The Great Pears Soap Disaster
It is one of those small comforts the morning bath routine. The merest sniff has the power to transport me back to my childhood. A gentle, vaguely biscuity smell like the soft, warm aroma of the linen cupboard; the comforting concave oval shape with indents into which you can fit the old worn bar (waste not, want not!). Yes, I am talking about Pears Transparent Soap.
This particular brand is 200 years old, as the newly reworded carton reminds me. In fact the soap is 220 years old. First formulated in 1789, it was the world’s first registered brand and therefore is the world’s oldest continuously existing brand.
Transparent it still is. It used to claim to be hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic, natural and original. Don’t look for these strap-lines on the new carton. They have disappeared; discretely and without fanfare. It is surely a wise move for the owner of a 200 year brand not to trumpet the words, “new, improved formula” on a product that is not only much loved but is used by people whose skin does not respond well to harsher soaps.
Pears Transparent Soap :: Before and After
The list of ingredients, which once read like a cargo on John Masefield’s Quinquireme of Nineveh – a Pandora’s box of exotic sounding ingredients sourced from the far reaches of the British Empire, now includes PEG 4, BHT, CI 12940 and CI 47005 (respectively a dispersant, antioxidant and colour additives). Then there’s the new smell. Biscuits and linen replaced with a whiff that to my untutored nose is just too strong, redolent of pine disinfectant and the hospital waiting room. Other noses might detect a herbal note – perhaps not unpleasant – but just not the proper familiar Pears smell.
My wife and I both suffer from sensitive skin. My wife is allergic to PEG8 and its close relatives, so PEG4 is a no-no. Ah well, that’s goodbye then to Pears Soap after 100 bath years of use in this household?
Not being one to take these things lying down, I called the 0800 customer service number on the box. Disconnected. Undeterred, I googled the name on the box, CERT Brands in Rotherham and found a telephone number where, I reasoned, I might be able to talk to a brand manager. I spoke with a nice lady, the receptionist. No, she said, nobody else had complained so far. She made careful, precise notes of my comments. Yes, yes, somebody would call me back shortly.
A month later, I am still waiting.
Let’s face it, when you are a busy, important brand manager (I mean, the manager of an important brand), the last thing you want to do is talk to a disgruntled consumer. That’s what you have receptionists for.
Am I really the only consumer to have noticed? Not acccording to the author of Wikipedia’s entry on Pears Soap: ”In 2009 the formula was changed to take out the peanut oil that it contained and adding other ingredients like more glycerin. This unfortunately completely changed the smell and texture of the soap, making it unrecognizable from the original product.”
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the concave shape of the soap is [presumably, was] formed by shrinkage while the soap is drying, and is not due to deliberate moulding. To quote Wikipedia again, “Recent changes to quality of ingredients used in the manufacturing process have resulted in a noticeably different shape (flatter rather than concave) and difference in scent.”
So, is there a lesson in here for much loved 200 year old brand managers (I mean the managers of much loved 200 year old brands)? It should be that you tinker with your brand at your peril. My experience thus far tells me that there is little chance that this message is going to get through. The only real sanction we consumers have at our disposal is to vote with our feet (and hands and faces) and stop using it. If too many did that, it might finish what others have already started and kill off the brand completely.
After 200 years that would be much more than a great pity, it would be a disaster.
It is just a bar of soap you may say….not so! I purchased a bar of Pears soap yesterday (thinking I was buying the original) & when I opened the box I read the small print and noticed that it is now made in India….horror. Additional ingredients are now added and it is no longer the tried and trusted product that it had been for over 200 years. It has been ruined for the sake of profit! I complained to the chemist where I purchased the soap and I telephoned the number on the box to complain. I then threw the soap in the bin. Andrew Pears must be turning in his grave!!
Oops sorry guys -we only make soap for ourselves or charity-we don,t make a profit ! (- only with our health)
Andrew Sydney
We started a soap making group because of the new 27 ingredients rubbish: In order to make descent soap! -They should be done for fraud for not telling us about the major changes! In our group we brought awareness to all the chemicals and pesticides in this concoction, now we make chemical free soap most weeks. So Unilever we don’t need your rubbish!
If anyone has the recipe or near For the original Bar–we would love to have a go at making it!
with Thanks
Andrew
Does anyone know the recipe and quantities,so we can make our own!
My grandmother used Pears soap for years and used to bath me with it as a baby, I am 67 and always loved Pears soap. However I will never use it again as I absolutely hate the ‘new’ perfume. I have extremely sensitive skin and never had any bother with Pears soap, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE change it BACK!!!!!!!
Hi,
I was wondering if the soap could help eczema? I was told its is gentle and for sensitive skin. I can’t seem to find a store to purchase it from unfortunately… Please can someone help me.
Thanks.
Navitha – South Africa
Sadly Navitha, the whole point being made here is that the soap is no longer safe to be used by people with eczema!!
I think it would be lovely if they had Lilly Lanytry’s picture and signature on that package.
TAH DAH!!! I HAVE FOUND SOMETHING!!! (A possible Replacement)
So I never even got to try the original Pears but I stumbled upon the info about it as I was looking for natural non-pore blocking soaps. I have always used Dove sensitive cream bar as anything else has been too strong for my cheeks and forehead and dried them, even Simple soap, (though i have an oily nose which I work on with a clay mask and steaming once a week each). So whilst in Boots I found DEAD SEA soap bars. There are three types, mineral, sulphur and mud. I bought the Mineral and Sulphur, each have only NINE ingredients and when you look up the snazzy names you find the soap is basically Palm, Olive and Coconut extracts/fatty acids, water and dead sea salt. Its cheap, natural, refreshing and gentle. Although note that the Mineral has Perfume in it. I actually plan to go back and get the Mud Soap which you can use as a mask.
You’ll find them at Boots
Good Luck!
I had the same experience could get no explanation why smell had chnged from customer service no response so quit using it after 50 years was disappointed.
Hello,
I have 72 bars still in stock if any of you are interested………………….
I will post worldwide.
Let me know via e-mail
t44lun@btinternet.com
Get in qquick before someone else does…..
Diane
My wife and I have just returned from a four week stay in Carriacou, an island in the Grenadines. We had to buy soap for our unserviced apartment, so purchased the only soap available – Pears – from a tiny wooden shack mascarading as a supermarket. We use a shower gel at home but, what joy when I had my first shower – memories of my 1950′s childhood flooded back as I smelled that wonderful aroma and felt the tactile shape in my hand. And so soothing and gentle on the skin! I vowed to switch from gel to Pears on my return. But back home in the UK, I now realise that I should have ditched my dive gear and clothing from my suitcase and filled it instead with the old-stock Pears…far more valuable. What an idiotic change for the company to make with this iconic and gentle staple!
Carriacou sounds like the last outpost of civilisation! You could easily have enlisted a few hundred ex-Pears users as sponsors of your trip at a fiver a bar… I came across a sliver of the amber nectar only yesterday (in a bathroom cupboard that I hadn’t looked in for two years) . What luxury!
Please let us know via the media or e-mail if the new Pears soap will be taken off the shelves and when you are going to bring back the old Pears soap, as we are all waiting to go to the supermarket to buy the old Pears soap, desperately.
Thanks Althea Coetzer
Now hope of that Althea!
A friend of mine who worked on the Pears line as a graduate recruit in Unilever many years ago reports that even back then it was made using old-fashioned methods on ageing equipment and took months to make and mature. The ‘insider’ view is that the production line would have been decommissioned and disposed of ages ago, with not a hope of a return to the old method. RIP Pears.
I just finished using a bar of the old and felt sad that this was it as I had heard of the change and thought I did not have any more.
I looked today a saw some at a Dollar store but just would not try it.
My lucky day , I just checked under my sink and found I still have 3 bars of the original. I am in heaven. I think I will save it for special occasions . I can always fall back on my stock of Yardley Lavender .
Pears is a childhood memory for me . If they do ever bring back the old formula I would be willing to pay extra .
Hello Folks.
I have a few bars left for sale of the 2003 – 2009 version.
I currently have 72 x 125g Bars
Also have 38 x 75g Bars
So if anyone wants to purchase them send me an email to t44lun@btinternet.com and I will get them out in the post same day.
I also have 48 of the Pears Oil Clear soap and I am based in the UK.
HOPE THIS HELPS YOU FOLKS.
I don’t buy the idea that the reason for the adulteration to Pears was because a certain ingredient is no longer available. (I forget where I read this, but it was someone’s suggestion who claimed to be “in the know”).
What ingredient exactly? There was nothing rare in the soap to start with, and Unilever is a huge multinational who’d be able to command what ingredients they wanted.
It’s far more credible that the time taken for the soap to mature was a problem for Unilever by not making for quick profits. What seems incredible to me is that they didn’t apparently consider upping the price for the product gradually over time and seeing if the customers for Pears stayed loyal. The outcry since the repacement soap came in suggests that indeed customers would have done so.
I don’t like the smell of the new version (even though it’s apparently been toned down a bit).
I don’t like the fact that a bar lasts about a third of the time it used to! (Maybe it wasn’t so much about increasing profits a little by changing the manufacturing process and ingredients of the soap, as about vastly increasing the profits on an established product and ripping cusomers off). It would be interesting to see the sales figures and know if their plan’s backfired. I suspect they care nothing for the values of their product or good customer relations. A glance at the bath product shelves suggests a massive shift by all manufacturers to expensive and ecologically unsound plastic bottles full of liquid detergent soap (Pears brand included).
I don’t like the way the new Pears soap sticks to your skin either, even after double rinsing -yuk!
I intend to write to Unilever again, but has anyone anywhere got any suggestions of a soap at a reasonable price to replace it?
Looks like I was a little too late. Is there anyone with any old stock left? Even one bar?
This evening I opened a box of Pears soap that I had purchased today. First the box was different. Then there was an awful wrapper on the soap. Finally, the moment the wrapper was off the disgusting stench permeated my nostrils! The soap wasn’t the same deep beautiful amber color anymore. The wonderful oval shape was no more! When I read the box, horrors!!!!! I had used the original formula for many years and dearly loved it! The scent was just right, it lathered nicely and didn’t leave any soap residue on my face. And the bar dried quickly so I could put it away afterwards, I felt like crying! Instead I got online and found out about the reformulation and then saw this blog. I am taking it back to the store. Unilever, BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL FORMULA! I am telling everyone I know about this detested reformulation of this fine old soap! Meantime I am shopping for another brand and not buying any of your products, period!
Greyhares, I can reassure you that it is true. Here are the ingredients as listed on the Pears I bought from Amazon just two weeks ago:
Sodium Palmitate
Natural Rosin
Glycerine
Water
Sodium cocoate
Rosemary extract
Thyme extract
Pears Fragrance Essence
Both Amazon and many stores (both online and retail) may still have the lousy stuff in stock. Just check on Amazon and you will find both versions, so make sure you are ordering the right one. The lousy stuff has “Gentle Action” printed in the bottom left corner.
Arnold, if this is true (and it directly contradicts the previous post from somebody who claims to be “in the know” about Unilever’s plans) I’m sure that several million Pears Soap users around the world will be delighted. Until I see “Original Pears” back in my supermarket with my own eyes, I remain sceptical.
I have used Pears (amber) soap for over 70 years. Initially , when manufacture was transferred to India, the formula was unchanged. They then changed it to something that was not hypoallergenic and smelled totally different ( unpleasant).
A few weeks ago I bought several bars of both the amber and the new green type. I was delighted to see that the ingredient (after many complaints and loss of sales) have been changed again. Both are again labelled as Hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic.
The amber has the same smell as the old-fashioned variety and feels the same. However, the smell of the green one is totally different and stronger. The other difference (perhaps an advantage), is that the green version is oil-free, so it is much easier to rinse off the skin.
Arnold
I have been selling Soap for years. I know exactly what has happened having been to Unilever factories all over the world, i.e. Cyprus, India, Port Sunlight. USA.
The easiest way to tell if it is the Pears Transparent you all know and love is to look at the box and if it says GENTLE CARE in the bottom left hand corner then it is NOT what you are looking for.
I am probably only one of two sellers left in the UK with the ORIGINAL soap you are all missing, but even I am running low on it, it will come to an end believe me, and I am as sad about it as all you folks are, but having spoken with Unilever there is nothing they can do as the raw ingredients simply are no longer available. SORRY but that is the truth.
Here is a link to a seller with what you are looking for.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/soapsofdistinctionmerthyrtydfil
I supply that seller and I know he has at least 1000 bars in stock as I was with him on Friday 3rd June 2011 but he told me they are selling very very fast.
Good Luck folks and if you buy from Steve tell him RL told you about his eBay advert.
Very dissapointed with new Pears soap. The new smell is medical and not the delicious purfume that it always used to be. Change it back or I for one will not buy again
My stock ran out last year. Could not find any till this week at the Dollar Tree. I was so happy to finally find it. I couldn’t wait to go home and rip it open to smell its awsomeness. I thought, “oh, they wraped it up in plastic now, thats new”. I felt it and was different. The texture and shape were off. Then I smelled it and gagged. It didn’t smell like fruit and spices on a hot afternoom, but like chemicals and neutragina. My nose burned and my heart is sad. At least I have a very small sliver of my last soap to remind me of a past now gone.
Phew – and I thought I too was going crazy.
Here’s another previously-loyal customer who won’t buy another bar of Pears soap.
I ran around my city hitting every Dollar Tree store I could find and managed to accumulate a treasure trove of OLDER Pears soap bars. I’m hoping 36 bars of soap is enough for the next decade or so.
There still may be a few out there, just remember to look at the box art. If it has a single bar of soap on the cover its the new formula. The old formula soap has parts of 2 bars on the front, and it will be stamped 2007-2009.
In my search I did also manage to find a very nice vegetable based soap that comes from an american company and the bar is only $1.00 and is HUGE. It has a lot more fragrance, but its still gentle on the skin.
This soap now stinks like burning tires.Why on earth would you trash a high-quality, old-name product beloved by generations of faithful customers and replace it with one that totally disgusts people? Bring back the old Pears or stop calling it Pears. You disgust me.
30 years ago a dermatologist recommended Pears soap to me. Until recently it has been a product that did not irritate my psoriasis and had the most gentle smell. Sadly the new formula (even if it’s been re-worked) causes redness and soreness and I (and more importantly my wife) dislike the new aroma. Very annoying that Unilever should disregard the loyalty of their Pears customers.
Anyone interested in recreating the original product?
Isn’t it ironic in this age when brand owners spend millions defending their brands from counterfeiters, Unilever must be the first recorded case of a manufacturer producing a facsimile of their own product and attempting to pass it off as the real thing. It puts anyone else off trying I suppose!
Like many others, I think Unilever should have done the decent thing and sold Pears Soap off to somebody who was prepared to care about the values enshrined in a 200+ year old a brand, somebody who would give a damn about what consumers of the product actually use it for, somebody who would not casually replace a product that took months to make and mature with a pale imitation…
Meanwhile, I am looking out for “Original Pears” in a nice old cardboard box on every visit to the supermarket – but I’m not holding my breath.
Please bring back the old pears, as we are really suffering – the new formula is a disaster! surely you don’t want to loose all your loyal customers……………………………..
Althea South Africa
I live in Australia and the Australian agent has told me why the Pears soap ingredients were changed. It’s all about the transparency of the soap and how long it takes to reach this state. Apparently the original formula took 3 months of maturing before the soap became transparent. Unilever in their wisdom thought they could speed this process up if they changed a few ingredients so that it became transparent when manufactured. Time is money to them and 3 months for the soap to become transparent was too long for the bean counters in head office. So as the new packaging states we can all now enjoy an ” IMPROVED ” product!
I am the originator of the Facebook group. I hate to say it but It wasn’t my group that overturned the decision of Unilever. It was more a case of a reporter used the Facebook group as leverage to publish the story as he had a relative with a skin sensitivity who apparently found out the change in forumla. We would be naive to believe that such a small group had so much influence although it did catapult me into fame here for a day or two at least which was the furthest thing from my mind!
Let’s face it the reporter got what he wanted a huge scoop with international acclaim, kicked up a fuss and used the Facebook group to add weight to it all. I was interviwed by Radio 5 Live in the UK about it all and at the time only had about 32 members in the group. The group originally was set up ‘tongue in cheek’ really as I was horrified to find out they’d changed the formula so I just wanted to see what response we’d get to create the group. Unilever had no intention of bringing back the original Pears Soap and their claims of putting non-comodgenic and hypoallergenic statements back on the packaging have not been carried out. They’re not interested in the original Pears Soap – it was a cost cutting excercise on their part. The new brand is absolutely disgusting and Unilever have and will not ever go back to it. Also, my conversations with them weren’t very positive in fact I was told that I caused a ‘certain person’ in the UK a lot of trouble because of it.
Just goes to show though how powerful social networking sites can be my only regret is that I closed the group down due to ‘hassle’ from media interest.
Nothing compares with the original and Unilever, in my opinion needs to be given a wide berth!
The word used in our household when the young were far younger – DISGUSTADO. Absolutely revolting with the bizarrely unnuanced, distinctly Indian touch. Reeks of hemp or musk or some crap. As another comments here, “This god-awful chemical pong assaulted my nose.” Not to take issue, but perhaps “god-awful” and “assaulted” are too kind. Nearly 65, I was raised on the stuff by an English mother. Rediscovering it years ago, I routinely bought it for my wife as a treat. Well, scratch this household. Let me die with clean underwear and dirty hands!
I can only say that I agree wholeheartedly with all of the comments posted above. I suspect the inner cellophane wrapper is to keep the new scent from tipping off the consumer in advance that something is horribly wrong. It’s no surprise that the brand no longer carries the coveted Royal Warrant: “By Appointment to Her Majesty, The Queen.” I have purchased my last bar unless I find some old stock somewhere. Also, in response to greyhares’ comment about the move to India not being particularly significant: At the time of the move, I fist learned of the move because I had noticed some subtle differences in the soap at that time and sought to find out what had changed. What I discovered of course, was that the product had just begun to be manufactured in India. I have nothing against India, but this move was the beginning of the slippery slope of decline in product quality. When the soap was manufactured in England, we often had to pay $3.00 per bar (but didn’t mind). Since the move I can easily find the new product at “Dollar” stores for $1.00. I’d rather pay the higher prices and get the original product. It’s a shame corporate entities just can’t seem to get this. Five decades of use by my family, sadly now ended.
I just found out this soap is now made in India. After finding this site I am off to my store to return 3 boxes (value packs) for a refund. Now I have to find a natural soap.
The “old-formula” soap had been made in India for several years, so this is not particularly significant.
I’m delighted to find that there are others who are having the same problem! I thought I was “losing it”. I’ve been buying Pears soap for more than 30 years. Because I buy many at a time, and there are only 2 of us in the household, I’ve only recently opened my next 12 pack! What a shock – the horrible smell, and the fact that it disappears so fast! And of course that silly cellophane, that is impossible to get off without finding some scissors…… (especially with wet hands)
I’ve seen mention of petitions, etc, I’ll have to go check them out!
Donna
It seems economic foolishness to take a perfect product with a very loyal following and excellent staying power (220 years) and alter it. The new soap made in India is nasty. I shan’t buy it again. I am very sad. If I had the original formula I would seriously consider manufacturing it under a new name. Does anyone out there know the original formula?
How can the manufacturers in Mumbai boast their brand is 200 years old.?Complete and utter fiction
It now smells horrible and doesn’t even have the same silky feel that I have known for over 60 years.
If the manufacturers don’t revert back to the formula that is 200 yrs old, I for one, will no longer buy it.
I am so disappointed that something so good has been tinkered with by chemists in a laboratory becuase they think they have a cheaper way of making it.Cheap being the operative word.
diane.
I recently purchased a tablet of Pears Soap because I saw it in the supermarket, and thought I would treat myself to a bit of old-fashioned luxury – Pears was always THE mild, gentle, soothing, safe soap.
The day after using it (just on my face!), my face was bright red as if I had been in the hot sun all day. It was also very sore, and by evening, my cheeks felt like sandpaper.
I was unaware of any problems with it, so thought it was just a bad reaction from my body. I therefore passed it on to my sister. Big Mistake. She rang & told me her face and head had been itching all day, and her ears had itched so much, they have bled. That was when I went onto the Internet to find somewhere to complain to, and lo and behold – I found a whole history of Pears Soap problems – change of ingredients, bad reactions etc.
It’s obviously a waste of time complaining to Pears, so I thought I would let you know!!!
Jennifer Smythe
Is Unilever not responding at all? Is there nothing more we can do than moan? I have used this soap for 50 years and am unable to believe that all we can do is just roll over and accept it.
I have three bars of the old formula left (glad I bought a 6-pack last summer). It will be a sad day when they are used up. Haven’t found a real substitute yet either.
I purchased my first bar of Pears Transparent Original formula soap in 1998 in Australia. Ever since then Pears has been the only soap I used. I traveled around the world quite a bit for my work and I always took a bar of Pears with me. No other soap was good enough. In 2010 I ordered my next “batch” of Pears and was extremely dissappointed with the change. I no longer use Pears. Bring back the original formula and I will return to be ing a loyal customer until then I will continue to purchase a competitors soap.
Pamela K
Texas
No, the ‘old’ Pears is definitly not available any more, even though the company promised to change back to the
original formula, the chemical smell and feel, the different shape and appearance is very disappointing.
After 45 years of using this lovely product, we will have to, unfortunately, abandon it altogether.
a pity… but there won’t be many old customers left, who put it into their bathroom.
Big shame
Annette
Sydney/Australia
I used the “new” stuff 1 time. It smelled like kerosene and made me itch for 3 days. I threw it all away and complained to the company. With no results. What horrible stuff. I now use Basic by Dial which is hypoallergenic I don’t like it as well. But I am allergic to fragrences and it’s not bad. However I wish I could find more of the “original” formula Pears
I came online looking for the “old” Pears, it is not to be found. Like a lot of you I will no longer buy any Unilever propuct. I guess I will see what Amway or Fuller Brush is selling. Tom’s has been purchased by Unilever as well. Cadbury Chocolate has been purchased. What kind of a world are we leaving to our children. Well with $5 a gal gasoline coming soon I guess not much.
Michael
Penfield, GA
I bought a 12-pack of Pears soap the other day and when I unwrapped the first bar, I found it encased in a cellophane wrapping. A surprise — then another, unpleasant, surprise. The scent has changed to a chemical stink that resembles creosote. No wonder: the list of ingredients now include such concoctions as sodium meta bisulfite, tetra sodium EDTA, etc. etc.
I used the soap and found its effects had changed too. The new Pears is harsher and doesn’t rinse off as cleanly.
I’ve been using Pears soap for more than 50 years, but now I’m switching to Neutrogena until Pears — I can only hope — returns to the original formula.
“Pears is a 200 years old brand,” the box asserts. Cleverly worded. This is true of the brand, but the actual soap has changed unrecognizably. Why tamper with an excellent product that has survived the ups, downs and other changes in the market for two centuries?
Unilever should take a lesson from Coca-Cola.
Well unilver you’ve certainly trashed this brand.
It’s a bar of chemicals, environmentaly unfriendly wrapped, disappears at about three times the rate it used to do in use and turns to goo on the soap tray. So you make it cheaper and we buy 4 times as much as before, you must think we are stupid! No more unilever products in this household if I get my way.
If it aint broken, leave it the hell alone. Palmolive from now.
I have used Pear’s soap since childhood (I’m 51); my parents used it, my grandparents used it, my siblings have all used it. I’ve bought it 10 bars at a time, and have loved it for its low-tech simplicity, its mildness, and for the fact that I don’t have to waste a single bit of it from one bar to the next. On my last shopping trip, I found the single boxes had been replaced with three-packs, and blithely thought that Pear’s was economizing. The plastic wrap seemed an odd addition, though. My husband took the first shower with the new bar, and I was sure, from the smell filling the steamed-up bathroom, that he was using Irish Spring soap (something we don’t actually have in the house). I was horrified to see that Pear’s is no longer made of the few simple ingredients that made it what it was, but is now an amalgam of chemicals and artificial fragrances. Where’s the thyme? Where’s the rosemary? Now those have been replaced with cinnamon and limonene, and a bunch of other ingredients familiar only to chemical engineers. The original recipe was just right, and not only for its fragrance but also for its benevolence to me and to the environment. It doesn’t matter if Unilever simply synthesizes a fragrance closer to the original; the original formula itself in its entirety was the product’s draw. Unilever, I’m no longer a customer.
BOYCOTT UNILEVER.
Enter those two words in Google and find even more reasons to hate Unilever, not just because of the loss of our beloved Pear’s soap.
I’m so pleased to have found this blog, via the Save Pears Soap Facebook page. It’s nice to know I’m not alone in my unhappiness with the new Pears soap and not alone in wanting to do something about it. I bought Pears Soap for myself about fifteen years ago because it reminded me of my Grandma. I was completely hooked and have used it ever since. I was angry when I found the extra plastic packaging, as I considered it totally unnecessary, but then the bad smell and the way it started to dissolve on my soap dish leaving just goo told me something else was afoot. I just can’t understand why they’ve changed a 200 year old successful formula; if ain’t broke, don’t fix it! I am all set to complain directly to Hindustan Unilever and if they don’t revert to the original recipe, I won’t be buying; there’s plenty of homemade, natural soaps made these days so why would I bother with this rubbish?
I fell in love with Pears’ transparent soap back in the 1950′s. I introduced my late wife to it well over twenty years ago and my son when he was old enough to use it. Earlier this year my stock ran out and I set about replacing it. Imagine my horror on discovering what had happened to it at the hands of those who should know better. This god-awful chemical pong assaulted my nose. It made me angry and for the life of me I cannot understand why it was felt necessary to change the formula.
Pears really should seriously consider reverting to the original formula rather than alienate enormous numbers of their loyal customers.