What highly recommended purchases have you bought that turned out to be underwhelming, if not totally shit?

[JustinianTheThird]

For me:
> Wool duvet:
No warmer than an Asda synthetic job. Heavy as fuck so hard to change the bed. Stiff so it doesn't mould around your body. Thin so looks shit on the bed.

> Heater clothes airer
Massive monstrosity. Takes forever to dry clothes. Makes clothes smell musty and fusty.

> Spa day
Just boring. And damp.

> Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Poorly written to the extent it felt like YA fiction. Unlikable and unrealistic characters. Couldn't find the deep emotional aspects that people go on about.

> Modibodi period pants
The tightest waistband I've ever experienced in my life. Are Modibodi selling these to failed third world states as torture devices? They fucking should.

What about you?

Over my many years, I've bought endless face creams/potions and several large beauty boxes/advent calendars.

Nothing I've ever used has persuaded me it's worth spending more than about £8 on a skin product.

It's been an eye-opener!

I didn't get on with my Phillips Lumea.

Love Hamnet and spa days though!

I love my Lakeland Heated Drier!

@applescentedcandle me too! For me loads of the skincare that I see advertised on special offer and buy. Currently have a Fenty Oil Cleaner that smells faintly of old cooking. Also got a Gatineau Serum that I swear sucks moisture from my face. Gave away my Elizabeth Arden 8 hour body cream as it made me smell unwashed. Have loads of Skin Rocks Retinoid that makes not the slightest difference to my skin. I am trying very hard to stop making the same mistakes over and over and haven't bought anything for my face or body since November. But have 2 drawer fulls to use up of random "great buys". And I had the OK Beauty Advent Calendar at Xmas that was frankly shit. But someone on Instagram told me it was a bargain.

Agree with the wool duvet. Bought one described as lightweight (as we only use a 4.5 tog all year round but with a blanket in winter). It was sooo hot! Tried it on three separate nights in winter, just couldn’t get on with it. I’d hate to think how hot the heavyweight one would be. Sold on Facebook in the end.

We have a a Ninja air fryer but I rather use the halogen oven we have. I’m just not bothered in using it.

Agree with the leg holes on sloggi knickers being very tight!

@Motnight Yep! Recent disappointments from the Look Fantastic advent calendar include:
Elemis Pro-Collagen Rose Marine Cream - nothing special and didn't even smell nicely of roses.
ESPA Overnight Hydration Therapy - sticky and didn't like the strong smell (hippy massage oil + curry, somehow).
Avant Glycolic Acid Rejuvenating Face Exfoliator, worth £92 apparently - just an averagely decent mild exfoliator.

I feel a conspiracy theory brewing!

Yup! I literally was going to post about my Lakeland dryer. It’s fantastic, especially now that I have one with a timer. I don’t have a cover for it: I just make sure that the top layer is sheets or a duvet or towels that seal the hot air in. I really could not manage without it.

I hate my expensive cordless GHD straighteners. They're so awkward to use and need charging too often. It's easier to take my ordinary GHDs + adaptor on holiday.
(I love my Ninja airfryer, only two of us now so just the right size for doing fish and chips.
Never had a spa day and pray nobody ever buys me one, it's my idea of dull.)

Yes yes yes to slow cookers - do love our Ninja air fryer though.
Elizabeth Arden 8-hour cream.
Jo Malone perfume - beautiful for about an hour, then disappears.
Shark cordless vacuum cleaner - battery life is a joke.

Robot hoover, heated airer, electric bathroom scrubbing tool. I absolutely love my wool duvet though! I admit it looks a bit flat, but it seems to be perfect all year round - I'm never too cold or too hot!

Heated airer
Dubai chocolate

I got a Eufy robot vacuum cleaner and it was bloody useless - I think it couldn’t cope with my golden retriever TBF. Went round the same room all the time and ignored the kitchen for instance. It wasn’t one of the super room mapping ones but it wasn’t cheap. It’s been banished back to its box.

Reed diffusers. Sone are very expensive, look and smell very nice when first displayed but a few weeks later the perfume has gone and the diffuser is sitting there gathering dust. I find this happens no matter how much I've paid for it.

I love your similes! Like white hot tears cast into the metal bird of artifice*. You should teach creative writing.

• That was in a record review in Disc and Music Echo. Which dates

I read that as fragile ass-bone china

I’m really puzzled that so many of you like heated airers. What’s the advantage over a conventional dryer - and don’t they take up a lot of room?

I used to have a heated airer because I lived in a very small terrace house and had no room anywhere for a tumble dryer. When we did use a regular clothes horse for drying they took forever and smelled. A heated drying rack/airer was brilliant and I only needed to have it set up when I was drying clothes indoors

The London Eye was shite. It's so slow and yeah it's just a view, slowly for about 20 minutes. The best part was the introductory video where seagulls leaped out at you and you wore funny glasses.

This one is really controversial and I think it's just because I'm a philistine..
But I can't stand that fancy ham you get in Spain. Pata negra? I think there's a few but it's always on a big leg. The one where an old man always cuts it by hand and it's the only thing they sell in that shop except beer.

To me it's way too thick, chewy and salty and fatty. I love other ham and Italian meats and some other Spanish ones like lomo. But that ham to me is not worth it!

Another love vote for heated airers! Sorry OP. Mine was just an Aldi jobby and I'd be lost without it. For eg, if clothes are still a bit damp or just cold after being on the washing line, they go on the heated airer for an hour and they're definitely dry and toasty. Great for all the clothes that can't go in the tumble drier, great for drying damp towels, great for drying all the socks and underwear. Not a substitution for a tumble drier. (Another thing I can't live without!)

Didn't like my steam mop either, crap short cord and stopped working after a year. Much prefer my basic mop!

Most bloody washing machines are a massive disappointment!

i had 1.1 ml of cheek filler and thought wtf. nobody noticed. cost nearly £200

Welda skin food - may as well have put thick nappy cream on my face

I bought a Neom 'happiness' candle and i was very underwhelmed with it , very cheap smelling , i wouldn't buy again.

Love my Philips Lumea and my air fryer. Nanolash Eyelash Serum however, can get in the bin (and did). Was promised longer, thicker lashes….. nope, did nothing!

Reed diffusers. I've had a few of varying prices and none of them smell of anything.

Candles and Oud candles - I asked my daughter for an oud candle for Christmas. She got me 2 of these and neither smelled of anything. Tbh the Oud air freshener I got from Home Bargains has 10 times more scent.

Cordless vacuum cleaner. Give me Henry any day. No faffing about when the charge runs out half way through the house.

Can I add mortadella to the crap ham list? It’s vile, like thinly sliced spam.

I liked Hamnet but also weirdly couldn’t wait for it to end.