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The man with the vintage soap!

I was planning on posting this last night, based on my first impressions. Unfortunately, mentally writing a post on soap, whilst you're shaving with a straight razor, is not a good idea! See here for details :blushing:

I'll apologise in advance for the long story, but it's been a while in the making.

Some time ago, I was looking for my "birth year" razor, an M2 Slim. I was offered one by Andy (MrGuy) and rather than wanting money he suggested a soap trade. I sent him a selection of Palmolive and Erasmic in return for the Slim and some Williams and VdH. At one point in the string of PM's, Andy had asked how I felt about vintage soaps....no problem I replied, I'm using a stick of vintage Erasmic from an old travel kit I'd bought.

When the package arrived, I quickly opened it (on the way home from the Post Office as the box was too big for the mailbox). On the top was the Slim (in much better condition than I'd expected from Andy's description), then I found a couple of pucks of Williams and a puck of VdH Deluxe....fantastic, now I could try a couple of the "standards" used by members here at B&B so I'd have a much better benchmark for how my lather was. Then I found another surprise buried at the bottom of the packing peanuts....a puck of NOS Old Spice shave soap (still in it's wrapper) :w00t:

I quickly PM'd Andy to tell him I'd come out of our trade way ahead of him and offered him some extra compensation. Being a true B&Ber and a gentleman he refused, saying that he'd been lucky acquiring the OS himself.

As I was still relatively new to DE's and "proper" wet shaving, I decided to open the Williams first. I've posted several threads saying how happy I am with it (possibly the benefit of soft, Scottish water), so it's remained in my rotation ever since (I PIF'd the other puck to a fellow Euro-shaver who hadn't tried it yet). Until last night, the Old Spice has remained it's wrapper waiting for me to transfer it to an empty Old Spice mug....it seemed sacreligious to put it in a Tupperware dish or an old coffee mug!

Last night I tried if for the first time....and I must say that I'm impressed! :001_smile

The scent was very light and subtle, not surprising for a soap that's at least 40 years old :lol: I loaded my damp brush (an Omega '49 Pro) with a few good swirls in the OS mug then moved over to my lather bowl (it doesn't get much use nowadays, but it's handy for a first time soap, as it's easier to check the consistency and regulate the water:soap ratio). It quickly built to a nice, rich lather with a slightly more noticeable scent of...."soap" with just a slight hint of real (Shulton) Old Spice, hard to be more specific but I'd say on a scale of 1 to 10 where Palmolive is 8 and Williams is 5, the OS probably scores a 3.
The lather built incredibly quickly and generoulsly...probably on a par with "Euro" Palmolive so it's going to last a while as I won't need much on my brush :001_smile The small air bubbles quickly emulsified into a nice rich lather with almost the consistency of homemade meringue (it's probably the easiest I've made lather with a new soap).
First application, a few swirls to work it into 2 day's stubble followed by some "paint-brushing"....nice and slick and it gave a lovely rich cushion.
As I posted in the straight forum, the shave was a complete disaster...but that was purely my fault for not concentrating! :blush:

Tonight, I tried again....lots of rich, creamy lather that worked perfectly. Nice and slick during the shave and it felt like I'd been applying moisturiser with each pass....my skin feels even better than after a MWF shave!

Finished off with a splash of OS (still waiting on my "new" Shulton bottle, so it had to be the P&G variety) for a very nice shave that got Mrs. Pumpkin's seal of approval :thumbup:

So now I've got a new AD...trying to find some more NOS Old Spice! :lol:

Thanks to Andy for a great trade (I still owe you :001_smile).
 
That is a great story. That OS soap really was a classic. It is quite sad it is a historical artifact now. I recently acquired a puck and have yet to put it in its rightful mug for use. I used OS soap for 35+ years and never once even considered looking for something else during that time. I only wish I had stockpiled it.

Of all the new soaps I have tried over the past year, I think Cella comes the closest in mimicking the thick dense lather of vintage Old Spice...not the scent though unfortunately.

Wishing you many more great shaves with it and a tip of the hat to Andy for sending it along your way.
 
I'm glad to hear you like the OS :thumbup: Definitely is some good stuff. Kind of funny to think that at one point in time unwrapping a puck and tossing it in a mug was more of a chore than a special event:lol:
 
I too started shaving with OS soap. It was what my Dad used when I started shaving and Dad bankrolled my supplies (I used his stuff till he said enough). I am lucky to have a pretty good stash from my time hunting the junk/thrifty stores.

I still stand by my review in the soap section in 2008, and believe it is the best moisturizing soap in my rotation. Andy's gift is yet another example of the magnanimity of our community.
 
I'm glad to hear you like the OS :thumbup: Definitely is some good stuff. Kind of funny to think that at one point in time unwrapping a puck and tossing it in a mug was more of a chore than a special event:lol:

It's definitely been worth the wait! :lol::thumbup1:
 
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