A couple of Fern treasures, Houbigant & Pens

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:09 am

Simultaneously up for auction, from two different sellers, on the 'bay right now, unused vintage pucks in the wooden bowl with box to match. It'll be fun to find out exactly how high they fly before it's all said and done. I'm not bidding because no matter how high I bid, it wouldn't last the week.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:21 am

gary any chance you could post a link for the rest of us voyeurs? Im not a fan of ebay etc, but your enthusiasm for the auction has made me curious

thanks

clive

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:58 am

Clive, here are the links:

Houbigant Fougere Royale Update: SOLD for $276.00

Penhaligon's English Fern Update: SOLD for $115.00

Something about the Houbigant bowl looks a litle "fiddled with", maybe it's just the lighting or something. (?) Regardless, half a bottle of the matching after shave and original cardboard box can't hurt.

Edit: every time I go to browse around the estate sales or flea markets, these are the two articles I pray I might find one of these days. Hasn't happened yet, but I can only hope.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:09 pm

Sigh....I told myself I wouldn't even look ( I mean, why?..I'm not set-up to bid on ebay and the bidding on these will obviously be out of my league anyway ), but no, I had to peek. Tell you what, the seller of that EF knows the crowd he's pitching to because he's all over the fact that this is the tallow based version. And just for good measure he borrowed the blurb on the scent from Penhaligon's own copy. Don't even want to know what it finally goes for ( I never should have told ANYONE about any of this stuff and bribed Charles Roberts to cancel his damnable shave forum from the get-go.
Regards,
Gordon

Craig_From_Cincy · Post by **Craig_From_Cincy** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:40 pm

Wow, starting at $115?? It'll be interesting to see of anyone bited on this one or not.

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:20 am

Heart Note = Clover...? Who'd have thought it?

Shaved with the stuff - the original tallow - this very morning *smirk*. Still. It won't last. I only have six pucks left. (The only thing I ever stockpiled and I am very glad I did. Wish I'd stockpiled Trumper Violet shaving cream BASTARDS BASTARDS though... *unsmirk*)

changabang · Post by **changabang** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:54 am

Has the GFT Violets formula changed that much, Michael? It's still one of my favorite creams.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 4:02 am

thanks for the link

clive

p,s, off topic its very irritating to see money magazine as a background....is that some subtle message seller is sending?

Bargepole · Post by **Bargepole** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:44 pm

changabang wrote:Has the GFT Violets formula changed that much, Michael? It's still one of my favorite creams.

Yes, it has. I am VERY BITTER about it. Not that they had much choice (the damned EU decided the ionones that gave it its unique violet fragrance might also give someone, somewhere, a bit of a rash if they wore it in the sunshine) but they did far more damage than necessary and then lied about it.

It's been through a couple more reformulations then, and it's still a really good cream; but a shadow of its old self. (But then so am I.) If you didn't know the old cream, you'd be rightly very pleased with the current one. (Can't say the same about the old vs. current me, though...)

changabang · Post by **changabang** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:00 pm

Thanks, Michael. I hear you. I've only been double edge shaving the last few years (even though I'm OLD), so I wouldn't have been familiar with the old formulas that were so fetching. More's the pity. Your sarcastic sense of humor is much like my own, only more expressive, and I appreciate it.

EL Alamein · Post by **EL Alamein** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:11 pm

Ah, we get these reminders every now and then of the way things used to be when men were more free.

I wish I had a time machine.

Chris

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 9:36 pm

James, Oh see, you went and upset Michael, re-opening that old wound before I could caution you off....sigh...it IS a pity though. I try ( note; I said 'try' ) not to think about all the products I used to use, or still do, that have been changed for the worse just since these shave forums have been in existance. The old Trumpers Violet cream was indeed a nicer product; deeper richer tastefully decadent scent. I still like it okay but it's definately not what it was. The change hit regular users of it the hardest, Michael and Sam for example. For me it wasn't quite as painful as Violet was a scent of theirs I used only occasionally. And speaking of violet, that rascal Fitch, come to find out, still has a stash of Floris Violet bath soaps...sigh.
Regards,
Gordon

changabang · Post by **changabang** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:36 pm

Well then, I apologize to you both. I've been wet shaving since the early '60's, but as I said, not with DE razors, not until relatively recently, so I wouldn't have had cause to explore those finer products of the past. The way you two talk, I miss them acutely, even though I can't compare the present with the past. See, now I'm a little perturbed too.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:08 pm

And on the brighter side, there are two new Fougere "treasures" on the horizon, far from fetching the last dime from our tightly buckled money belts. Valobra Fougere shaving soap conceived and brought to reality in the near future by Phil at Bullgoose Shaving and three other vendors on both sides of the Atlantic, and mid-April will bring forth Martin de Candre's Fougere shaving soap.

Yes, two of the finest Italian and French shaving soaps, both in Fougere. Yes, they'll each have to earn any accolades that they may hope to gain. They're both halfway to the objective, people know about them, and they don't have to prove again that they're very good performing soaps.

It remains to be seen if the makers have succeded in creating fougere fragrances that can make a crusty burned out veteran of the shaving wars start to giggle and swoon. Given that prospect, maybe we'll have something new to generate a few milligrams of fresh adrenaline, as we entertain ourselves and raise a glass to toast our ever-more heavenly nostalgic dreams of the good things known only in the past tense.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:57 pm

Gary, Well, I hope so. I have some interest in the Valobra IF they get the scent 'right' ( and they might ) and if it's of the type like they made for AoS and not like their own branded 'soft soap'. For me, the MdC is bound to simply be too expensive regardless of how good it may turn out to be.
Regards,
Gordon

churchilllafemme · Post by **churchilllafemme** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:57 pm

Well, I'm amazed. The Houbigant sold for $276.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:19 am

Congrats to the seller! Maybe he or she wants to turn around and invest all that new wealth in the not-yet-sold English Fern. I am now becoming very curious as to what the final moments of frenzied bidding might bring for that item.

Post by **drmoss_ca** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:43 pm

Shakespeare wrote:And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.

If only he had actually been a member - he might have failed to make Michael feel any better about GFT Violets cream, but he sure as heck would have memorialised his grief in some fine prose.

Chris
Who enjoys spotting WS quotes in titles - there's a BBC programme and an Alistair MacLean novel above. Ngaio Marsh was the most culpable, followed by many more mystery writers. I wonder why?

John Parker · Post by **John Parker** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 5:52 pm

brothers wrote:And on the brighter side, there are two new Fougere "treasures" on the horizon, far from fetching the last dime from our tightly buckled money belts. Valobra Fougere shaving soap conceived and brought to reality in the near future by Phil at Bullgoose Shaving and three other vendors on both sides of the Atlantic...

Regrettably, Phil has just announced on another forum that he has pulled out of the Valobra fougere shaving soap project for lack of an acceptable scent and a contractual issue. Now we are waiting for MdC's new fougere scent. Queen Charlotte Soaps also has a fougere shaving soap in production; have not personally tried it.

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:17 pm

. . . . . the lack of an acceptable scent would be enough to kill the idea, no doubt! Valobra lost the AOS deal and now this one. One wonders what was so hard about putting together a fern fragrance and dumping enough of it into the soap mix to make it noticeable? Before today, I was out of Valobra and not going to replace it until Phil's version came out. Now I'm just out of Valobra.