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Birch Tar Soap

post #1 of 7
2/23/13 at 12:38pm
Thread Starter 
Over the past few months I have become increasingly interested in scented body products. I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on a bar of vintage Piver Cuir de Russie soap as well as vintage Knize Ten soap and shower gel. Anyway, along the same lines, I have been looking at birch tar soap (mainly to use as hand soap). I love the smoky, leathery scent and it apparently has the added bonus of being rather good for your skin. Anyway, I have yet to purchase any birch tar soap although I have been able to find a few manufactures who offer the product Nevskaya Cosmetics via Green Eye Trading 1 and Elena's Natural Soap 2. So I was wondering if anyone has tried the stuff and might be able to offer some feedback about the fragrance. I have used Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap 3 and I guess I'm curious how similar this product is to those containing birch tar. I have included links to the products mentioned below.


1 http://www.greeneyetrading.com/Birch...0697101415.htm
2 http://www.elenasnaturalsoap.com/ite...h-Tar-Soap.htm
3 http://www.grandpabrands.com/product...r-soap-3-25-oz
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post #2 of 7
2/23/13 at 6:36pm
Thanks for the suggestion. I have used Grandpa's soap in the past and also liked the tarry smell. I'd assume it smells very close - in a soap one cannot tell much of a difference. If you go ahead and try, please report. (Somehow, I was under the impression that birch tar is restricted also in the US, not just by IFRA, but evidently not).

I'm not sure how good it is for the hands, though. Tar is used for certain skin condition like dermatitis or acne, as for instance in anti-dandruff shampoos.

Incidentally, you probably know that the current Knize Ten soap and shower gel do not smell leathery at all and are quite a let down. However, the Bandit shower gels smells fantastic, very close to the perfume, the butchest leather around (it is not birch tar, however, but some type of isoquinolines, I believe).

cacio
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post #3 of 7
2/23/13 at 10:56pm
Thread Starter 
I had no idea that Knize was still producing soaps and body products—distributuion in the U.S. is quite limited. But since you metnion it I do recall seeing a complete line online a few months back.

I believe the birch tar restriction applies to one particular component of birch tar which can be removed. You may recall that Le Labo's Patchouli 24 was reformulated a while back and now the juice is now much lighter. I read that Annick Goutal chose to discontinue Eau du Fier (another birch tar heavy fragrance) rather than go through the process of reformulating with the "clean" birch tar since Eau du Fier wasn't a big seller. Quite a pity. Anyway, I can report that Patchouli 24 smells almsot exactly the same pre and post birch tar facelifts. I know Chanel's Cuir de Russie also contains birch tar and that the original birch tar was swapped out a few years back for the new stuff.

Thanks for the tip about the Bandit shower gel—I'll have to grab some. BTW, the molecule is Isobutyl quinoline and it's actually responsible for the leathery aspect of both Bandit and Knize Ten.
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post #4 of 7
2/24/13 at 8:38am
Thanks for the info. Indeed, I have the Patch too (and Cuir de Russie) and they still smell gorgeous. I got the K10 body products at Colonial drugstore in Boston, but, as said, it's not worth bothering. The face cream is slightly leathery (in a Tuscan leather sort of way), the rest of the products are not.

cacio
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post #5 of 7
3/7/13 at 9:23am
Birch tar soap smells very similar to Pine tar soap. Birch tar is often described as smelling like a smokey campfire or Russian leather. It has been used as a natural remedy for eczema, psoriasis and other skin issues. We have some all natural, hot processed birch tar soap available here:

http://themodcabin.com/bath/#!/~/pro...89&id=20916451
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post #6 of 7
3/13/13 at 3:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Mod Cabin View Post

Birch tar soap smells very similar to Pine tar soap.

Very hard for me to distinguish the two.
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post #7 of 7
5/17/13 at 5:13pm

Dudes i got some birch tar soap that i have no idea what the name is because its in Russian.  Red and black packaging.  To my nose smells like a cigarette as soon as it's put out but still smoking just a tid.  I've never encountered anything this potent. If i don't keep it locked in a lead box to keep it from any amount of moisture you can actually smell it down the hall from the bathroom.  I can't read the package but i'm pretty sure it says "fuck john wayne and chuck norris".  That may even be the name of the soap.
 

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