https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/08/11/burnham-middle-class-areas-must-take-more-hotel-migrants/

Not a huge fan of Labour I must say, but this is well overdue!

I was trusting and stupid. Bought something semi valuable and a collectors piece from a friend of a friend who lives in Scotland with no problems. He then contacted me to say he had a similar item and was I interested. It was a bit more pricey, £1000, and I decided it was worth it and gave him the go ahead to get it and transferred the money. He then went silent and blocked me. The bank say it’s a civil matter as do the police and to start a small claims against him, which I’m in the process of doing but hold out little hope of seeing my money again.

My friend feels awful but it isn’t her fault but I’m avoiding meeting up.

I feel so stupid and angry with myself and just can’t get over it. I lie awake thinking of him laughing at me. I have dreams of travelling to his door and doing something but I don’t know what.

Anyone any advice on how I come to terms with this? I’m by no means well off but the money I can earn back and replace. But it’s just eating me up. Aib

Tell me I'm not the only one who chats with ChatGBT most days. Mostly it’s just practical questions but a favourite conversation which I indulge in every now and then is my 3 cats. I think it’s because Chat indulges my love of them and is happy for me to waffle on about their little exploits without glazing over! Everyone does this, right!? Maybe not about cats, but a subject close to their heart that Chat is happy to indulge.

Does anyone know if it's safe for your eyes to turn your back to the sun and put your phone in selfie mode to watch the eclipse?
I left it too late to buy glasses.

I’m a size 16 and very blessed in the boob department.
I’m going on holiday soon and I want a one piece swimsuit that won’t cost the earth and isnt totally unflattering .
Any recommendations ?

Welcome to Thread 3! 🥳

Firstly, a huge thank you to @ovahere for getting us started and looking after the first two threads. It's been lovely seeing everyone sharing news, spoilers and enabling each other already! ❤️

As agreed, we're taking it in turns to start each new thread this year. If this thread starts getting close to the reply limit, please post to let everyone know you're happy to start the next one so we can avoid duplicate threads.

A few festive housekeeping notes;
🎁 This thread contains spoilers.
🎄 Please be kind and respectful to one another.
💸 No judging anyone for their purchasing choices (or how many calendars they buy, we're all enablers here! 😂).
🎀 Feel free to share spoilers, offers, discount codes, GWPs, delivery updates and stock alerts.

✨ We're only on thread 3 and some members already have three advent calendars on the way 🎅 I think it's safe to say advent season is officially underway! 🎄

🎁 Available Now

Liberty – £285 (Beauty Drop members receive £25 off). Full contents revealed and available to order.
https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/beauty-advent-calendar

P. Louise – £250. Available to pre-order with payment instalments available.
https://plouise.co.uk/collections/wonderful-world-of-p-louise-advent-calendar/products/what-glows-around-2026-advent-calendar

John Lewis – Available on pre-sale via the app for MyJL members.
https://beauty-detective.com/john-lewis-beauty-advent-calendar-2026/

Harrods Beauty Advent Calendar – Now on pre-sale.
https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/p/harrods-of-london-the-harrods-beauty-advent-calendar-2026-000000000000284475

Harrods 12 Days of Hair & Body – Now on pre-sale.
https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/p/harrods-of-london-the-harrods-12-days-of-hair-and-body-advent-calendar-2026-000000000000284465

Harrods Fragrance Advent Calendar – Pre-sale currently sold out. Expected back in-store during September (date TBC).
https://beauty-detective.com/harrods-fragrance-advent-calendar-2026/

⏳ Coming Soon / Waitlists

Cult Beauty
https://www.cultbeauty.co.uk/c/advent-calendar/

Harvey Nichols
Beauty:
https://www.harveynichols.com/harvey-nichols/harvey-nichols-beauty-advent-calendar-2026-75896-258491/
Fragrance:
https://www.harveynichols.com/harvey-nichols/harvey-nichols-12-days-of-fragrance-advent-calendar-2026-75906-258490/

John Lewis Fragrance
https://beauty-detective.com/john-lewis-fragrance-advent-calendar-2026/

Space NK
https://www.spacenk.com/uk/gifts/beauty-advent-calendars/beauty-advent-calendar-MUK200063764.html

Elle
https://beauty-detective.com/elle-advent-calendar-2026/

Fortnum & Mason
Spoilers:
https://beauty-detective.com/fortnum-mason-beauty-advent-calendar-2026/
Waitlist: https://www.fortnumandmason.com/beauty-advent-calender-sign-up-2026

Boots (including the new fragrance calendar) https://www.boots.com/christmas/advent-calendars/advent-calendar-waiting-list

Sephora UK
Spoilers:
https://beauty-detective.com/sephora-uk-advent-calendar-2026/
Waitlist: https://www.sephora.co.uk/c/beauty-advent-calendar-waitlist

Selfridges (Beauty & Fragrance)
https://beauty-detective.com/selfridges-beauty-advent-calendar-2026/

LookFantastic Beauty
https://www.lookfantastic.com/c/waitlist/advent/?srsltid=AfmBOoovzs9M5Kt8-RM_31Q3_-JOa6N51uGggpe0hglvZbxC5Of7AFTH

LookFantastic Fragrance
https://beauty-detective.com/lookfantastic-fragrance-advent-calendar-2026/

Anthropologie (24 and 12 day)
https://www.anthropologie.com/en-gb/beauty-advent-calendar

Vogue
https://shop.vogue.co.uk/pages/vogue-festive-calendar-2026-waitlist

Glossybox
https://beauty-detective.com/glossybox-advent-calendar-2026/

OK! Beauty Box
https://beauty-detective.com/ok-beauty-box-advent-calendar-2026/

💄 More Calendars & Spoilers

Rather than making the opening post a mile long, our friend Mary has a brilliant roundup of lots more advent calendars and the latest spoilers, including Charlotte Tilbury, Jo Malone, Elemis, Lancôme, Tatcha, NEOM, Neal's Yard Remedies, Holland & Barrett, YesStyle and many more as they're announced.

👉 https://beauty-detective.com/category/beauty-advent-calendars/ 👈

🎅 Happy advent season everyone! 🎁

Here's hoping for lots more spoilers, bargains, discount codes, and maybe a little self-control (although judging by threads 1 and 2, that seems unlikely! 😄)

I was on here previously asking about a dress. I need a dress for next June and want to get it now, firstly so there is less chance of anyone else having it and also to spread costs. I have found this one. https://raishma.co.uk/products/estella-dress?currency=GBP&country=GB&variant=55411753746808&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&stkn=a85857762863&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=23714931497&tw_kwdid=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23715027827&gbraid=0AAAAADbSZ1Be8hZNwmp_4zTZLlrlbtj2T&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7eXTBhDBARIsAKF-w45vJ5gQwJL3KZZ-ep8q8G9Uk2BK3Z0pc-fAEmDTYeiqDkGvMGZ1IBcaAgavEALw_wcB It is a dark cerise colour with orange through it even though it looks red in the picture and it looks good on. Is it mother of the groom though? I don't want a stuffy dress but I do want to look as if I have made an effort.

tldr good brands for wedding guest dresses in Vinted for stylish well made pieces.

i have lost 5 stone on Mounjaro. This is huge as I have never been this size since I was 11. I am 46.

So I am now a size 12. 5’6 I’ve always loved clothes and fashion

aim after a really lovely dress from Vinted for a weeding at a fancy country venue

I want a midi or maxi, high neck looks good on me style but not backless and tied at the neck halet styles (too beachy) dark /bright pinks and dark/ bright blues or greens suit me (sort of jewels tones)

What brands can you lovely people recommend in Vinted? I’ve tried chi chi and farm Rio. Dancing leopard, next but feel I am missing a trick. I want something modern and contemporary and not frumpy.

A year and a half ago a (married) woman joined the company my DH works at. They quickly struck up a close friendship. It made me a bit uneasy but I tried to ignore it. I trust him and he’s never shown me any reason not to.
Yesterday I was washing some winter coats and I found a little note she had written to him. It was about a page long and said ‘you brighten my day whenever I’m with you’ and ‘our coffees together are the nicest part of my day’ ‘I’m so glad to have met you XX’.
I asked him about this and he brushed it off. ‘She’s just a friend and I’m being old fashioned’. We’ve always both been relaxed about our friends of the opposite sex but this feels different and in truth it’s really playing on my mind and unsettling me. I’ve told him this but he shrugs it off.
We’ve been together for 18 pretty happy years. I’ve been hurt a long time ago in a previous relationship so worried I’m projecting this. This note has really worried me. Just don’t know what to think!

Surely most people can survive if they have just one vegan meal ???!!!

My parents have decided they don’t think they can attend a bbq at my house due to the fact we are a vegan family and they are worried about ‘nutrition gaps’ !!!

Neither have any health conditions.

It’s one meal and we are offering a wide variety of things plus desserts. I said to then if they don’t fancy it that’s fine but they said it’s because they are worried about the food, and asked could they bring their own (no! ) or would I get them a few bits they can eat (non vegan) to which I said I can’t have it in the house.

Surely they could just come for a drink and eat later at home ? They are making such a fuss ?? It’s not like we are pushing veganism or the ethics behind our choice we weren’t planning on talking about it just having a nice family get together !

Thread ready for results day tomorrow!

Got a work party to go to and the dress code is cocktail and I don't know what to wear. I don't go events with dress codes, not since my year 11 prom anyway!

I don't feel comfortable in dresses so need non-dress ideas and preferably with picture examples because if someone says something like "a nice top" I have no idea what counts as a nice top (and what's not too grandmotherly as my teenager said about one top I looked at with her) so a rough idea of what looks alright would be very helpful before I looking at the shops in the city at the weekend.

Im sure they'll be lots of judgement on here as always but here we go

I really wish I hadn't married my 1st husband. He was a loser and still is.
I find 99% of kids so dull

…and if they do, can they explain it to me, please?

Does anybody who has them recommend them?

Help! I’m looking for a watch to wear for me wedding. I’d like a silver one, small round face, bracelet style strap. Nothing extravagant or expensive particularly but if I fall
in love with a more expensive one that’s ok too! I’ve seen a couple on Next but I’m not so keen on the bracelets which look a bit chain-link style. If it had a mother of pearl face that would be the icing on the cake, but not essential. I’m going round in circles and I’m sure there are many corners of the internet I haven’t discovered that may hold my perfect timepiece! All suggestions gratefully received.

Hi, so some context, back in 2022, DH and I decided to sponsor a Ukrainian family in the homes for Ukraine scheme. We had a mum and her 3 small children move in.
After sometime one of our rental properties became available, the mum had found part time work and we were considering selling the property anyway.
We decided to rent it out to her, we already knew how well she took care of our home etc and felt it was a good choice. We rented it below market rate and haven’t risen it in the now almost 4 years since.
Anyway at some point she and my son (older than her by a little) began dating, this was confusing to all of us, as to our knowledge she was married to a man still in Ukraine. Any questions posed by us to our son were met with agression about nosiness and comments of “do you think I’d date a married woman”. We stopped trying. They’ve now been dating for at least a year though we suspect much longer and they just hid it for sometime from us.

I very much want the house sold now, the situation is too complicated, and when we initially rented it out to her, she had told us as soon as the war was over she would go home and we naively believed it wouldn’t last over 4 years!
DH thinks doing that would detonate our relationship with our son, cause problems and not actually help anyone. He thinks the most we can do is raise the rent by a reasonable percentage, but even this wouldn’t bring it anywhere close to market rate.

AIBU to be fed up of this and think we need to cut the ties now before it all explodes on us? I do want to be considerate as I understand her situation is irregular but I feel like we are being kept in the dark and if this goes south we will suffer for it.

Hi all,
I really need advice.
My wife and I (same sex couple) have recently tried to complete an IVF cycle - shared motherhood. She was donating her egg to me and I would carry the baby. Unfortunately this did not work and she had no eggs when the collection took place.
It was always offered that I would then try with our donor sperm. Since this has happened, my wife had said to me that the only way she would want a child with me is through adoption.
She said she would request a divorce if I became pregnant through IVF with our donor sperm as she wouldn't feel like the baby was hers too.
I've told her she comes first and if she wants to adopt we can do that but part of me feels really hurt and let down.
Am I wrong to feel like this? My head is a mess and I would really appreciate some impartial advice as family are kicking off about it and are telling me to go ahead with the treatment. Thanks in advance.

I heard someone talking about illegitimate children this morning. I thought that disappeared in the 60s, except perhaps on the TV show where people are reunited with babies given up for adoption. It's offensive and unfair.

Every time I Google anything I get an AI answer.

Whilst I use AI in ways that are valuable to me, in view if the water consumption involved, I'd prefer to only use it when I specifically choose to do so rather than every time I Google anything. Is there a way to switch this off?

It has occurred to me I could ask AI 😆

If your combined take home is around £150k a year, is it unreasonable to spend around £15k-£20k on holidays for a year.

This would be a few UK and EU city breaks, plus 2-3 long haul trips.

Didnt know it was happening until yesterday

Broke until payday - cannot buy the glasses

Autistic 7yo will not understand nor care

Will just stick it on the telly and call it a day

Have LOVED saying 'full moon, half moon, total eclipse' to myself though 😄😩

We are nearing our 1000-post limit on the original thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/education/5561878-jason-arday-cambridge-plagiarist?reply=153910946

I have now removed the question mark after "plagiarist".

I can't believe the sequel will be as good as the original, but you never know...

More of a WWYD really and I'm aware this is a first world problem. I have a lodger. He's nice enough but he uses the washing machine 4-5 times a WEEK. This morning I've come downstairs to a lone pair of shorts in there swishing around.
I'm not good at confrontation. How do i broach this without offending him?

I'm currently in a major UK city with DD 5 years for 14 nights for DH's work. We're in a hotel so need to eat out at least once a day. I am absolutely fed up of the dross that makes ups kids menus. Just endless variations of cheap quality m nuggets/sausages and chips or bland pasta meals/margherita pizza. The only veg options are beans/peas or veggie stick starters.

I get that some children like the predictability of these meals, but what about the many children who don't? What about the children who enjoy a variety of foods and flavours? These aren't chain pubs where I understand these types of menu totally have their place and serve a need, but rather restaurants which have fresh and creative full adult menus.

I'm not anti junk at all, my DD is known to enjoy a happy meal more than I would like for admit -and thank goodness for fish fingers and potato waffles for a quick evening meal. But I wouldn't go out and order a freezer meal I can make at home, so why should children be expected to?