I’m 37 and really want to invest in myself a bit. I’m not looking to completely change how I look or have anything particularly drastic done.

More of a natural, classy, polished look – healthy glowing skin, lovely hair, looking a bit fresher and generally feeling good about myself.

I’m particularly interested in glass-skin skincare, Korean beauty products, anything that genuinely improves skin texture and hydration, and products that give you that healthy glow.

I’m also open to beauty treatments, hair treatments, brows, lashes, facials, teeth whitening etc.

But I don’t want to waste £500 on products that are all hype and end up sitting in a bathroom cupboard!

So, Style & Beauty people, what are your absolute best buys?

• What skincare products made a genuinely noticeable difference to your skin?
• Any Korean skincare holy grails?
• Best anti-ageing products that are actually worth the money?
• Any treatments you’ve had that made you think WOW, I look so much better?
• Best hair products or treatments for healthier, fuller-looking hair?
• Any little beauty investments that made a surprisingly big difference?

I’m interested in the expensive recommendations AND the £10 products that outperform everything else.

Basically, if you had £500 to spend on yourself, what would you buy or have done?

Give me all your recommendations, please!

I’m ready to take notes. 😂❤️

Me-

Covid came from a Chinese lab.
Epstein's death was engineered by a third party, whether by murder or by compromising the suicide watch.
Lucy Letby's conviction isn't sound and was affected by institutional motivation to find a cause for babies dying other than negligence and squalor across the department. (FAOD I have no idea whether she is innocent or guilty.)

Hi all. Here's our new thread. Giving Rainbow a break and until Reastie returns. Sorry there wasn't a more inspiring title, didn't spot any comedy typos this time.

This is intended as a friendly, kind, safe, warm and fuzzy place for people to share discounts, bargains and Christmas gift ideas both online and IRL. Please note the tone and intention of the thread and join with spirit as generous as DC helping themselves to the Christmas chocolate celebrations

Here’s some useful information about how to save the thread or a specific post so you don’t need to have a message to check in for every thread so you have the thread saved:

To watch the thread - click on the little bell that has ‘watch’ under my first message. This adds the whole thread to your ‘watched threads’

You can also bookmark a specific post by clicking on the ‘bookmark’ under the specific post. This saves your exact place in a thread but doesn’t alert you to new replies.

If you have any referral links or codes, please share them on the referral thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/5444936-bargain-referrals-thread-8

A reminder that we don't use affiliated links on here please

🎄 Emoji to copy if required for posting bargains as some agree this makes deals easier to spot. (or post in bold)

Does anyone else find it ridiculously difficult to find things in their handbag, especially in the dark?
I live in The Hague, and sometimes I literally spend five minutes standing outside my front door trying to find my keys late at night. Not particularly fun when it's cold and dark outside!
It got me thinking about how handbags could be more practical. I'm exploring a concept for a handbag that automatically lights up inside when you open it, illuminating the entire interior rather than just one small spot.
I've attached a couple of AI-generated images to show what I mean.
Would something like this actually make your life easier, or is it completely unnecessary? And what kind of handbags do you generally find the most practical?
I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially if you've already found a good solution! 😊

My family (mum and her partner, my sister and half sister and their families) are due to visit and stay with us for a few days over Xmas. We live about 150 miles from them so we alternate spending Christmas in the two places, although we always go out for Christmas dinner. My half sister doesn’t always join us but does sometimes and is this year.

We all agreed on the restaurant for Christmas Day a few months ago and I booked it. My half sister is now saying she can’t afford it and wants us to host Xmas dinner at home. We really don’t want to do that as we look forward to going out for it, not cooking and just relaxing.

I’ve suggested that she comes before or after Xmas for a day or two instead but she thinks that’s unfair and doesn’t see why we can’t just cook dinner at home. My mum is siding with her and it’s causing friction. Are we being unreasonable to not want to change our plans and not want to have to cook dinner ourselves when we were looking forward to going out?

Welcome back everyone. New thread just in time for Black Friday.

How is everyone's self restraint looking? 😂😂😂

Fingers crossed for some good bargains this year especially all those advents that haven't sold out. We've probably bought some of those already but let's ignore that.

Happy bargain hunting. 😍

She’s a girlie girl and loves Disney princesses, loves to dress up and she has a little dressing table with fake make up and hair curlers etc that she loves at the minute. she also loves building things and loves the car tracks they build at her preschool.

So far, I have got her

Disney princess nail polishes
Cinderella Tonie to add to her collection
Sparkly little hair clips & some new bobbles
Kids sensitive skin 2 x different colour bath bombs
Disney princess slippers
A chocolate Father Christmas

Shall I stop there? Any other suggestions?

Presents so far:

Rapunzel Dress
Magnatile Race Track
Sylvanian Family House (Facebook marketplace) so need to get some accessories for that
Doll with crib, bath, potty and clothes
10 for £10 books from The Works (we read 2-3 books a day/evening)
A puzzle
Oral B Disney Frozen electric toothbrush (she’s been saying she wants one like mine and her Dad’s)

again, shall I stop there? Or any other suggestions?

I have three children aged 7, 5 and 2. My husband’s sister has one child, aged 2. She’s a single mum by choice.

My SIL has quite strong parenting preferences. She’s very anti-plastic toys and prefers everything to be wooden and pastel-coloured. She’s also very anti-screens and doesn’t allow sweets. That’s absolutely her choice, and I’m not criticising how she chooses to raise her child. My children, however, are fairly typical kids. We have brightly coloured plastic toys, toy swords, all sorts of things, and I don’t have a strict no-screen policy. I’m not saying they’ll be glued to an iPad all Christmas, but equally I’m not going to promise that they won’t have any screen time at all. I certainly won’t stop my children having chocolate or a mince pie on Christmas Day (especially the two eldest).

We’re all spending Christmas Day at my in-laws’ house, and SIL has messaged me saying that she appreciates we all have different parenting styles, but she’d prefer it if we didn’t bring any plastic toys, particularly around her toddler, and asked if we could have no screens for the duration of our stay to avoid a situation where her child might join in and watch something, and no sweet treats within sight of her child. I honestly don’t know how to respond. I have no intention of deliberately putting things in front of her child that she doesn’t want him playing with, I’m happy to respect her rules for the gifts to her child and I’m happy to be sensible and considerate. But I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect me to restrict what my own children can bring or play with or eat because she has decided that certain toys and activities aren’t acceptable for hers.

I feel like everyone in the family tends to bend over backwards to accommodate SIL’s preferences (because she’s had a traumatic few years in terms of love life and decided to have a baby solo), and I’m starting to resent the expectation that the rest of us should just go along with everything to avoid upsetting her. Would it be unreasonable to reply along the lines of “I completely respect that you have different rules for your child, I will of course respect your wishes for Freddie’s gifts (ie not gifting Freddie a brightly coloured plastic toy, an iPad, a chocolate Santa) but I can’t promise to follow those same rules with mine. I’ll obviously be considerate, but I need to parent my own children in the way that works for us.”

Or am I being unnecessarily difficult? It’s Christmas, and I don’t want to create family tension, but I also don’t want to spend the whole day feeling like I’m being told how to parent my children.

I returned to work today after a couple of weeks off, and I know it takes a few days to get back into the swing of things, but I’ve just thought, all day, that this is a completely pointless existence and I don’t know how I’m going to do it for the next 30 years.

I work in an office based role, and as part of the senior leadership team, earn around £80k per year. The role is not necessary. Without me, nobody would die, the world would carry on as it always has, even the organisation itself would be perfectly fine! I attend meetings where we talk about whether we should or shouldn’t do something. Nobody cares! Just do it or don’t, it makes no difference either way. I feel like I’m not the only one - 99% of office roles fit into this category.

But I’m stuck. I’d love to do something more meaningful, but I need the money. My husband is a carer for our son, and there are no jobs that I can think of that would scratch the itch for the same salary… so do I just suck it up for 30 years? It all seems so ridiculous, how did we as a civilisation end up here?

I’m not depressed or anything, I’m perfectly happy when I’m not at work, but does anyone else feel like this?

If you’re not interested in celeb gossip feel free to ignore. I’m just watching her reality show on BBC.

Stacey Solomon has made her living, and a very good one at that, by selling her life. Her sister and her dad have also followed in her footsteps.

She now has 3 reality programmes, she also does Instagram on which she’s spent years documenting her life, her children’s lives, showing her followers round her house and her renovations. She films her children all the time including her eldest failing his GCSEs, his job interview and showing her followers their bedrooms.

On her reality show she has a run in with a photographer where she complains that she’s entitled to privacy. The photographer argues that people wouldn’t have an interest if she didn’t post on Instagram. She then argues that she doesn’t post her address (however it’s very obvious where she lives). She also complains that she’s had a photographer turn up at her nephews football tournament and it’s unfair as there are children there.

Aibu to think she’s a hypocrite, she has no real talent that she can make money off other than being a TV/insta personality.

Dd is 4 and started reception in September. Planned on getting her into an after school swimming class but she is so tired after school at the moment and weekends are often taken up with older dc hobby.

My older dc didn’t start swimming lessons til about year 2 but it seems like people do it much earlier now. There is no waiting list at our local pool so I could start whenever but I’m wondering if i ought to leave it til after christmas now and let her get settled more into the school routine?

Yes, it's weird that my nearly 80 year old mum smells like my sixth-form canteen from 1998. But so it goes.

I don't want to get her Angel as she was given a bottle a couple of years ago (saved for best, obv, whilst she uses the knock-off from the market that's actually nicer). She used to like Obsession and Paloma Picasso, but not sure if she still does.

Every year she asks me to get her Imperial Leather soap. I've told her it's not really a gift given you can buy it with your shop each week, but she says it's all she uses and would rather get something she WILL use instead of expensive toiletries she won't. Which is fair enough. But I still feel I can't just get her that.

Any ideas?

Ok l know im probably going to be slaughtered for this but here goes.
We moved a week ago into a new flat, purpose built block. We both smoke, yes l know its disgusting but whatever.
So today upstairs neighbours came down and said smoke was bothering them, im not sure how as they are not directly above us, but above on other side. I guess none of our frount doors are that good , so smoke is going out of ours upstairs and to the left to thiers? Seems unlikely but obviously they can smell it, they accused us of smoking in communal area hall which obviously l would never do. Other upstairs neighbours directly above say that they can't smell anything.
Im not really sure what to do now, l did say sorry and normally we would smoke outside just been hectic week moving and so wet but if we smoked inside we would do it furthest room away from frount door and close all the doors in between so 3 doors.
Apprently that's not good enough , they also dont want us smoking in the communal garden?
Aibu to think actually we can do what we like in our flat, and to just ignore them.

Hoping for some ideas. We have an integrated garage in our house with a bedroom over it. It's a sizable bedroom so I want to use it otherwise it's a waste. However, it's much cooler than other rooms. It has two radiators in there, albeit I think older, possibly original ones from when the house was built in 1997 (some radiators in what was children's bedrooms have clearly been replaced by the previous owners). We have had new carpet and underlay as the old carpet when we moved in was threadbare. But it's still much cooler.

I tested it earlier moving the thermostat from downstairs to the room upstairs - downstairs was 20.5 and the room over garage was 19 (and it's still dipping). I know 19 is warm to some but I generally like to keep the house at 20.5 or so, I am a person who feels the cold.

Any ideas or suggestions? I'd like to use it as a nursery in the future as it's the best sized bedroom for this but worried about the cold in there.

Its just horrible, why can’t they make it right any more?

Morrisons Christmas ad is by far my favourite. ♥️😅

Current situation: Me - no kids, two cats, three bedroom semi (bedroom, dressing room, room full of junk, I work from home but from my kitchen table). Him - DS13, one dog, four bed detached (bedroom, DS room, spare room for guests - needed, DS room where he plays on PlayStation, he also works from home but has a dedicated area downstairs, we couldn't work in the same room)

We would very much like to move in together but obviously it would be better to have a trial period first than to take the plunge - he's done this before and just bought together and it didn't work out. As he has the bigger house it makes sense that I would temporarily move into his. We've discussed what would happen after that and have agreed on a future budget and that we would look for a six bed house with an appropriate budget if it works out...

Thing is, I have SO much stuff. I'm trying to sort out as much as possible and get rid of what I can, and I understand we should probably put my furniture in storage (although he prefers my interior design so maybe it will be the opposite) but it's more my clothes, shoes, etc. Plus I really value my own space.

I wondered if I could appropriate the spare room and have a sofa bed in the gaming room for guests but I just don't know if it would be big enough for all my stuff and a home office!

Any creative suggestions would be very welcome...

I've been out with a guy a few times in the last month and we've slept together. Sex was amazing - some of the best of my life tbh. He's been in consistent contact since but here's the rub:

• he holds a senior position at an NGO
• he has a young toddler

At the start this lead to a rescheduled first date was all fine after. At the weekend he asked to make plans in advance to see me yesterday but then cancelled 3 hours before, very apologetic and citing childcare issues. He asked if I could do a lunchtime date today and I said I could - and asked him to confirm in the morning.

So here we are, almost lunchtime and he hasn't messaged. I sent a quick check in about 10.30 but nothing. I feel so disrespected that he couldn't even take the time to say he can't make it or whatever. I am actually shocked that he's just dead silent and left my hanging.

I almost feel like blocking him. Would you say something or not?

Looking for recommendations for a new watch. What I'd like is a high shine silver watch with a little bit of bling, round face. Medium to large size A real statement piece around the £100 mark maybe more for something special.

Need to preface this by saying that I have never in my life set foot in a Boden store, or been on the website. (Not yet, anyway).

I used to be an Urban Outfitters, Alexa Chung, Topshop, overpriced Brick Lane vintage shop kinda gal. Never had much money but I was generally a grungy mess who wanted to look like Daisy Lowe but didn't have the figure.

I always thought Boden was a brand frequented by middle aged Sloaney types who ride horses and send their children to boarding schools (YES I KNOW, very judgey of me, I was young and foolish, sorry sorry etc.)

Anyway, Instagram has clearly noticed that I've turned 40 and decided that I am now the target market. What has unsettled me slightly is that I've really liked so much of what the algorithm has shown me. It's cute! It's retro! The Christmassy stuff! The colours!!

Has Boden upped its game recently and suddenly become stylish and cool? Or am I, as I fear, just middle aged now? It's giving me such a weird identity crisis because it honestly doesn't feel that long ago that I was listening to My Chemical Romance in chipped black nail varnish, trying to perfect winged liquid eyeliner like Anna Karina and sipping on a JD and coke.

I even thought of asking my mum for a Boden voucher for Christmas, but such is the stigma I think she would look at me like I'd just announced Margaret Thatcher as my style icon. She'd need a sit down, and I'd have to show her the website and explain that no, honestly, it's not what you think!

I assume there's a moment like this in every woman's life where you go from thinking "not in a million years" to going "ooh actually that's bloody lovely", and having to have a good, hard look at yourself and your entire identity. Who am I?!

Does anyone else feel this way - specifically about Boden, because I feel like even the name is synonymous with a really specific lifestyle - and have you, like me, had to have a strong cup of tea when you realise that... you... like it?

We don’t have the biggest house and our very small dining table is in an alcove in the lounge, we pull it out for meals but there is 6 of us squeezed around this 4 seater table with 2 extra chairs.
Last year we decided to do a cold meat buffet instead and just have our plates on the sofa and it worked so we’ve decided to do the same again.
This year ds has a girlfriend and has asked if she can come for Christmas and I explained it will only be buffet but he’s unimpressed and says she’s from a posh family and would expect a traditional roast dinner.

Aibu to say we can’t cater for anyone else? We don’t mind if she wants to come for a while or even for some of the buffet but I will not be cooking a Christmas dinner.
Ds is concerned about her reaction to a non traditional roast.
We have met her once and I did put on a similar cold meats buffet back in the summer but she didn’t eat anything.

For the first year I cannot think of many things I’d like. The only things that come to mind are not very useful/indulgent gifts but maybe that’s the whole point?

On my potential wishlist so far:

• Cute and soft and good quality pyjama
• Bath robe from Piglets in bed (but I’d wear it as a normal robe, I think?)
• 1 or 2 hand painted, fancy mugs
• A recipe book
• I’d like a nice staub cocotte but as we are spending Xmas abroad, gifts will ideally need to be something to pack in the luggage and also not sure that is a proper gift for me, iyswim
• A bigger backpack for work
• sheepskin slippers
• a crossbody bag I saw on vinted for a third of the original price
• lego orchid

I obv wouldn’t get all of these!
I like them all but usually put clothes or jewelry in my list and feel as if I am not inspired this year.
What is everyone else wishing for?

I am 39, if that matters.

For a variety of hideous reasons that I won’t bore you with I can no longer wear pjs at night and am looking for a really warm, really long nightie.
The more granny the better
any ideas ?

I don't really know what I am posting for but I am just so upset about it. For the first time ever I dont know how we are going to pull off Christmas. For background, we have 6 children. Youngest 2, eldest 14. I am a stay at home mum as eldest has needs and well it is cheaper then childcare. Hubby works, bloody hard might I add,hes well paid and other then child benefit that everyone gets and dla for the eldest, we dont get benefits like UC etc, we arnt entitled and dont want to anyway.
Anyway everything has just come at once, my mental health has been really rubbish recently and I havnt done my usual buying early and stashing pressies away so I have maybe 1 thing per child and honestly no idea how we are going to do it. 1 pay day left, like I say lots of things have just all come at once that need paying too. Luckily the kids are angels and there isnt anything overly expensive on their lists, mostly diamond art/ drawing pads etc but one has put a proper camera and ones asked for a yoto. Im heartbroken and Christmas is so special to me, I love it. I know that it will still be Christmas and we will still have time together but kids deserve pressies and I dont have a money tree 😭😭😭 Anyone else?

I'm looking for honest, unbiased advice because I'm genuinely struggling with my marriage, and I've recently started thinking about divorce.
My husband and I have been married since 2017, and we have two children. He is a good father and good husband, I always say he is my partner in crime.

Before meeting him, I was in a two-year relationship involving cheating, manipulation and dishonesty. That experience affected me deeply, and I've struggled with trust ever since. My husband knows about my past.

Recently, something happened that completely unsettled me.

A woman liked one of my husband's Instagram stories, so I asked him if he knew her. He told me he didn't know her. I asked him to unfollow her, and he did.

However, afterwards, I noticed that he was following her business pages and had liked several of her business posts across different social media platforms.

When I asked him whose business page it was, he told me he didn't know and that a friend had asked him to follow it to support the business.
Something didn't sit right with me, so I looked at the comments and recognized that the woman from the original Instagram story was commenting from her personal account.
I confronted him again, and this time he admitted that he knew her.

He explained that several years ago (2011 we didn't know each other back then), she had been sexually abused by his cousin, who had threatened to share her intimate pictures. My husband said he helped her get out of that situation and even broke his cousin's phone. According to him, she made him promise never to tell anyone about what happened because she didn't want her story exposed (in my country you can be k* by your parents or brothers because of that.)

He said he avoided telling me because he felt that revealing the situation would be betraying her confidence. He also said he was simply following and supporting her business, and that there was nothing romantic or inappropriate between them.
I can understand wanting to protect someone's privacy, especially given what she experienced. I'm not upset that he helped someone in a vulnerable situation.

What I struggle with is how he handled the situation.
He initially told me he didn't know her. Then he gave me another explanation about a friend asking him to support a business. I only got the truth after recognizing her comments myself.

My husband's perspective is that he has nothing to hide and a like to a perfume product dosen't mean you love someone. He reminds me that I have access to his Instagram and Facebook accounts, that we have pictures of ourselves together on his profiles, and that he has never hidden the fact that he is married. I also have message notifications activated, and I have never seen any messages between them and that the women was married.

He says that if he had anything inappropriate to hide, he wouldn't be so transparent about his accounts or giving me his phone when I ask. He feels that he has done nothing wrong because he was protecting someone's privacy but that he understands why i'm hurt, he was very calm about the whole situation.

I can acknowledge that my past has affected my ability to trust. I don't want to project someone else's actions onto my husband, and I don't want to become a wife who constantly checks likes, followers and social media activity. His social media are only his friends and people he knows.

But I also feel that trust is about more than having access to someone's phone. It's about being able to believe what your partner tells you.

I feel like I trust him halfway, and then I remember that he looked me in the eyes and denied knowing someone he actually knew. I feel betrayed, I wanted him to be honest and tell me that he knows her from his cousin that's it!

We've been married for almost nine years and have two children. I don't take divorce lightly, but this situation has made me question our relationship.
Am I overreacting? Given everything I've explained, would you consider his reasons understandable, or do you think he should have handled things differently? Is this something I should be able to move past, or is the damage to my trust something more serious?