If you’re like us, you’ve probably wondered what everyday stuff famous people add to their carts, like mascara or a sleep mask. Back in 2017, we asked Lena Dunham — whose forthcoming memoir, Famesick, comes out tomorrow — about the ghee and cozy socks she can’t live without. Nine years later, we asked her to revisit her list, which you can read here. Turns out she’s still passionate about the ghee alongside plenty of new favorites.
The ghee she still has in her pantry
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This was sent to me as a celebrity freebie, and I went through a phase, it was so dark, where I would just eat things that could support this ghee: a hamburger with some ghee on it, rice with ghee in it. Because ghee is used in Ayurvedic medicine, it felt sort of healthy, and my boyfriend had to be like, “You know you’re eating straight butter.” I gained like ten ghee pounds, but it was so delicious, especially the Himalayan-salt-flavored one.
The infrared mat she brings with her to set
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My best friend is an acupuncturist in Los Angeles, and all day long he hears about people’s relationship to either their HigherDose infrared mat or their BioMat. The BioMat girls lean in a crunchier, holistic direction, and the HigherDose girls are leaning in a more beauty-and-fitness direction. I am a BioMat girl (that Venn diagram also intersects with “have tried everything for chronic pain and found this strange and expensive hack”), but I am embarrassed because I can’t explain what it does except some vague notion that the heat is conducted through crystals.
It’s a slow warmth that moves through your body, and suddenly you feel muscles that you didn’t even know needed to relax relaxing. Unlike a heating pad , you can hang on that BioMat all day. It’s been with me all over the world. I use the half-size because, unless you are an athlete who is over six-foot-five, the full-size BioMat feels aggressive and expensive. I put it out while I’m working and just sit on it on set. My pets all flock to the BioMat. Everyone’s competing for space.
The sexy ’80s sweatpants she wears every night
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I am maybe not the typical Alo Yoga customer in that I’m not looking for athleisure and I’m not really going to the gym. But these have that perfect sexy-sweatpant shape. You know the sweatpants that a hot cheerleader in 1989 would’ve put on over her uniform? The terrycloth has that perfect heaviness. I’ve worn them every night for a year, and they don’t get that sad pilling on the butt that says “I’ve been sitting in my sad sweatpants.” I have worn them out a couple of times with plaid Wax Apple shoes and a Batsheva prairie-widow blouse, and I felt like I was getting away with it.
The sleep earbuds she learned about from Susan Orlean
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Ozlo Sleepbuds
This rec came from Susan Orlean in this very column. She was describing my exact situation, which is that she goes to bed listening to true crime — which is something some of us do, and we can’t be ashamed of that — and she was losing an earbud or getting tangled in her wired headphones. These stay in. They can also tell when you have fallen asleep and switch from true crime to white noise, which is incredible because you may wake up in the middle of the night to an extra-alarming detail. It helps with insomnia — it feels like “I’ve got you. You don’t have to check your phone; you can just let the horrific details of this case waft over you until you’re asleep.”
I was on a plane and a guy sat down next to me and pulled them out, and I couldn’t help it — I breached the barrier and said, “Are they not incredible?” We talked about them for an hour. I ended up having an important conversation about male mental health because of these sleep buds.
The made-in-America mouse figurines she collects
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I collect a kind of ceramic mouse that is made in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, called Wee Forest Folk. They’re these perfect little ceramic mice doing all kinds of day-to-day activities like reading, eating donuts, ice-skating. They’re made by this family who has done it forever; I want to visit the Wee Forest Folk factory. I have a display case that I got from them. It’s always mortifying when children come over and I’m like, “Those aren’t toys, babe. Those are fine collectibles.” I have a teeny-tiny mouse dressed as a Halloween ghost who is no bigger than a fingernail, and he is perfect. He lives on the upper ledge with a tiny mushroom.
The clicker she uses to train pigs and rabbits
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Karen Pryor I-Click Original Clicker
Training pigs is a joy because they learn everything in about 30 minutes and you feel unbelievably accomplished. I’m not gonna say rabbits are untrainable, but it’s an undertaking. I’ve been trying to train both of my pet rabbits to go to their room when necessary, like if you have a plumber coming over or somebody who’s not super-rabbit-engaged, because it can become an hourlong tempting-them-with-a-piece-of-lettuce thing. I’ve been trying to say, “Hey, click, you’re gonna get a treat if you follow me right now.” And that is kind of working. They thump, thump, thump their way in there.
The anti-productivity productivity book she gives to everyone
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Oliver Burkeman started out as a productivity-guru journalist and realized it was not making him feel happier or more organized. As he says, “I got really good at email and all it did was get me more email.” I love that it’s a productivity book and the first thing it says is “Who cares?” The average human has 4,000 weeks to enjoy this planet, and you’re gonna have to make some choices about what matters to you. He talks a lot about what it means that the conveniences of our lives, whether it’s Uber Eats and Postmates, are touted as eliminating human contact.
I remember getting this advice early in my career: “Let them say whatever they want about you, just don’t let them say you didn’t return their phone call.” I took that really seriously, but if you’re making choices about what’s important to you, then you’ve gotta make some choices about what’s important to you. I found it quite mind-blowing and immediately forced it on every member of my family and friend group. And the audiobook’s very soothing; he’s got a lovely British accent.
The sobriety necklace she always has on
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My friend Blake told me his mother’s friend had started a sobriety jewelry line and wanted to send me something, and I was very touched. She asked for my sobriety date, and it arrived engraved on the edges. You never know which things are going to become talismanic. I put it on and it has not come off since; the jewelry’s always changing except for my wedding ring and this. It’s a great reminder that pretty much everything wonderful in my life comes from this cool and fun choice to not be cool and fun. Even on your worst day, you have this thing you feel proud of around your neck.
I used to carry my five-year AA chip around, but it ends up living at the bottom of your bag with loose Tic Tacs and pills. This one has a home.
The pelvic ice packs she used after surgery
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I had an abdominal pelvic surgery and a nurse I knew was like, “You gotta get these.” They’re a perfect level of cool, like a can of soda that’s kind of been hanging out in the fridge for a couple of hours. They become cool on their own so you don’t have to refrigerate them. It seems to be a maternity item, but they could be for anyone with a sore saddle area, like two dads who took a really long bike trip. There’s biking utility, sex utility, period utility. Somebody could use them after bottom surgery. I’d actually like to encourage Frida to push their marketing and open it up a little bit. If they need someone to represent pelvic ice packs, I’m happy to be that person.
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