You guys may have followed this thread: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...nt-Label-Creation?highlight=aqua+velva+bottle, or maybe this one: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ldest-Aqua-Velva-Bottle-Circa-1928?highlight=, and know that I found a really nice old Aqua Velva bottle from the 20s. Thanks to some nice work by forum members to help me create a label and advice on cleaning the bottle, the battle was half won. What I surely thought to be the hardest part of this bottle restoration was the quest to find an original style metal screw cap...boy was I wrong. My local antique store that has been good to me in the past came through again! I found perfume bottle from the same era and sure enough it had the same damn cap...you gotta be kidding me I am thinking. So I grab it, hesitant to pay 8 dollars for an empty unknown bottle just to obtain the cap, but quickly understand how lucky I was to find it in the first place. As I am carrying it to the register I see the unbelievable...an Aqua Velva free trial offer bottle from 1925 with over half the original AV aftershave still inside it for a whopping 4 dollars! SCORE!!! They look great together and the cap from the other bottle sure helped "top off" (pardon the pun) the full size AV bottle. I am really happy.
I poured the rest of my contents of my plastic bottle AV into the old one and now I have an excellent decanter for modern Aqua Velva...plus the nice early sample bottle with original product for those special occasions. Might I add, the original recipe Aqua Velva is simply amazing. It smells similar to modern AV but with lots of fresh lime scent and maybe a slight powdery finish. Feels really good with a nice tingle going on the face, no menthol kick and the mild scent has alot of staying power compared to the modern and really does make the face feel...well...FIT. I sure wish they still made the original formula...I know you Gents would love it too!
I know that vintage glass and after shaves may bore some of you but I thought I would post anyway for those who might enjoy this and perhaps spark some new interest for other members who may get some inspiration to decant some of their plastic after shaves and colognes.
Here are a few pics, the first being the bottle in as-found condition. Sorry my photography isn't the best. They look better in person actually.
By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-08
By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-18
By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-18
I poured the rest of my contents of my plastic bottle AV into the old one and now I have an excellent decanter for modern Aqua Velva...plus the nice early sample bottle with original product for those special occasions. Might I add, the original recipe Aqua Velva is simply amazing. It smells similar to modern AV but with lots of fresh lime scent and maybe a slight powdery finish. Feels really good with a nice tingle going on the face, no menthol kick and the mild scent has alot of staying power compared to the modern and really does make the face feel...well...FIT. I sure wish they still made the original formula...I know you Gents would love it too!
I know that vintage glass and after shaves may bore some of you but I thought I would post anyway for those who might enjoy this and perhaps spark some new interest for other members who may get some inspiration to decant some of their plastic after shaves and colognes.
Here are a few pics, the first being the bottle in as-found condition. Sorry my photography isn't the best. They look better in person actually.
By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-08
By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-18
By chrissimmonds at 2011-11-18
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