cutting/restoring vintage aftershave

[bythbook]

A couple months ago I found on dbay a vintage gift set of Houbigant Fougere Royale. I was pursuing the unused NIB shaving soap.

In the gift set were also a can of scented talc (full, I think) and a half-bottle of aftershave.

I'm not sure whether the aftershave was used or... evaporated (from a capped bottle? Possible?), but in any event I would like to use this legendary juice.

It seems a little... sticky. I would like to expreriment with some small amounts in "restoring" this - cutting it, thinning it... without affecting the scent. Any ideas how I might go about that? Distilled water? Witch hazel? Some sort of alcohol? (what sort?) A drop of glycerin?

Any suggestions gladly heard!

 

[cvac]

I would be very careful messing with it. I suppose perfumers grade alcohol would be what has evaporated from it if that was indeed what happened. Perfumes and things like that can indeed evaporate when the cap is closed. That stuff is way old, and the seal was never 100% airtight to begin with. Look at auctions of vintage perfumes and such...you'll see evaporation all the time. It could also be purified water that has evaporated...bottom line is that you don't know the original formula of the AS so it might be hard to "restore" it. Is there an ingredients list on there?

Personally, I would just use it as is, as a concentrated aftershave. Dispense less into your palm than you normally would and apply it with wet hands to a wet face. Should resolve the stickiness if that's an issue. Witch hazel might alter the scent, and glycerin would make it more sticky, not less, so don't attempt to do that. I also would not attempt to use rubbing alcohol from the drugstore as that would probably mess with the scent too.

Actually, the person to talk to about this would be ClubmanRob, but he's not around anymore. I know he made several posts about vintage AS and such, like this one:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=79160

 

[coolbluewater]

What cvac said. Use 'em as is.

I have AS/EDTs 40+ years old and they only get better with age IMO.

 

[CCMphysician]

Don't do it. My undergrad degree was in chemical engineering and let me warn you that it is difficult to fix things once you mess them up, especially with a polar solvent like any of the alcohols. See the above advice.

-CCM

 

[bythbook]

sensible advice - thanks, gentlemen!

I will use (or not ) the stuff as is.