Underwhelming Mumsnetter Recommendations

[Limth]

What things have you bought that've been highly and enthusiastically recommended by MNers and then turned out to be a bit a lot shit?

I have loads 😩Here's just a selection:

• Heated airier: Giant monstrosity, flimsy as fuck, no different from a radiator.
• Wool duvet: No warmer than a feather one, flat, looks shit on the bed, feels austere and not very luxurious.
• Oddballs pants: Really strange gusset that constantly rides up into my fanny causing repeated yeast infections.
• Loveall fleece leggings: Went bobbly after two wears and one wash, make my legs look fat, warm-ish but nothing to write home about.
• Estee Laude double wear foundation: Heavy and claggy.
• Birkenstocks: Made me look like a matronly Danish exchange student en-route to a mountain yoga retreat. Fortunately, I only tried them on and didn't buy them.
• Fjallraven Kranken backpack: See above, Danish exchange student energy. Again, tried and did not buy.

What are yours?

It encourages you to listen to your instincts, not fall into the trap of being palmed off as a "hysterical female" or feeling that you have to be nice to (usually men) who make you feel uneasy. That it's ok to tell a man to fuck off and not worry about his feelings.

First time round, I felt like I was being watched/followed and no one believed me. I knew it was a local man in his 30s. Everyone told me he was harmless. I was a teenager what did I know. I was encouraged to "be nice" to this "harmless" man.

It turned out he was completely obsessed with me. Police found a wall covered in photos, school newspaper articles, personal stuff from my bin etc. He followed me in a car after a school leavers party and jumped out on me outside my gate at 2am. Luckily my dad was waiting because I'd begged him for months to wait up as I felt I was being watched. The police got involved and he made threats about his own and my life.

Everyone loved the lecturer. Total dad figure, lovely, kind guy. We all felt a bit sorry for him, he was a bit of a fop, disorganised, gentle soul. He took a special interest in me, invited me to join me at specialist lecturers or assist him etc.
One lecture was in the middle of nowhere, it was very late at night, he was "worried" about me catching public transport at that hour and told me he'd drive me to his place and I could get a taxi from there or I could get dropped off at a rank. I'd known him three years, no reason to not trust him and I was a total teachers pet. Would have done anything to please him.

Something told me "don't go. don't trust him."

I was appalled at myself. He was a nice man, how dare I not trust him after everything he'd done to help me.

But I trusted that voice (it was very touch and go, but I remembered the book and knew, if he really was a good man then he wouldn't be offended at my no). He was clearly irked at my no.

Two years later I found out he'd raped at least 3 of my peers. They were in identical situations except they said yes and I said no to the offer to "get home safely". As time went on more stories came out. He was never brought to justice, insisted it was consensual and also threatened their careers.

Disagree with this one - absolutely amazing once warmed up slightly

I love my footners - do it about every 2 years - normally using a cheap amazon equiv. Works perfectly.

Ah disagree again- I love these!!

I love Aldi and I even like their florentines, authentic or not. But all of their beauty dupes are shite. I've been lured into buying a serum and a fake 8 hour cream, besides one of the perfumes, and all were rubbish - 100% of the admittedly low price had been spent on making the packaging look like the branded product.

Yeah, I couldn’t get those Korean wash cloths to work at all.

i bought that Hush dress and it was SO unflattering and went straight back.

Another one who didn't get one with Turtle Gloves wrist warmers. My pair are so obviously the cut-off sleeves of an old jumper that I've put on backwards, like something from a 5-Minute Crafts lifehack video. They're quite comical.

Jumpsuits - they look dreadful on everyone
Air fryers - just no

But I’m very grateful for my silicon spoon.

I like Aldi florentines as they’re small not as rich as real Florentines.

Aldi beauty dupes are just crap product in exciting packaging. They're a lookalike, not an act-alike.

As for the one square of good dark chocolate bastards, they know exactly what they're doing.

Seconded.

My silicon spoon was not a recommendation from here but if we leave it on the pan edge - then it melts! (no shit sherlock you all cry and fair enough - I just hadnt realised how often I leave my spoons in the pan. We are back to wooden. Sadly the quality of those has declined)

I don’t use it for cooking I use it for getting all the jam and mayonnaise out of the jar. I had large spatulas already but a small spoon to get into the corners is great.

Also, 95% of the book recommendations on here. People just recommend whatever they like themselves, and don't pay any attention to what the OP has said she likes to read - either because they're not familiar with the titles, or because they can't be arsed.

I've seen someone come on to say they enjoyed Ducks, Newburyport (Lucy Ellman's thousand -page experimental epic, written in a single sentence), and a poster suggested that she might try the likes of Jodi Picoult - "I couldn't put it down!"

I like some floral. And even a discreet ruffle. But page on page of loud floral ruffled puff-sleeved polyester monstrosities. It’s enough to make one elope.

I like the Q10 day and night creams. I like being able to use loads because they’re so cheap. But the cream cleanser isn’t amazing. It’s stuffed with eucalyptus, so smells far too strong and has no benefits for skin that I know of. I suspect it’s just added for the tingling effect. And the serum, which I tried because it’s a pain buying The Ordinary, brought me out in spots.

I don't really go out and buy stuff based on MN recommendations. I'm particularly suspicious of the following: Toast, Uniqlo, airfryers, White Fox, curly girl method. Pretty sure also that marketing content which MN receives money for is placed across the Talk pages by paid posters.

Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, bought because of a thread full of MNers swooning over the fragrance.

Sadly, the clue is in the name. It smells of arse.

EXACTLY. The ruffles are a bloody fire hazard for sure! Hopefully none of them smoke. I don't think your average person looks amazing in massive florals. Fine if you are Alexa Chung or Chloe Sevingny, borderline mental if your Charlotte from accounts.

I was coming on to say footner! They just don't work for me. I get the flaky feet 🤢, do all the soaking etc and then my feet just go back to how they were when I started.

I was also recommended Il Makiage foundation on here once and found it awful.

Is she a ghost? She sounds like a ghost.

Companies clearly set up accounts and add their products to all the gift list threads. Why wouldn’t you? It is a huge forum and I imagine leads to a huge upturn in sales.

Crimpit

I have no problems eating two rows of the 100%, how do people stop at a square!?