Has anyone else stepped away from Cult Hirons?

[MrsKingfisher]

I cannot bare her group anymore so I left, it's all a bit of an echo chamber these days.

I find her virtue signalling under the guise of 'doing what's right' nauseating, I've cancelled her book and won't ever read anything she writes again.

She says she supports women's rights but only if it suits her agenda.

I always like to think that these people with glorious names, Sunday Riley, Tata Harper, Charlotte Tilbury etc are really called Doreen Blenkinsop, Edna Gittings and Mavis Throgmorten.
It makes me feel happier with my Superdrug own brand.

@TheCanterburyWhales

I always like to think that these people with glorious names, Sunday Riley, Tata Harper, Charlotte Tilbury etc are really called Doreen Blenkinsop, Edna Gittings and Mavis Throgmorten. It makes me feel happier with my Superdrug own brand.

i agree that her fb group is absolutely awful.

I once pointed out that there is pressure in the group to buy Caroline's recommended £££ products and that is out of touch with the average woman's budget. And it may be irresponsible to continually encourage each other to buy £££ skincare products when the women in the group are clearly very average looking people/young. I noticed that a member on the caroline hirons fb group was also on the First time buyers group (property) and saying that she couldn't get a mortgage cos her credit rating was too low. I have no idea whether they were linked but i would not be surprised if they would. When I raised this, i got completely flamed and my post deleted because apparently I was shaming people for normal spending habits,

Also got flamed when i pointed out caroline shouldn't be using klarna (she asked for feedback whether she could). Klarna has such a bad reputation and lots of people had their credit rating downgraded on account of using it. I pointed out that previously when I said that many women could't afford the skincare products, the response was that yes many women can afford the £70 moisturizer whilst paying a mortgage and childcare, I was being silly to suggest they can't and saving 20% was unnecessary and silly. But then when caroline asked if she should allow klarna to be used for her really expensive skincare kits, the response was overwhelmingly positive.

How can people say they can afford something when they can only afford it by using klarna (which essentially allows you to split up the cost of your purchase)? Skincare isn't a sofa, if you have to spread the cost over months, you can't afford it.

My skin is the worst it has ever been when I was rubbing lotions and potions on it. I’ve just stoped and use olive oil, sunscreen (and fake tan) and I get complimented constantly.

She used to say that if you're prepared to spend hundreds on, for example, a handbag, you should be prepared to spend on your skin, which I thought was fair enough. She was always clear though that you should only spend what you can afford and not feel under pressure to fork out more than you can. Maybe that's changed recently .....

What’s the APR on Klarna?

@Railingsohno

What’s the APR on Klarna?

Actually just googled it. 18.9%- that’s not good. It’s really irresponsible to be encouraging that. Does she get a kick back from Klarna?

If she'd just talked about skincare (ditto Body Shop) I would have stuck with her but the minute you start wading into politics you risk losing people's respect. And I don't think JK should be called a twat for being female centric. So I'm stepping back from any of these companies/gurus who are getting involved.

@Lottapianos most of the products she recommends are very expensive. and so are the skincare kits. Its mainly her followers though who really encourage each other.

i get that its their personal responsibility but she is always trying to go above and beyond to advocate for the latest cause. Also I found this very uncomfortable about instagram influencers. They are portraying themselves as your 'friend' and due to social media, it can be quite easy to see them as such as they respond to your comments, you know the names of their kids/cat, the whole premise is building a personal relationship. Its different from Victoria Beckham endorsing a skincare cream, Victoria Beckham isn't my friend and never would be. You are much more likely to buy something if your best friend recommended than if some unknown glamourous celeb recommended you to. And I would never recommend that my friend on minimum wage buys a £60 cream unless I was buying it for her. However for influencers, this is their bread and butter- cultivating a close relationship with ordinary women to sell them stuff.

Surely she shouldn't be encouraging women to spend more.

Calling someone a twat - how professional. Compare that to JKR’s eloquent essay. 🤔

P.s. Nadine Baggot is LOVELY! I met her in the 90s at a Helena Rubeinstein event in Mchr and we exchanged celeb gossip. I'll never forget what I learnt about Tom Cruise!!! She really has a passion for what she does.

There’s no interest on Klarna if you pay after 30 days and you can pay it by credit card so potentially you’re getting three months interest free. I don’t see it as any more irresponsible than using a credit card in the first place. As for encouraging women to get into debt, isn’t that inherent in the entire capitalist system?

I’m not going to knock her for that but the attacks on JKR are another matter. She’ll have lost a lot of goodwill for that. She was very stupid because anyone with half a brain cell could see which way that would go, given the demographic that has the money to buy top end skincare.

@Railingsohno Klarna doesn't always charge interest
I use it to split purchases - so order 10 things to try and pay only what I keep rather than faffing with return payments

'P.s. Nadine Baggot is LOVELY! '

That's really nice to hear

I've seen Caroline in real life a few times and her skin is GLOWING (she's also nice). That's not always very obvious on camera I think. Genetics has so much to do with how your skin ages, so I can't really say it is or isn't because of wrong products.

It's not on to go after a woman's looks or talk about "menoposal Tweets" (wtf??) misogyny does all women a disservice. We are not our looks or our hormones.

Anyway, I generally like her personality and enjoy her rants and find her entertaining and knowledgable. I don't follow her blindly though and still do my own research.

I think it's great when she bullies brands to do the right thing (ex. paying people during covid/not forcing them to work, calling out companies for false marketing), as a consumer it's nice to know that I have such a loud voice on my side.

I do think that she needs to acknowledge that with 500k+ followers she needs to be more responsible when calling out private citizens, because her followers do behave like a mob/cult and it's not cool to bully innocent people on social media (or elsewhere really).

Her group is definitely toxic at this point and not allowing any differing opinions is a slippery slope. It's being run more like a fan club than a skincare advice group.

I think she encourages her followers to use too many products.
I’ve seen some really messed up skin on that group- to be met with advice on how to continue doing so!
I get that she’d be out of a job if she just recommended the basics though.

Tell me about Tom Cruise!
I shared a flat with one of his pre-nup lawyers (Nicole K marriage) and it was shocking!

I used to really like her, but by god, she's so aggressive.

She used to be much nicer, this whole 'if you don't like it fuck off' attitude is so aggressive. She fell out with Sunday Riley then all of a sudden she consulting for them again and oh look lots of recommendations.

She isn't a transparent as she says she is, her spring kits most of those brands she now consults for. Her recommendations are always Beauty Pie, Body shit, Sunday Riley, LRP, Jordan Samuel etc etc always the same brands.

She is so acerbic and bullish she won't be queen bee forever. People get tired of shouty people wading in on politics when it's not their arena.

@withlotsoflove Exactly!.

What works now like retinol, vit c, acids & sunblock have been around for years.

A lot of these serums are just glycerin and water with a few vitamins chucked in.

@corpsebrid3 I’m sorry but your logic doesn’t make any sense.

Caroline Hiron is a skincare guru so she shouldn’t talk about politics. So therefore JK as a children’s writer also shouldn’t talk about politics....right!

I just cannot understand the irony of people who support JK’s view saying that people should stay in their area of expertise and not talk about politics. Well JK’s area of expertise is most definitely not politics either is it.

And the misogyny on this thread from people who would surely call themselves feminists .

Anyway it’s unfortunate that women have to drag each other down like this and can’t see that’s it’s hypocritical to call someone ‘mean’ while slagging them off anonymously on MN.

And this is from someone who has never followed or listened to any of Hirons recommendations. I only found out about her form another thread on MN where people were saying hateful things about her.

I used to really like her blog. Seemed very keen to inform rather than push products.

Now she’s built her personal brand as “tells it like it is / no bullshit”. Unfortunately it’s veered far into aggressive big-for-boots.

This is a hilariously “read between the lines” summary of the Louise Pentland podcast. Sounds like CH made a pain of herself:

“In this episode of Mothers' Meeting Louise is joined by skincare queen and fierce mamma Caroline Hirons AND vlogger, mother and friend Lily Pebbles. Caroline rages over, well quite a few things really, Lily offers a huge verity of #mumhacks whilst Louise wonders where the line lies when it comes to sharing on social media. Warning this episode is explicit!“

And I don’t think she needs to “stay in her lane”. Anyone these days with a platform and a brain can turn their hand to any topic (and perhaps should when their are important items to discuss) but her way of speaking / putting others down / cutting off opposing views is what I don’t like.

[quote cinammonbuns]@corpsebrid3 I’m sorry but your logic doesn’t make any sense.

Caroline Hiron is a skincare guru so she shouldn’t talk about politics. So therefore JK as a children’s writer also shouldn’t talk about politics....right![/quote]
Well when CH gives as much to charities directly affected by these policies (as JKR does) she can have a fucking say. Can’t really say fairer than that right?