AOS Sandalwood declining in quality?

[Mr_Legolas]

Recently I have been reading reviews of the AOS sandalwood seems more watered down and the lather being not so creamy like before but more foamy instead.

Just when I was thinking of buying a Sandalwood tub, I see these. Just wanted to see if any recent buyers are finding this.

Please let me know folks! Thanks.


Legolas

 

[sarimento1]

I have a recent tube and it's great. possibly, even richer than previously. you may have gotten a bad tub or one with some heat exposure. I suggest taking it back to AOS for a replacement. They are great about that stuff. Replaced a two year old shedding brush with a new one for me.

 

[CleanSweep]

I haven't used their Sandalwood shave cream for about 7-8 years now. It was my favorite. I always liked AOS sandalwood products, but have recently gone to using Proraso shave cream (sandalwood) and find it far less expensive and every bit as high quality with a very similar (almost identical) sandalwood scent as the AOS creams. Problem with genuine sandalwood and the essential oil is that it is not as plentiful as it once was. The government of India has controlled all harvest and export of it in recent years. What is available is very expensive. Maybe because of this, the AOS has scaled back the quantity or quality of the sandalwood oils/fragrance being used today. Can't say for sure as I haven't bought anything new from AOS since about early 2005.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

Problem with genuine sandalwood and the essential oil is that it is not as plentiful as it once was...What is available is very expensive. Maybe because of this, the AOS has scaled back the quantity or quality of the sandalwood oils/fragrance being used today.

I can't speak to the cream quality, as I haven't used it since P&G switched its manufacture from England to the US. However, I have just recently been to the AOS store in my area and smelled the cream and ASB, and I can say the scent is the same as it always has been.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

The AOS sandalwood scent has always been a proprietary blend that doesn't smell that much like real sandalwood oil. It's anybody's guess how much real oil they put in there; the ingredients list doesn't list any essential oil as an ingredient at all - just "fragrance." The front label says "sandalwood essential oil," so presumably there is some in there. However, given the complexity of the scent, combined with its strength, I'd say it's a good bet perfume oils comprise a significant portion of the scenting complex.

Here's what I do know: the scent has not changed in the nine years since I first smelled it. The price has only slightly increased since that time, but no more than any of the other AOS products; all AOS products have had slight price increases since P&G took over, and all products of a given type have the same price, irrespective of range. (E.g., all the shaving creams have the same price, whether sandalwood, lemon, lavender, unscented, or ocean kelp.) We can all speculate as to what this actually means.

 

[CleanSweep]

I can't speak to the cream quality, as I haven't used it since P&G switched its manufacture from England to the US. However, I have just recently been to the AOS store in my area and smelled the cream and ASB, and I can say the scent is the same as it always has been.

I had no idea that P&G was now making the AOS shave creams.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

I had no idea that P&G was now making the AOS shave creams.

P&G took over AOS in 2009. For the first year or two, no changes were apparent. In the last couple of years, P&G is really flexing its muscle. Many of the core products have been reformulated and are now made by different manufacturers. (Odds are, P&G simply stopped outsourcing manufacture and now makes all products in-house, but that's just a guess.) P&G also instituted the first across-the-board price hikes since I started using the brand in 2004. I'm not bashing P&G - there's a lot they're doing right with the brand; I'm just stating objective facts.

 

[CleanSweep]

P&G took over AOS in 2009. For the first year or two, no changes were apparent. In the last couple of years, P&G is really flexing its muscle. Many of the core products have been reformulated and are now made by different manufacturers. (Odds are, P&G simply stopped outsourcing manufacture and now makes all products in-house, but that's just a guess.) P&G also instituted the first across-the-board price hikes since I started using the brand in 2004. I'm not bashing P&G - there's a lot they're doing right with the brand; I'm just stating objective facts.

Interesting. Looks like I've beed away from AOS products for so long I had no idea. Then again I only used their shave cream and after shave balms on a regular basis from about late 2000 until sometime in early 2005. After that I had other priorities that I needed to spend my money on. I've recently come back to using a more specialized shave cream. And I do still have an old jar with a small amount of AOS cream left at the bottom, but aside from that I don't do the "rotation" thing as many here seem to. Just never been one to keep many shave products (creams, lotions, soaps, etc) on hand at any given time either. What I have is mostly limited to what I'm using at the moment, and tend to make a switch only after I've used up what I'm currently using, but that's just how I do it. I have since been sticking with Proraso tube shave cream because it's great quality, performs, convenient to pack when traveling, readily available, priced pretty attractive, and lasts a long time. It uses very little sandalwood essential oil, as that is listed last on the ingredient list, but seems to smell very similar (just not as strong) as the old AOS stuff I once used.

 

[sarimento1]

i fully recognize how much sandalwood has escalated in recent years; it's now 4x to 6x the cost of most other essential oils.
i spent many years in the flavor and drink industry; in order to be 'easy to do business with', customers wanted to have consistent, average prices. so, there were always variations in margins from one SKU to another. Just a fact of life.