Old Spice - Yesterday and Today

[Chickpea McGee]

I won't comment on vintage vs. current US Old Spice, but the difference between current US (P&G) and India (Shulton/MCPL) versions is, as others have already note, fairly obvious and striking, and variables such as freshness and evaporation are not an issue.

I am an OS India fan. Just as inexpensive as the US stuff if you can source it locally.

 

[mblakele]

What do folks think about the Indian OS vs the Vi-Jon generic stuff?

 

[polaar]

[T]he difference between current US (P&G) and India (Shulton/MCPL) versions is, as others have already note, fairly obvious and striking

This may be the case, but which smells like the slap of OS that my Grandpa slapped his cheeks with in 1968? I'm not sure that this can be known or proven.

 

[Fatboy Slimhandle]

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.

Moxie! I grew up drinking Moxie. My dad gave me some thinking I would hate it, but I was ready to drink any sweet bubbly drink when I was a kid so I thought it was great. I grew to love that drink once I got older and realized how crappy most soda was (and that it did go well with rum or whiskey). I grew up in Maine, where Moxie was widely available. I imagine the flavor's different and it's owned by Coca Cola by now... I'll have to see about that.

 

[Trujillo]

Just joined B&B earlier in the week. Did not know that Old Spice comes in a plastic bottle now. Quite disappointing. As I am getting into DE shaving (have used a brush & soap for nearly 2 decades) I was hoping for the OS smell. Will pick some up anyway, but plastic - ugh!

 

[firehydrant]

I won't comment on vintage vs. current US Old Spice, but the difference between current US (P&G) and India (Shulton/MCPL) versions is, as others have already note, fairly obvious and striking, and variables such as freshness and evaporation are not an issue.

I am an OS India fan. Just as inexpensive as the US stuff if you can source it locally.

Do you have a U.S. source?

 

[HoratioCaine]

Do you have a U.S. source?

Is the stuff sold at Classic Shaving the India Shulton? They're out of stock at the moment, unfortunately.

 

[Hank Corbett]

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.

 

[firehydrant]

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.

Hmmm....so I should build an Old Spice rack to place in my Old Spice cellar and after a suitable number of years I can walk into the cellar and pick out a...say...vintage 2010 bottle, pull the stopper and check the bouquet...

 

[bythbook]

Hmmm....so I should build an Old Spice rack to place in my Old Spice cellar and after a suitable number of years I can walk into the cellar and pick out a...say...vintage 2010 bottle, pull the stopper and check the bouquet...

...I wonder what 40 year old Moxie tastes like?

 

[Chickpea McGee]

Do you have a U.S. source?

Yes. An Indian grocery chain just a few miles from my house carries the "Original," "Lime," and "Musk" varieties of Shulton Old Spice for $3.99 a (small) bottle.

No stores in Utah, but several throughout the East Coast:

http://www.patelbros.com/ourstores.html

Check to see if there are any Indian grocers in your area.

I agree that I have no way of knowing if the Indian OS smells like what someone's Grandfather might have used. Nostalgia alone is not enough reason alone for me, but am glad that there is a version of the classic OS that I enjoy.

 

[ctakim]

Well the mind and memory can certainly play tricks, and unless it is a double blind test we can't judge a man's nose. But we can easily answer this question with a little analytical chemistry. Take the Indian OS and the "Classic" version sold at CVS or RiteAid and run a chemical analysis. If the compositions are the same, then I will rest my case. Until I see those data, I will be residing in the "it is different" camp, with my breast puffed up in righteous indignation. It is more fun that way!!!

 

[Tekka]

I might have to hit up some of the local Indian grocery stores to see what kind of OS they have.

 

[Topgumby]

So....

Old Old Spice is New Old Spice with some Old added, or New Old Spice is Old Old Spice once it's Old, and...

When New Old Spice is Old, it's Old Old Spice when it's New Old Old Spice, or was that Old Old Spice was New Old Spice that got Old and is now just Old New Old Spice like it was when Old Old Spice was New Old Spice, but not the New Old Spice that hasn't had time to get Old so it's the New Old Spice of Old.

Wow. Who New?

 

[The Nid Hog]

I would love to find a local South Asian market that carries Indian Shulton products. I find lots of Dettol and Godrej at the stores in my area, but no Old Spice at all.

 

[HoratioCaine]

Repeating my earlier question, can anybody tell me if the stuff sold at Classic Shaving is the India Shulton? They give scant little information about it on their website, but I'm guessing from the scents on offer that it's not the P&G stuff.

 

[Captain Flint]

Here's a Shulton bottle that I found in my basement in a box of my Grandfather's stuff, and a my P&G bottle (pre-plastic) from a year or two ago. They do smell different, but I wonder if it is just a matter of freshness. The Shulton is much less pronounced and smells of vanilla and alcohol, the P&G gives off more spice & powder. I know that my wife's perfumes go off after a few years and she needs to get new; perhaps the same with after shave? A time machine could remove all doubt!

Boy, am I glad I'm not the only guy around that made the mistake of acquiring that awful book about Sartre by BHL !

 

[The Nid Hog]

Here's a Shulton bottle that I found in my basement in a box of my Grandfather's stuff, and a my P&G bottle (pre-plastic) from a year or two ago. They do smell different, but I wonder if it is just a matter of freshness. The Shulton is much less pronounced and smells of vanilla and alcohol, the P&G gives off more spice & powder. I know that my wife's perfumes go off after a few years and she needs to get new; perhaps the same with after shave? A time machine could remove all doubt!

I think that this photo is particularly appropriate when I see the Valery volume. As many of you will recall, he ceased writing for nearly twenty years after P&G bought Shulton.

 

[Kevan]

Repeating my earlier question, can anybody tell me if the stuff sold at Classic Shaving is the India Shulton? They give scant little information about it on their website, but I'm guessing from the scents on offer that it's not the P&G stuff.

Yes. it's the Shulton India stuff. I got my little bottle of OS Musk from Classic last year.

 

[HoratioCaine]

Yes. it's the Shulton India stuff. I got my little bottle of OS Musk from Classic last year.

Thank ye.