Now, we all know that good old Erno was and is a skin-care legend with the black soap and many splashes of water. It was a mainstay on the dressing tables of well-heeled (and dressed, and moisturized) ladies and quite a few gentlemen for many years. It may have been joined or even supplanted by other, tonier and trendier brands but it is one that I still turn to daily. I’ve been using that black soap for about 100 years and a couple of the moisturizers to this day.
I didn’t know they did aftershave.
I am assuming that this is from the 90’s or even the 80’s by the packaging. I think that there might have been an actual Laszlo perfume at some point, but perhaps cooler heads prevailed and kept them branching out into tooth powders and laundry detergent.
Like le labo..
So, what is this stull like? Well it smells of alcohol and herbs and I probably am not going to splash it on- if only because there are only about two good cinematic splashes in the thing before it goes empty.
This is going to be one of the more useless reviews since the item is clearly not made anymore and you probably shouldn’t try it on. Just consider this my version of Erin Parsons trying on expired Salvadore Dali lipstick. Only I am not on camera. You can thanks me later.
Do you have any stories of weird items from well known brands? Let us know in the comments.
My item was purchased on eBay. The picture is from that listing the other is from Pexels.
Vintage aftershaves are such a rabbit hole. Curious whether this one still reads as a classic barbershop fougère on skin today or has drifted somewhere softer with age. Does anyone know if the formula changed much over the years, or is it more about how the old bottles have aged?
Your buddy Erno! Also I’m so disoriented right now, this is Monday, right? Sent you both an email. Erno skincare never seemed quite right for me but I LOVED the way much of their stuff smells. Love the Erin Parsons reference — her deep dive recently on Marilyn Monroe’s lipstick was FASCINATING if you’re into that sort of thing, which I am. Weird products — the instant wrinkle-eraser stuff, several brands have it, it turns into tiny white dots on me. Not what I was going for.
Yes, I mis-timed the post.
I do find Erin’s posts fascinating. And the woman who reconstitutes old nail polish too.
I’ve heard of Erno Laszlo but never used it. Neat story, Tom. I can’t think of any oddities right now.
It used to be super luxury but it now seems priced like clinique by comparison.
This post made me think of tiny, wonderful, very popular neighbourhood restaurants that decide they need to expand. So, they get much larger premises or open another outpost and it all goes pear-shaped because their greatness was based on being small and local.
Never done this soap though remember all the ads and the whole focus on differentness.
It’s actually a good line and now mid range in price, comparatively.
This was actually supposed to be posted in the future, so ooops..
Awww. Sorry to hear this is/was a future post. If I recall, you (Tom) used to be the featured Friday columnist a donkey’s years ago. Then it was a young man from the U.K. (Andy?) Sad that there are no Friday posts any longer.
Maybe not quite in the same category, but I used Prescriptives makeup (gone as of 2019) for over a decade. Loved their custom color foundation. At some point, maybe early 90s, they came out with a wrinkle eraser aka filler in a pot, for lack of better words. It was a jar of some sort of paste, probably heavy in the silicones, that was to be applied to wrinkles, very enlarged pores and other facial things best hidden. I had a crease by one side of my mouth. Something that only I noticed but was convinced EVERYONE stared at. Cutting to the chase, I purchased this cosmetic spackle, used it a few times and returned it a week later. Sure, it filled in what it was meant to hide, then after one applied foundation, the product completely lifted up, mostly peeled off and then sort of hung by the area meant to be filled in. It was not part of the Prescriptive line for very long.
I never tried what you mentioned, but I loved Prescriptives makeup! They were the only company that had color foundations that actually matched my skin tone and my daughters. I still have a few of their brushes around. Still miss them.
That cosmetic spackle crap was a tiny blip in their product line so I am sure the majority of regular customers never tried it or had even heard of it. If I recall, the garbage was upsold to me when I bought makeup. Once you actually and accurately knew your color family (mine was blue/red), the colors were fantastic and the custom blend foundation was the best I ever used-past or present tense. Russell at the Beverly Hills Neiman-Marcus was my Prescriptives person. He was a real pillock but a wonderful makeup artist.
Mine is blue/red too! I completely agree with everything you say. I only discovered Prescriptives about 2 years before they shut down. Never found anything quite as good.
I’m blue red too!
Russel might have been the person I offended. I know it was NM anyway because that’s where I got Laszlo. And they carried a brand called Cientele that was good too.
Russell had a permanent chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Tam! If you said ‘good afternoon’ to him in a tone of voice he did not approve of, you’d be assured of getting disdainful, sullen service. I never understood that. He certainly wasn’t Way Bandy or Kevin Aucoin.
I was blue/red according to one of the SAs & orange/yellow by another. Now I’m described as true neutral by most cosmetic houses.
I remember that! I called it spackle at the counter and got a dirty look from the SA. Now we’ve got that plexaderm stuff. Which also apparently doesn’t work, but since it’s their only product they keep it going.
You’re the BEST Tom.
I’ve never even heard of this brand.
Portia xx
You haven’t? The skin care was the go to for decades- it’s even a joke in Annie Hall.
I did catering in Los Angeles/Beverly Hills/Bel-Air/Santa Monica and the Palisades in the 80s. I swear that signature black soap in the white plastic case was in every bathroom where my crew and I worked.
I still have those cases. They don’t sell them anymore so they’re like gold.
No stories of weird items that I can think of.
How about a public perfume service announcement? I got a recent email with this headline – “Serge Lutens Filles en Aiguilles, a rare archive is back”…..”limited number of pieces.” I don’t know this one and I think it may be priced outrageously.
And I have to sincerely thank you for writing about Sarah Horowitz Summer Bloom. You set something in motion. I got really interested and ordered the same Spring Set you did. It had the 7.5ml of Super Bloom in it. My daughter tried it and took it home. She is very very picky about her perfumes. I recently asked her what she wanted for Xmas. She instantly said “A bottle of Summer Bloom.” 🙂 🙂
I got that email too. I think it’s some special edition bottle. That was and is, I think, one of their best sellers.
And Sarah is brilliant.
And it’s fantastic–a lovely perfume.
She’s pretty fantastic. If you’re ever in SoCal she’s worth a visit.
I got that email. It made me laugh because … lord knows the price for scarcity.
Lol. That’s why even my curiosity did NOT get me to look up the prece.
I didn’t look at the price either.
Super Bloom! Super Bloom! Super Bloom! should stop writing comments late at night……..but probably won’t.
Don’t stop! We get the gist. Between my typing and autocorrect I look illiterate unless I go over it four times. And even then.
Oh, I hear ya!!!!!
And Apple dictation is worse..
Another Erno Lazlo user here. Waaaay back in the 70s. Loed the counter at Bergdorf Goodman. I even got my husband to use the black soap and shake-it on his acne. Speaking of smells, I did like the way the products smelled. They made face powder and powder blush and even had a cream blush. I still have a plastic bottle of the pheletyl lotion under my sink. The black sea soap is there, too! Remember to splash! Thanks for posting this! Archiving where product lines have been is always interesting to me. Surprised more folks aren’t as passionate about it.
I still use Laszlo every day. Splash, splash!
Dr. Erno Laszlo was apparently a Hungarian Emigre who was also a dermatologist. He prescribed “recipes” that were first compounded by him to his patients amongst them was Marilyn Monroe. That’s his claim to fame. The company changed ownership many time since and in the space of skin care, you have tiers. It started out as Super High like La Prairie is now, then with many changes of ownership, it’s now hard to gain new audience in the age of TikTok. The way Helena Rubinstein and other brands faded away with time.
I’m glad this one is still here. And now price wise it’s more like Clinique.