 million in annual revenue for the Trump Organization.

The Professional Golf Association (PGA) pulled its 2022 championship from Trump's Bedminster golf club.

Insider's Julie Gerstein reports that the decision came after last week's insurrection; board members voted to pull the plug.

In a statement to The Washington Post, the Trump Organization said it was "a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement."

Trump was reportedly more upset about no longer hosting the tournament than getting impeached for a second time.

Deutsche Bank and Signature Bank are reportedly ending their banking services for the Trump Organization.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that both banks were severing ties. In a statement to Bloomberg, Signature said"we believe the appropriate action would be the resignation of the president of the United States."

Trump reportedly owes Deutsche Bank over $300 million, according to the Bloomberg report, and Signature Bank will reportedly close two personal accounts with about $5.3 million in them.

Professional Bank won't provide services for President Trump or the Trump Organization.

"Professional Bank has decided not to engage in any further business with the Trump Organization and its affiliates, and will be winding down the relationship effective immediately," the bank said in a statement to Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Bloomberg reported that Trump borrowed $11 million from the bank in May 2018 to buy a home for his sister, Maryanne Barry Trump, next to his Mar-A-Lago club in Florida.

Insider's Kate Duffy reported that Trump had a money market account with the bank that is worth as much as $25 million.

The Girl Scouts want to end their lease in a Trump building.

The Girl Scouts' New York chapter told Insider's Dan Geiger that the organization is trying to get out of a 15-year lease at 40 Wall St., which is known as the Trump building.

Real-estate giant Cushman & Wakefield will no longer do business with the Trump Organization.

The firm was an agent for Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street.

"Cushman & Wakefield has made the decision to no longer do business with The Trump Organization,"a spokesman said in a statement to Insider's Dan Geiger.

Curbed reported last week that real-estate brokerage JLL is no longer involved in marketing the Trump hotel in DC, although it's not clear when the brokerage backed out.

Shopify closed the Trump Organization's store.

Vox reported on January 7 that Shopify closed both the Trump Organization's store along with the e-commerce section of Trump's election website.

Insurance brokerage Aon has ended its relationship with the Trump Organization.

Bloomberg first reported on Wednesday that the insurer had cut ties with the Trump Organization.

Aon was subpoenaed in 2019 by New York's financial regulator over Michael Cohen's claims that Trump had inflated the value of his assets.

Summary List Placement

The drying winter weather and constant hand-washing to stop the spread of germs and viruses can leave your hands dehydrated and cracked, which can be annoying and painful.
Truly moisturizing hand cream should soothe dry, chapped hands, avoid leaving your hands feeling greasy, and should keep your hands until you wash them again.
Our top pick, O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream, delivers healing relief and lasting moisture that protects your skin from losing water — and it's non-greasy, too.

Table of Contents: Masthead Sticky

Winters is harsh on every part of your skin, but it's usually our hands that cross into the cracked-and-painful category first when it's dry out. What's more, with all the hand washing we're doing these days to help minimize the spread of both the novel coronavirus and cold and flu in the winter season, the majority of people are dealing with dry, chapped, and downright painful hands than ever before.

The American Academy of Dermatology reports that some of the best ways to find relief for your dry skin from COVID-19 handwashing is to apply hand cream or ointment to your skin immediately after washing them for 20 seconds and drying them, or immediately after hand sanitizer dries. It notes to make sure you're working the moisturizer not just into your palm, fingers, and back of your hand, but also into your fingertips and nails.

But there's a huge gap between a basic hand cream and one that will actually help moisturize deeply and prevent chapped hands from coming back in an hour. What's more, so many options leave your hands feeling greasy. That's why we've done the work for you in the search for a moisturizing hand cream worth your money.

I myself have struggled with dry, chapped hands for years. With horses at home, I'm often outside at least four or five times each day, even in the harshest of winter weather. I also wash my hands frequently, which only makes the problem worse. Because of my dry skin, I've accumulated a significant collection of lotions and hand creams. Many of them didn't solve the problem — but some did.

The products in this guide are intended for anyone who deals with dry skin during winter or year-round. I've tested many of them and tried to select products that aren't heavily scented, greasy, or require frequent applications throughout the day.

To get the best results from these products, apply them according to the brand's directions. Using these products immediately after washing your hands or showering while your skin is still damp will help to lock in moisture, reports the American Academy of Dermatology. Additionally, try to make a habit of using your lotion or hand cream before bed for overnight moisturizing. At the bottom of this guide, I've also included other hand creams that were considered while testing.

Here are the best hand creams for dry, chapped hands:

Best hand cream overall: O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream
Best multi-use hand cream: Eucerin Intensive Repair Enriched Lotion
Best hand cream for sensitive skin: Aveeno Intense Relief Hand Cream
Best hand cream for travel: L'Occitane Hand Cream Mini
Best hand cream for active hands: Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve
Best time-saving treatment: NatraCure Gel Moisturizing Gloves

Updated on 1/14/2021 by Rachael Schultz: Updated intro, Checked the availability and pricing of each recommended hand cream, and updated the prices and links where necessary.

Best hand cream overall

O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream offers healing and protective properties in a formula.

Pros: Greaseless, odorless, highly affordable

Cons: Can sting a bit when applied to cracked hands

For valuable healing paired with protective properties, you can't go wrong with O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream. This cream is designed to heal, relieve, and repair extremely dry, cracked hands.

This cream contains paraffin, which helps to establish a barrier that protects your skin from losing water. At the same time, glycerin draws moisture to your skin in order to accelerate the hydration process. The cream is greaseless, yet effectively reduces the rate of evaporation on your hands, helping to restore your hands' moisture balance while healing your cracked, irritated skin.

Available in both a jar and in a tube, this hand cream is scentless, so it won't offend you every time you brush back your hair or itch your face. The brand recommends that you use the cream multiple times a day, which is easy to do because it absorbs so easily into your hands.

The rim of the jar is textured for extra grip, but I've found I've never needed that texture because the cream doesn't leave my hands greasy. I personally have had excellent results using this product, and I make a point of applying it after coming in from the barn, before bed, and always after shoveling snow.

This cream is safe for diabetics to use, and it's affordable enough to keep a jar in your home, your workplace, and anywhere else where you need protective and healing relief.

Read our full review of O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream here.

Best multi-use hand cream

Formulated for very rough, dry skin, Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion gently exfoliates and conditions for healthier skin.

Pros: Inexpensive, fragrance-free, gentle exfoliating action, won't clog pores, can use on hands, feet, and more

Cons: May increase skin's sensitivity to the sun and increase the chance of sunburn, leaves behind a slight film

Eucerin Intensive Repair Lotion is a rich, creamy lotion that has long-lasting effects. The triple-acting formula moisturizes, exfoliates, and conditions. The gentle exfoliating nature helps to improve the appearance of dry or rough skin, and the moisturizer offers intense hydration that helps to create smooth, comfortable skin. This fragrance-free formula won't clog pores.

This is one of my favorite lotions. The pump bottle is quick and easy to use when you're on-the-go, and this formula provides soothing relief, even when my hands are at their worst. I particularly like that this lotion is unscented, and it's easy to massage into my hands.

There is a bit of a film left on my hands after use, but this is easily fixed by wiping my hands off with a tissue. This lotion is versatile, too; you can also use it on your feet, arms, and other problem areas.

Best for sensitive skin

Aveeno's Intense Relief Hand Cream uses soothing oatmeal to hydrate dry skin and keep it moisturized even after washing your hands.

Pros: Keeps hands moisturized even after washing your hands, steroid- and fragrance-free, great for sensitive skin, absorbs quickly

Cons: Though it's good for sensitive skin, it might not be effective for people with eczema

Aveeno's Intense Relief Hand Cream is designed specifically for anyone with sensitive skin as it's formulated with a blend of natural ingredients, soothing oatmeal, and rich emollients. This cream is also steroid- and fragrance-free, and absorbs quickly into your skin immediately after use for a non-greasy feel.

Where this hand cream really excels is with its ability to stay on even after washing your hands. Scrubbing and washing often leaves your hands dry, chapped, and cracked, but with Aveeno's Intense Relief Hand Cream, you won't have to reapply or worry about irritation after every wash. You'd still likely need to apply a few times throughout the day if you're constantly washing, but the fact that it still keeps your hands moisturized after a few washes is rare and appreciated.

At roughly $6 per 3.5-ounce tube and availability at most drug stores, this Aveeno hand cream is a good value, too, especially considering you'll likely use less frequently between hand washes.

Best hand cream for travel

A single 1-ounce bottle of L'Occitane Hand Cream Mini is easy to pack along as you travel, and its rich, creamy formula avoids feeling greasy while keeping hands moisturized and hydrated.

Pros: The 1-ounce tube is perfect for traveling, formula quickly absorbs into skin and doesn't leave your hands feeling greasy for long, available in larger sizes for at-home use

Cons: Small size, expensive

For frequent travelers, grabbing whatever lotion is available in a mini bottle at your local grocery store isn't ideal. L'Occitane's Hand Cream, available in a mini 1-ounce tube, is a lifesaver for those constantly on-the-go. With a quick-absorbing formula, this hand cream uses shea butter to leave hands feeling moisturized no matter if they're dry from cold weather or constant hand-washing.

Insider Reviews senior style and beauty editor, Sally Kaplan, swears by the cream, saying: "L'Occitane's hand cream is my personal savior when the weather gets dry or my hands have gone through so much washing I think they might shed a layer. It's rich, creamy, and buttery, but doesn't leave me feeling greasy for more than a few minutes after application. I also use it on my feet before bed when they need a little extra help. The original shea butter formula's scent is baby powder-like, which isn't my favorite, but I'd trade the extreme efficacy of it for a scent I'm not in love with any day."

L'Occitane offers the cream in multiple sizes, too, so while the 1-ounce tube is great for traveling, the larger sizes work well for home or office use (though bigger bottles get pricey, quick). It comes in either a shea butter, lavender, or cherry blossom fragrance.

Best hand cream for active hands

Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve is a great moisturizer for anyone who uses their hands for work all day, and it offers a clean smelling fragrance and absorbs quickly.

Pros: Absorbs quickly, great for anyone who uses their hands for work each day, uses blend of oil and natural olive oil wax for a moisturizing, non-greasy feel

Cons: People with sensitive skin may not want the fragrance

Working with your hands is a surefire way to come away with dry, chapped skin and Kiehl's Ultimate Strength Hand Salve is your best defense against it. Featuring a blend of oils and natural olive oil wax, it's great for anyone who works in manual labor, is exposed to especially harsh conditions, lives at altitude, or spends a lot of time washing and rewashing their hands.

The salve goes on thick yet avoids feeling greasy, and instead leaving hands feeling moisturized, buttery, and protected. Kiehl's points out that this salves creates a "glove-like" barrier on your hands after application which helps to promote the retention of moisture and hydration, so it's really great for use before bed.

Although our top pick, O'Keeffe's Working Hands Hand Cream, is also intended for working hands, this Kiehl's hand salve has a better fragrance and absorbs a bit quicker. It is a little more expensive, however, at $23 per 5-ounce tube compared to $8 per 3.4-ounce jar of O'Keeffe's.

Best time-saving treatment

Put on your NatraCure Gel Moisturizing Gloves for 20 minutes to a full-moisturizing hand treatment.

Pros: Requires less frequent application (just a few times a week), hypoallergenic, deep moisturizing treatment

Cons: Gloves can be difficult to put on (a little talcum powder can help)

Lotions, creams, and balms are great ways to treat your irritated hands, but for a deep moisturizing treatment, NatraCure Gel Moisturizing Gloves give you the intensity that you're looking for. A non-breathable gel lining locks in moisture, steeping your hands in hydration.

The instructions say to wear these dermatologist-tested gloves for just 20 minutes two to three times per week. They're even backed by a satisfaction guarantee, so you can return them to Amazon in the first 30 days if they aren't right for you.

I've used these gloves for the past three years and they've made a significant difference in my skin. I often put them on while watching TV at night, and my hands feel immediately smoother and softer after removing the gloves.

The lining contains jojoba oil, olive oil, and grapeseed oil which is released by the heat of your hands. It's like a mini spa treatment in the comfort of your own home. Best of all, these gloves are reusable, and you can even use them with your favorite lotion.

What else we considered

Duke Cannon Bloody Knuckles Hand Repair Balm is made with lanolin and shea butter, which help to moisturize your hands without a sticky or greasy feeling. People often see results for seriously cracked hands after just a few uses. However, we didn't include it as our top pick for active hands because lanolin allergies are fairly common.

The Naked Bee Moisturizing Hand & Body Lotionis made in the US, certified organic, and contains only natural ingredients like certified organic sunflower seed oil, beeswax, white and green tea leaf extract, arnica extract, honey, and more. There are no dyes, pigments, parabens, propylene glycol, mineral oil, or lauryl sulfate. This was previously our top pick as far as organic and natural options go, and that still rings true, but we've removed that as a category from our guide.

Waleda Skin Food Light Nourishing Cream is an all-body moisturizer formulated from plant-extract and free of synthetic preservatives, fragrances, and other skin irritants, making it ideal for sensitive skin. While we love this cream for the face (especially if you have dry, sensitive skin), when used on the hands, it is a bit greasy for a good 30 minutes after application. For that reason, it didn't make the cut for inclusion, but it's definitely worth mentioning if you're looking for a small, versatile tube to store in your purse or glove box to re-hydrate any dry skin, including your face, in a pinch.

Check out other Insider Reviews skincare guides

The best lip balm

So many lip balms rely on the placebo effect — they feel nice, but don't actually do much for your mouth. That's why we made it our mission to hunt down the products that lock in moisture, prevent flaking, heal cracks, and protect your lips from the elements.

The best sheet masks

Sheet masks act like flash facials to provide an instant fix for your skin and address all sorts of concerns. Despite the fact that sheet masks make you look terrifying temporarily, these K-beauty staples have reached cult status among celebrities, dermatologists, and beauty junkies alike. With the incredible number of sheet masks on the market, working out which one is right for you can be a minefield, so we've done the work for you.

The best exfoliators for any skin type or budget

A good exfoliant is like a magic bullet for any skin-care routine because it truly helps just about anything that's ailing your face. It's especially clutch in the winter when you're dealing with scaly skin and dry flaky patches that never seem to go away no matter how much moisturizer you use.