Why are some people snobby about Baylis and Harding?

[hollielouise66]

I remember a thread this time last year from a mum whose daughter had given her a Baylis and Harding gift set for Christmas that she planned to regift .

My daughter (14) gave me one yesterday (the Mulberry Fizz set). It looks pretty and smells nice. More than that, I knew she'd have been chuffed to bits that she had found something affordable, which looked festive and which she knew I would like. Granted, it's not the poshest brand in the world but it couldn't have made me happier...

@Lanaa

It's really cheap and nasty. It's no better than buying a 20p bottle of sls based, economy bubble bath. B&H is just packaged in those faux posh bottles to deceive people.

Not long ago it was sold in Poundland, but their marketing people did a fantastic job of rebranding so people actually think it's decent.

So is Molton Brown though- or anything else. It is all the same whatever the price!

It makes me chuckle how some brands are deemed a "knock off" of a higher end product, and others are considered "fantastic dupes" (I'm looking at you Aldi Lacura)

I think anything which copies the packaging is a knockoff but can also be a great "dupe".

A dupe doesn't have to copy packaging etc.

I can't really respect a brand that does well by passing itself off as something else.

Oooh I love toiletries for xmas

You pay for the fancy packaging that tries to make it look expensive, at the cost of a crap quality product inside.

No snobbery at all. I’m poor like church mouse.
I used to work as cleaner in posh London families. Most of them had Molton Brown as their bathroom soap.
I endlessly sniffed various scents of MB and even it seemed to pricey for me- I loved it and since that I always use MB as my shower gel since 2005.
Once I got Bayliss set from my MIL- she mixed it up as bootlegs loooed similar to her.
I tested it, it was terrible. MB is rich and lathers in foam- delicious smell.
BH was like supermarket soap.

I’d have been delighted if my teenage daughter had bought me that.

I had a set years and years ago that was grapefruit and something, and I could hardly smell it, but it could well have been out of date, but I’ve used a hand wash more recently in a pub called Fuzzy Duck I think, and it was lovely with a more intense fragrance, and didn’t make my sensitive skin itchy.

We use Molton Brown and L’occitane products, and body shop, and dove and Nivea, and Radox and sometimes Aldi. I hate the way some people here are so scathing and joyless. Half of them seem to think that adults shouldn’t receive or want presents at all. Your daughter used her money to buy you a lovely pampering present and you’ll be touched and pleased every time you use it. She sounds like a lovely thoughtful girl who loves her mum.

OP - sounds like a lovely gift.

I would certainly not regift any B&H if given to me. Toiletries always come in useful.

MB - interesting some people think it is worth the extra money. The bottles look pretty etc but I can never bring myself to buy even as a gift.

I don't like Bayliss and Harding because I think it doesn't smell like much and because the consistency is like jelly. But it's not a snobbery thing for me. Most of my makeup is cheap brands. For example I love Natural Collection from Boots. Cheap and lovely.

However if I received it as a gift I would be grateful.

It's just cheap and cheerful. There's nothing wrong with it.

I have some friends who insist on Molton Brown. You can't really tell the difference unless you're sniffing it like cocaine. A hand wash is a hand wash!

@BlaBlaSmthSmth

"I think though it's the lack of thought"

"I would most definitely regift a Bayliss and Harding gift set."

What I find funny is the people who will regift something right after bemoaning the fact that it's a shit, thoughtless gift.
Well it's more thoughtful than than giving someone an unwanted gift from the back of your cupboard 🤣

Totally agree! Maybe only those people deserve thought?

@Bitofachinwag

So what is the actual difference between the ingredients in cheaper products and "high end" products?

A fool and his money are soon parted.

I use Aldi hand cream and budget make up etc and don't think i am particularly snobbish but I don't like Baylis and Harding handwash because i find it dries my skin out. Strips all the natural oils for me. Anyone else find this? Bottles look pretty though. Would rather have Simple brand hand soap or something like that in a bathroom. Not expensive but gentle.

Right now, i wouldn't be snobby about aby present. Times are hard.

Because some people operate under the delusion that they achieve a step up by declaring that something is beneath them.

@Lanaa

It's really cheap and nasty. It's no better than buying a 20p bottle of sls based, economy bubble bath. B&H is just packaged in those faux posh bottles to deceive people.

Not long ago it was sold in Poundland, but their marketing people did a fantastic job of rebranding so people actually think it's decent.

Maybe they had to add the markup to pay the marketing budget. 🤔

I like it. I agree that I'd be a bit put out if it was my sole present from DH but I'd buy it for my bathroom.

I love the notion that there's a huge mark up on b&h but Molton Brown is sold at cost price. A famously not for profit organisation.

@Sittingonthefence83

Snobbery

Bingo!

And everyone on MN is a snob. People would sooner die than shop in Iceland.

Agree that if you think a gift is thoughtless and shit (no matter what it is) then giving it someone else is equally thoughtless and shit. It's odd that some people think that they deserve such thoughtful gifts yet won't afford others the same.

You just need to look at some of the attitudes on this thread to understand the snobbery that some people have, even when they say they don't. It's embarrassing.

I have had to explain to DH that buying a B&H gift set for a female relative would be like someone buying him a Lynx gift set. He just sees fancy packaging and assumes it’s a fancy product.

I buy B&H hand soap regularly though as it smells nice, does the job and looks nice next to the sink!

I admit im a Molton Brown girl through and through but this year my DD bought me a B and H glass light up bottle of bubble bath and i must confess it smells lovely. Havent used any of it yet but i will because she bought it for me.

So what is the actual difference between the ingredients in cheaper products and "high end" products ?

I would say it massively depends on the specific product as in some a lot of cases there isn’t one.

@Bitofachinwag

So what is the actual difference between the ingredients in cheaper products and "high end" products?

@Bitofachinwag I don’t really think there is any difference in the ingredients. Molton Brown just spend more on marketing to make you think it is ‘posh’ . Reading some of the threads on MN it seems like this works.

There is defintely a difference in thr ingredients,

From perfume quality to oils, to base products, I have both Baylis and molton brown bath soaps and even blind folded I could tel the difference.

Snobbery

And by posting on here that you don’t like it of course let’s others know that you have good taste

I shop in Iceland!! And dont use B&H

I use B&H and don’t shop in Iceland.

I got some yesterday by my dhs relative. There was more thinking in the wrapping of the present than in the actual present. I’m tempted to put it up for free or give it to a charity.