Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Curious to know what the vendor says. I got the plastic looking one from one vendor and then got an email from another vendor that they have the old stuff, so I ordered. I'm guessing it's the same vendor you ordered from.
Here’s what Phil says, text of an email to the folks who bought ‘the last of the Valobra pucks’, images omitted since most are already here. You can see the full version on Phil’s site.
Dear Steve,
In mid May, we received a shipment of No. 88 shaving soap from the Czech & Speake distributor in Massachusetts. Upon unpacking the soap, I noticed that the boxes were stamped Made in Italy and the ingredients were the same as what we had always enjoyed. Above is a picture of one of the boxes with the ingredient list and the made in Italy Stamp.
About a week or so after I listed them for sale, I received an email from a good customer who had a concern with his soap. The color was off and it failed to produce a decent lather. At this point, I emailed Czech & Speake as well as the distributor. Czech & Speake told the distributor that they had dug up some of the old soap from Italy and that this was the last of the NOS soap.
A few days after that claim by Czech & Speake, a customer sent me a comparison photo of an actual NOS soap that he had in his stash next to one of the soaps that Czech & Speake "managed to dig up".
I forwarded the comparison photo to Czech & Speake through the distributor. When the Czech & Speake representative received this photo, he said that it was actually the new soap (Made in England) and that the made in Italy stamp was an oversight. However, he went on to claim that the ingredients listed on the box were correct and that Czech & Speake kept the formula for the soap exactly the same as it has always been. The only problem is this is also not true.
Here are the ingredients of the new soap as listed on the Czech & Speake UK website:
Sodium Palmate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Lecithin, Petrolatum, Zea Mays Oil, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Geraniol, Linalool, Citronellol, Hydroxy Citronellal, Limonene, Oakmoss Absolute, C.I. 77499, C.I. 17789
As you can see, not only are the ingredients not the same, the very first ingredient is different. The soaps are not even close to being the same.
Once I get things sorted out with Czech & Speake, refunds will be issued for No. 88 shave soaps purchased between May 28th and June 10th. Please give me a couple of days.