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Original poster

Baylis & Harding is shit isn't it?

359 replies

DuckWillow · 05/11/2019 12:13

It's all I see in the shops, beautifully packaged and expensive sets. However having sampled them I am always left underwhelmed.

The bottles look like they've been made as cheaply as possible. They buckle the moment you've opened them.
The fragrances are so minor as to be virtually unnoticeable.
Same with the creams and body lotions.
They always seem all style and no substance.

Or am I being unreasonable?

As an aside they are among the most donated unused items our charity gets for raffles. So they do have a use Grin

OP posts:
Anjo2011 · 22/09/2021 13:34

I’m not a fan but it’s cheap as chips and some folk think it’s fancy. If I were to choose I wouldn’t pick it. Saying that I would choose that rather than having nothing to wash my hands with.

Lunde · 22/09/2021 13:34

You need to be careful these days as a lot of the Bayliss & Harding available online is fake and makes my hands itch. The real stuff does not

WoozySnoozy · 22/09/2021 13:38

@Lunde

You need to be careful these days as a lot of the Bayliss & Harding available online is fake and makes my hands itch. The real stuff does not
Really?! Who is selling fake B&H? The real stuff is very affordable.
TheKeatingFive · 22/09/2021 13:39

I HRTFT

However, this brand seems to attract an entirely disproportionate amount of hate on here. It’s just a cheap n cheerful knock off of MB. Buy it, don’t buy it, but I don’t understand the strong feelings.

CounsellorTroi · 22/09/2021 13:42

I expect there’ll be an anti Thornton’s thread along soon. They seem to attract disproportionate hate too!

Hoppinggreen · 22/09/2021 13:43

It’s cheap so it’s well, , cheap
You can’t expect good quality at that price.
However, if you’re on a tight budget then it’s not the worst thing to give or receive and I don’t get the snobbery around it

Pipsquiggle · 22/09/2021 13:45

Initially, about 10 years ago when they first came out, Baylis & Harding were actually quite good and their sole aim was to be an 'affordable' Molton Brown - everything - branding, bottle shape, pump was a Moltin Brown copycat.

It did very, very well, grew rapidly and now gone up it's own arse a bit.

Over time, it's been cost engineered down. Formulas aren't as good as they once were.

Usually, the most expensive part of the formulation is the fragrance/ smell. At first, I am pretty sure they used actual proper extract, now it's synthetic crap.

Hortibunda · 22/09/2021 13:48

Keatingfive I think that's why it attracts the hatred it does, because it's marketed as something it isn't, like Ferrero Rocher; "ambassador you are spoiling us!" Grin

I used to give friends and family presents from L'Occitane and while their products are good quality, their packaging has got smaller and smaller while the prices have increased. And the amount of cardboard in the packaging is ridiculous!

TheKeatingFive · 22/09/2021 13:52

I think that's why it attracts the hatred it does, because it's marketed as something it isn't, like Ferrero Rocher; "ambassador you are spoiling us!

Hmm, I guess. However I don’t think they ever consciously presented themselves as luxury and the price point clearly wasn’t, so I think it’s a bit of a misinterpretation.

FR is tongue in cheek. Doesn’t everyone get that? 😆

I’d love a FR now!

Ireolu · 22/09/2021 13:53

We have a few bottles of the stuff in cupboards from last year when no liquid soap due to CV-19. It's horrible stuff that gave me bad hand eczema but hate throwing stuff away. Wonder if charity shop will take them...

TheOnlyMrsM · 22/09/2021 13:57

The exception for me in the B&H range is their Jasmine and Apple Blossom anti-bacterial hand wash. We all use it at the kitchen and bathroom sinks. It's cheap and cheerful at £2 for 500ml or less when on offer. It does the job, the fragrance is gentle and, unlike many other hand wash liquid soaps, it doesn't make my skin dry and sore.

Don't get me started on last year's Sainsbury's Christmas hand wash: it made the water red, dyed things red, the fragrance was too strong and it was very drying.

Thewiseoneincognito · 22/09/2021 14:00

Poorly done Molton Brown dupes. Like the Olivia Blake garbage from TKMAXX and Homesense which is a rip off of Jo Malone.

SpeckledlyHen · 22/09/2021 14:00

@Bluntness100

Th difference between Baylis and Molton brown is worlds apart. Genuinely.
Couldn't agree more.
Bigbonesmeatandgravy · 22/09/2021 14:01

I think it's pretty good for the price

leavesthataregreen · 22/09/2021 14:01

It really isn't all shit. It's just weirdly variable. I bought some rose and geranium liquid hand soap from them that is divine and the scent really lingers. Bought some Oud and Frankinscence for DC that smells of nothing. I think you just have to smell it before you buy.

TertiusLydgate · 22/09/2021 14:02

It's cheap and nasty. The sort of thing they try and flog at the tills in Dunelm.

Hortibunda · 22/09/2021 14:02

FR is tongue in cheek. Doesn’t everyone get that? 😆

Yes the updated advert was, the original one was shot for Eastern Europe.

knittingaddict · 22/09/2021 14:03

@TheKeatingFive

I think that's why it attracts the hatred it does, because it's marketed as something it isn't, like Ferrero Rocher; "ambassador you are spoiling us!

Hmm, I guess. However I don’t think they ever consciously presented themselves as luxury and the price point clearly wasn’t, so I think it’s a bit of a misinterpretation.

FR is tongue in cheek. Doesn’t everyone get that? 😆

I’d love a FR now!

When you google B and H it says on the google link "sustainable luxury". I think it's clear that they want to present themselves as a luxury brand, which it isn't. It also says on the website, against one of the products, "bring luxury home". Mentions luxury in the our story bit too.
TheOnlyMrsM · 22/09/2021 14:06

For many people on very tight budgets it might well be a luxury, so let's not knock that.

TheKeatingFive · 22/09/2021 14:11

When you google B and H it says on the google link "sustainable luxury". I think it's clear that they want to present themselves as a luxury brand, which it isn't. It also says on the website, against one of the products, "bring luxury home". Mentions luxury in the our story bit too.

Well sure, but at that price point it’s not exactly Chanel so I would have thought people could figure it out.

TheKeatingFive · 22/09/2021 14:13

For many people on very tight budgets it might well be a luxury, so let's not knock that.

Yes, absolutely. I just don’t get why people would be expecting a high end brand at that price.

knittingaddict · 22/09/2021 14:13

@TheOnlyMrsM

For many people on very tight budgets it might well be a luxury, so let's not knock that.
Yes that's true, but there is a line when something crosses over into being actually luxury and B and H are not it. Some of it is perfectly nice for the price and I do quite like the Goodness range. Just wish they would change the packaging to something more readily recycled, but then it probably wouldn't look as posh.
Redburnett · 22/09/2021 14:16

Always read the ingredients list, if the first listed is 'aqua' it is likely the product will be ..... watery.

Shimy · 22/09/2021 14:16

I've still got my baylis & Harding xmas present all nicely presented in a Baylis & Harding handbag. What can be worse than a Baylis & Harding handbag?

TheKeatingFive · 22/09/2021 14:17

I wonder if their ‘mistake’ was aping MB too well? People feel there’s a danger of being taken in and they hate that feeling?

I say ‘mistake’ presumably they’ve done well out of people not paying much attention and confusing the two.