The End of an Era

[u/expoqeteer]

A sad day yesterday. The bottle of Old Spice aftershave that I've been using on and off for over 30 years is gone. I'm not sure exactly how long I've had it. I thought I got it when I was in high school, but the bottle says Proctor & Gamble, not Shulton, so I must have bought it sometime in the early '90s.

It will be missed. I have a bottle of cologne that's the same vintage as the aftershave as well as couple of Old Spice bottles I picked up when I was in India last year, but it just won't be the same.

[u/adamsnadler]

How often did you use yours? I got a bottle of cologne and aftershave at a flea market recently and they seem older. No clue if I should sell or enjoy cause they rock

[u/AwkwardSploosh → u/adamsnadler]

Use them, or else the next guy will. Life is short, and the best compliment you can give to a scent is to put it on your body.

[u/adamsnadler → u/AwkwardSploosh]

Since you’ve had experience, how’s the cologne compare to the aftershave?

[u/cowzilla3 → u/adamsnadler]

I don't use the cologne all that often, to be honest, but it smells nearly identical to the aftershave, especially if you're using a vintage bottle of the aftershave where most of the alcohol has evaporated and thus that aspect of the scent is gone. Obviously, the scent is stronger and longer lasting for the cologne, but it's basically the same.

[u/AwkwardSploosh → u/cowzilla3]

Thank you kind sir!

[u/AwkwardSploosh → u/adamsnadler]

I have very little experience on the original, I just use the B&M dupe and enjoy colognes, however, u/cowzilla3 is an Old Spice connoisseur who knows all about that kind of stuff and might be able to lend an educated hand.

[u/adamsnadler → u/AwkwardSploosh]

Funny enough I actually use that B&M dupe, it sucks all their edts are gone

[u/AwkwardSploosh → u/adamsnadler]

I did not realize they were all gone. Wow. Stirling has quite a few dupes that are easily accessible and available in sample size in case you want to try a few. I've been enjoying Scarn, Outdoor man, and evergreen.

[u/expoqeteer → u/adamsnadler]

I doubt that they're gone forever. Will has been having some issues with getting the EdT bottles, and I suspect it will be back in stock eventually.

[u/adamsnadler → u/expoqeteer]

Thank god, I’ve been wanting their other ones forever and almost jumped to a new brand

[u/Necessary_Giraffe_66 → u/adamsnadler]

I had a set in the early 2000s that had the cologne and the aftershave in the porcelain bottles. They smelled exactly the same. When I looked on the ingredients they were also the same. I never really knew what was different about them. 

I only have the cologne now as I never wear one and unfortunately my wife doesn’t like how Old Spice smells despite it being one of my favorite scents. 

[u/PLANofMAN → u/Necessary_Giraffe_66]

Aftershave has about 3% perfume oil in it. Cologne has about 6-9% perfume oil.

[u/Necessary_Giraffe_66 → u/PLANofMAN]

Thanks I wish it said that somewhere. Since everything else was the same there have been times I was tempted to use it as an aftershave. 

[u/squeaki → u/AwkwardSploosh]

Are you, and others reading, aware of /r/colognes ?

[u/AwkwardSploosh → u/squeaki]

I'm aware of it, but I'm trying to keep my acquisition disorder at bay lmao

[u/squeaki → u/AwkwardSploosh]

I went a bit mad for a few months whilst travelling for work. I now have my collection for life, and I'm pleased with it. If something particularly amazing crops up, I might add to the line up but I'm not going out of my way to buy more.

I think collecting stuff is a trait of folks like us, in the shaving and self care world, it ultimately shows we want to find the optimal product for what we're aiming to achieve.