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Old Spice- when was it changed to the new formula?

I was in a local anty-kew store this weekend and I stumbled upon a couple of bottles of Old Spice. One was the cologne and the other was aftershave. I picked them up, and they felt full! I flipped the bottles over, and sure enough--- Shulton! Alright, the original original scent! So I uncorked one and took a whiff. It was undeniable, and totally evident, I can finally put my mind at rest on this issue. Click spoiler for my empirical observation.

I couldn't tell a difference between them and the new stuff. If anything, it maybe smelled like the scent had "settled" a little but not enough to be considered a different scent. It had the same powdery/allspicey smell that i've been accustomed to. To those who smell something different, it may either be in your head, or maybe you have a keener sense of scents than I do, but I just couldn't tell a difference.
 
A question and a note:

1) Those that can tell a difference, would you be able to tell which was which if you didn't have them side by side? In other words, if you had one unidentified sample in front of you, would you know which it is?

2) This presumably applies only to folks around New England; Ocean State Job Lot has a "Heritage Edition" package, glass bottle, on sale right now for four bucks. Don't know if it's good or bad, or how the "Heritage" scent relates to "Original" or "Classic" but I thought I'd mention it. The bottle looks intentionally old-fashioned, with a rough serif "Old Spice" rather than a script.
 
A question and a note:

1) Those that can tell a difference, would you be able to tell which was which if you didn't have them side by side? In other words, if you had one unidentified sample in front of you, would you know which it is?

I would not.
 
I decided to go to the source (Proctor & Gamble) by emailing them and simply asking if they changed the formula with the new packaging. Here is the response:

Thank you for sharing your disappointment with our Old Spice Cologne
and After Shave. We haven't made any changes to the scent. Our goal is
to produce high quality products that consistently delight our
consumers and I'm sorry this wasn't your experience. Please be assured I'm
sharing your comments with the rest of our team.

Thanks again for writing.

P&G Team


I wrote back to let them know that I was definitely not "disapponted" at all and it was more of a curious question.
 
I know this is a really old thread but I found it at the top of the search results when I goggle searched for an answer but having some experience in perfumery I'd say it's relatively impossible that this frag has not undergone multiple reformulations, IFRA is a regulatory agency that is constantly banning or restricting ingredients for use in cosmetics:

"The IFRA standards cover hundreds of ingredients, through 174 standards, prohibiting some, restricting others and setting specifications for yet others. They don’t require anything to be on labels."

I presume anyone working on a commercial scale would want to remain in full compliance
 
I know this is a really old thread but I found it at the top of the search results when I goggle searched for an answer but having some experience in perfumery I'd say it's relatively impossible that this frag has not undergone multiple reformulations, IFRA is a regulatory agency that is constantly banning or restricting ingredients for use in cosmetics:

"The IFRA standards cover hundreds of ingredients, through 174 standards, prohibiting some, restricting others and setting specifications for yet others. They don’t require anything to be on labels."

I presume anyone working on a commercial scale would want to remain in full compliance
The Shulton version is very different in scent and especially in longevity. I believe it switched in the early 90s but am not sure. If a bottle is marked Shulton, it is definitely “the good stuff.” I have bottles from several decades and they are amazingly similar.

There was supposedly a time that P&G used the old Shulton formula but put it in their new bottle, but that is not been verified that I have seen.

The current version is much lighter, floral and fleeting. It is very nice especially if you are wearing an EDT with it.

I’m sure that the reasons for reformulating are numerous. Cost being the driving force.....
 
I have an old glass bottle from PG that I think is around 20 years old or so, a new plastic bottle from PG, and the Indian made smaller glass bottle. Old Glass and Indian smell the same. New plastic bottle is more floral and I can tell them apart, all smell wonderful.
 
In January 2016, Procter & Gamble changed the scent of its Old Spice Classic After Shave. According to the product's website, under ratings & reviews, the change was made in order to "comply with new regulations". I know at one point they admitted in the late 90's they changed the formula also when they went to the plastic bottles because the original formula reacted poorly with the new bottle materials...
 
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Old Spice to me is just not the same as it was. Maybe it is my 71 year old memory ........ just seems to be much lighter in scent. Regardless, it is now the least used aftershave in my cabinet.
 
Old Spice to me is just not the same as it was. Maybe it is my 71 year old memory ........ just seems to be much lighter in scent. Regardless, it is now the least used aftershave in my cabinet.
This almost certainly has to be true. I recently bought my first bottle of the AS in a number of years and was shocked by how weak it seemed to be. I wonder what they did to it... I get it that memory can be unreliable sometimes, but I am quite sure about this.
 
I have an old glass bottle from PG that I think is around 20 years old or so, a new plastic bottle from PG, and the Indian made smaller glass bottle. Old Glass and Indian smell the same. New plastic bottle is more floral and I can tell them apart, all smell wonderful.

I also have an older glass P&G bottle as well as an older US Shulton bottle. IMHO, they smell nearly identical. I also have a new plastic bottle and it is definitely different. The new Old Spice EdC in the plastic smells more like the vintage stuff than does the aftershave. Still not the same, though.
 
AMAZING! So many posts over such a long period of time.
I was born in 1950. When I was a boy, I remember Old Spice was a common aftershave and cologne that was gifted to men on various occasions. I received it as a teenager, as a boyfriend, as a husband, as a father. Not much has changed in that regard.
I usually passed these on to my younger brother or they collected dust in favor of English Leather, Brut, et al "popular scents". The men who wore Old Spice in my childhood always smelled manly with that fresh, slightly cloying, unique, and readily identifiable, spice scent. That scent seemed to compliment a man's natural musk. (To my knowledge my father, as many other men back then, never used deodorant. He was always clean and smelled "natural". He would splash on Old Spice Afer Shave and be done.

I am not a chemist and I do not have extra-sensitive olfactory receptors. So this is strictly anecdotal. Even today, I can recognize perfumes that my Mother wore frequently and even those I purchased for my wife (at her direction).

In the 1980s or 1990s, I purchased a bottle of Old Spice After Shave strictly for nostalgia's sake and because I wanted that familiar scent to be passed on to my sons.

But, 30 years on; It stunk! I "assumed it was perhaps the aftershave and maybe the cologne smelled better. Not So. They both lacked the smooth spice scent that seemed to rise to a higher note before it settled on your smeller. The "Old, Old Spice seemed to be a melody of fragrance. That odor was now cheap and sharp and thankfully faded fast.

I was amused at the notion that P&G was contacted and their response was apparently considered "gospel". IMHO, too many "CEOs" have to make more profit than the last "CEO" or even the last quarter. Cheaper ingredients, or smaller quantity, and or, lower-quality ingredients, all lead to higher profits but can adversely impact the final product. The formula may not have been changed, in legal terms. However, my nose tells me that if I can recognize my Mother's favorite perfume after she has been dead for thirty years, why can I not recognize Old Spice as being the same? As for the "Original" vs "New Original", etc. I feel no obligation to experiment the range of offered products. I refuse to search for that wonderfully nostalgic scent. They changed it. I smelled it. I moved on.
 
I recently purchased a new small plastic bottle of Old Spice. Later that day, my wife (who is 60) smells and asks "Are you wearing Old Spice? You smell like my grandfather!"
 
A question and a note:

1) Those that can tell a difference, would you be able to tell which was which if you didn't have them side by side? In other words, if you had one unidentified sample in front of you, would you know which it is?

2) This presumably applies only to folks around New England; Ocean State Job Lot has a "Heritage Edition" package, glass bottle, on sale right now for four bucks. Don't know if it's good or bad, or how the "Heritage" scent relates to "Original" or "Classic" but I thought I'd mention it. The bottle looks intentionally old-fashioned, with a rough serif "Old Spice" rather than a script.

The new stuff, to my nose, has slightly more prominent pimento and carnation notes that are very realistic. But that could be due to the age of the older samples. Otherwise, there isn't alot of difference. There is less eugenol in the modern fragrance, but I don't really notice it. The formula was changed for the aftershave to make it less skin sensitizing.

It's still a great men's fragrance, despite the decline in popularity it has withstood the test of time so much better than competitors like Canoe or the later Brut. Maybe it helps it's not trying to be a powerhouse fragrance of sex appeal, so it can be worn in a wide variety of settings. It's just a friendly, warm, "floriental" type fragrance.
 
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Born in 1963, I remember my Dad and Grandfather wearing Old Spice. It seems to me the "newer" version is brighter than the original version I remember.

***Is it me or does Paul Sebastian smell like Old Spice??? I usually buy a gift pack cheap and before the 1st or around the 1st week of January there should be some sales on it.

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Paul Sebastian definitely resembles OS to me. Kind of a stronger, smoother version with less powder and more woody amber. I prefer OS but I like PS very much.
 
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