Yardley Vintage Shave Soap

I first tried this stuff many years back, when even half-used bowls were selling for $50-75 and every other reviewer was calling it the best shaving soap out there. I stacked it up against Vintage Williams and it fell short.

Now that prices have come down quite a bit, I gave it another shot, and it really is quite good, stacked up against most soaps that aren't Vintage Williams.

Price is low for open bowls now (<$20) but still high for sealed ones (>$50)
I've never had a bowl with scent left, so I can't rate the scent.

EL Alamein;301276 said:

I can't be sure though as I'm not a soap spe......t and I'm not old enough to remember.

Click to expand...

I sense an overprotective bulletin board filter. CÎALIS. haha UPDATE: Apparently this filter has been removed.

Yardley is the best shaving soap I've had the pleasure to use. My ratings on price is due to the wide variety of prices one might see for a vintage bowl that dates anywhere from thr 1930's to the 1980's. The scents on these soaps have faded, but are still quite nice in a subdued way. Pictured is a mid- to late-50's example of the soap. The plastic seal had just been popped off.



The lather that Yardley provides is very slick and cushioning. It's thick and glossy and doesn't deteriorate quickly. I am often able to skip any aftershave after shaving due to the fantastic moisturizing/conditioning properties this tallow based soap provides. It's a shame it is no longer manufactured.

The lather of this old classic is second to none in it's time. Even today many of the vaunted shaving soaps are not quite in the same eschelon as this one.

The AOS soaps though are the modern equivalent and provide the moisturizing that this soap lacks.

My guess with moisturizing is that the old Yardley probably did a better job when new, but those emolients dried out or broke down. You have to remember this stuff is 50 or more years old. I can't be sure though as I'm not a soap specialist and I'm not old enough to remember.

If you have sensitive skin the AOS and Yardley are the soap of choice. They have no equal IMHO.

Chris

Im a newbie to this stuff so I will try my best here. I purchased an old bowl of this online in the search of the old nostalgic barber salon soap (this was before I found this site). The shave soap was never used and in pristine condition. Upon arriving the first thing I did was to clean the old wooden bowl as well as run several passes of a bristle brush over the top to remove any old aging stuff.

The scent is a gentle coconut aroma backed with slight cardamom woody notes. It lathers up quite nicely and goes on good. It did lack a bit of moisturizing and left the face a bit dry but overall it was an decent shave. I wouldnt recommend it if you need extra moisturizing, for all others who are willing to try an old english classic, you can find them on ebay auctions.