A couple of weeks ago I came across a brand that I had kind of discounted as not being relevant to me and my beauty needs. I had Bronnley down as the brand that makes traditional boxes of soap that you buy for your Gran for Christmas that she then donates to the church raffle. So when this range for Christmas came onto my radar I hesitated before deciding to take a proper look and getting in touch with them. Straight away I could see that while Bronnley have retained some of their traditional English heritage products they’ve also made the brand fresh and relevant.
So I asked to take a closer look at a couple of the Christmas 2014 items:
New for 2014 is their Red Berry & Wild Blossom Fragrance . The soap tin is so gorgeous, it contains a single soap 50g (£6 ) and is available separately or as a set with the Eau de Toilette 50ml (£25). They say:
“This winter-fruit fragrance has top notes of mixed berries that surrenders to a citrus heart and rests on a bed of spicy pink pepper, rose and musk.”
For me I find this is a warm wintery fragrance that smells of fruit at first and then settles down to a sweet candy fragrance. It’s quite different to what I would have expected from Bronnley and is lovely and fresh- even a bit girly. Personally I prefer liquid to solid soap but I can understand that this is something inherent to the Bronnley brand that it’s hard for them to leave behind totally. I’d definitely purchase hand wash and hand cream in this fragrance if it were available.
If you’ve read more than one or two of my posts you’ll know that I often rate products by their packaging and this Eau de Toilette came in the beautifully designed box which was almost japanesque with its floral design and then opened up to show a gorgeous, heavy weight glass bottle with an atomiser. I love how it looks on my dressing table and I’m really pleased with it overall as a new addition to my fragrance collection.
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I’ve also been gifted this cute Christmas soap which is the Heritage Red Christmas Tree Soap Box – Apple & Cinnamon (£5). Basically this little box just contains the smell of Christmas!
So what do you think? Has this made you feel differently about Bronnley ? Or have you always loved it English traditional feel? Either way I think it’s taught me to be open to revisiting brands.
Hazel
These items were gifted to me for review. The views are my own.
strandonbeauty.com 
Quite frankly, albeit change us sometimes good, I prefer the classic ingredients and branding associated with Bronnley, and also Caswell Massey. Changing the product lines and packaging obviously was a marketing move to attract younger and perhaps trendier customers. When I see blends, I feel lost. If I want Rose or Sandalwood, it is because I am attracted to the essence of the tree or flower. The same holds true for wines. You have to sample a blend or taste a wine, to know if the bouquet is to your liking. My faves from Bronnley have been Passion Flower, Peony, and Rose. Apparently, those bath relaxants were either reformulated or discontinued. Call me old-fashioned, but felt also let down when Caswell Massey stopped making their Freesia line. Take it from one who works with mostly organic, essential oils… Nothing can replace the natural, healing properties of a pure flower, herb or wood essence.
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