If you’re browsing Amazon and you see something you want, you’ve got two options: Buy it on the spot, or add it to the purgatory that is your Wish List. Maybe, if you’re lucky, someone will eventually buy it for you—more likely, though, you’ll just end up looking at it nostalgically every few months when you’re buying another knick-knack.
However, some of the most-wished-for items are actually useful. Moreover, they’re relatively affordable. We decided to dig through Amazon’s wish list rankings to find the coolest—or strangest—products that deserve a spot in your cart.
1. Get rid of dry air with this miniature cowboy hat humidifier.
Sure, it looks adorable, but it’s actually quite useful. Plug it into any USB slot, then drop the tube in a glass of purified water. The humidifier quickly goes to work, creating a relaxing space while limiting dry skin, congestion, and other issues caused by excessively dry air. You can even add a few drops of essential oil for an aromatherapy effect.
It’s great for offices, cars, and other small spaces where a larger humidifier isn’t practical but, by golly, a tiny cowboy hat humidifier is.
KANGVO Cowboy Cap Mini Portable Air Humidifier, $10.99 from Amazon
2. Experience natural relaxation with this affordable sound machine.
If you’re tired of hearing honking horns and your neighbor’s favorite Limp Bizkit songs, you’ll love this little speaker. With six natural sounds to choose from—rain, brook, ocean, thunder, white noise, and summer night—it lets you drift off, or get productive, by drowning out the background noise.
Granted, if you’re outdoors, you’ve probably got plenty of nature to listen to without this sound machine, but it can be battery powered if you need it on the go. A relaxing nap in a hammock while listening to the ocean, perhaps?
Big Red Rooster Sound Machine, $19.99 from Amazon
3. Get perfect hair in minutes with this easy-to-use straightening brush.
This straightening brush features a temperature auto-lock, which prevents you from clumsily hitting a button and turning your hair into charcoal.
For best results, brush slowly, using a pulling motion for smooth, frizz-free hair. A hair protectant (we’re looking at you, coconut oil) will protect against excessive heating and help you get a natural shine.
AsaVea Hair Straightening Brush, $39.40 from Amazon
4. Start gluing everything in your house together.
Need a glue that will work on pretty much anything? Sugru Glue is a moldable silicone adhesive that can stick to most materials, creating a temperature-resistant bond that’s both strong and flexible. It’s also electrically insulating, so if you want to glue up all of your electrical sockets, have at it (note: Please don’t actually do this).
This is a great pickup for DIY-ers, as it’s easy to work with and remarkably versatile. It’s available in multiple colors and especially useful for repairing headphones, frayed phone chargers, and other electronics that you can’t bring yourself to throw out.
Sugru Moldable Glue, $19.99 from Amazon
5. Finally get the robot assistant of your dreams.
It’s no wonder that the Echo Dot is one of the most wished-for items on Amazon; it’s one of the company’s coolest products, and the certified refurbished model is remarkably affordable.
Connect it to speakers via the built-in headphone jack or Bluetooth, then start talking to your friendly household robot. Alexa can control smart lights, play music, take notes, bring up your favorite audiobooks, send and receive messages, tell you the weather, read the news, and plot your eventual destruction in the upcoming robot apocalypse.
Really, what can’t it do?
Certified Refurbished Echo Dot, $29.99 from Amazon
6. Get an entire bamboo makeup brush set for less than $10.
These handmade cosmetic brushes have premium synthetic fibers, which provide the soft touch you need for an effortless application. The manufacturer claims that the fibers “will not shed as long as you own the brush,” although we imagine there’s some sort of limit to that—if you manage to live to 200, we’re guessing that a few of the bristles might start to loosen.
The bamboo material provides attractive aesthetics and keeps these brushes light—and it’s an eco-friendly option.
EmaxDesign Bamboo Makeup Brush Set, $9.99 from Amazon
7. Become more successful with this cult classic self-help book.
Normally, we’re not huge fans of self-help books; to paraphrase the great George Carlin, if you’re helping yourself, you don’t need help.
With that said, The Obstacle Is the Way is a modern-day classic for good reason. Based in stoic philosophy, it presents a simplified process for tackling your problems and turning minor missteps into character-building successes.
Famous fans of the book include Arnold Schwarzenegger and LL Cool J. If you don’t want to be more like Arnold Schwarzenegger and LL Cool J, we don’t want to know you.
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph, $20.50 from Amazon
8. Turn your wallet into MacGyver.
We love multi-tools, but we always lose them. Plus, who wants to carry a big, bulky tool around on the off chance that they’ll need a can opener at some point in the future?
The Wallet Ninja, though, packs 18 useful tools into a tiny piece of heat-treated steel. You can literally tuck this thing in your wallet (hence the name), and you’ll find yourself reaching for it on a regular basis.
Need to open a box? Wallet Ninja. Need a screwdriver? Wallet Ninja. Cell phone stand? Ruler? Letter opener? You get the idea.
Wallet Ninja Pocket Tool, $12.34 from Amazon
9. Laugh until you feel bad about yourself with this extremely offensive card game.
From the makers of the webcomic Cyanide & Happiness, Joking Hazard is an adult party game in which participants build their own comics. It contains 360 single-panel cards, which you can combine to create shock-humor masterpieces.
If it’s not already obvious, this is not a game for children. If you haven’t heard of Cyanide & Happiness, we’d suggest going to their site and reading through a few comics to make sure that you dig the creators’ warped sense of humor. That said, this is one of the most hilarious party games on Amazon, and it’s well worth the low price.
Joking Hazard Game, $25.00 from Amazon
10. Track your adventures with this unique scratch-off world map.
The idea is simple but inspiring: When you’ve traveled somewhere, scratch it off the map. The scratched-off areas change color, leaving you with a clean visual representation of your worldliness. It includes a scratching tool, along with stickers for marking notable locations.
This makes a great gift, and it’s ideal for impressing guests. Do what we did—scratch off all of the countries but don’t actually go anywhere.
Landmass Scratch Off World Map Poster, $28.79 from Amazon
11. Cut your meats on the state of New York.
This is a bamboo cutting board in the shape of New York. We’re not exactly sure who thought of this idea—although we’re going to go out on a limb and guess that it’s a proud Empire State resident—but it’s certainly a conversation starter.
Granted, it’s not great as a cutting board, since liquids will simply run off the side (probably somewhere near Rockaway Beach), but it’s great for serving appetizers or desserts. We’d recommend loading it up with some New York cheesecake.
New York State Bamboo Cutting Board, $19.99 from Amazon
12. Jam out with these comfortable headphones.
Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on Beats, spend less than $20 for these comfortable, chic headphones. They’re collapsible, so they’re ideal for traveling, and a built-in microphone allows for hands-free calling.
A single-cord design prevents tangling, and according to reviewers, the sound quality is pretty decent. Granted, you’re not going to get audiophile-level bass response, but for the price, these are exceptional.
Ailihen Lightweight Foldable Headphones, $18.98 from Amazon
13. Hair in the shower drain? Never again.
Okay, so the TubShroom’s packaging includes this phrase: “TubShroom is Guaranteed to Catch Every Single Hair, Every Single Time You Take a Shower.”
That sold us. If you agree that pulling globs of wet hair out of the drain is an unacceptably gross act, you might want to check this out. The TubShroom slips into your drain and catches stray hairs in a long, perforated tube.
You still have to clean it every so often, but rather than reaching down into the muck, you can just pull up the TubShroom and throw its contents away. How did we ever live without it?
TubShroom Drain Protector, $12.99 from Amazon
14. Get rid of bad breath, once and for all.
At some point in the last few years, people started brushing their teeth with charcoal. We tried it and hated it—the briquettes were way too big to fit in our mouths.
But this active-charcoal toothpaste doesn’t taste like a bag of Kingsford; made with activated carbon charcoal and herbal extracts, it leaves your mouth feeling fresh and clean, and it effectively neutralizes the bacteria that cause bad breath. It tastes slightly bitter but with a hint of mint that won’t leave you feeling like you just frenched a Weber.
Seriously, this stuff works—just don’t try to cook with it.
Twin Lotus Active Charcoal Toothpaste, $6.00 from Amazon
15. Enjoy a professional-level latte with this affordable milk frother.
This stainless-steel milk frother is remarkably easy to use, and if you’re a fan of lattes, cappuccinos, or other premium drinks with vaguely Italian names, frothing your own milk could save you hundreds of dollars over the course of a year.
It’s durable and sleek, and it even comes with a bonus mixing spoon. We’re frothing at the mouth just thinking about it.
1Easylife Stainless Steel Electric Milk Frother, $9.99 from Amazon
16. Practice your knife cuts with complete confidence.
Everybody wants to dice an onion in a matter of seconds, but unless you’re Gordon Ramsay, you probably don’t have the chops to make those types of cuts without losing a few fingers in the process.
These cut-resistant gloves should help you build your skills while avoiding injury. They’re ideal for cooking, but don’t stop there—they’re sufficiently protective for woodworking and carpentry. Just be sure to pick up a separate pair for those tasks; nobody likes finding splinters in their French onion soup.
NoCry Cut Resistant Gloves, $10.99 from Amazon
17. Get a quick affirmation before tackling that next difficult task.
Written by internationally renowned author Louise L. Hay (she wrote You Can Heal Your Life), these 60 “I Can Do It” cards provide the uplifting messages you need to conquer your day.
Sure, the messages are simple, but sometimes, a little bit of simple encouragement can go a long way. They make a great gift for a friend in need of some inspiration.
I Can Do It Cards, $14.38 from Amazon
18. Exfoliate your skin with this tea tree oil scrub.
With tea tree and five other essential oils, this scrub moisturizes your skin, leaving it feeling soft and smooth. It’s also ideal for treating minor nail fungus and athlete’s foot since the tea tree oil has natural antifungal properties.
The exfoliation effect comes from an infusion of Dead Sea salt, while added Epsom salt provides a luxurious, velvety touch.
Majestic Pure Tea Tree Oil Body and Foot Scrub, $14.20 from Amazon
19. Apply your makeup perfectly while you’re on the go.
This makeup mirror is equipped with long-lasting LED lights, which are rated for up to 20,000 hours of use. One side provides 10x magnification, while the other provides an unmagnified view of your gorgeous face.
With a glossy black finish and a slim profile, this is one of the best travel makeup mirrors on Amazon. Best of all, it costs less than 20 bucks (as of this writing, at least). What’s not to love?
Fancii LED Lighted Travel Makeup Mirror, $19.99 from Amazon
20. Stop slipping in the shower (and massage your feet in the process).
This tub mat features a massage-brush surface designed to improve circulation while gently massaging sore muscles. The product description notes that it’s “not suitable for tender feet,” so keep that in mind if you’ve got especially sensitive skin.
That said, this is a great dual-purpose mat that helps to make one of the most dangerous rooms in your home slightly less dangerous.
Non Slip Massage Tub Mat, $12.89 from Amazon
21. Remove dirt and sweat with these convenient body wipes.
Ignore the fact that GoodWipes ripped off a Beyoncé line for their slogan (“GoodWipes in my bag, swag,” in case you’re wondering). They’re actually remarkably useful, as they let you easily remove dirt and oils in a matter of seconds when you don’t have access to a shower.
Good Wipes unfold to a sizeable 9.5 by 11.5 inches, and they’re completely biodegradable. Tea tree oil, peppermint, and ginseng leave behind a nice, fresh scent.
GoodWipes Women’s Deodorizing Body Wipes, $9.99 from Amazon
22. If you’ve ever had an ingrown hair, you know why you need these tweezers.
We’re not sure there’s anything worse than an ingrown hair. Not only are they painful, they’re disgustingly painful. They’re also hard to treat on your own…unless you have a pair of these tweezers on hand.
This stainless-steel tool from TweezerGuru terminates in super-sharp points. It’s ideal for the unpleasant task of digging out ingrown hairs, but it’s also great for splinters, eyebrows, and other precision-pulling tasks. If you’re prone to ingrown hairs, these are a medicine-cabinet must-have.
Tweezers for Ingrown Hair, $9.90 from Amazon
23. Relieve lumbar pain with this top-selling cushion.
Made with long-lasting foam, the Original McKenzie lumbar roll features a built-in strap that allows it to be easily fastened to office chairs, plane seats, and anywhere else where you need a little bit of extra support. The removable cover is made with 100 percent polyester.
Physical therapists frequently recommend this cushion for relieving back pain, and given the large number of 4- and 5-star reviews, we can see why.
The Original McKenzie Lumbar Roll, $21.95 from Amazon
24. Ditch the lint roller once and for all.
We’ve got a problem with lint rollers: They run out. We usually use the last sheet right before a date, big meeting, or other high-stakes obligation—exactly when we need to look our best.
Enter the Conair Fabric Defuzzer. It shaves off lint, fuzz, and pilling in seconds, leaving your clothes looking fantastic. The large shaving head lets it work quickly, and if you don’t want to lug around AA batteries, there’s a rechargeable option available.
Conair Fabric Defuzzer, $11.99 from Amazon
25. Organize your work environment with this gorgeous lap desk.
Sure, they call them “laptops,” but if you put your computer on your lap, you’re sacrificing productivity (and the tops of your legs).
This chic bamboo desk fits most laptops, and it has slots for your smartphone and tablet. You’ll instantly feel more organized, and because it’s made with bamboo, it’s a lightweight, eco-friendly option. Makes a fantastic gift for your pal with the laptop-burned thighs.
Bamboo Lap Desk, $26.97 from Amazon
26. Bathe luxuriously with these bamboo boar-bristle brushes.
If you’re not using a bath brush, you’re not getting the most out of the bath. And we think we’ve found our favorite bath brush.
Bath Blossom makes their brushes out of natural bamboo, with a double-sided business end that’s perfect for hard-to-reach places. One side features stiff, short bristles for exfoliation and stimulating the skin; the other has longer, softer bristles to remove dirt, oils, and pollutants.
Long story short: This brush has everything you need for a better bath.
Bath Blossom Bamboo Body Brush, $15.95 from Amazon
27. Ride confidently through the night with the ultimate bike light.
Riding a bicycle at night without lights is like forgetting your helmet; it’s downright unsafe. Some lights don’t pack the lumens it takes to ensure full visibility, though. This triple-mode bike light from Flipcase is not one of the slackers.
It pumps out a full 250 lumens in three attention-grabbing modes: solid, flashing quickly, and flashing slowly. You can also set it to a full-powered or a low-intensity light.
And this thing includes a 120-decibel horn. How’s that for staying safe?
Flipcase Rechargeable Bicycle Light, $9.99 from Amazon
28. Take control of your sleep cycles with an alarm clock that imitates the sun.
Human beings evolved to follow the sun’s cycles; up with the dawn, to bed with sunset. While our schedules have been hijacked by electric lighting, we can still simulate these natural signals to go to sleep and wake up naturally refreshed—just like our ancestors did.
All it takes is the Philips Wake-Up Light. It’s an alarm clock that uses light before it resorts to that unholy beeping to get you to work on time. Half an hour before your chosen waking time, the large, round light on this clock begins to increase slowly in brightness. By the time you should be hopping up to brush your teeth, it’s shining with full yellow light.
At nighttime, the light goes in the opposite direction, fading like the setting sun. This may be an electric light, but it’s the next best thing to a natural sleep pattern.
Philips Wake-Up Light, $97.95 from Amazon
29. Don’t let mosquitoes ruin your summer.
It doesn’t matter how perfect your back-porch setup is—mosquitoes can make the place uninhabitable. Nothing seems to keep these little bloodsuckers at bay, at least not for long. The only option is to bring out the heaviest artillery.
In the war against ’skeeters, this device from 711TEK is the finisher. It imitates the signals that mosquitos follow for their meals (which are usually us). Instead of finding a nice, rich artery to tap into, though, the bugs that follow this siren song end up sucked into this machine, where they are slowly dehydrated until they’re not a threat to anyone.
War is cruel, but remember: The mosquitoes started it.
UV LED Insect Killer, $49.99 from Amazon
30. Get your whole family excited about veggies again (or at all).
It’s hard to get a kid to eat zucchini, to say nothing about a beet. Meanwhile, we parents are watching our waistlines with raw, vegan, and paleo diets—right? That’s why the whole family will benefit from this 5-blade vegetable spiralizer from Veggiespize.
Choose your slice, throw in a veggie, and crank the handle for delicious, versatile meals. Make veggie spaghetti. Shoot, make veggie linguini if you want. Spiralize everything from squash to tomatoes. Your kids won’t even know they’re eating healthy, and you won’t get bored with a veggie-based diet. Makes sense to us.
Veggiespize 5 Blade Spiralizer, $19.97 from Amazon
31. Find out who you really are, thanks to cutting-edge DNA testing.
Home DNA tests sound like something out of science fiction, but they’re here. That’s due in large part to the work of 23andMe, a premier provider of DNA testing to determine ancestry.
All you have to do is spit into a sample tube. Gross, yes, but totally worth it. Mail your saliva to the lab, and a few weeks later you can access online ancestry reports on everything from geographic region to how Neanderthal DNA makes you who you are. Pretty cool.
23andMe DNA Test, $69.00 from Amazon
32. You’re only seven days away from healthy skin with this face mask pack.
Every now and then, you need an intensive treatment to keep your facial skin nourished, hydrated, and blemish-free. The Ariul Natural 7-Days Mask pack fits the bill perfectly. It comes with seven masks and 15 cleansing tissues. Together, they provide a weeklong treatment that can work wonders for your complexion.
Each day’s mask features a different blend of natural ingredients to treat your skin systematically. You start with the peeling, sebum-controlling power of green tea. In later days, bamboo water provides a blast of hydration, tea tree cleanses the pores, and avocado provides rich nutrients. Then, finish your week with skin-brightening lemon essence.
Ariul Natural Green Tea Sheet Mask Pack, $15.19 from Amazon
33. Pack more clothes for your next vacation.
Packing for vacation is a complex science. How do you fit the most possible clothes into the smallest possible suitcase? It turns out there’s a trick to solving this riddle: compression pouches.
Gonex Packing Cubes are rectangular compression pouches designed to fit in suitcases, backpacks, and bags. They squish your clothes down to size with a special compression zipper. Think of it as shrink-wrapping without all the weird machinery.
This is a set of three Packing Cubes, sized large, medium, and small. That should be plenty to keep you going on your next trip.
Gonex Packing Cubes, $23.99 from Amazon
34. Keep your feet soft and callus-free without spending a fortune at the spa.
Nail salons were onto something when they started offering callus-filing services; once you’ve gone callus-free, there’s no going back. But soft feet can cost a pretty penny when you’re heading to the spa every week.
Now, you can get salon-quality skin without regular trips to your pedicurist. Try this Electric Callus remover from Own Harmony: It’s essentially an automatic pumice stone that gently sloughs away rough tissues, leaving your feet smooth, healthy, and beautiful.
Electric Callus Remover, $25.97 from Amazon
35. Take the scent of comfort with you wherever you go.
Aromatherapy isn’t stuck in the home anymore. AromaAllure offers a portable diffuser that’s small enough for your car or desk. It’s even water-free to eliminate the chance of spillage.
Just put a few drops of your favorite essential oils on the internal absorbent pads. You can even blend oils to create a personalized aromatherapy blend. The diffuser fits in a jacket pocket, and three AAA batteries provide power for on-the-go serenity. Plug it in with a provided USB cable for battery-free power.
Don’t just visit your peaceful space; bring it with you.
AromaAllure Essential Oil Diffuser, $19.99 from Amazon
36. Here’s a towel that will keep you dry without hogging luggage space.
Traditional towels can be a bit bulky for travel. That’s just poor foresight; after all, what’s a vacation without an ocean or lake—or a swimming pool, at least?
Luckily, the folks at Youphoria have a solution. This Quick-Dry Travel Towel is made of high-tech, ultra-absorbent microfiber. It absorbs a surprising volume of moisture, but it doesn’t take forever to dry; wring it out, and you’re basically there.
Best, of all, this towel rolls up tight, taking up the smallest space possible in your backpack or suitcase. It’s ideal for travel, which is probably why they call it a “Travel Towel.”
Youphoria Outdoors Quick Dry Travel Towel, $9.99-$29.99 from Amazon
37. The sun is no match for these thermal-backed blackout curtains.
Maybe you work the night shift. Maybe you’ve got a killer home theater and you like to enjoy it on a Saturday afternoon. Or maybe you are actually a vampire.
We don’t judge. You need these curtains. Their special blackout fabric blocks up to 80 percent of the light the sun blasts through your windows. Meanwhile, a thermal-treated backing keeps heat from getting through to your inner sanctum.
These things even help to reduce outside noise. The sun never stood a chance.
Moderate Blackout Thermal Backed Curtains, $23.12 from Amazon
38. Throw that hair-frying blowdryer away and still make it to work on time.
Heat treatments aren’t always great for hair, but who cares when you’ve only got 10 minutes to dry off and get out the door in the morning? What we need is a magical towel, one that slurps moisture out of our hair in a fraction of the time it takes to air-dry.
Well, we found the thing we need. It’s a DuraComfort microfiber hair towel, and boy, is it ever thirsty. The quick-drying action of this thing even helps to reduce frizz and static, and it won’t fry anything in the process. Get it.
Super Absorbent Anti-Frizz Microfiber Hair Towel, $13.99 from Amazon
39. Don’t just wash your face—pamper your skin.
Soap alone will never keep the delicate skin of your face as healthy as it could be. The trick is to treat your skin, not just clean it. And we can’t think of any better way to fully treat skin than with this four-in-one electric cleansing brush.
Pop on the gentle nylon brush head for a deep everyday cleanse. Switch it out with an exfoliating head to remove dry and dead skin cells. If you’re having a sensitive-skin day, try the silicone brush head, the softest of them all. And when calluses rear their ugly heads, a pumice stone attachment makes short work of them.
Waterproof Facial Cleansing Brush, $18.99 from Amazon
40. Get your Zs when and where you need them.
It’s hardest to get to sleep when you need rest the most. Maybe you’re on an overnight flight, or maybe you just desperately need a mid-afternoon nap. One thing that’s not helping? All that light streaming in.
Jersey Slumber offers a simple but elegant solution with their silk sleep mask; we won’t be caught on a plane or a bus without it. This mask completely blocks out the light while feeling virtually nonexistent on your skin. An adjustable head strap makes this a true one-size-fits-all item.
