Category — After shave / cologne

The day has arrived. Aqua Velva is now being distributed in ’shatterproof’, i.e. plastic bottles.

There are still some classic glass bottles around, but once they’re sold, another chapter in wet shaving will close. Go out there and find some now.

Or give it a few months, and I might start listing the stray bottle on the Bay.

Aqua Velva will no longer be sold in glass bottles.

To some, that statement might provoke no more than a disinterested shrug, maybe a “meh”.

To others, it signifies the curtain slamming down on generations of wetshaving goodness.

Aqua Velva.

Pressure from retailers looking to protect their margins finally has caused its manufacturer, Combe, to give in. All future Velva will be shipped in plastic containers. While Combe swears the formulation won’t change, this is almost impossible. Tweaks there will be to keep the stuff from ‘turning’ in plastic bottles.

On the AV front, word also is out that Combe is in play. If the company, and its products like AV and Williams Mug Shaving Soap are bought out, you can bet changes will be afoot in these products.

Remember Old Spice? It never smelled the same after Procter and Gamble bought the brand and saved a few cents a bottle by changing the formulation.

By the way, don’t bother looking for glass bottles of Aqua Velva in the eastern Sacramento suburbs. I already bought them all.

Word is out that there’s a new version of the classic Habit Rouge cologne coming this spring. Habit Rouge Sport.

Ah, crap.

Habit Rouge Sport, aka Whore of Babylon pour Homme.

Now, I love Habit Rouge. It’s a venerable cologne, debuted in 1965. It’s been tweaked some over the years; the European Union has forced reformulations of many fragrances with the new rules they’ve put in place concerning ingredients.

Can’t be helped. You gotta dance to the government’s tune.

But I just don’t believe old Jean-Paul Guerlain would have done a ’sport’ version of Habit Rouge.

Business is business, people gotta make a buck. The Guerlains sold their company to LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vitton) some years ago. Now the house name is just another brand in the stable. C’est la vie, non? At least they’re in good company. Givenchy, Kenzo and Acqua di Parma are stablemates.

So, now we have a ‘Sport’ version of Habit Rouge.

There is some discussion on basenotes centered on: Why doesn’t Guerlain have the right to make a buck? Maybe guys will be introduced to Guerlain by a ’sport’ cologne who never would have heard of the house otherwise.

It just feels wrong.

Adidas Sport, Hugo Boss Sport… go to town. Habit Rouge was, I thought, above that.

Now it seems like Guerlain (LVMH) has pimped out the name. The once grande dame is out walking the stroll next to the crack whores.

Making a buck
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