Will the real "Old Spice" please stand up

[Legion]

I got my bottle of Indian OS in the mail this morning, so I have been doing as scientific an experiment as is in my power.

I put vintage OS on the back of one hand, and Indian OS on the back of the other, and I have been sniffing them over the course of the day as they fade. There was a bit of difference when they first went on, the Indian had a more alcohol note, for want of a better term. But as they settled down they are indeed almost the same. And when I say almost, not different enough that I would notice or care about if they were not side by side. To my nose they are basically the same thing.

[madcap3693]

I knew it.....they changed the formula

[Vickers]

How did they smell?

[Woodash]

Nice work! Is there any difference attributable to different peak heights (and peak ratios) between the Indian and the Schulton? Concentrations, maybe? I'm no GC guy, so I don't know....

[oversaturn]

Outstanding work! Congratulations!

I gotta say that the experimental aspect of headspace gas chromatography is far from boring. I have great familiarity with it because it is utilized in prosecution against some of my clients. I thought I would despise learning it (I went to law school to be a lawyer, not a scientist, right?). It is very interesting.

Gotta say this was an awesome experiment. Great idea, great execution.

Couldn't agree more. I've worked with this technique in the past, and enjoyed it.

You would not need to use HS for the GC-MS, you could try a SPME injection. I think that would get the job done in a normal inlet. This thread has made my day. It is not often I get to see GC work outside of my job. I have been working with GCs in one form or another since '93. Thanks for the interesting post.

Again, couldn't agree more; I also think that SPME would be an interesting approach (I've developed a SPME method in the past), and it is great to see a work like this outside of my job! KUDOS for the OP!

[drocu]

I don't really know about different types of Old Spice but I love how you presented this as an abstract and analyzed it as a scientific problem. Well done.

[arghblech]

For curiosity's sake, what was the column?

My chem geek is showing :)

[Icebear]

Nice work! Is there any difference attributable to different peak heights (and peak ratios) between the Indian and the Schulton? Concentrations, maybe? I'm no GC guy, so I don't know....

Just looking at the printout of the peaks of a GC doesn't really tell you much about the actual concentration, for this you need the total area count of all the peaks which via intergration is translated into percentages.The peak itself gives you an idea if the time index for a certain molecule has a signal or not. The peak height (and width) is too rough to make a direct comparison of the concentrations.

[Mr5x5]

Facinating!

[Icebear]

It is the author's opinion that Shulton is using the same recipe in India that was used to manufacture the vintage sample. The P & G Old Spice appears to be significantly different from the other two Old Spice samples. I believe that there may be some evidence here for a change in recipe sometime between when the vintage Old Spice was produced and the current recipe. Whether that supposed change occurred before or after P & G obtained the product line is impossible to say. Finally, it appears that the Vijon flavors and fragrances chemists have done an admirable job at reproducing the current P & G product.

Hi there,
good job and a lot of work you put in this little investigation.

Here my $0.02 : Usually "significantly different" is a term used in consumer research when blind coded samples are evaluated by a group of people (e.g. triangle test) under defined lab. conditions and certain statistical calculations translate the number of correct responses (poeple who correctly idientified the odd one out) into results that have a significance of 95, 99 or 99.9%.

A purely analytical result without identification of the different peaks and interpretation of the organoleptical relevance of the particular components is not conclusive enough. I completely agree about the differences based on variation of natural essential oils, which can show certain differences from crop to crop or from supplier to supplier depending on country of origin, processing method and purity.

Over the life cycle of such a classic product regulatory restrictions in the industry change and certain materials perfectly normal to use 30 years ago have come under scrutiny because of potential allergy issues or whatever scientific evidence became known and a reformulation is necessary to comply. Most of the time cost saving is key factor, sometimes simply the availablity of certain natural ingredients gets so limited that a synthetic alternative blend is needed. Vijon is relying on fragrance suppliers to deliver the perfume oil that is then just diluted with alcohol and other componets into the final product. As most if not all private lable manufactures, they do not produce the fragrances themselves but they pick from their various suppliers.

[josie67]

dcobranchi;

Sir, thank you for your time and effort in doing the experiment on the different OS. I don't know when OS was first manufactured, but I started using it in the mid 1960's, and it is still one of my favorites. One change I remember that first got my curiosity up, was the change in the gray plastic stopper that is used to cap the OS bottles. The earlier ones were slimmer in diameter than the later ones, I can't remember what year I first noticed this change. Could this change have happened at the time SHULTON sold out to P&G? Just curious.

Somewhere I have partial bottles of the Burley AS and Cologne, Lime, and another bottle of the old SHULTON OS AS. Also, there is a container Burley Body Powder. This is in an elongated 6 sided white plastic container having a closure on top you would slide to open.

I would wear OS ever day but, the wife doesn't appreciate the fragrance as I do.

The change from the slim stopper to the thicker stopper occurred around 1967, and Shulton still owned OS then.

[Domminigan]

Excellent analysis! As an addition to this, I would like to see a comparison between several samples of vintage Shulton OS from differing sources. It would be fascinating to see the variations in the genuine Shulton product!

[Etoyoc_Rebmos]

Bravo! It didn't even occur to me to test these types of things when I had access to a HPLC and GC. Next time I get my hands on those pieces of equipment I will give it a try!

[kosby]

Does the Indian stuff come in a glass bottle?

[luvmysuper]

Does the Indian stuff come in a glass bottle?

No

[man00ver]

Does the Indian stuff come in a glass bottle?

Actually it does, but only in the 50ml size.

[luvmysuper]

Actually it does, but only in the 50ml size.

The 50ml bottles I have from India are the white round type, but they are still plastic.
I couldn't find any glass bottles while I was over there.

[man00ver]

The 50ml bottles I have from India are the white round type, but they are still plastic.
I couldn't find any glass bottles while I was over there.

Odd, because my little 50s are unmistakably glass. Clinkity-clink. That goes for both the one I bought at WCS, and the several I grabbed at Patel Bros Indian Supermarket in March of last year.

[luvmysuper]

Odd, because my little 50s are unmistakably glass. Clinkity-clink. That goes for both the one I bought at WCS, and the several I grabbed at Patel Bros Indian Supermarket in March of last year.

Maybe something for export? I couldn't find them locally, and I sure looked.

[Deltaboy]

A well done study!