A Vintage Beauty Secret Granny Would Have Known

My dear readers, I have found the best product for my skin! I've always had dry/combination heat but after moving to Australia my skin went berserk and nothing I tried would settle it back down. With Sydney's climate and humidity my skin became a greasy mess (something I've never experienced before) and as a result of this my old face wash wasn't any use but now I have found a wonder product that leaves me skin feeling beautifully soft and smooth and whats more it won't break the bank!

So what is this great product I hear you cry. Its Pears Soap!
I bit of an anticlimax I admit but I pop some of this on my Bodyshop Facial Buffer wash my face. Rinse of with cold water and my skin feels great for the day! In the winter if my skin is feeling a bit dry and wind beaten I sometimes follow it up with some home made cold cream (a recipe post will follow) but generally I can just wash and go! Pears soap was first produced and sold by Andrew Pears at a factory near Oxford St, London in 1789. It was the world's first transparent soap. According to Unilever records Pears was the worlds first registered brand and so is the worlds oldest continuously existing brand.
Andrew Pears was the son of a farmer who moved to London to train as a barber. After completing an apprenticeship he opened is own shop producing his own cosmetic products. Andrew found that a lot of clients were using his powders and creams to cover up damage caused by the harshness of the soaps and other beauty products (many of which contained arsenic or lead)so he began experimenting with soap purification to produce a gentler soap. Andrews eventually managed to produce a soap made of glycerin and other natural products and its purity made it transparent. This provided a unique marketing advantage. To add to the appeal, Andrew gave the soap an aroma reminiscent of an English garden. In 1835, his grandson Francis Pears joined the business and created the company A. & F. Pears Ltd. In 1838 Andrew Pears retired, leaving Francis in charge of the company. In 1851 the company was awarded the prize medal for soap at The Great Exhibition.
Francis' son-in-law Thomas J. Barratt, sometimes referred to as the father of modern advertising, eventually managed the firm.
In 1862, production of the soap moved to Isleworth, and three years later Francis' son, Andrew, joined A&W Pears Ltd. as joint proprietor and ran the factory, whilst Thomas ran the head office in London.

In the mid 1910s, A&W Pears Ltd. became part of Lever Brothers and moved production to Port Sunlight in north west England.


So get lathering dear readers ... x