Old Spice - Yesterday and Today

[texquill]

I think that this gets at the heart of the miscommunication between the OP and some of the responses. If the original Shulton formula was gone before you were born, maybe the stakes are different for you. For many of us, Old Spice became a suspect juice when they slapped the yacht on the jug, not just when they shifted to plastic. The late lamented ClubmanRob claimed that there were several reformulations:



I have no reason to doubt him, and my sense of the difference between the scent of various generations of Old Spice as well as the Ivy Club clones tends to confirm it to my satisfaction. Not to say that the difference is extreme--just enough to get under our skin.




This is the key to the whole thing. Those of us who are unhappy with changes in Old Spice are not people who care much about New Coke. We're the people who are still mad that you can't find a good bottle of Moxie anymore.

Y'know, it's really great to belong to a forum that has some reasonably articulate and literate members like the Nid!

I have a "couple" of bottles of Old Spice myself, some of which date back to the late 1930s/early 1940s, and I can assure you guys that there are subtle but detectable differences (not related to evaporation) when comparing the old juice to the post Shulton Old Spice.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I have a "couple" of bottles of Old Spice myself, some of which date back to the late 1930s/early 1940s, and I can assure you guys that there are subtle but detectable differences (not related to evaporation) when comparing the old juice to the post Shulton Old Spice.

This pretty much settles it for me.

 

[WastedResources]

The average shelf life for a bottle of cologne or aftershave is about two years. After that, the ingredients break down, and the scent is no longer its original form, but it may still smell pleasant. This has nothing to do with evaporation. It has everything to do with the aging of chemicals in a bottle. It doesn't mean that the ingredients in the 70 year old bottle aren't different than what's in the new bottles. It just means that the 70 year old bottle doesn't smell the same as it did when it came off of the shelf.

 

[crocto]

plastic bottles killed my father! old spice forumla changes raped my mother! BFD.

 

[HoratioCaine]

plastic bottles killed my father! old spice forumla changes raped my mother! BFD.

I don't even want to tell you what the P&G OS does to me when I splash it on "down there."

 

[BrianL]

Horatio,
I hope that has nothing to do with your signature line.

 

[firehydrant]

The average shelf life for a bottle of cologne or aftershave is about two years. After that, the ingredients break down, and the scent is no longer its original form, but it may still smell pleasant. This has nothing to do with evaporation. It has everything to do with the aging of chemicals in a bottle. It doesn't mean that the ingredients in the 70 year old bottle aren't different than what's in the new bottles. It just means that the 70 year old bottle doesn't smell the same as it did when it came off of the shelf.

I have bought several bottles of OS off of the Bay and have noticed that the scents vary from bottle to bottle. This would bear out your hypothesis.

I joked earlier about storing bottles of OS for a later time but am now wondering if it would be a worthy experiment. I am wondering if the plastic bottles will work or if I should decant it into a glass container for "aging".

Any thoughts?

 

[WastedResources]

I joked earlier about storing bottles of OS for a later time but am now wondering if it would be a worthy experiment. I am wondering if the plastic bottles will work or if I should decant it into a glass container for "aging".

Any thoughts?

Usually, the best thing to do is to leave the fragrance in the original bottle, in a cool dark place, but that's assuming that the fragrance is in a glass bottle. Glass bottles do not tend to color fragrances, and the old packaging was much better suited for this. Old bottles of Old Spice still smell pleasant.

Decanting is an option, but you will expose the fragrance to air in the process, which could cause a change. How much? I don't know.

Plastic can break down and alter the contents within. A perfect example of what happens is leaving a water bottle in the sun. The water takes on a chemical taste. Not all plastics break down at the same rate though, and it seems P&G has put in some effort to develop this packaging.

http://www.packagingdigest.com/arti...ontainers_in_more_durable_lightweight_PET.php

I think decanting might be a good option. My current bottle of Old Spice seems to smell better towards the bottom. I assume exposure to air has something to do with it. Either that or it's just my imagination.

 

[Ski-Patroller]

I think the formula has changed.

I currently have 3 bottles of OS. A glass one (Shulton) with the clipper ship, a glass one (PG) with the Yacht, and a plastic bottle (PG) labeled Classic. The two PG Bottles seem very similar, although slightly different. The Shulton bottle is distinctly different, and in my view much better. It makes me think of OS 30 years ago, while the newer ones seem different. I'm going to try to order some of the Indian OS and see how it compares.

Incidentally I remember having some OS in a Red Soft Plastic bottle with a screw top. It seemed really different, and at the time I attributed that to the plastic bottle. Now I'm not so sure.

 

[DizzyArnaz]

Well crap, I would really like to try the Shulton stuff then. I like the new stuff, but if the Shulton is held in such high regard...

I want to know what the fuss is about!

 

[Goss]

I am one of the few who have changed their position on the OS "recipe tinkering". I had, until recently, been convinced that the new stuff was not the same water we all know and love. I now am on the side of P&G on the issue. I think it's a matter of "freshness" as it has been stated. A bottle of 30 year old after-shave or cologne is not going to smell the same as a bottle of juice manufactured last week. The Shulton stuff ages well and still smells fantastic after prolonged storage and I do enjoy wearing it. I am of the opinion that the P&G stuff will age just as gracefully. I have been wearing P&G Old Spice cologne exclusively for the past week find it to be the same stuff I wore back in pre-P&G days (but certainly "different" than Shulton only because it has not aged for years and years). After a few hours of wear, it smells like Old Spice. And as I mentioned in an earlier post, one must actually wear the stuff; not smell from the bottle at the store. But I did sprinkle some in my baseball cap and the next day, it reeked of Shulton. Thanks to the OP for a very informative and well-researched post.

*bump
I agree and have changed my position on this subject also. I believe it has to do with aging of the "recipe". I have a brand new bottle of Old Spice AS and plan on tucking it away for the next 20 years. I'm sure it will age just like the Shulton O/S.

BTW, great thread and thank you to the OP for the good info.

 

[Walker]

I just recieved a bottle of Shulton OS and i also have a walmart P&G OS and while i can't say that the scents are really different i do notice that the strength of the Shulton is not as strong as the P&G one. My opinion off course.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I have said it before & I will say it again, what we need to do is find someone with a gas cromatograph & have them compare various eras of Old spice. Say a late 30's/early 40's, a mid 80's, a mid 90's, & a 2008 or newer fresh off the store shelf.

 

[August West]

 

[Topgumby]

August West, Forum Archaeologist.

 

[August West]

Topgumby, Fragrant Father.