Lustray Spice & OS knockoff

[FireDragon76]

I got some Lustray Spice today in the mail from Amazon as it is not available locally.

The scent is not like Old Spice, it's not floral at all. It's reminiscent of Lustray's Bay Rum, but with a musky patchouli base. The fragrance is weak, which means you can use quite a bit as aftershave without assaulting everyone around you with fragrance, something you can't do with alot of "aftershave colognes". Definitely a "splash on" aftershave.

I also got some Old Spice knockoff perfume oil from an Indian eBay vendor (Perfume Depot). I mixed it in about a 4 percent solution with perfumer's alcohol and I'll have to see how it turns out in a day or two. Initial impressions are that it doesn't smell quite like the real thing, less so than the Vi-Jon copy, but it's close, and reminiscent of the fragrance copycats you find in drugstores. I put some into an empty Old Spice bottle I had laying around, using a syringe (don't worry it's a P&G bottle and nothing too valuable). I also decanted some Vi-Jon Spice Scent aftershave into a 4 ounce Shulton bottle I got off eBay a few days ago.

 

[Mr. Bonney]

Sounds like a fun experiment.
I recently found a Lighthouse decanter full of what I'm assuming is vintage OS, and it smells more like a rose bush that spice. Avon Spicy still rings supreme for me, though Vi-Jon is a great inexpensive splash.

 

[FireDragon76]

I'm doing a blotter test (and sniffing alot of coffee to clear my nose). The Perfume Depot's Old Spice is a close match to Vijon, except Vijon is slightly weaker (maybe 2/3 3/4 strength) And PD OS in a 3% alcohol solution seems right on the money for smelling almost exactly like vintage Old Spice aftershave (I have some in a glass bottle from back when P&G was distributing Shulton's Old Spice).

I do not have any vintage OS cologne to compare. A 4% solution seems too weak as compared to the modern cologne. Also, I am picking up a note of red pimento in the new P&G stuff. And if pimento is in the Vijon/PD stuff, it's very muted.

The new Old Spice cologne reminds me a bit of Jamaican bay rum in terms of the top and middle notes, and I'm not getting that so far in the other samples.

 

[FireDragon76]

I did another round of blotter tests just to double check and I think the vintage OS DOES have pimento in it after all, as I can detect some, albeit fainter aftershave strength. Whereas I believe the top notes of Vijon and PD are different, and do not have pimento. I believe OS may be using real red pimento as an ingredient, and that accounts for the difference from all the knockoffs. I also believe that the new P&G fragrance and the older Shulton fragrance I have are identical, except for dilution.

So, I don't think P&G is lying when they say they are using the same formula. Perhaps the strength has changed. I'll have to wait and study the drydown.

I'm starting to really appreciate Old Spice. I never noticed it before but it has a nice Jamaican bay rum kind of vibe- it has the base of an Oriental type cologne, but the heart is a blend of Old World and New World. The nautical theme actually fits that in some ways, perhaps unintentionally. I don't know how old the nautical branding was- before it was a man's fragrance, it was a nostalgic American women's fragrance, and was still sold as a woman's fragrance until 1970, with only very subtle differences, if any, from the men's cologne.

Edit: I think I've discovered what may be going on. My perfumer's alcohol base is fixing the pimento down more than P&G or Shulton's product (since I added isopropyl myristate to my fragrance). It's really only noticeable with the cologne strength, not the aftershave. P&G's OS cologne has an explosive quality to the pimento that really tickles your nose, and it's lacking in my fragrance . My fragrance resembles the drydown moreso, but will probably last longer on the skin and can be used in larger quantities. So I believe they are both the same strength, probably a 4% solution.

I'm fairly confident the knockoffs, P&G's product, and Shulton's vintage Old Spice are all relatively on par in terms of what they smell like. There may be differences but I'm guessing in blind testing most people would not be able to tell the difference.