A functional bathroom is like good digestion: You only think about it when you don’t have it. And then you long for it. So we’ve pulled together the top devices to get really make your bathroom work, from its next-generation toilet seat to its hold-everything hair tools organizer. There are also a few beauty hacks thrown in here too, because who doesn’t love an easier and quicker way to look their best? Here’s our editors’ 16 must-have bathroom buys.
16 Random-but-Useful Bathroom Buys That PureWow Editors Love
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1. Smartbidet
My friend got this for her mom for Christmas, and I’m so glad I have one too. This toilet seat bidet turns my regular toilet into a bidet, with heated water that can be directed to “posterior” or “feminine” washes, multiple water pressure settings including a massaging oscillating setting and even a heated seat. Plus, there’s a post-wash dryer that eliminates having to use toilet paper, so it’s an eco-win. Also, it only takes 20 minutes to install, with no complicated plumbing.
After pulling her hair back with this silk headband to wash her face, editor-in-chief Jillian Quint discovered it’s also useful for a neat styling trick: "As somebody who has never quite mastered using a curling iron, I swear by this no-heat method for getting beachy waves: With damp hair parted in the middle, wrap a silk headband und your head horizontally (so you look like a hippie). Then take 2-inch sections and loop them through the headband, until they're coiled around your head like a donut. Sleep like that, and take the headband off in the morning for dramatic results!”
“I loveeee this tray for my bathtub. It holds my glass of wine, there’s a spot to hold my phone up to watch Netflix and even a little space for a candle to really set the ambiance—my bath feels all around more luxurious,” says commerce editor Olivia Kappler. It comes in four colors and has little silicone pads on the underside of the expandable arms to keep it from slipping.
Since the advent of Zoom meetings, I’m super conscious of getting my makeup right. This sturdy countertop mirror lets me not only magnify five- and 10-times so I can make sure my brows and lashes are perfect, it gives me the option of simulating natural daylight or candlelight. Sure, this mirror comes with a whopper price tag, but since it's got a stabilizing heft, is made with high-quality glass and has multiple magnification functions, I love using it, unlike the cheap little makeup mirrors I've used then discarded in the past.
5. Wekitty Wall-mounted Toothpaste Dispenser
This device mounts to your bathroom wall and has included magnetic holders for two brushes and two tubes of toothpaste, two cups for mouthwash and extra compartments for other bathroom essentials, such as razors. It comes with a vacuum pump that will dole out the perfect amount of paste for bristles. "This has truly been a life saver," raves one mom. "It helps eliminate the mess my 4- and 5- year-old make with the toothpaste. I highly recommend for those that have kids."
6. Maytex Mesh Peva Shower Curtain
Need someplace to put your razor, soap, small shampoo and wash cloth? Not just you but everyone in your household can have a couple pockets in this transparent curtain with nine pockets, each capable of holding up to a pound.
7. Super-fast Electric Brush Cleaner Machine
Cleaning makeup brushes is such a time suck, but not with this electronic automatic spinning tool. Just fill the cup up with water and dip the brush inside. From there, click the spinner, and in less than 60 seconds, you'll get what the company reports is a 98 percent cleaner brush. We agree, after seeing all the dirt that the brush has flung off.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into someone’s bathroom and tried to raise my feet on the wall or something to be in the proper position for #2,” says Joel Caffee, entertainment writer. He’s on the right track—there are researchers who say that the way we've been taught to sit can actually restrict the colon and even potentially result in pelvic floor injury. As one of Shark Tank’s most successful endeavors, the Squatty Potty was specifically designed to realign your body into a squat position, which researchers in a 2019 study published in the Journal of Education and Health Promotion argue is more natural for relieving waste. This particular version folds, comes in bamboo and has a subtle slope that raises your heels for the perfect angle.
Hair stylists blame hard water for a host of hair ills, since mineral-rich shampooing and rinsing can dry your hair out. A good shower filter like this one reduces free chlorine, which can cause frizz and dull hair, as well as dirt, odors and other impurities from your shower water. Plus, what’s more convenient than a hand-held shower head?
This invention slowly acclimates your kitty to the porcelain throne, so you never have to clean their dreaded box again. It works by placing CitiKitty's multi-ringed apparatus on your toilet, then filling it with flushable litter for your cat to use. Gradually, you'll remove its inner rings, so the cat becomes comfortable doing his business right into the bowl. Although it may seem too good to be true, hundreds of Amazon reviewers and at least one PureWow staffer swears by its reliability.
12. Georgia Louise Cryo Facial Freeze Tools
Leave these rounded stainless-steel balls in the freezer overnight, and you’ve got a great de-puffing tool for the next morning. These not only firm and tighten skin, but they also aid exfoliation so that your skincare treatments can sink in more effectively.
13. Jackcubed Hair Tool Organizer
PureWow's Assigning Commerce Editor Nicole Briese was skeptical that this would actually hold all her hair tools, but reports that it does. “And my bathroom looks so much less sloppy for it! I also love the built-in storage space in the front, which I've been using for my perfume (though it also doubles as an extension cord holder)," she says.
14. 17 Stories Keemon Bookcase
Rather than just pile my skincare products, my fragrance and my makeup in a jumbled heap next to my sink, I’ve got it all in baskets by category now, on these six shelves. My bathroom is a pleasure to go into now that all those products are off the counter.
15. Welly Bandages Heroic Kit
Senior editor Rachel Bowie swears by this little tin of “bravery bandages,” a collection of fabric and waterproof stick-on bandages. Or should we say Bowie’s young son swears by them, after a scrape?
16. Legology Lympth-lite Boom Brush For Body
This gentle body brush stimulates lymphatic drainage and buffs away dead skin when it’s used daily in a self-care practice. Besides making us feel like we’re so, so relaxed.