Vintage Yardley - yippee!

Joined
Wednesday August 26, 2009
Location
New Forest, England.
I have a friend I call Antique Derrick. He's been a collector all his life.
When I told him about my interest in shaving he gave me some of his fathers old shaving gear.

We had lunch today. He wondered if i would like an old shaving soap he was given over 20 years ago and had never opened. Turned out to be Yardley Shaving Soap.
When I got home I whipped up a lather - magnificent! Did a google to discover some rave reviews about this old soap.

Then checked Ebay:

This is on at the moment:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=Yardley+shaving+soap&_sacat=See-All-Categories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trks ... Categories</a><!-- m --> (Sold for £52)

Good old Derrick! Guess what I'll be using in the morning.
 

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A nice result there Fido, and its still producing great lather after 20 years. :shave

I have a mate like that, Phil the Greek, he collects and distributes electrical goods. Strange as his names Jess and he's Italian :?
 
So now I see why it's fetching around £50 on Ebay!

Review on another forum:

Yardley Shaving Soap

EASE OF LATHERING:
This soap is incredibly easy to lather, a few swirls on top of the soap and even a soft and relatively floppy brush like the Kent BK4 produces a veritable mountain of lather.
Whilst many soaps are able to quickly produce lots of foamy but ultimately insubstantial lather which need some tweaking to get right, the Yardley soap produces a thick lubricating lather straight away. The ease and speed of lathering is one of the stand out points of a soap which has many great features.

LIFE SPAN OF LATHER:
The lather produced by this great soap is wonderfully stable. As I already said, the soap produces a rich, voluminous lather right away and thankfully this lather has incredible staying power.
The lather produced by soaps is thinner and less stable than most creams, not so with the Yardley soap. This soap can absorb an incredible amount of water without breaking down at all.

MOISTURISING:
Whilst there may be more moisturising soaps available, this soap suits my oily skin perfectly. It leaves my skin feeling wonderfully soft and comfortable after a shave. It shows no tendency to dry the skin out, nor does it make my skin more oily. A perfect balance.

LUBRICATION AND PROTECTION:
Ths soap scores a perfect ten on both counts. As mentioned earlier the lather is incredibly stable and the soap is very forgiving when it comes to soap/water ratios. This means that you can mix a thick protective lather for a straight razor shave or add more water if you want extra lubrication. This soap is virtually foolproof and whatever you decide to do in terms of soap water/ratio you will be rewarded with a rich lather that is both slick and incredibly protective. The lather produced by Yardley shaving soap rivals that produced by any shaving cream, and it eclipses any other soap
This soap is so good that I got rather silly with the number of passes I performed the first time I used it, but after I rinsed the lather away there was no razor burn or redness my skin just felt amazingly comfortable.

SCENT:
This is an old soap and I honestly don't know how the passage of time has affected the scent. However what remains is still very strong.
The scent initially has a medicinal quality, but there are definitely floral undertones in there. After the shave the scent transforms into a classic barbershop scent along the same lines of Erasmic cream. It won't interfere with any cologne one may choose to wear, but it has a tendency to linger on the skin.

PRICE:
This soap cost me 6GBP on ebay, but given the fact that Yardley shaving soap is a finite resource it is worth much more than this.
Based on its performance I would say this soap is easily worth ten times what I payed for it, it really is that good.

WOULD YOU BUY AGAIN?
Hell yes. In case I have failed to convey just how good this soap is, let me say it one more time:
THERE IS NO MODERN SOAP THAT IS ANYWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THIS!


SUMMARY:
This really is an amazing product. All in all this soap shows just how inferior modern products are, there is nothing remotely comparable to this soap. Tabac is a wonderful soap in it's own right and is the one available soap that comes close to the Yardley product, but side by side the Yardley is the hands down winner.
Easy to use, incredibly forgiving and capable of providing the best lather and subsequently the best shave you have ever received, this incredible soap ia a reminder of just how good the products of yester year were.
Like many of you I embraced my AD's and have built up a huge collection of soaps and creams. But whilst I have this product in my rotation, everything else is just going to be gathering dust. Sure, I'd like to be able to save this soap for special events, but it's just too good not to use.
 
Lucky so and so Fido...the only soap my friends are going to have is a four pack of Imperial Leather. :shock: Imperial Leather SS now there's a thought.

Look forward to the review, what's in it by the way?
 
Derrick thought he had been given the Yardley at least 20 years ago. My bit of research shows they stopped making it in the 60s. Memory plays tricks. Checked packaging and leaflets that came with it again. No sign of ingredients.

Might put a note in my village magazine. "Old unwanted shaving soap anyone?"
 
Richard

I now have 8 creams and 8 soaps and Martin de Cadre waiting to join the stash on Xmas day. And the thing is, I enjoy them all. So presently I'm using them in rotation. I may change and use some more than others. Time will tell.

It's a very different story with razors. I tried over a dozen but I really prefer just a couple. And since Edwin Jagger DE87 arrived it has been in daily use. I have three straights and I'll give each one an extended run rather than keep swopping around.

Then there's the five brushes. I really enjoy each one so I tend to rotate those.

Creams and soaps - they are such a delight! Mind you, I'm not going to compete with the guy who says he can go over two months before having to repeat. If I'm tempted to get any more I'll do as I do with my bell collection: get rid of my least favourite. Tough, but it does set a limit. And if I only intended to use a cream or soap very occasionally, I'd rather give it away than leave it feeling unwanted!
 
Brave words indeed Fido,
I look forward to this time next year when you proudly boast of keeping strict control on a mere 30 creams and soaps. :lol:
I find it hard to believe that you alone will not succumb to what is obviously a creeping infection amongst the members of this forum. Get out while you can Fido, or before you know it you'll be selling bells to make room for shaving tackle!! :D
 
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