I recently acquired a bowl (never opened) and a container of talc on ebay. The brand is Fenwicke which of course now out of business. I have no way of dating this but would estimate 50's or maybe 60's? I honestly have no idea. Anyways......the talc smells absolutely phenomenal.....the most manly lavender scent I have ever smelled btw! Musk meets lavender and that is what it is! The talc is almost gone if that gives you an idea! The soap on the other hand was done:mad: Very clay-like earthy smell with no lavender scent at all. I would be willing to bet that there is 100% chance that this is tallow based. Anyways....the scent sucked....should I chuck it? No. I found a scent...Lacoste original with I love and adore which of course is from like 1983 bit still awesome! I sprayed 4 squirts a day for 5 days and let it set in. Wrong? maybe. Alcohol evaporated and the scent sunk in damn it! I havent spoke a word about my experiment on here at all and here are the results! Put a few drops of hot water on the puck to soften up......lather up as normal......wow! this stuff works and the smell is erupting out of the bowl! The shave must suck...right? Lather up as usual and brush on face......and then the shave.....HOLY $%#@~! Unreal! Not as good as Tabac but better than T&H, most glycerines, etc. The scent is a bit overwhelming since I am a moron and dont know how to add scents to a 40-50 year puck of soap! The smell is incredible and lasts throughout the shave and afterwards. I have lathered 8 times with the experiment and still am able to achieve the Lacoste scent.....very heavily to be exact. How for did it seep?I have no idea? It is not as hard as a triple milled soap and soft as say Tabac or a glycerine. Overall....I am satisfied. Am i going to shave everyday with it? No. It does give me a good shave and actually pretty moisturizing! I dont need an AS since the Lacoste is very heavy and any extra scent isnt needed! Maybe after some time I might need to reload? I am just happy that things worked out and I have a vintage shave soap which I can use
Ah, this is a subject which gives me pleasure to discuss. I have a couple of vintage Shavallo shaving soaps, which have a great lather, smell nice, and date back to the 1930's or 1940's. The company was in the UK I believe, and hasn't been around in ages. Man, is this old soap ever fabulous.
You would love it, if you like these old tallow soaps. They come up on ebay here and there. The Yardleys is the best I ever had...............
I am amazed that 1. the stuff still performs great! 2. I didnt screw it up with adding cologne. I do think i added to much but luckily there is no irritation. I can still smell it on my palms after a couple of hours and a hand washing!
I once added some Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce cologne to a puck of Col Conk amber soap via melting and mixing, and ended up with a complete disaster. I added waaayyy too much cologne, and it was seriously drying! Proceed with caution!
Old soaps are fantastic. I have Yardley, Old Spice, McConnon, and Baker's. None of them have any scent at all and that suits me just fine. They all produce glorious, luscious lather.
Great find! I have some very old soaps and even though the scent has faded, they still lather very well.
