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Expensive items that didn’t live up to the hype

(84 Posts)
Sallywally1 Sun 13-Jul-25 12:35:43

Thread on mums net. Any suggestions

Jane43 Mon 14-Jul-25 11:45:06

windmill1

Dyson vacuum cleaner. Cyclone? Could have fooled me - nothing to shout about but Sir Jim Dyson has been laughing like a drain all the way to the bank for years.

Agree, apart from being nothing special ours was very difficult to empty.

Elless Mon 14-Jul-25 13:28:05

Mollygo

Elless

Face creams here too - watched Queen Camilla's beautician on Lorraine featuring her Nettle Venom facial and got sucked in and bought a little jar for £80 that smells awful and does nothing 😠

Nettle venom @ £80?
You’ve been stung!

🤣🤣

Babamaman Mon 14-Jul-25 13:46:50

I used to use expensive face creams (can’t afford them anymore due to change in circumstances) I find either Lidl, Aldi or Primark moisturisers are excellent ( when I lived in France I was told that Primark skin products are made in the same factory as Chanel!
They are very good

PamQS Mon 14-Jul-25 13:50:35

I'm the same with face creams, etc. I also have to watch myself for signing up for free' courses, exercise classes etc.., and ask myself how likely I am to find the time and space to do 10 minutes of yoga every day!

PamQS Mon 14-Jul-25 13:53:03

Ours loses suction after a few minutes and needs unblocking. My husband completely fell in love with Dysons, and the idea they were high-tech and super-efficient, so I banned him from buying another one!

PamQS Mon 14-Jul-25 13:54:00

Ouch!

pce612 Mon 14-Jul-25 13:54:06

You know a face/ lip product won’t work when the ad shows a youthful dewy skinned resin applying it for the ‘before’ but then shows an animation for the ‘after’.
Or young ladies with perfect skin anyway or celebrities that have had face lifts?

pce612 Mon 14-Jul-25 13:55:02

Person not resin. Just love autocorrect 🫨

Vintagegirl Mon 14-Jul-25 14:01:28

I have been using Clinique facial lotion for decades. I used to get bargain in small tubes in airport and refill the larger pot. But last year Aldi produced an identical product for a tenth of the price. Happy days, I see them in the 'specials' aisles and grab a couple. I think I have enough to see me out now! smile

ViceVersa Mon 14-Jul-25 14:04:34

Vintagegirl

I have been using Clinique facial lotion for decades. I used to get bargain in small tubes in airport and refill the larger pot. But last year Aldi produced an identical product for a tenth of the price. Happy days, I see them in the 'specials' aisles and grab a couple. I think I have enough to see me out now! smile

I do the same with Aldi's Sanctuary Spa 'dupes' - love the shower gel - and they also do L'Occitane dupes from time to time too, so I snap up their almond range when they have it. It's a fraction of the price of the real thing and I honestly can't tell the difference.

AuntieE Mon 14-Jul-25 14:11:52

Practically any toilet cleaner you can think of. Those advertised to remove lime-scale most assuredly do not.

Salts of lemon, washing-up liquid and boiling water does the trick!

Jojo1950 Mon 14-Jul-25 14:21:43

My husband is the same. I suggested we not buy another one. Already had a few things from Dyson. I can no longer use them as too heavy since having been poorly. Housework not my problem anymore. He does it or no one does!! I’ve stepped away from the Dyson!

Milliedog Mon 14-Jul-25 14:33:10

When my Kenwood food processor needed to be replaced, I fell for the hype surrounding the Kitchen Aid mixer. A total waste of money. My cakes fell flat and I hated it. My daughter was delighted with it.....🙄. I bought another Kenwood food processor. Cakes rise beautifully again.
Face cream? Years ago, after an extremely bad reaction to an expensive face cream, my dermatologist suggested Cetraben. It's wonderful (and cheap)!

orly Mon 14-Jul-25 14:35:34

Heat pumps and electric cars fit the bill

widgeon3 Mon 14-Jul-25 14:35:44

When my ( army) husband was posted to the Far East, The 'army' did its best to see that we 'young brides' felt cared for

FF to Jahore Bahru in Malaysia. They filled a large room with army type dressing tables and also lots of the young women (who were missing their mothers' advice maybe)
We sat at our allocated dressing table as instructed..... THEN A Far Eastern MISS WORLD appeared. to aid us with our beauty problems... smiling and swaying towards us.....perhaps 60 young wives

She sashayed. beaming between the dressing tables offering words of encouragement to the pale people sitting there somewhat bemused .They relaxed .... I was probably number 57 so she had probably run out of words of encouragement This Indian lady stood, Hands firmly on hips and said in a loud voice > You don't really believe I can do anything for you, do you

she was not expecting me to scream with laughter and waddle off, hugely pregnant. followed by several friends

GranEd Mon 14-Jul-25 14:37:53

Rosie51

NotSpaghetti

I can't think of an expensive item I've ever bought that "didn't live up to the hype" - maybe because I don't tend to be responsive to hype...

I did find Niagra Falls to be underwhelming though.
It would not have felt underwhelming if I'd just happened upon it as walking along a track through the wilds though!
It is a wonder ruined totally by going to look at it!
Certainly doesn't live up to the hype.

Shows how different we all are, I love Niagara falls. The American falls and the Bridal Veil are pretty, but the Horseshoe falls are wonderful. All that power of nature, and a boat trip right into the Horseshoe is a great experience in my opinion.

Totally agree Rosie51, I too love Niagara Falls. I was spellbound at my first glimpse of Horseshoe falls. The boat trip into them and the walk behind them exceeded all my expectations!

BlueBelle Mon 14-Jul-25 14:41:34

I have never ever used a face cream don’t get their need aren’t they just something else to spend your money on

BlueBelle Mon 14-Jul-25 14:44:40

widgeon I too was a service wife in the Far East but we got no such treatment I think we were quite surplus to requirement and not thought about at all
(Airforce )

TwiceAsNice Mon 14-Jul-25 14:50:58

Used to buy Clinique face cream years ago when working full time . I did feel it was worth it , although expensive, but can no longer afford it and now use Aldi face cream which I like . Strangely their night cream gave me an allergic reaction so night cream is Nivea. Both really cheap but good to use. I do still stretch to Clinique lipstick I really don’t like any others and wear lipstick every day. I do now either buy it at the airport going on holiday or ask for them as a present .

Allira Mon 14-Jul-25 14:51:57

Royal Navy wives just got left at home alone, all at sea ☹

Marmight Mon 14-Jul-25 14:56:27

A sofa from Loaf named ‘crumpet’. expensive and uncomfortable. The ‘plumped’ feather seat cushions require plumping after each session. Definitely doesn’t live up to the hype. My worst buy ever.

Crossstitchfan Mon 14-Jul-25 15:02:00

Babamaman

I used to use expensive face creams (can’t afford them anymore due to change in circumstances) I find either Lidl, Aldi or Primark moisturisers are excellent ( when I lived in France I was told that Primark skin products are made in the same factory as Chanel!
They are very good

My late mother had the most beautiful, wrinkle-free skin, even at 73. She smoked cigarettes for many years, but it clearly didn’t affect her skin and she had the skin of a much younger woman for all her life. She didn’t want and, couldn’t afford, expensive creams. Her advice to me when I was young was, always remove makeup at bedtime, and only ever put Pond’s Cold Cream on your face before makeup and at bedtime. I always take my makeup off, but have never used Ponds, preferring the classier, more expensive stuff. I’m sorry now. In my 70s, my skin is ok, but nowhere near as beautiful as Mum’s was.

M0nica Mon 14-Jul-25 15:03:03

Gosh Widgeon that was certainly not my mother's experience, nor that of a close friend, although in the navy in the nuclear subs branch, where men could be away for as long as 6 months incommunicado,. The alternate crew on base would always keep an eye on their equivalents family and give them help if needed.

I was an army brat and by the time I was about 10 I had vowed never ever to marry anyone in the armed services. Even at that age I could see that families were necessary evils only to be put up with for their social skills and ability to fit in to their allocatted role.. That even applied to children. I can remember being dished up in my best dress at garden parties and sports events, expected to be nice to the colonel's spoilt brat of a daughter who was good 4 years younger than me.

Annewilko Mon 14-Jul-25 17:21:42

Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Opera House on the other hand is stunning 😍

Sharr22 Mon 14-Jul-25 17:32:27

@TerriBull
Yes we could all produce a crumbled bed but did we?
No, because it was the audacity, the chaotic female space laid bare that made it art.
( Sorry A- level Art History clearly left its mark ! 😂)