Sali Hughes #7 Yes I threatened and yes I lie, but can I interest you in beauty pie?

[Jelly Bean]

I'm so naive. I genuinely had no idea The Pool was actually a business with its own offices. I assumed someone was sort of running it on a laptop somewhere as a vanity project and people like SH donated the occasional article.
Stupid question coming up - how was it expected to make money? Advertising? If so someone should've pointed out they needed to expand their target audience. I'm probably slightly who it was aimed at yet felt completely excluded and alienated most of the time. I absolutely hated the 'we're all in this together and all think the same way' attitude eg 'Women We Love'. So bloody smug.

 

[Handmaid]

Her surly, snippy, obtuse, approach has had its day. Influencing, which is her main gig, is changing week by week, with audiences becoming increasingly curious and demanding, and far less inclined to settle for half-truths.

It’s not all on her terms anymore and that’s what’s really driving her mad.

 

[Originalnuttah]

So when SH was furious whilst on a writer’s retreat, was it because of the lost £7k or the way her mate LL was treated after The Pool folded? It must be very difficult to navigate a friendship when doing business together. The number of influencers who are intertwined in a similar way is staggering to my innocent eye. Sometimes it really does feel like a complex web of connections in which a number of them are related to each other.

I followed The Pool for a few months but then got bored with the sanctimonious white- middle class cool Central London vibe going on it. The account of the way they have run this business is truly shocking.

 

[Nonah]

Hi! I’ve been lurking since That Friday when I came prepared to be SCANDALISED by the awful things you were all saying (?!) and have been wondering whether to join in or just watch from the sidelines. I was part of the mass exodus from SHB following the mods terrible handling of the weirdo situation and subsequent doubling-down and defending their behaviour. I decamped to a WhatsApp chat which is still going. Sali did apologise but then quite a lot of gaslighting happened which was very strange, although that happened to the extent that I can’t remember the details.
In the early days of the WhatsApp group there was a mole who reported back to Sali that we were all slagging her off (we weren’t) and made up a load of other lies about various people being mean to her then tried to get everyone to come back to SHB and ‘play nice’. I found it so nauseating I left for good. Something about SH seems to attract these toxic personalities.
I really liked her in the good old days of early GTL and met some great women through that community but I just cannot with all the drama and self-righteousness. SH is welcome to block me on twitter if she can find me (I don’t follow her, mind you and haven’t for ages).

 

[BettyDoodah]

I was pleased in a way to see SH back on Instagram this week. Not that I was breathlessly awaiting her opinion on the CH kit or to know what she had for dinner but I was glad to see that she had recovered from the upset. I do think the Friday video was a shameless piece of get-your-retaliation-in-first media manipulation but I'm sure the upset was genuine and I don't wish her ill.

While I don't wish her ill either, I really can't bring myself to feel sorry for her. She had it coming to put it simply, she's brought it all on herself and has no one to blame for it.

I feel sorry for parents who are struggling to feed their kids, for people who battle health conditions and have their benefits cut, for people who are losing everything in war zones. Feeling sorry for Sally "pretty dishonest" Hughes? Nah.
(Sorry, I'm not having a pop at you, just stressing the fact that I can't bring myself to have any sympathy for her even if I wanted to, not after all the lying, bullying and deceiving came out)

 

[Jelly Bean]

OK, so just to be clear, she actually named this brand as one of the most ethical blah blah blah and they flew her and random friends to a resort? This is the Twilight Zone. I'll start an IG account praising the ethics of various pharmaceutical companies and all of you will be coming with me to an exclusive spa in the Alps, but with medical grade drugs, even steamers will be blowing ether on our polished faces.

Yes but if you point that out it is Trolling. And Bullying. Just buy into the glossy IG lifestyle - just normal gals heading down to Cornwall for a girly weekend. Buy stuff! Be like us! Believe what I say! You too could be less foul!

 

[Tesla's Ghost]

Good on EM! What pathetic backtracking from SH, is it the boots? On the contrary, we need more books about periods and less about whatever shit Sali's false feminism is selling. She had countless opportunities to concretely demonstrate her so-called views, but has failed every time.

 

[PineappleQueen19]

Unless you have prior experience of devious, narcissistic-injury instigated outbursts, or have other reason to believe said person isn’t as straight-up as they like to make out, you would believe someone making claims of bullying and trolling. (Because who would make something like that up? Hmmm... )

And don’t forget a lot of support is low-level performative-type action - people would write a quick supportive tweet without giving it much thought. It’s essentially giving the person the benefit of the doubt.

 

[GTL Old-Timer]

Sorry, can’t help myself .

I bet Sali would love to have Lionel Shriver at her book launch ..... just like Dawn has, a proper Author

Looks like the prawn got the last laugh!
#PrawnPower

(Good for you, Dawn!)

 

[Handmaid]

Morning SaliLauren,
Even though you blocked me weeks ago for asking a few uncomfortable questions, for some reason, I can still see your IG and Twitter from my laptop.
Weird, eh?

Have a great day.

 

[Mselvista]

OK, so just to be clear, she actually named this brand as one of the most ethical blah blah blah and they flew her and random friends to a resort? This is the Twilight Zone. I'll start an IG account praising the ethics of various pharmaceutical companies and all of you will be coming with me to an exclusive spa in the Alps, but with medical grade drugs, even steamers will be blowing ether on our polished faces.

I've no idea if they got anything more than the factory tour but just fancy the first time ever she has gone away without cleanser she washes her face with a handwash by the company that provided the #presstrip . The company which she recommended in one of her specials " in our first month".

I believe she washed her face with handwash about as much as I believe she left the salon like this. It looks contrived to shoehorn a mention of a brand in. I may be mistaken though and it's all perfectly true. But that's what it looks like.

 

[silkytoes]

A couple of months before The Pool finally closed, I went to a panel event for the release of their new book. While I'd vaguely followed The Pool and read some of the articles, I didn't know toooo much about it so I was really surprised to learn earlier this year that only 2 months after this book launch the whole site had folded.

Both Sam Baker and Sali were on this panel and I remember there was a question in the Q&A part about how you make a website like The Pool successful in a difficult online market like there is currently and I remember SB looking so awkward and uncomfortable at this, I really wish that I remember what she said, I think she'd just acknowledged that they'd found it hard.

Sali really came to The Pool's defense though and said that The Pool didn't pay as well as other places she wrote for but she really believed in what they stood for and appreciated the space she was given to write what she wanted which she didn't get elsewhere so she was willing to put up with it. It definitely didn't sound sympathetic to those people who couldn't afford not to get paid! More just telling them to deal with it.

I followed The Pool for a few months but then got bored with the sanctimonious white- middle class cool Central London vibe going on it. The account of the way they have run this business is truly shocking.

I hated the book they released for this reason. There was so much about being a mother and a lot of just complaining about how expensive it was to live in Central London. Oh boohoo, I've had to move a significant distance from my family and friends because I can't afford to live near London in the expensive area my family live. I don't really want to hear how broke you are living in one of the most expensive areas of the country!

 

[SqualorVictoria]

Does she ever take that 1970 sweater off

 

[melfish]

It's not normal behaviour. Who even does that, let alone records it? Her sense of her own importance is risible

 

[Grizzlybear]

I never post in this thread, just snort at it, but I make my own lip balm: melt a little cocoa butter (same you’d use for cooking), coconut oil, avocado oil and a drop of essential oil of choice if you fancy in a little jar. I tend to Bain Marie it to melt if, gently stir and then pour into an old sterilised Vaseline tin or other small pot. I have all these ingredients handy but you can sub in olive oil, Shea butter etc. I pop it in the fridge to set for quickness.

*sticks two fingers up at la Hughes, Hirons et al*

 

[GTL Old-Timer]

someone should've pointed out they needed to expand their target audience. I'm probably slightly who it was aimed at yet felt completely excluded and alienated most of the time. I absolutely hated the 'we're all in this together and all think the same way' attitude eg 'Women We Love'. So bloody smug.

Yes, absolutely. It always came across as being quite a niche project. I remember when it was just in its infancy and Sam Baker et all were doing some research, Sali put out the word on the forum about the project looking for volunteers/guinea pigs. I was one of the people who got in touch with Sam Baker, and I had to tell her a little about myself. Sam got back in touch (I still have the email) and told me that thanks, but no thanks - I wasn’t what they were looking for!! It wasn’t a job interview ffs! It was fucked from day one by the sounds of it. Quite right too.

Word to the wide, Salinistas - #WhiteFeminism is not a profitable anymore and you WILL get bitten in the ass!

(Side note - when I was typing out Salinistas on my phone, Stalin came up as a word option in autocorrect!! Quite appropriate when you think about it! )

 

[BettyDoodah]

Actually one of her pals liked a load of my Instagram photos yesterday - I thought nothing of it because we were following one another. That person has since unfollowed me. The irony of it all is that I had never even heard of this forum until That Friday.

I'd check my catflap if I were you, babes. You never know, Eric might be having a day off or something

 

[CocoCottesmore]

Ive been lurking here since *that* Friday. Ive been a hate follower of Salis for a while because of complicated reasons but there were two things that I could never get over.

1) shes vegetarian but shills so much non CF stuff. I noted the slightly sniffy "all are cruelty free" at the end of this weeks column which read, to me at least, in the similar tone to "i paid, obvs". Like she was forced to do it.
2) a few years ago, in a quickly deleted post, she took to twitter to complain in a very vague posting way against a woman who had accused a male friend of hers of some serious emotional abuse. Her mates all jumped in saying whats wrong, whats going on and all she could say was that people shouldnt be able to post mean stuff on the internet. (). Anyway, another woman came forward and claimed the same thing and eventually the man (cant remember who) basically admitted he was a complete shit. All that resulted was some quickly deleted tweets. Im afraid it was a few years ago and all very quick so my memory isnt great but I found the whole thing very telling.

*Shuttles back off*

 

[Originalnuttah]

SH mentioned the £7k owed as a result of The Pool folding in her vid. That’s fair enough, no one should go without being paid for work they’ve done. However, it would be more interesting to know what this quantifies in terms of articles, working hours spent to research and write them, to be able to say if this is a massive loss of earnings or simply The Pool paid incredibly well per article. If I recall on average each article took 3-4 mins to read.

Honestly the whole influencer/ online media world is fascinating. IMO the biggest losers from it all has been the admirable profession of in-depth journalism, vastly diluted by self-proclaimed authors and writers often creating brands of themselves. And us, the readers, who are the consumers of half-truths written with very little research or insight of the topics discussed.

 

[SqualorVictoria]

The rage was primarily about treatment of the founders. Who are creatives and couldn't be expected to know about cash flow.

Stuart also said less swanky Mayfair offices might have helped. He was really raging.

Mayfair offices? How very typical of fake woke champagne socialists