Do you know how inconvenient it is to be a sweaty person? Or more precisely, a sweaty face person? A person whose forehead free-sweats? It’s like opening your eyes in a tub of salt. Like standing on the street, under a window air conditioner, and allowing the warm, questionable water to hit your head. It is, my friends, not great.

I’ve tried a few things to feel better over the years, when summer hits. In college I rolled deodorant around my hairline. It gave me zits. A few years ago I tried walking slowly, almost slow motion-style, and to my horror I was mistaken for a tourist. It wasn’t until last year when Erika Jayne—you know, the Beverly Hills priestess of patent leather—gave me a portable fan, that I finally found a way to stop sweating like an adorable pig. Actually someone in her entourage gave it to me—it was inside of a gift bag at her Beautyblender “swirl sponge” event. It was a small, plastic, two-blade fan inscribed with the phrase, “Find Your Swirl.” Embarrassing? Certainly. But also...interesting? It was a tiny fan. The kind that connects to and is powered by an iPhone’s 8-pin lightning jack. Perfect for dolls, baby hands, and me.

I now take this fan everywhere—it is wildly useful. For instance, it takes exactly six minutes for me to walk from my apartment to the train station that I use to get to work. During the summer, I always end that walk covered in sweat. But now when I reach the subway platform, I unpack my phone and fan my face. I’m sure I look dramatic, but also less sweaty than when I arrived.

I’ve taken this little guy to outdoor concerts and sidewalk brunches. When the power went kaput on my train on Monday (taking the air conditioning along with it), I brought out my fan and instantly became both the smartest and coolest human in all of underground Manhattan. To make the blades spin, you just plug the fan into the phone’s charging port. No on or off button required. I haven’t noticed the fan draining my cellphone’s battery, but even if it does, what better way to use it? Get a Mophie if you're concerned. I don’t care. It is perfect. And utilitarian. And $5. I now own four.

—Ashley Weatherford

Photo via ITG.