What vintage soaps do my fellow Shave Den-izens think are worth trying? I've used vintage Williams, and like it a bit better than the modern version (which is also good). It's not as much better as some people claim, and it's hard to find at a reasonable price. I paid $30 for two Old Spice mugs that also came with a puck of bicentennial Williams. Vintage Old Spice. I haven't used up the one puck I have yet. Very nice lather, and I think the scent has faded over time, which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned; I like faint scents. Probably would never buy it at the prices I've seen lately. Mine was $20 including another OS mug. What else? I gather that Yardley is some sort of holy grail soap, but no soap is worth the prices I've seen for this. Still, if I ever can find some at a bargain price I'd like to try it. Colgate? Easier to find, but doesn't seem to have much of a reputation. Anyone tried it? Apparently there was an old tallow version of Surrey that was pretty good. I have one puck of the newer glycerin version, which is basically VdH under a different name. What am I not mentioning? What discontinued soaps do people recommend?
I've only used vintage Williams and OS myself. Borrored this list from another site: Aramis (Aramis), 1970s, tallow, Aramis family scent Avon (Avon), Gentlemen's Regiment; Today's Man, Skin-So-Soft Aywon Shave Stick, est. 1950-1065, tallow Boellis Panama, 1924 Burgandy (Marks & Spencer) Burma-Shave (Burma-Shave) Colgate Tonsorial (Colgate) Corvette Courtley Crabtree & Evelyn Sandalwood (Crabtree & Evelyn), 1980s, sandalwood scent Currier & Ives (Williams) Cusson's, Imperial Leather; Royal Guard Dubarry Silkashave Erasmic Shave Stick (Erasmic) Fenwicke (Fenwicke), est. 1950s-1960s, tallow, lavender Harwick (Hawick?) Hoffritz Houbigant Fougere Royale House of Croydon House of Men HIS International Badger Corporation Kanon Langlois, pre-1963, lavender scent Lentheric MacGregor Macy's Morning Pep Norseman Old Spice (Shulton) Oowana Shave Stick (Oowana Soap & Candle Co., Ltd.), est. 1900s-1920s Paisley's Pear's Shave Stick Penhaligon's English Fern; Blenheim Bouquet (Tallow 1st; Tallow 5th) Potter & Moore Po-Do (Walgreen Co.), 1930s Ralph Lauren Safari (Ralph Lauren), tallow Rawleigh Roger et Gallet L'Homme Royal London Silver; Gold Seaforth! ;Heather & Fern Sportsman Stag Tally-Ho Tawn Valor Vintage Wrisley Spruce Soap Wembden Whisk-Off, est. 1930s. Williams Mug Soap (Williams), 1930-present Williams Shave Stick (Williams), est. 1920s-1940s, tallow, rose scent Williams Tonsorial (Williams) Williams Currier & Ives bowl Woods of Windsor Wrisley Lavender; Saddle Club; Spruce Yardley (Yardley), est. 1930s-1970s, tallow, lavender scent; English Lavender shaving Stick
I really like the tallow versions of Trumper and Penhaligons. I don't know if I would call them "vintage" but they are no longer made. Vintage Yardley is also an excellent soap.
Hiya, My experience with vintage soaps is sadly limited to maybe 3-4 items. That would include Williams, Yardley, and Surrey. I've also tried Burma Shave soap, but that's only recently become extinct. Heh, I'm waiting for some 30-35 year old Halston soaps that I recently found, but no idea how they're gonna work or smell. Speaking of scent, don't plan on much being left if the soap was exposed to the air. Even if it wasn't, the fragrance might well have faded somewhat anyway after all those years. My suggestion would be to try as many of the old pucks of whatever you might run across....long as the price isn't nuts. They're gonna be a crapshoot anyway, and you don't wanna sink a bunch of cash into a nasty old piece of awfulness. Chances are, whatever you find will perform well, but you never know. Heh, no returns on sales like this if you don't like the performance or scent. I've read lots of various vintage soap reviews over the years, and the vast majority were positive. My experience with em would echo those opinions. Martin
Here are a bunch of vintage soaps, as well as shave sticks, but they are not from North America--they are from Europe. 1) Shavallo (England) 2) Masculin (France) 3) Splendid (Greece) 4) Barnangens Parba (a stick from Sweden, and great) 5) Hega (a stick from Sweden, and great) 6) Gibbs (a stick from France, and great) 7) Dalli-Werke (a stick from Germany, and great) 8) Springreiter (a stick from Germany, and great)
I tried the Colgate. I had high hopes for it. I was disappointed. I will try it again just to be sure though.
I love this stuff..... It's worth whatever you have to pay to get it. These were both still sealed and smell heavenly.... [/IMG] [/IMG]
It's great,Lady said it was in her fathers basement for 40 years.I believe it,I had to twist the top off with pliers.
THE best vintage shaving soap is Old Spice. They don't make 'em like they used to anymore. I only have one so I use it on special occasions only - a great shave each and every time!