Rose hands

There is a rose product that I use everyday and it is Baylis & Harding's Wild Rose and Raspberry Leaf Hand Wash. Unfortunately, having done a Google search the other day, it seems as though Baylis & Harding has a bit of a bad reputation which I wasn't aware of until my search. "Cheap copy of another more high end product" (in a derogative tone) seems to be the words I come across often. Well, I don't quite agree. It's true that it's cheap but only in an affordable way and yes, it's true that the packaging looks uncannily similar to Molton Brown's packaging, right down to the silver neck and shape of the pattern on the bottle. That is perhaps one thing that annoys me a bit about Baylis & Harding, as I don't like products that try to fool the customer. I'm sure a few people that aren't too switched on would mistaken Baylis & Harding as the "posh liquid soap", while thinking of Molton Brown. That's not very honest. But other than that, I have nothing against Baylis & Harding. In my opinion, the products they make are actually very good.

It's clear that the Molton Brown products seem more luxurious but Baylis & Harding doesn't fare too badly either. Okay, it's not going to be at the same level as Molton Brown (but how can you expect it to be at £2 for 500ml for Baylis & Harding as opposed to £15 for 300ml for Molton Brown - that makes the Molton Brown 12.5 times more expensive!) especially in terms of exciting fragrance combinations, such as  pomegranate with essential oils of ginger, black pepper and cardamom (pictured below) but Baylis & Harding's is also very good quality, especially when considering the price.

• Molton Brown
• luxury product
• exciting fragrances that contain essential oils (however, remember that these essential oils make up only a tiny part of the whole product)
• £5 per 100ml

• Baylis & Harding
• affordable product
• great fragrance
  [I am currently waiting for an ingredient list from Molton Brown customer services so that I can compare it with that of Baylis & Harding and see what the difference is. EDIT: this is now on my new post ] 
• 40p per 100ml

The Wild Rose and Raspberry Leaf hand wash is actually really lovely. The rose scent is very well done, being fresh and fruity enough not to smell tacky and well... "cheap". I'm not entirely sure where the rasberry leaf is in the fragrance but perhaps it refers to the slightly green feel to the smell, which I feel is part of making the rose smell like good quality rose water. I think fragrances don't need to be made out of essential oils to smell wonderful. Many perfumers make use of synthetic fragrances and will fantastic resutls. As for the soap, it doesn't lather up as much as some of the other soaps that I have used in the past but I believe that is one of the reasons why it is very gentle on my skin. As I tend to over wash my hands, it's a good thing. The scent lingers on for just long enough to be pleasant but not in an obtrusive way. (I hate it for example when I can smell soapy smells when I'm trying to enjoy my food).

So all in all, this hand wash does exceptionally well and I love it because it's so affordable. As much as I love luxury products like Molton Brown, I really can't afford to use something so pricey on a daily basis. And it's certainly much better than all this antibacterial nonsense I keep on coming across in supermarkets and pharmacies. Since when do we need antibacterial handwash when simple soaps and handwash will do? These antibacterial handwashes tend to stress out my skin and unless you're working in the laboratory or in a hospital, it's really overkill.

Oh and one more thing, the packaging in pretty and looks lovely in my bathroom :)