The Obie Memorial First Tier Soaps and Creams Thread.

[Tathra11]

Shame about this soap Joseph. Does the packaging state where or what company now makes the soap? The soap was good stuff when Valobra made it.

[BobH]

Amazing the number of soaps that have been reformulated and turned into utter garbage.

Bob

[Steve56]

Per Phil at Bullgoose, this is the new soap in the old box - it’s mislabeled, it is not made in Italy and those aren’t the ingredients. Those of us that bought from Phil in the US got this email:

‘Dear Steve,

In mid May, we received a shipment of No. 88 shaving soap from the Czech & Speake distributor in Massachusetts. Upon unpacking the soap, I noticed that the boxes were stamped Made in Italy and the ingredients were the same as what we had always enjoyed. Above is a picture of one of the boxes with the ingredient list and the made in Italy Stamp.

About a week or so after I listed them for sale, I received an email from a good customer who had a concern with his soap. The color was off and it failed to produce a decent lather. At this point, I emailed Czech & Speake as well as the distributor. Czech & Speake told the distributor that they had dug up some of the old soap from Italy and that this was the last of the NOS soap.

A few days after that claim by Czech & Speake, a customer sent me a comparison photo of an actual NOS soap that he had in his stash next to one of the soaps that Czech & Speake "managed to dig up".

I forwarded the comparison photo to Czech & Speake through the distributor. When the Czech & Speake representative received this photo, he said that it was actually the new soap (Made in England) and that the made in Italy stamp was an oversight. However, he went on to claim that the ingredients listed on the box were correct and that Czech & Speake kept the formula for the soap exactly the same as it has always been. The only problem is this is also not true.

Here are the ingredients of the new soap as listed on the Czech & Speake UK website:

Sodium Palmate, Sodium Tallowate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Parfum (Fragrance), Lecithin, Petrolatum, Zea Mays Oil, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Tocopheryl Acetate, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Geraniol, Linalool, Citronellol, Hydroxy Citronellal, Limonene, Oakmoss Absolute, C.I. 77499, C.I. 17789

As you can see, not only are the ingredients not the same, the very first ingredient is different. The soaps are not even close to being the same.

Once I get things sorted out with Czech & Speake, refunds will be issued for No. 88 shave soaps purchased between May 28th and June 10th. Please give me a couple of days.’

[Tathra11]

Thanks for this info Steve.

[Steve56]

Thanks for this info Steve.

YW sir, it isn’t even a good shower soap though it does smell good! I kept mine and told Phil that he did not need to refund me, I only bought one puck.

[JOB15]

I have sent them an email complaining . I have a few old stock lavender which will probably outlive me so i cannot grumble too much
I suppose with import charges now from EU to UK a lot more items will be produced in the UK..

[Steve56]

I have sent them an email complaining . I have a few old stock lavender which will probably outlive me so i cannot grumble too much
I suppose with import charges now from EU to UK a lot more items will be produced in the UK..

England/UK has, and does, produce(d) some of the finest shaving soaps and creams ever made. Scents too!

There is no excuse for marketing an inferior shaving soap these days.

[Tathra11]

There is no excuse for marketing an inferior shaving soap these days.[/QUOTE]

So true.

If C&S performed basic product review/ testing, which I'm sure they did, they knew very well they were selling us a pathetic product. Also, putting soap in the incorrect box has a stench about it.

[Obie]

Gentlemen,
Yes, I had heard of the change in the formula and that many shavers were disappointed in the brand. Sad, indeed. I am using my last NOS puck of Oxford and Cambridge and it is lovely. When it’s gone, I’ll close the door on Czech and Speake. Too bad; it was such a fine soap.

[dimab]

Thanks @JOB15 and @Steve56 for notifying us! Less money spent on expensive junk...
Very sad news for me though: I vastly prefer tallow-based triple-milled soaps, and now that Haslinger and others went vegetal, and Valobra and Green Mountain are out of production - I'm down to only 5 (!) options worldwide: DRH, MWF, Tabac, Williams, and Henri et Victoria. Unbelievable! Good thing I have a stock of old AoS, Haslinger, C&S and Valobra though.