Palmolive stick old vs new

[bean]

I inherited a grooming kit from my father in law a month or so ago. It was his Dad's. It had an unopened Palmolive stick in one of the Bakelite containers (so no cardboard packaging to try to try to date it). My Father in law reckons it's at least 20 years old but could easily be double that.

I've used it since in rotation with the other soaps and creams I have and it lathers up with the best of them and has an old school, medicinal soapy smell that I like.

I was given a second Palmolive stick in it's cardboard packaging that I assumed was new (could be a few years old but I'd be surprised if any more). It is much lighter in colour but the striking difference is the scent. It smells chemically and unpleasant and nothing like the old one. Not at all nice. Even though it lathers up well, I'm not using it because of the strong unpleasant smell.

I will get a new one from the supermarket in the hope that the second one I was given was a few years old and the stick has been reformulated again since and is closer to the first, really old, one I tried.

Has anyone else noticed a scent difference in Palmolive sticks over the years?

 

[JDE]

Sadly i'm not old enough to have used any old Palmolive sticks, nor have I snagged any "vintage" sticks, but I will say that the scent of the current sticks does fade considerably over time. It's possible that your vintage stick had a similar scent to your newer one, but has just mellowed over time. Try leaving the newer one out and uncovered (dry, obviously) for a while. Even shoving it in a sock drawer for a week or so will tame it.

AFAIK, the Palmolive stick has been the same for a while and I wouldn't say it was chemically unpleasant personally. You sure it's not Arko ?
You should be able to smell it through the box in the supermarket anyway - if it's the same smell, you've saved yourself 50p!

 

[bean]

Funnily enough I went back to the new stick after using it three or four times to break in/de-funk an Omega boar. And it's completely lost that unpleasant smell. It's just a mild, soapy smell now. At 50p a throw, I think I'll get a brand new one from the supermarket and see what that's like as well.

The lather is second to none though either way. Kicks TOBS into touch (on my face at least!).