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Taylor Eton College is Dead to Me

I've seen others ask this same question, but I've never seen the question answered definitively. So, I'll go ahead and state it: Taylor's Eton College has changed - DEFINITELY CHANGED.

The first tub of cream I ever purchased was Taylor Eton College. I purchased it after smelling Eton College in a set of samples that I had ordered. It was my favorite scent of all the Taylor products, and one of my favorite scents of all.

When I received my first tub of it, the tub was the standard Taylor beige with blue ink on the printed label, and it smelled exactly like the sample I had ordered from a different source, weeks earlier. The cream had a strong, thick, masculine cologne smell - it honestly had a bit of a dated smell - the kind of a manly smell that belonged to my grandfather's generation, not mine (I'm 27). But the smell was totally masculine - thick, pungeant, and rich. Color-wise, it leaned toward being tan in color.

After falling in love with the cream, I ordered the cologne, only to be appalled at the drastically different smell - a light, floral, perfumed smell. I didn't like the smell, and I was frustrated at the fact that it smelled nothing like the cream. I got rid of it.

I had a feeling that there must have been a scent re-formulation, but nobody could give me a clear answer. I hoped that the permanent scent was the more masculine, cologne smell.

Well, today I received a new jar of Eton College. This time, it's a blue jar with white lettering and logo. [On a side note, the Tub is improved, with a raised lettering around it that reads Taylor of Old Bond Street in their signature font, and the ingredients list is now on the bottom, rather than on the side. It appears to be the only Taylor fragrance in its own color jar.]

Well, to my great dismay, I opened the tub to find a smell that was light, airy, floral, and perfumed. It smells just like the cologne that had disappointed me way back when. This new cream is even a different color - it no longer has a tan hue, but rather, it's much lighter - almost white in color.

Now all I have left of the original Eton College scent is the remains in my tiny <1oz. sample jar.

Holding the two in front of me, I can tell you that, without even the slightest doubt in my mind, there is a MASSIVE difference in the scents of the two. The tiny sample I still have of the old Eton College is familiar to my nose and smells just like it was always supposed to. It makes me smile and hum to myself just to smell it. The new one, however, smells so markedly different, and I just want to pull it away from my face every time I smell it.

I'm sure that there are people who like the new Eton College, and I don't mean to hate on the smell that they enjoy, but for me, I feel like I just lost an old friend.
 
TOBS colognes never really smell like the shaving cream.

But I'm wondering if you actually got something else in your sample. I have a ~2 year old sample of Eton and it smells a bit more like what you are describing the new scent is like.


I almost wonder if they gave you Mr. Taylor or Shaving Shop instead.
 
I just went to the TOBS site and, interesting, Eton College isn't even in the drop down list of available creams. :001_huh:

And, yes, to the above point, what you originally described could either be construed as Mr. Taylor's or Shaving Shop, as I have both and would concur with that. I can't speak to Eton College directly, though, as I have no experience with it. Have you double-checked your scent impressions with the reviews? It seems most likely that your original sample was mis-marked. Can't say for sure, of course.

By the by, have you contacted TOBS customer service to inquire?

-Greg
 
I loved the Eton College, but I agree. Mine was the old style.
My dad has the newer one and it's definitely different.
 
My Eton tub is at least a year and a half old and it sounds like your new one. A decent cream, but rarely used as I have many I like better.
 
That's too bad. I've got an old tub of it myself that I really like. It's probably 6-7 years old now...

It appears to be the only Taylor fragrance in its own color jar.

I've gotten St James in a blue jar before. Probably 6-7 years ago as well. The next time I ordered it, it came in the standard color...but I just figured I'd mention it.
 
H

hathela

I agree with you 100%!!!!
I just got my new eton college jar and it is totally different than the previous tub i had.
The color is white,

I purchased this from amazon.

Give me a few , i will post pics to support this claim


I've seen others ask this same question, but I've never seen the question answered definitively. So, I'll go ahead and state it: Taylor's Eton College has changed - DEFINITELY CHANGED.

The first tub of cream I ever purchased was Taylor Eton College. I purchased it after smelling Eton College in a set of samples that I had ordered. It was my favorite scent of all the Taylor products, and one of my favorite scents of all.

When I received my first tub of it, the tub was the standard Taylor beige with blue ink on the printed label, and it smelled exactly like the sample I had ordered from a different source, weeks earlier. The cream had a strong, thick, masculine cologne smell - it honestly had a bit of a dated smell - the kind of a manly smell that belonged to my grandfather's generation, not mine (I'm 27). But the smell was totally masculine - thick, pungeant, and rich. Color-wise, it leaned toward being tan in color.

After falling in love with the cream, I ordered the cologne, only to be appalled at the drastically different smell - a light, floral, perfumed smell. I didn't like the smell, and I was frustrated at the fact that it smelled nothing like the cream. I got rid of it.

I had a feeling that there must have been a scent re-formulation, but nobody could give me a clear answer. I hoped that the permanent scent was the more masculine, cologne smell.

Well, today I received a new jar of Eton College. This time, it's a blue jar with white lettering and logo. [On a side note, the Tub is improved, with a raised lettering around it that reads Taylor of Old Bond Street in their signature font, and the ingredients list is now on the bottom, rather than on the side. It appears to be the only Taylor fragrance in its own color jar.]

Well, to my great dismay, I opened the tub to find a smell that was light, airy, floral, and perfumed. It smells just like the cologne that had disappointed me way back when. This new cream is even a different color - it no longer has a tan hue, but rather, it's much lighter - almost white in color.

Now all I have left of the original Eton College scent is the remains in my tiny <1oz. sample jar.

Holding the two in front of me, I can tell you that, without even the slightest doubt in my mind, there is a MASSIVE difference in the scents of the two. The tiny sample I still have of the old Eton College is familiar to my nose and smells just like it was always supposed to. It makes me smile and hum to myself just to smell it. The new one, however, smells so markedly different, and I just want to pull it away from my face every time I smell it.

I'm sure that there are people who like the new Eton College, and I don't mean to hate on the smell that they enjoy, but for me, I feel like I just lost an old friend.
 
H

hathela

Gigabites can you verify if even the smell seem different ???
My nose is not supporting me
 
TOBS colognes never really smell like the shaving cream.

But I'm wondering if you actually got something else in your sample. I have a ~2 year old sample of Eton and it smells a bit more like what you are describing the new scent is like.


I almost wonder if they gave you Mr. Taylor or Shaving Shop instead.

To clarify, I did have more than just the sample... I bought a full tub (I wanna say I got it from ClassicShaving.com), and that tub smelled exactly like my sample.

On a side note, I do also like St. James and Mr. Taylor.
St. James has a nice, less-musky, modern scent, while still being totally masculine. I would actually wear it as a cologne, not just a soap.
And Mr. Taylor is nice, but smells a little "old" for me, as does Eton College for that matter.

With Eton College out of the picture for me, though, I think my new favorites are T&H Trafalgar, T&H 1805, and Taylor St. James, in no particular order.
 
That is one I have (blue container) that is the new current one right?

Sounds like it!

Also interesting that Roobaix said he'd received St. James in the blue jar a few years ago, as well.

I totally prefer the blue jar to the cream one. It looks so much nicer and more professional to me, whereas the cream one looks kinda cheap compared to T&H jars.
 
My blue jar didn't have the raised writing on the side though...so it's still different. Weird!

And...my old Eton College has a yellow tint to it, it's not just shiny whitish like most of the TOBS creams.
 
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H

hathela

Does this mean the good old Eton college cream is history now???

Cannot find any information anywhere to justify this...

Tobs website tells nothing regarding this

I strongly believe this has something to do with "paraben" stuff. And honestly I have no idea what it does.. can someone throw some light here please..
 
H

hathela

The new Eton college shaving cream smells very much like truefit and hill 1805 cream. Not totally but close.
I am just comparing them both as I type this. Performance wise the Eton college wins compared to T&H 1805.. lots and lots of lather enough for 4 passes. And nice fragrance all the way
Can someone comment.

I verify this with a mac3/goo can user friend who is with me (not wetshaver) and he too agrees the fragrance is very near.
 
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In the last year, I've bought a (blue) tube of the cream, the aftershave splash, the bath soap and sampled the cologne. I've found some distinct scent differences among all and won't be repurchasing anything other than the A/S splash, which comes off the most "manly" and woodsy of all.

Hopefully, this is not about to be reformulated to a lighter, more citrus scent.
 
TOBS has been slowly converting all their creams over to a paraben-free formula. This has been going on for some time now. All reports say performance is as good if not better than the old, so there hasn't been much of a concern. There is an appearance difference between the two, but you'll also see differences in appearance between different lots.

As to the scent difference, I haven't heard about that, but would be happy to find out if anything changed.

Jermyn Street is another TOBS cream that has a different color bowl.
 
As a newbie, I can't weigh in on the comparison of the new vs. the old, but I must say I love what I ordered a couple of months ago (the blue tub). Masculine floral, not woodsy, which is fine by me.
 
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