Autumn, we’ve been expecting you. After a September that seemed to miss the memo about changing seasons, October made up for it with serial storms and nights that drew in faster than you could say “fall back”. Time to hunker down and, whisper it, even put the heating on – or at least fire up an electric heater if you’re still holding out on the radiators.

But while you were drawn to the indoor pleasures of heaters, hot casseroles and hotter coffee, you’ve also had your eye on party season, or at least been thinking about venturing into those corners of your wardrobe that haven’t seen daylight since March. From a clothes steamer to breathe new life into your threads, a pencil skirt and sheer silk shirt to update your wardrobe, to a vitamin C serum to keep your skin glowing all winter, these were your favourite things in October.

Our favourite electric heater

Dreo fan heater

“Within a few seconds of activation, it had begun to make a chilly room feel cosy,” wrote Pete Wise of the overall winner in his test to find the best electric heaters. Five minutes later, on the highest setting, his “jumper was well and truly off”. Better yet, with a power rating of up to 2kW, you’d expect it to make a right racket – and it doesn’t. At a maximum of 46dB, Pete said it’s “far quieter than any other fan heater I tested”.

A classic casserole dish

Habitat 5.3l cast iron casserole dish

Sophie Wyburd painted an irresistible picture in her roundup of the best casserole dishes: “Tinkering over a pot in the kitchen, glass of wine in hand … while the scent of beef shin ragu wafts through the house.” Yep, that’s me sold. At about a fifth of the price of the winning Le Creuset, Habitat’s chic oven-safe pot provides “brilliant heat retention at an excellent price”. It comes in autumnal orange, too (£47.50).

A life-changing garlic press

Dreamfarm Garject garlic press with peel ejector

Where there’s a casserole, there’s got to be garlic. Reader Stuart Hatcher recommended three things in Lucy Pavia’s rundown of 15 everyday items that make your life a teeny bit better, and all three made it into your top 20 products of October. Your favourite was this garlic press that ended Stuart’s “time-consuming chopping”. (The other two, in case you’re wondering, are a pair of wrist wraps for weightlifting and a portable air pump that can blow up an air bed “effortlessly”.)

The five-star bean-to-cup coffee machine

De’Longhi Magnifica Start ECAM220.60

“It makes espresso. It makes black coffee. It makes cappuccino. It produces hot water on demand,” wrote Sasha Muller in his five-star De’Longhi Magnifica Start review. “Simple to use, sensibly designed … For everyday coffee drinkers, it’s a great buy.” And many everyday coffee drinkers among you did indeed buy it – the fact that it’s suddenly dark at 5pm may have helped fuel your desire for a decent caffeine fix.

The best budget clothes steamer

Philips 1000 Series handheld steamer

Free yourself from the iron with this lightweight handheld steamer from Philips – Zoë Phillimore’s top budget pick in our guide to the best clothes steamers. “This is a great model if you’re just dipping your toes into the iron-free life,” she wrote. It’s not powerful enough to blast through a whole pile of creased laundry, and Zoë found it “a bit spitty” to use on silk, but it made short work of her cotton items and linen trousers.

A time-saving egg cooker

Salter Aspen egg steamer

Go to work on an egg, or half a dozen of them, with this brilliantly affordable egg cooker that can quickly boil up to six eggs or poach two at a time. Reader Amanda Nieurzyla-John chose hers as her everyday item that makes your life better, writing that it “takes the guesswork out of cooking while you concentrate on the rest of the meal. I don’t know how I have cooked all these years without it.”

A super-glowy vitamin C serum

CeraVe skin renewing vitamin C serum, 30ml

“I was astounded when, after a week of using it, people started commenting on how ‘glowy’ my face looked,” wrote Zoë Phillimore in the Filter’s second-birthday roundup of 31 things we loved this year. Zoë bought the serum after reading about it in Danielle Wilkins’s guide to the best vitamin C serums, and says she hopes “it keeps me looking alive all the way through the grey winter months”.

The ‘near miracle’ hair loss treatment

Hair+Me hair regrowth subscription

For Sali Hughes’s friends who barely use moisturiser, let alone Botox, age-related hair thinning is “their line in the sand”, she wrote in her beauty column. Judging by how many of you heeded Sali’s advice about “a treatment that actually works”, you feel the same. The clinicians at subscription service Hair+Me dispense proven hair-loss medications such as minoxidil and oral treatments, which can reduce the risk to pets.

A relaxed pencil skirt

Albaray skirt

“The pencil skirt is back,” wrote Melanie Wilkinson in her roundup of 52 women’s autumn wardrobe updates, and she must be on to something because it was your favourite of the lot. The combination of timeless tailoring, elasticated back waist and side pockets has proved so irresistible that the size 14 had sold out at the time of writing.

A sheer shirt for day and night

Arket silk organza shirt

“Sheer clothes aren’t just for red-carpet exhibitionists any more,” wrote fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley in her October style essentials. A sheer shirt is particularly versatile because you can “wear it over a tank top during the day” then pair it with something less modest for evening (“a lace bra if you are feeling slightly racy,” suggested Jess). This shirt is now reduced to £54 in all sizes, making it an excellent buy ahead of party season.

The best lunch box for kids

Munchkin Kids’ bento lunch box

After testing 40 boxes for her guide to the best lunch boxes, Zoë Phillimore chose this colourful plastic caddy as the best option for children. It “feels seemingly indestructible, surviving a school day and a night in lost property”, and, unusually for kids’ lunch boxes, has a silicone seal that encloses each compartment separately. Zoë loved that it included a spoon and fork, but wished replacements were available to buy.

The best cheap(ish) iPhone

Apple iPhone 16e

You might not expect to see a new iPhone in a guide to the best cheap phones, and indeed £599 stretches the definition of cheap, but it’s affordable for an iOS device – especially now that “RAMageddon” (a shortage of memory chips, as opposed to a sheep crisis) has hiked phone prices. The 16e has only one rear camera and no MagSafe, but it packs “great performance and battery life” for its price, wrote Thomas Deehan. Look out for it in the Black Friday deals in the coming weeks.

Don’t buy anything until you’ve read the Filter, the Guardian’s home for truly independent product reviews and recommendations. Whether you’re after rigorous tests or shopping inspiration, affordable gifts or advice on how to make your belongings last longer, we’re here to help you make smarter, more sustainable choices.

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