Palmolive stick versus Palmolive stick

[Gymea]

I'm posting another comparison of products, given the fact that my Williams versus Williams - Combe and Smithkline-Beecham compared thread was fairly well-received. I just happen to have two of the same (yet different) products on hand, so I feel that it's somewhat of a duty for me to contribute useful information to B&B any way that I can.

I'd been following the Palmolive shave stick reformulation? thread with great interest, and this week had received a new batch of Palmolive shaving sticks. Now, I had approximately 4 Palmolive shave sticks on hand (1 in use, and 3 in reserve) from a 2007 purchase, but decided to start hoarding those green sticks if there was indeed to be a reformulation. And so, when my 6 sticks arrived (yeah, I know. But then, I have another 9 coming as well...), was happy to see the "GUT(2,2)" label on them, identifying them to be the wonderful tallow-based formulation that everyone had been raving about.

Now, I should mention that I did like the Palmolive shave stick from my 2007 order, but I didn't think that it was as as everyone thought it was. I preferred the tallow Erasmic stick (mostly because of the smell), and I REALLY liked the Wilkinson Sword stick, which was a recent acquisition.

Anyway, I went to put my 6 newly acquired sticks in my safe storage spot along with the 3 from my 2007 purchase. I was shocked to see that the labels were completely different!

Pics are below. The sticks on the RIGHT hand side of each pic is from my 2007 purchase. Note the difference in ingredients, which is consistent with what was discussed in the abovementioned thread. Notice the label differences, the non-"GUT(2,2)" labeled ones having a different "red swoosh" and different graphics for the palm leaves.

The foil of each are different -- the "GUT(2,2)" version having just having a horizontal "chasing" pattern, whereas the "reformulated" version has the "Palmolive" imprint on the foil.

And so, the "reformulated" Palmolive stick is not a new thing -- at least, it was around back in 2007 when I bought my first 4. Interestingly, the Palmolive soap stick thread in the Reviews section has the non-"GUT(2,2)" image...is this an image that Jeff/crackstar would have uploaded when he posted the first review back in 10-01-2006?

The shaves of both were very similar -- but that's just going from memory. This weekend, I'll post about the actual shaving experience of each side-by-side. The two products do smell the same, and are of the same powdery green colour.

More to come, soon!

Cheers,
Jimmy.

 

[talibeard]

Interesting data, jtom! I would like to hear more about the 2 versions side by side.

 

[Gymea]

Well, I shaved with the two sticks this morning. One on the one side of my face, the other on the other side. I didn't take any pics -- I found that the delay in setting up the pics caused the soap to dry on my face (or, the water to dry on my face), to the point where I felt that my experiment would be skewed, so I am going to simply describe my process and experience here.

The loading and lathering

Firstly, I wet my face liberally with warm water, making sure that both sides received the same amount of attention and water. I then picked up a stick in each hand and proceeded to soap up my face, ensuring that my actions are mirrored with each hand, as to ensure that I got the same amount of soap on my face, with each of the shave sticks.

I then proceeded with my Savile Row B3 badger brush. I didn't soak the brush beforehand, as that may have given the first side the advantage of a soaked brush...so I merely wet, swirled, rinsed, swirled the other side, rinsed, etc. I was careful not to spend any more swirl opportunities on one side or the other, and not to spend any more time swirling each time.

The shave

I then proceeded to shave, rinsing my razor under running water (I usually do the sink-of-water thing, but didn't want to skew my results by rinsing in soapy water of the two soaps blended in the sink water). Two passes per side, including equal amounts of blade buffing.

Observations

• Both sticks smell the same, dry and wet. Both have the same level of "hardness" of soap density dry and wet. (this is distinct from the reported differences reported tallow and non-tallow Erasmic sticks, where the non-tallow is a harder soap). Both yielded similar amounts of soap reside when loading up the face with each soap

• The "GUT(2,2)" Palmolive side did seem to lather a tad better than the non-"GUT(2,2)" side. Now, I should mention that I'm right handed and I did have the "GUT(2,2)" soap on the right side of my face. It wasn't the night-and-day difference that others have reported between tallow and non-tallow Erasmic

• Both soaps yield similar amounts of lather, had similar glide and cushion -- although the "GUT(2,2)" side seemed a tad better. Again, bear in mind the right-handed aspect of my test

• Both soaps yielded similar resultant smoothness of shave, the quality of the shave being comparable. Both rinsed similarly on final wash/rinse

• Both sides of my face feels the same amount of moisturizing effect from their respective soaps -- neither feels tight. However, the "GUT(2,2)" side does feel a little softer when I faceterbate -- and so I would suggest that the "GUT(2,2)" has slightly better skincare than the non-"GUT(2,2)" stuff

Conclusions

Both versions of the Palmolive stick compared similarly -- although the "GUT(2,2)" version edged the non-"GUT(2,2)" version in terms of latherability and skincare, I was not disappointed with the non-"GUT(2,2)" version. Remember, I did have the non-"GUT(2,2)" since 2007 and had only known that version up until just recently. That said, if I were to use the "GUT(2,2)" exclusively on one shave morning, and then the non-"GUT(2,2)" version the next, the very minor differences between the two would not be apparent, and I would likely conclude that the sticks were identical.

Hope that the above helps! I should probably get myself a stick of Erasmic non-tallow stick and try a side-by-side with the Erasmic sticks....

Cheers,
Jimmy.

 

[talibeard]

A great report, jtom! I am glad the non-GUT 2,2-version is still a good soap btw. I have not seen it yet but I did have the chance to shave me with the Australian non-tallow version of Palmolive which has a different scent as the europalmolive but is also not bad at all. Just not as good as the GUT 2,2 soap either.

 

[Gymea]

Thanks, talibeard! It was another fun experiment, and satisfied my own curiosity...and concern.

In terms of scent, the one thing that I didn't add to the review is that I actually held up both sticks to my nose, one against each nostril! LOL! The things I'll do for B&B...and proudly so!

Cheers,
Jimmy.

 

[TiberiuR]

Really nice report! You put some effort into this.
Bravo!

 

[Gymea]

Really nice report! You put some effort into this.
Bravo!

Thanks, TiberiuR! Hopefully I've helped allay any fears of the two Palmolive sticks being drastically different. After hearing reports of the Erasmic stick differences, I became very worried.

I seriously think that anything that I grow to like ends up being discontinued, changed or otherwise no longer available to me. I hate that!

Well...at least AD is well justified around here...

Cheers,
Jimmy

 

[Luc]

Excellent post!! Thanks for that!

 

[Peto]

Thank you Jimmy for a comparison. Now I can worry a little bit less and sleep better.

 

[TiberiuR]

I was thinking of doing a comparison of the Nivea Cream.
I have 2 version. They both have the same ingredients, but they are different.
One is from Germany, and the other is from Romania.
There are differences between them, but I'm not that sure.
2 are quite obvious. The German Nivea is not as much perfume in it, and the colour is whiter.
I think I will do a comparison between the 2.

 

[Gymea]

Thanks, Luc and Peto! It was fun to do, and I truly feel as though I've done a public service for my fellow wet shavers. Again, YMMV, but mine seemed to vary less between the two stick types.

I was thinking of doing a comparison of the Nivea Cream.
I have 2 version. They both have the same ingredients, but they are different.
One is from Germany, and the other is from Romania.
There are differences between them, but I'm not that sure.
2 are quite obvious. The German Nivea is not as much perfume in it, and the colour is whiter.
I think I will do a comparison between the 2.

Oh, I very highly encourage you to do so, TiberiuR! Especially if both are currently available online, and the rest of the world of wet shavers are wondering what the differences might be when given the choice -- even if it's verified (again, with a YMMV factor thrown in) that the differences are NIL.

Looking forward to your review!

A question to the mods, if you're reading this -- would it be time to consider a "products compared" subsection on B&B? Both in terms of similarly named products, old and new, and also two different brands that are very similar (ie, I might be looking for something that is just like product X, but has less of this and more of that -- and someone else might know the exact product Y that has these qualities)? Just a thought. *shrugging*

Cheers,
Jimmy.

 

[antoine1]

Is this really much of a reformulation? Potassium Stearate + Potassium Palmitate is pretty much Potassium Tallowate without some oleic acid. It maybe actually better.

 

[Lusitano]

The biggest problem to me is the scent, at least with the GUT 2,2 version It's smells like a cheap insect killer spray or some cheap house deodorant. It's a nice soap for the price, but they could used a different scent.

 

[ctakim]

This should really be published in a scientific journal somewhere. Fantastic effort, once again! Oh and I guess "faceturbate" is now part of the B&B scientific lexicon.

Well done, sir!

 

[Gymea]

Is this really much of a reformulation? Potassium Stearate + Potassium Palmitate is pretty much Potassium Tallowate without some oleic acid. It maybe actually better.

*shrugging* *shrugging again* *shrugging again, for good measure* I don't know -- I'll take your word for it, antoine1!

Jimmy.

 

[Gymea]

This should really be published in a scientific journal somewhere. Fantastic effort, once again! Oh and I guess "faceturbate" is now part of the B&B scientific lexicon.

Well done, sir!

Hardly scientific, my methodology, but thank you all the same, sir! Just happened to have both versions on hand and was curious as to the differences, myself!

That said, I have been pondering a way of making "true" scientific observations, including the measuring of amount of water, tracking the number of swirls per volume of lather, and even measuring the thickness, slickness and amount of cushion of lather. I can't really think of any way that would actually make sense to all B&B members worldwide.

Then again, I've tried to figure out ways of measuring "degree of flex" of vintage fountain nibs for years now (fountain pens being my other passion). *sigh*

Cheers,
Jimmy.

 

[akokandy]

Is this really much of a reformulation? Potassium Stearate + Potassium Palmitate is pretty much Potassium Tallowate without some oleic acid. It maybe actually better.

They both contain sodium tallowate, which is the main ingredient in most artisan tallow soaps (Prairie Creations, the new Charismata), as the 2nd or 3rd ingredient. Both are definitely tallow soaps, and it's no suprise to me that they perform as such (extremely well).

-Adam

 

[Gustav]

The mere fact that they are tampering with the formulation is extremely worrying. I have now got myself 10 sticks of the GUT 2.2 version just in case they pursue further reformulation. Whilst the scent is not my favourite, its performance is fantastic and I find that once it is on my face the scent is so faint that it is not a problem. Furthermore it is so dirt cheap that you can buy ten of these for half the price of a high end shave stick.

 

[dog]

The question is: where do I get one in the states?

 

[Audiolab]

First comparison I have seen, thanks for that.