Reorder Disappointment

[earcutter]

Ever romanticize a shaving related product, only to reperchase it and... no longer like it?

I was in Toronto last summer and so excited to see the store I was in stocked Acca Kappa 1869, I bought the cream in a tube, and the aftershave. But somehow it just wasn’t as good as I recalled. It might be because it wasn’t the bowl soap, but the aftershave wasn’t what I remembered either.

Recently I picked up some Mühle Sea Buckthorn aftershave. I absolutely loved the scent! I still like the scent, but the product seems a little lacking.

Too funny!

Am I alone in this? Have you ever excitedly “restocked” a product only to no longer like it?

[onimaru55]

Am I alone in this? Have you ever excitedly “restocked” a product only to no longer like it?

I find that with blended whisky like Johnny Walker Black. The recipe isn't constant IMO.

[ScoutHikerDad]

I find that with blended whisky like Johnny Walker Black. The recipe isn't constant IMO.

Agreed-In the huge worldwide recent surge in demand for scotch and bourbon, even the best, most carefully aged expressions are having trouble maintaining enough quality stock-blends suffer too. And Johnnie has some pretty great malts in the blend, but I agree-not as great recently.

[earcutter]

Sounds like if I was a scotch or bourbon guy, I’d be buying by the box. Then again, that’s how I bought my cigars, and then I quit. I’m sitting on a fortune in really well rested smokes!

[OCDshaver]

I constantly challenge folks to truly evaluate their soaps. I fell into a trap in the past. I was influenced by the idea of things. The packaging, the scent...I wanted it to be good. I still want some of them to be good. And part of it was not having met the right soap to compare the others to. Now I have settled on my soaps and everything has to outperform that soap or I disregard it for what it is. I miss the idea of them but not the quality of the shave they gave me. I always say that we consistently talk about the shave test when it comes to a razors edge. But when we talk soaps, we talk about how it lathers, sometimes how it smells. You might have remembered it better because you wanted it to be better. And now you KNOW better and that soap simply doesn’t measure up. There’s. Long list of soaps I miss the idea of.

[earcutter]

That’s really well put OCD.

[RayClem]

I have no information on the specific product you mentioned, but I have heard that a lot of traditional manufacturers are now outsourcing the production of their products to reduce costs. That is another reason I like using artisan soaps; the artisans are staking their reputation on day to day quality. Traditional manufacturers are relying on name recognition dating back decades, or even centuries.

[earcutter]

I have no information on the specific product you mentioned, but I have heard that a lot of traditional manufacturers are now outsourcing the production of their products to reduce costs. That is another reason I like using artisan soaps; the artisans are staking their reputation on day to day quality. Traditional manufacturers are relying on name recognition dating back decades, or even centuries.

Man, that's kind of controversial. I've seen many an Artisan changing up their soaps due to feedback. Which is great if you were one of the ones who wanted the change, but sucks for guys who didn't lol.

The two products I spoke of are both from established makers. As far as I know, Acca Kappa did change it's soaps recipe from the one I first tried. But this time I bought the cream so who knows. I know that Muhle hasn't changed a thing. I honestly believe this is about me and not the manufacturer.

As OCD says, "Long list of soaps I miss the idea of."

[JBHoren]

Am I alone in this? Have you ever excitedly “restocked” a product only to no longer like it?

Yes, but not with a shaving product. A few weeks ago, after not having owned/tasted it since 2009 (nobody carried it in Fairbanks and, after returning to South Florida, couldn't find a local source, either), I suddenly found a 1.75-liter bottle of my favorite blended Scotch whiskey: Teacher's "Highland Cream"... in my neighborhood Publix liquor store, for only $26.95 (ten dollars less than what I'd previously paid!)

Excited? It was Friday evening, I'd finished eating dinner and washed-up, changed into a pair of plaid PJs and poured myself a couple of fingers of this... elixer.

BUMMER!!! Feh... it wasn't the same smooth, mellow taste that I remembered. I went on-line and discovered that back in 2009 the company that had owned Teacher's was sold to an Asian conglomerate, which promptly replaced a key ingredient with one from their own "in-house" distilleries. EPIC FAIL!!!

Well, as Albert King (and others) sang, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all." And I (not one to toss a $27 bottle of Scotch whiskey) "held my nose" and drank. Now, as I write these words, I'm finishing the last of my long-awaited, highly-anticipated, and equally-disappointing faux "Highland Cream".

Of course, YMMV (but don't blame me, if it doesn't)

[earcutter]

Man, you scotch drinkers really have it bad lol!! I can't think of a single item that I consume short of soaps, where the recipe changed so drastically.

Well I guess that's not true, Levi's really sucked there for years. As did Harley's. I remember going into a Harley dealer back in the day ogling the bikes. When the pusher... I mean sales associate came to try and get me to buy, I told him flat out that I would have loved to buy a Harley, but their bikes were simply pooh so I was going to have to go Green. He literally said to me, "Yeah well, you'll never know how many friends a Harley owner has until you are broken down on the side of the street and everyone comes out to help you." I didn't want to but I couldn't help myself. I laughed in his face, and then walked out.