A Tale of Two 4711's

[mistercitizen]

Does anyone know the difference other than the obvious? One is a light blue color and the other is light green. They smell slightly different.... although I can't describe the difference except to say that the green one is a bit stronger in scent. The ingredients (slightly different) are as follows:

Blue Ingredients: Alcohol, Agua (Water), Butylene Glycol, Parfum (Fragrance), Benzophenone-3, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citric Acid, C.I. 42090 (FD&C Blue No. 1), C.I. 60730 Ext. D&C Violet No. 2), C.I. 19140 (FD&C Yellow No. 5).
Dist. in USA by Intercosmetics Inc. New York, NY 10072.

Green Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Butylene Glycol, Fragrance, Benzophenone-3, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citric Acid, C.I. 42090 FD&C Blue No. 1.
Dist. in USA by Richard Barrie Fragrances, Inc.
Orange, CT 06477-0532
Dist. in Italy by Colonia S. p. A. Marcon/VE UTIF 149 68 vol. %

The above information are the only things different on the labels.... everything else is the same. These are my first bottles of 4711 so I have no reference point to go from. I bought them from the same online discount fragrance vendor and paid slightly different prices for each. One was described on the website as an Eau de Cologne and the other as an aftershave. Don't ask me which one is supposed to be which (??). Based on the above information, it looks like the colors are obviously supposed to be different.... which they are.

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this. I've only ever seen 4711 marketed as one product in one variety. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Ben

 

[mblakele]

I think both are older stock, and the green one is the oldest. According to http://www.alacrastore.com/mergers-acquisitions/Richard_Barrie_Fragrances_Inc-1035539 that company was bought out by Parlux in 1996. Parlux is still a going concern, but I would expect new stock to have their name not Barrie, so I think your green bottle is 1996 or earlier. Possibly they changed the added color in the meantime, because they found that pure CI 42090 could go green.

Your blue bottle may also be old stock, because it does not list some of the ingredients that are listed on my latest bottle. This is light blue as pictured at 4711_Aftershave on the wiki, and the label does not mention an importer: just Glockengasse KÖLN Gmbh and 4711.com (even newer ones might have Mäurer & Wirtz on the label). The ingredients are: Alcohol, Water (Aqua), Butylene Glycol, Fragrance (Parfum), Limonene, Benzophenone-3, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Linalool, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citral, Citric Acid, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronella, Ext. Violet 2 (CI 60730), Blue #1 (CI 42090), Yellow 5 (CI 1140).

Some of those ingredients are my reason for thinking your blue bottle is also older stock: geraniol and all that. The laws that require listing of potentially irritating fragrances are relatively recent, and while your bottles both probably contain much the same stuff, at the time it did not have to be listed.

EDIT: 4711.com was registered 2009-01-22 and probably came into use that April. There is no telling when the web site began to appear on AS labels, but it is another piece of data. And I think I see "2006" on the blue bottle?

 

[StuMcB]

The last bottle if 4711 AS I bought was alot darker blue than that. Smelled great and very cooling IMHO

 

[johnniegold]

Timely thread as I have been using 4711 as my aftershave now for the last 2 weeks. This is my second bottle. The first one I used up awhile back.

Upon using the second bottle I did notice a marked difference between the two. I remembered the first bottle mirroring the bottle of 4711 exactly. A very fresh light scent. This particular bottle of 4711 has a much spicier scent and has a much more cooling effect than the previous bottle that I used. This bottle is much more effective as an aftershave than I had remembered. The difference in color I don't recall but my current bottle is more of a bluish color.



I didn't think much of 4711 as an aftershave before but this current bottle has me re-thinking it. It reminds me of Floid Blue.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Mick]

Interesting.

Where did you pick these up?

Are they both new products?

 

[Mike'sWorld]

the label does not mention an importer: just Glockengasse KÖLN Gmbh and 4711.com (even newer ones might have Mäurer & Wirtz on the label). The ingredients are: Alcohol, Water (Aqua), Butylene Glycol, Fragrance (Parfum), Limonene, Benzophenone-3, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Linalool, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Citral, Citric Acid, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronella, Ext. Violet 2 (CI 60730), Blue #1 (CI 42090), Yellow 5 (CI 1140).

This is what's on my bottle. It's light blue and a wonderful summer scent. Light and citrus-y, I bought it about a year ago when it went on sale at Amazon.

 

[maxman]

Is only the aftershave lotion coloured blue or green?
my little bottle is clear, but it might not be aftershave lotion

 

[huntingdan]

I remember getting a some samples of 4711, they almost smelled like peppers. I didn't really like the scent of them, but loved the performance and figured if it only lasted a few minutes anyways, figured what they heck. So I ordered some 4711 from IB online and and to my surprise it smelled very different from the samples I had smelled before. Way more of the citrus scent everyone always describes.

 

[mistercitizen]

Interesting.

Where did you pick these up?

Are they both new products?

Beautyencounter.com. Technically they are both "new".... however many discount fragrance sites sell older stock. I imagine these both were. The funny thing was (and part of the reason I got both) that they were slightly different prices. One was advertised as an "Eau de Cologne Aftershave Pour" and the other as an "Aftershave Lotion". They were only a few dollars different in price so I was curious if there was a difference. Like I said, it's my first experience with 4711 so I wasn't entirely sure what I was ordering when I ordered them.

Ben

 

[Jcabbage]

i sniffed 4711 a few weeks ago... kinda smells like a gin & tonic to me. Not sure about it, anyone else get that sort of idea from it?

 

[maxman]

Oh never mind. Mine is Eau de Cologne not aftershave.