Best Holiday Deals Under $25

One of the best insulated containers we tested at resisting leaks and odors from food, you can now snag this Stanley Adventure To-Go Food Jar for a few bucks off in frost white. In our evaluations, it (mostly) maintained its temperature retention capability. The BPA-free jar can accommodate 12 ounces of food, features a screw-on lid, and has a pressure-release feature. The company claims that food will stay hot or cold for up to 4 hours. 

The KitchenAid Gourmet 4-Sided Stainless Steel Box Grater features four sides for grating, shredding, slicing, and zesting, along with a convenient 3-cup container that fits neatly inside to catch your grated or sliced ingredients, making prep and storage a breeze.

If you’re looking for a microwave popcorn maker, this BPA-free model was our top pick from our evaluations. It’s glass and dishwasher-safe. But note that it works only with microwaves with a turntable.

This budget-friendly butter crock has a retro look, akin to something you’d find in an antique shop. It’s dishwasher-safe and comes in a plethora of colors, including robin’s egg blue, classic red, sapphire blue, and white.

This two-meter cord, designed for the iPhone 5 through the iPhone 14, survived 11,500 bends without failing in the rig we created to test charging cord durability. That’s the equivalent of more than six years’ worth of use, according to our estimates.

The Gillette Venus was a clear winner in our evaluations of the best razors. The silver handle is pleasantly weighted, and it has a grippy spot for your thumb that makes it easier to hold in the shower, and the razor head has a large lubricating strip. Since the head is so bulky, you may need to angle it carefully while shaving difficult areas, such as the hollow of an underarm or an ankle. 

Detangling brushes save not only time but also effort when tackling knots or an unruly mane. And for me, the FHI Heat Unbrush is the one to beat. It earned the distinction of being the best for curly hair in our evaluations of the best detangling brushes, and our testers liked its lightweight feel. I personally switched to it because my old brush had those beads at the end of the bristles, and they were snagging in my hair and ripping out my extensions. The Unbrush has smooth bristles, so it glides through my hair so smoothly and detangles without catching my extensions. It’s available in lots of colors at various prices, but this is the lowest price you’ll see.

If you’re looking for a low-cost way to improve your sleep, a new eye mask could be the perfect option. Ginger Cowles, CR’s managing editor of new audiences, spotted this deal on her favorite, which happens to be the most popular sleep mask CR has tried:

"Gone are the days where I can just plop down and sleep without any preparation. I’ve reached the age where I need multiple products for a good night’s rest. My Coop pillow, a light comforter, earplugs, and the Mzoo Sleep Mask are my go-tos. The Mzoo is a game-changer. My husband insists on working late nights in bed with his computer screen light powered up so high it practically burns my retinas. When I’m wearing this mask, it’s a non-issue. It blocks 100 percent of the light, stays on all night, and doesn’t get caught in my hair. Awesome mask. Stock up while it’s on sale and give them as gifts."

If you’re on a strict budget, you can’t go wrong with Glamburg bath towels. They’re small, measuring 27 inches wide by 54 inches long, and they’re exceptionally soft. These 100 percent cotton towels come in a rainbow of color choices, including burgundy, hot pink, orange, and turquoise blue.

The Elegear Revolutionary Cooling Blanket might not be top of mind in the winter months, but if you’ve got a loved one who lives in a warmer climate or always sleeps hot, it could make a great gift. It was CR’s top pick because it kept us the coolest in our tests and was comfortable, soft, and well-made. It features smooth Arc-Chill 3.0 Cool Fabric on one side and Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certified cotton on the other side.

We found this shaver lightweight and relatively easy to use, with a grip handle similar to that of a small travel iron. It features a fabric guard with three different settings marked by lines; however, there’s no clear indication of which setting is suitable for each type of fabric, resulting in some guesswork when using this device. We found the short line was best for cashmere and light knits, while the longest line worked well for heavier fabrics.

The Swiffer PowerMop is a spray mop that dispenses a cleaning solution when you press a button. You can attach a pad to the mop head and discard it once you’re done cleaning. According to the manufacturer, it is safe to use on various finished surfaces, including finished wood, luxury vinyl, tile, and laminate. The Swiffer PowerMop excels at absorbing liquids and removing sticky substances, such as honey, especially when the cleaning solution is used.

Although hard to close, these are very sturdy bags, and make a great option for parents with toddlers who have a penchant for throwing their snacks.

This dish soap produced rich suds and had an elevated, herbal scent like no other we tested. It is also available in an easy-to-dispense 16-ounce bottle.

Tub O’Towel Heavy-Duty Cleaning Wipes are big enough for heavy-duty cleaning and reusing. Dried-up sweet potato, milk, hot sauce, and rice were no match for these wipes. They were also easy to dispense from the tub.

For a middling price, Finish Powerball Ultimate dishwasher pods deliver above-average results in our tests, with excellent scores in both cleaning dishes and resisting film and mineral deposits. They also ward off water spots. They include scum-fighting enzymes, but no bleach.

Pair this lickable food mat with a delectable treat to keep your kitty content and happily occupied. Mary Beth Quirk, one of CR’s shopping editors, spreads Churu purée treats on the mat with the spatula provided and attaches them to her cat Frannie’s food tray with the suction cups on the bottom. “She’ll spend minutes on end cleaning out every nook and cranny, leaving me to work in peace,” she says. 

This is a great, budget-friendly option if you’re not sure your pets will adapt from a bowl to a fountain. You can try it out without investing too much (and you can always invest more in an upgrade later on if you want). The Veken water fountain, consisting of five parts, was intuitive for our tester to assemble, and the carbon and foam filter replacements are low-cost as well, at $10 for a four-pack or $24 for 16. It was the noisiest option, but that didn’t deter the tester’s pets. And the flower can be removed for a low-profile bubbler effect rather than a raised fountain.

The She’s Birdie personal alarm was our favorite of the safety products we tested for solo travel. It takes up about as much space as a tube of lipstick, and it’s easy to grab from your bag. To activate the alarm, you remove the top of the device from the main body, which triggers a piercing chirping sound and a flashing light. To stop the sound and light, you replace the top of the alarm back on the body. There are no buttons on the Birdie, and the two replaceable CR2032 batteries last “approximately 40 continual minutes,” according to the brand’s FAQ page.

Veken Packing Cubes, which are $2 less than they were at the end of October, provide great bang for your buck, though they are a few dollars more than we’ve seen recently. This set has the largest capacity among the cubes we tried, and you get eight different ones to stay organized: four small, medium, large, and extra large, a laundry bag, a shoe bag, a toiletries bag, and an accessories bag. The laundry bag, in particular, is on the larger side, which can be a real asset when you’re on a longer trip.

The Bagail 8Set Packing Cubes won over CR’s evaluator with the sheer number and variety of cubes it offers. In addition to three packing cubes (medium, large, and extra large) that have mesh on the top panels to help you identify the contents inside quickly, it also comes with two zipper bags, a cosmetics bag, a shoe bag, and a drawstring bag that you can use to separate your dirty laundry. The extra organizational features were ultimately what gained Bagail the edge over the other packing cubes CR tried.

There are 14 different color options, but not every variation is on sale for as low as the price highlighted.