LUXURY BRITISH HAND WASHES [THAT AREN'T AESOP!]
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Waking up to news that Aesop had sold to L’Oréal the day after I published a blog post singing the praises of their hand wash, and then realising they’d not been Australian owned for four years anyway, really did make me feel rather a lot less patriotic. Also kinda swizzed.
They’re not what they used to be, or maybe it’s that they’re no longer what I thought they were, so either way, while I still do love their hand wash, I won’t be buying it again. For me, they’re done now, and it’s laters Aesop, HELLO whole new world of luxury hand washes that are owned by smaller companies that I’d rather throw my money at.
Told you I was fickle.
To clarify, I have nothing against L’Oreal, aside from the fact they are still not on PETA’s cruelty-free list as far as I can find out, due to China’s archaic animal testing laws. This only ever reads as greed to me - pull out of the Chinese market and you don’t have to test on animals. This article on the PETA website goes into it more, and addresses L’Oreals very carefully worded statement on their own site. Smoke and mirrors people, smoke and mirrors.
Will you find L’Oreal brand products in my bathroom? Probably, I don’t claim to be a saint - far from it, but this has served as a reminder to myself to be more mindful when purchasing. Especially things like mascara that I tend not to put too much thought in to. I’m sure I’m not alone here, but that’s another conversation.
Aside from that, as an Antipodean, I loved supporting what used to be an Australian brand, but I do live in the UK, so of course I love to support British brands too, and they need our support now more than ever.
So ANYWAY, it turned out it was rather fortuitous that I happened to be in the midst of trialling some independent luxury British brands that really do give Aesop a run for their money, even before the L’Oreal news changed my outlook quite drastically.
At least I thought that was the case, but in another weirdly timed twist of fate, it came to my attention, after I had already produced the content to accompany this post, that L’Oreal also now own a minority stake in Margate based, salt of the earth brand, Haeckels. Say WHAT? Yeah that’s a weird one for me too if I’m honest. So in their case, they’re British made but no longer fully British owned. And to be fair if I’m going to point that out, I probably shouldn’t call Cowshed independent British owned either, as they’re owned by Soho House who are quite massive these days, and almost certainly have an element of non-British backing too. Hopefully not of the animal testing kind though. It’s an absolute minefield and really not my area of expertise, so it makes me kind of nervous to even mention any of the above as I don’t want to get it wrong, but so often everything is really not what it seems, which shouldn’t surprise me, but every now and then, it really does!
I’m not going to go into this any further, and you either care about these things or you don’t and you can make up your own mind, but what I can say, is that as far as I can glean from the information available at time of writing, that these products are at least all made in the UK, and Albamhor, Verden and Commune do seem to be independent businesses, if that’s even important to you.
Onwards with what was supposed to be a bit of frivolous fun rather than a dive into ownership and morals. It really started out as a comparison to Aesop price wise, which FYI, is currently £6.20 per 100mls. Oh how it spiralled.
So, what was I looking for when selecting products for this review before it got all complicated? What is the criteria for a hand wash to make the cut, and make it into my bathroom?
Firstly, it needed to be British made, and it had to work aesthetically for me in my home, with the packaging being either pretty simple and neutral but still interesting - like in the case of Haeckels, Verden and Cowshed, or really really beautiful - like in the case of Albamhor and Commune. Basically, if I didn’t like the packaging I didn’t consider it for this round up because it wasn’t coming in to the house.
Scent was super important too, but I had only smelt Cowshed before. The others were chosen based on scent description as I wasn’t able to smell them before purchasing in most cases. For hand wash, I generally like natural herbal, woody and citrus scents, nothing too floral.
Interestingly and also frustratingly, there is no one shop or department store that sells all five of these products to go and do an in person sniff-test, in fact, I ended up buying each of them from five different places which maybe shouldn’t surprise me, but did!
Just a note, that I don’t have particularly dry or sensitive hands, so I can’t vouch for any of these products from that perspective, but I certainly haven’t found any of them to be irritating or drying.
All the products I chose have pretty great credentials, being paraben and SLS free, and are synthetic fragrance free too.
In all instances the bottles are recyclable and the pumps are not, but they are reusable. Commune’s is metal with a tiny plastic element inside, and the rest are plastic.
How did each one perform?
Scent: Grapefruit, Bitter Orange and Lavender
Nice packaging, gorgeous scent, and the cheapest of this bunch. A really safe bet that was already on high rotation in our home.
Bottle: Plastic
Price and size: 500mls / £28
Price per 100mls: £5.60
Scent: Bladderwrack and Fennel
Turns out I’m not a massive fan of this scent which is very fennel heavy, but you’re in for a treat if you’re a fennel fan.
Bottle: Glass
Price and size: 450mls / £34
Price per 100mls: £7.55
Scent: Woods and smoky greens
I suspected Verden was the obvious heir to Aesop’s crown, and I was right. The downside is that its more expensive than Aesop, but the scent is divine. There are two other scents which I’ve smelt in the bottles only, but this was was definitely my favourite. They have a new fan.
Bottle: 99% Post Consumer Waste Plastic
Price and size: 500mls / £35 (refills are £34)
Price per 100mls: £7.00 / £6.80
Scent: Hay absolute, bell heather, myrtle, yarrow and burdock
Could this packaging be any more beautiful? I think not! Other Albamhor products include shampoo and conditioner, body wash, and hand and body lotion, so you could fill your bathroom with the whole range and be surrounded by the stunning bottles. The product is lovely too, quite a subtle scent, but for me it’s all about those ridiculously pretty bottles.
Bottle: Glass
Price and size: 375mls / £33
Price per 100mls: £8.80
Scent: Lavender, Grapefruit and Lemongrass
It was also love at first sight for me with Commune - refreshingly different from anything else on the market and their credentials are excellent. The scent is right up my street, and the infinitely recyclable aluminium bottle, plus much cheaper refill price pushed them over the edge as my overall favourite. Nice one Commune!
Bottle: Aluminium
Price and size: 500mls / £40 (refills are £30)
Price per 100mls: £8 / £6
Let me know if you try any of these or already have. And of course if I’ve missed any that I really need to try that fit the criteria let me know!