Is Aqua Velva irritating? Vintage cosmetic video

The first time I heard this commercial here’s what I thought they said…

“Then one day Dad, he got the notion and tried Williams Aqua Velva lotion. Now all the gals…go for Dad!”

Huh?

I later realized they were singing “Dan,” not Dad, which makes sense since I don’t think infidelity had been invented back in 1961.

While that’s good news for the nuclear family this product is bad news for men’s skin. It appears that the formulation strategy in these old products was to throw in as many irritating ingredients as possible:

Alcohol? Check!
Menthol? Check!
Fragrance? Check!

The only way this product could make your freshly shaved skin burn more is if they added a good slug of table salt. Modern aftershave products are typically in lotion form so they can include oily materials which do a much better job of calming irritated skin.