The swear by products: a review of BuzzFeed shopping recommendations

Every one of BuzzFeed’s never ending, must-buy recommendation articles basically put me to sleep. It’s the same type of products every time, with the same recycled headlines describing how “life-changing” the products will be for me, how customers swear by them and how they can’t live without them. And sure, maybe there’s a market for it somewhere, but personally I feel like I could live without a clothing hanger organizer. 

But BuzzFeed insists on cranking out these one-note articles almost daily, bringing me to the big question: are these products really as amazing as they’re promised to be? To put them to the test, I ordered three products from their recommendations and spent a week trying them out. 

Baby Nessie

This cute Baby Nessie the Loch Ness Monster Tea Infuser caught my eye right away. I had seen other “Nessie” brand products like their ladles and strainers. But I tried out the tea steeper — place your tea leaves in it and into the hot water it goes. It’s bright blue, bendy, about four inches tall and, of course, shaped like the loch ness monster. 

I originally thought the steeper was for loose leaf tea — or tea leaves without a bag. After all, the product photos show Nessie filled with loose leaf tea. But upon closer inspection, there are large holes for the tea leaves to escape. As a result of my confusion, all of my passion tea leaves dispersed into the hot water after dunking Nessie in. Turns out, Nessie isn’t great for loose leaf tea — which was disappointing. I personally don’t see the point in buying a steeper for tea that’s already in a bag. 

But even though I don’t understand why tea bags make the most sense with this product, they’re really the best option. That is, unless you like a bit of crunch in your earl grey. For $12, I was expecting I could use loose leaf tea. However, that’s not to say Nessie is getting the boot. She’s adorable, I’ll give her points for that. If I’m looking for a way to spice up my boring mug, I’ll be sure to give Nessie a call.

Slice

This two and a half inch long paper and packaging slicer is surprisingly a blast. It’s a small blade that cuts through packages. It cuts like butter and yet it’s still super safe, featuring a ceramic blade that only sticks out a milliliter from the body of the slicer.

Using the slicer is amazingly simple. All I had to do was run it along my package without much pressure at all. I can run my finger along the blade without any worry of it being cut — leaving it safe for kids and cats. So no worries if your cat likes to paw at small objects. Plus, it’s magnetic. If I had a magnetic fridge, this slicer would certainly be featured on it. 

Given how easy it is to use, this slicer is definitely worth the $8 price. It quickly cuts open packages and is like a letter opener, but it’s safer and can be used for anything. It’s tempting just to spend all class cutting a Christmas decor catalog. It could come along with me anywhere: school, work and even through TSA without raising any eyebrows. 

Ring Adjuster

I don’t wear rings too often, but when I do, the ring is usually too big. When BuzzFeed recommended a ring adjuster kit, I was intrigued and decided to try it out. This $4 ring adjuster kit comes with a set of four clear, tightly-wound plastic springs to wrap around your ring to temporarily adjust the sizing. Once wrapped around the ring, you simply snip the excess material off. It allows for the ring to fit a bit more snug on your finger.

This product did its job and I was able to adapt my rings to fit the size of my fingers. Nothing too crazy, but definitely not underwhelming. I might actually consider wearing a ring now that I don’t have to stress about it slipping off my finger and into the sewer.

Buying a pack of these is also cost effective. I did the math and my guess is that you could likely adjust 16 rings with just one set. At only $4, it’s certainly cheaper and quicker than taking them to a jeweler. Now, borrowing your friend’s (or mom’s) rings is no problem.

I could see this becoming a staple item for those who scrounge for jewelry at garage sales, flea markets or any other place where their size isn’t always available.