Barrister and Mann

Same soap colored differently due to oxidation of the vanillin, same as Lavanille.

OK, thanks, it looks quite different than Lavanille - when you look through the transparent side of the container its looks like 2 different colours were stirred together like a chocolate and vanilla ice cream swirl.  It must start oxidizing quickly, like before its even poured into the containers.

That's how my Lavanille looks.

What I suspect might happen is that there isn't always a perfect seal between the soap and the side of the container all the way around when its poured in and in those spots where there may be small spaces, oxidation happens. Its only noticeable in the transparent/translucent tubs. I think it looks cool
Mark

What I suspect might happen is that there isn't always a perfect seal between the soap and the side of the container all the way around when its poured in and in those spots where there may be  small spaces, oxidation happens.  Its only noticeable in the transparent/translucent tubs.  I think it looks cool
Mark

Very well could be as my Night Music tub is oxidized evenly on top but not below the thin layer at all [no swirls or pockets].

Got Night Music today and I will say that I can see why it's rather polarising, the smell from the tub is quite something. It also made my mouth water a bit. Maybe that was the bergamot, or maybe I'm just deprived.

Not having the aftershave (yet) and having already shaved today, I "sampled" the soap by making a bit of lather then leaving it on the inside of my elbow, like testing a fragrance. The excess musk smell dissipated very quickly and left a nice scent. I personally get the vanilla and musk in about equal measure, the bergamot is more of a taste and I can't really pick out the iris or strawberry, although the former is probably due to my lack of experience with it. Stuff hangs around my nose a fair bit as well.

Gets me thinking though, for some soaps there's often a punch to the nose of a certain scent from the tub, whereas after use it becomes more nuanced, but by then people's impressions may have already been coloured. For me and Leviathan it's the leather, Night Music it's the musks, and cherry for Dickens. Both the leather and musks are base notes, which led me to suspect that the top and middle notes leave the very top of the surface soon after pouring, but lathering is enough to remove that layer and allow the full range of scents to be exposed when you actually use the soap. Dickens is the odd one out though, I'm fairly certain cherry isn't a base note. Not sure what to make of the vanillin in Night Music either, it can't be the oxidation otherwise you'd never smell it, judging by the depth of the dark brown layer.

Thoughts anyone?

Got Night Music today and I will say that I can see why it's rather polarising, the smell from the tub is quite something.  It also made my mouth water a bit.  Maybe that was the bergamot, or maybe I'm just deprived.

Not having the aftershave (yet) and having already shaved today, I "sampled" the soap by making a bit of lather then leaving it on the inside of my elbow, like testing a fragrance.  The excess musk smell dissipated very quickly and left a nice scent.  I personally get the vanilla and musk in about equal measure, the bergamot is more of a taste and I can't really pick out the iris or strawberry, although the former is probably due to my lack of experience with it.  Stuff hangs around my nose a fair bit as well.

Gets me thinking though, for some soaps there's often a punch to the nose of a certain scent from the tub, whereas after use it becomes more nuanced, but by then people's impressions may have already been coloured.  For me and Leviathan it's the leather, Night Music it's the musks, and cherry for Dickens.  Both the leather and musks are base notes, which led me to suspect that the top and middle notes leave the very top of the surface soon after pouring, but lathering is enough to remove that layer and allow the full range of scents to be exposed when you actually use the soap.  Dickens is the odd one out though, I'm fairly certain cherry isn't a base note.  Not sure what to make of the vanillin in Night Music either, it can't be the oxidation otherwise you'd never smell it, judging by the depth of the dark brown layer.

Thoughts anyone?

You're overthinking it, though it's not an unreasonable idea. Soap does not allow for the volatility of fragrance compounds to come into play until it's exposed to water, so the "top" and "middle" notes (which are actually quite nebulous terms) don't leave the soap at all. The volatile molecules are simply not excited by anything until water and physical agitation are added, so you can't really smell them. And oxidation is entirely different from evaporation, so it has basically no effect on how the vanillin smells.

Thanks for the explanation, makes a lot of sense. Just to clarify though, so if the volatile molecules for some fragrances are locked in to the soap, how are others (like the musks) released from the soap when we smell the tub?

Thanks for the explanation, makes a lot of sense.  Just to clarify though, so if the volatile molecules for some fragrances are locked in to the soap, how are others (like the musks) released from the soap when we smell the tub?

Molecules have different vapor pressures and thus different volatilities. Musks tend to have lower vapor pressures than citrus oils, and vanillin has an EXTREMELY low vapor pressure for an aromatic compound. You'd think that heavier notes, like oakmoss and musk, would have higher vapor pressures because they smell more strongly, but that's not the case. What's happening here is that the high volatility (high vapor pressure) molecules are more subject to the effects of being trapped in a colloid (soap), while the low volatility (low vapor pressure) molecules are less subject because they don't evaporate that quickly in the first place. They're thus more obvious to the nose.

You're overthinking it, though it's not an unreasonable idea. Soap does not allow for the volatility of fragrance compounds to come into play until it's exposed to water, so the "top" and "middle" notes (which are actually quite nebulous terms) don't leave the soap at all. The volatile molecules are simply not excited by anything until water and physical agitation are added, so you can't really smell them. And oxidation is entirely different from evaporation, so it has basically no effect on how the vanillin smells.

Ah, THIS is a good explanation for why soap fragrances come into their own when lathered rather than just sniffed from the tub. I figured that out not long ago, and now I do a test lather before fully evaluating whether a soap's scent works for me.

Ah, THIS is a good explanation for why soap fragrances come into their own when lathered rather than just sniffed from the tub. I figured that out not long ago, and now I do a test lather before fully evaluating whether a soap's scent works for me.

I REALLY like Night Music. In the tub I thought, nope though. It will also never be a tub that I pull out, open and just enjoy the scent [yes, I do have others that I do this with as I am an oddball].

Through the lathering, shave and post it becomes something else. Great. Elegant, sophisticated, so many different scents. The post shave, which for me lasts some time, is one of my favorites as well.

May be the most complex and frankly ingenious mix of scents I have ever experienced in a soap. More apparent based on the scent right out of the tub and how it evolves.

Ah, THIS is a good explanation for why soap fragrances come into their own when lathered rather than just sniffed from the tub. I figured that out not long ago, and now I do a test lather before fully evaluating whether a soap's scent works for me.

I REALLY like Night Music. In the tub I thought, nope though. It will also never be a tub that I pull out, open and just enjoy the scent [yes, I do have others that I do this with as I am an oddball].

Through the lathering, shave and post it becomes something else. Great. Elegant, sophisticated, so many different scents. The post shave, which for me lasts some time, is one of my favorites as well.

May be the most complex and frankly ingenious mix of scents I have ever experienced in a soap. More apparent based on the scent right out of the tub and how it evolves.

Kevin, I feel the same way. My wife hates the smell of it from the tub, to her it smells like tooth decay. I am a night shaver and did a one pass shave with it this morning to see how she reacts to the scent when she gets off of work.

I must say that the scents I get after it is lathered and using the splash mix very nicely and has a much more pleasant smell than straight from the tub.

I also randomly smell the Leviathan, Roam and LGC tubs under my sink...

Oh I'm a confessed tub-sniffer for sure: Leviathan, Bay Rum, Seville, both Nuàvias, even my Proraso green pre/post, to name a few.