Do you remember any of Aesop's fables? I had a whole book of them and I used to love those stories (all with their self-righteous morals at the end of them). The only ones I can really remember are the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" (the most famous one) and the "Fox and the Grapes" (a lesser known fable about a fox who try as he might can't reach the hanging grapes and so storms off saying he didn't want them anyway...or something like that). Why I remember that latter fable is beyond me, but psychoanalyze that how you will.
Well the point is, Aesop of the renowned fables was good at telling stories, much like Aesop, the beauty brand does today. Their stores are beyond gorgeous with a pleasing rustic look and uniformity to them all. Those brown bottles are inexplicably appealing and even the linen shopping pouch they give with their products, though inconvenient to carry on its own, is adorable in its fake science-y way. And like many people I was suckered in by their branding and marketing. The look of the store draws you in, and if you're lucky and the store is empty, you might get a hand wash/massage with their products from a friendly sale associate who isn't creepy. But take the products home and what do you get? Some really overpriced so-so items in beautiful bottles.
Beauty products are hard to rate, since they affect people differently. So please take what I say with a grain of salt. But to me, Aesop products are a total dud. I bought the Chamomile Concentrate Anti-Blemish Masque, Control (another zit med), the Nurturing Shampoo, and the Classic Conditioner. A quick rundown of the products: Both anti-zit meds did nothing for my breakouts and in fact just irritated my skin (And a quick look at beautpedia, a good resource for skin products, tells me why. There's irritants in them both and nothing that actually prevents or treats zits) . The shampoo and conditioner just made my hair super flat (though very soft). The hair products weren't bad but definitely not worth the $49 I paid for each (I know I'm crazy for buying them, but I blame it on vacation brain. I bought them in Portland when we were on our airstream road trip). Though the products seem natural (maybe its their aesthetic?) they're not at all. Nor do they try to be. Which is fine, but for a non-natural product Neutrogena works two times better at half the price. So I suggest saving your money and resisting the well-marketed temptations of this store. But hey at least the bottles photographed nicely (and would look beautiful in a fancy bathroom...if I had a fancy bathroom).