Green Pond A/S 'Milk'

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 11:18 am

Afternoon. Not to be overly alarmist, but last night I happened to stop by the Green Pond site, and noticed that they no longer listed their version of the Aftershaving Milk. The Harris's made shave cream was still there, but all the rest of the page was blank. I don't know if this means they are now switching over to the new formula, or simply not doing it at all anymore, or what. I found it rather disheartening somehow, even though I've not personally used the product. I had rather planned on trying it, when my current supplies of 'Milk' ran low.
Regards,
Gordon

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:35 pm

Yes, Gordon, it's true. Someone pointed this out last week, and I sent Green Pond an e-mail asking if they had any old stock. They haven't given me the courtesy of a reply, yet.

My guess is that their stock was made by Harris under the old version, and they haven't picked up the new formulation. I, too, was hoping to buy some of the Green Pond as an alternative to the new formula Harris.

For now, I'm stuck with Clinique's Post-Shave Healer, which has the viscosity of non-fat milk. I'm also using Caswell-Massey's No. 6 aftershave balm, which seems less dense to me than their other aftershave balms. The Clinique is fine, except that the scent is nothing to write home about. The Caswell-Massey is slightly denser, and I tend not to wear No. 6 quite as often during the cool months. So, what's a fellow to do? Grin and bare it, I suppose. I may ask the missus for a bottle of that Harris Pink that you like, as a Christmas present.

Big Ren · Post by **Big Ren** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:50 pm

Gordon,

Do you know if there is anything on the Harris packaging to distinguish the old formulation from the new? There is a shop here that has several bottles of the A/S Milk and I'd like to know which formulation it is.

Ren

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 1:02 pm

Ren, Usually, the ingrediants are listed on the box. The old formula was very simple, only a relatively few ingrediants, including a cucumber extract variant. The new formula has a much longer ingrediant list, including lanolin, among other things. Any bottle with only the Queen Mother's Warrant, or with her Warrant plus that of The Prince of Wales, should be the old stuff. With bottle's bearing only Prince Charles' Warrant, it could be either one, so you would have to check the ingediant list. Hope this helps.
Regards,
Gordon

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 1:13 pm

Bob, Well, if that's the case, at least I can applaud them for refusing to switch over to the new stuff. Yeah, in some ways, that Clinique is really about the closet thing to the old Milk that's still being sold. I used it for a long time, for travel, as it came in those small plastic bottles. And I also agree that the C-M balm seems a little lighter then then most of the scented balms out there. I've used it too, on occasion. I'm just damn glad that the Pink is still around, as it works for me pretty much as well as the old Milk, really. If you ever do get any answer to your Green Pond email, do be so kind as to let us know what they say.
Regards,
Gordon

Post by **Sam** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:10 pm

Pink vs. the Old Milk: I was thinking that the Pink is a liquid and that the Milk was more like coral skin food. Was I wrong?

Sam

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:33 pm

Sam, Well, they're both kind of unique products. The old version Milk was also a liquid, but opaque and, well, 'milky' colored. Pink is almost clear, with a slight rosy tinge to it. Pink contains a little bit of alcohol ( around 15% ), whilst the Milk had none. Both products are essentially after shaving soothers, but the Milk also had a slight moisturizing property that the Pink lacks. But both products work well for me, soothing the skin, but not adding any lingering 'moisturizer' effect, which I do not want. They both do their job and disappear. Neither functions as temporary sealants, like the Trumper Skin Foods are made to do.
Regards,
Gordon

Scotto · Post by **Scotto** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:01 am

I have spoken with them, and GP has stopped offering the balm. There is no stock left, unfortunately.

Another one bites the dust....

BTW, they declined to elaborate on their decision, but it isn't rocket-science. The real question is whether the (excellent) shave cream will survive long term.

Troy · Post by **Troy** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:12 pm

bernards66 wrote:Pink contains a little bit of alcohol ( around 15% ), whilst the Milk had none.

I'll add to Gordon's point a bit: the Arlington version of Harris A/S Milk has the cologne in it, so it does have some alcohol. I can definitely feel the difference between the two when applying.

-Troy

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:50 pm

Troy, Interesting. I never really picked up any difference, myself. I never really carefully read the ingrediants list on the Arlington Milk that I had, however.

Scotto, Well, sorry to hear it, but at least we now know. Thanks for the information update. I appreciate you trying to find out more about their decision as well, even though they weren't cooperative. BTW, I agree. Their shave cream is excellent ( well, it's Harris's, afterall ), and at a pretty good price too. I hope they continue to offer it.
Regards,
Gordon

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:50 pm

Troy,

I don't have an Arlington Milk box to be sure but I have never seen alcohol listed as an ingredient. I suspect that you may be having a reaction to the fragrance, but as far as I can remember, there has never been alcohol in either of the Milk varieties.

Ken

Blue As A Jewel · Post by **Blue As A Jewel** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:52 pm

I also don't think there is alcohol in the Arlington version - just Arlington fragrance...

Troy · Post by **Troy** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:42 pm

Gents,

It's definitely in there - just not listed explicitly. These are the ingredients listed on my (old formulation) box of Arlington Aftershave Milk:

Aqua, Adeps Lotus, Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Borate, Cucumis Sativus,
Parfum (+/-), Cetrimonium Bromide.

The alcohol is in the "Parfum". Incidentally, the list of ingredients on the old formulation box of regular Aftershave Milk is identical, but I don't get the "alcohol sting" with that one.

I suppose that before the recent EU labeling rules went into effect, just listing "Parfum" was good enough. Here are the ingredients for the "new formulation" of Arlington Aftershave Milk:

Aqua, Paraffinum liquidum, Cetearyl alcohol, Parfum, Isopropyl myristate, Cetyl alcohol, Lanolin, Imidazolidinyl urea, Methylparaben, Sodium lauryl sulphate, Propylparaben, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Citronellol, Geraniol, Benzyl benzoate, Linalool, Citral, Farnesol, Limonene

-Troy

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 8:18 pm

Troy,

I'm not a chemist, so I can only refer to others. According to Paula Begoun in Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, cetearyl alcohol and cetyl alcohol are fatty alcohols used as emolients, emulsifiers, thickeners, and carrying agents for other ingredients. They are not related to SD alcohol or ethyl alcohol. About cetearyl alcohol, the Wikipedia entry states that "It is not really an 'alcohol', such as rubbing alcohol, which would dry the skin, but it is an emulsifying wax, made by combining fatty alcohols from vegetable sources, such as coconut fatty alcohol." When cosmetics contain SD or ethanol alcohol, they say that it is alcohol or ethanol or SD alcohol, or use similar words. "Parfum" refers to the fragrance oils or synthetic fragrances, not anything with alcohol. If you look at a bottle of cologne, you will see that "parfum" and "alcohol" are listed as separate ingredients. Why the word "alcohol" is used for SD and ethyl alcohol as well as cetearyl and cetyl alcohol, I'll leave to the chemists on the group.

Ken