This week: everything I learned testing dating apps; garden furniture for sunny days; and the best suitcases, tested• Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereWhen the Filter asked me to test and rate six dating apps, it was a challenge I undertook without flinching. I’m something of an expert in this field: for close to a decade now, I’ve written and talked about my love life on public platforms. The reactions have always been mixed: friends roll their eyes, family members express quiet concern, and the men I date are either afraid of being written about or desperate to make it into my copy – one proudly tells people at parties that an article I wrote was about him (it wasn’t).It was familiar territory, yes, but one I hoped might also drive me out of my Hinge-shaped comfort zone and force me to try something different. Maybe I’d discover a new favourite app. Or become overwhelmed by attractive, kind and emotionally available men capable of ameliorating my raging hetero-pessimism. At the very least, I’d get some entertaining anecdotes.Online dating advice: five ways to stay safe, according to the expertsThe best hot brushes for a salon finish at home, tried and tested by our expert