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?