I remember Camay when I was much younger being a staple in the grocery cart. Its logo back then had a triangle with a lady's face inside. It came in three different colors - peach, pink, and white. Each soap addresses to a different skin type, with each girl modelling having a different personality. I remember, if I'm not mistaken, the Camay girl assigned to the pink soap was depicted as sweet and innocent, the one on the white soap was the sophisticated and elegant one, and the peach one was the free-spirited energetic one or something. Camay girls both here and abroad were usually very beautiful, sophisticated glamour girls. It's actually very prestigious to be called a Camay girl.
I researched some ads in Youtube and I found some commercials dating back to 1950s such as this:
Here's something with a more familiar packaging, a 1992 Camay ad:
Here's also one from the Philippines featuring Donna Cruz and Jesi Mendez
A little tidbit I would like to share was that not only was the soap a staple in the bathroom, it was sometimes used to wash clothes, just to make it smell nicer without that "detergent" scent. When fabric softeners were not yet that popular, clothes would be washed in laundry soap, rinsed twice, washed with Camay soap (usually the white one), then rinsed once more. Remembering that, a laundry soap brand even launched a variety with a bath soap smell, probably taking to this experience. It was popular and sometimes bought in hoards.
Camay made a very quiet and graceful exit from the market during the 90s. Yesterday, however, it came back with a bang with new packaging, new scents, and a new Camay image model - Angelica Panganiban.
Camay still had the peach, white, and pink beauty bars with a different packaging. The scents get an upgrade to popular scents of today. They come in two sizes, a 55-g bar costs Php14.00 while an 80-g bar costs Php 25.00.
Aside from the soap bars, they also have shower gels, which cost a fraction of other shower gels in the market, at Php 70.00 for a 200 mL bottle.
Before yesterday's launch, I saw several of these being sold at Watson's last January 2 so I purchased a few to try on my own. I purchased two of the scents I'm familiar with and also personal favorite scents, vanilla (white) and grapefruit (peach).
The Dynamique Grapefruit scent seems to be the crowd favorite. It has a very citrusy, happy scent. I can't wait to use it in the summer, when its light and fresh scent would be perfect as the temperature rises. In fact, this can be a great soap to use in the morning, all year-round. Remember how grapefruit and citrusy scents give that energy boost? Here's how it can work. You wake up feeling very sluggish, but you have no choice but to wake up early because you have an early call time or a meeting. Soaking in that Dynamic Grapefruit scent will give you a quick boost of energy in the shower, and you haven't had your cup of coffee yet. For pole dancers, this is pole-dance friendly too, as it's not too slick on the skin.
Vanilla scents are usually sensual and sweet. Creme Vanilla has that sweet and mellow scent without being to overpowering. It's actually a bit nuttier yet still sweet. Back then, I remember the scent of the white Camay soap being very clean instead of floral or sweet. This one mixes both sweet and clean in a very refreshing scent. As the old Camay white would be for dry skin (with cold cream, as some commercials say), this one feels very luxe on the skin. Some people who don't like the afterfeel of moisturizing soaps (some find it too slick, sticky or oily, saying hello to some of my male friends here) may find this as a lighter option to still care for the skin's moisture needs.
I admit being quite hesitant at first to purchase Romantique Rose despite claims that it's for tempting skin. I always thought of floral scents to be very heavy and warm, and well, quite ageing (
nag-lolola ang amoy). I'm actually quite surprised that this rose scent is actually now more youthful, from the pretty hot pink color of the shower gel to the floral but refreshing and a bit fruity instead of the heavy, spicy-woody rose scent we're used too. Not only did Camay upgrade their packaging for today, but they've also upgraded on the scent department, to fit the needs and preferences of everyone.
What I do like though, is that they actually smell quite similar to some expensive shower gels and soaps with similar scents too, at a fraction of the price. I purchased two soap bars and it didn't cost me much at all. you can even do your little layering experiment by using say vanilla soap and rose shower gel or vanilla grapefruit or something, if you want to purchase all three scents.
This sweet-scented box of goodies are just so awesome, a little something I got to take home after the launch at Sky Lounge last night. :)
That sweet-scented candle can be a great companion in the bath, yoga practice, or just freshen the air from it smelling too much like kitty.
With this new relaunch, Camay will definitely be in the market for quite some time now. Oh, and yes, my sponges are Dynamic Grapefruit-scented as of the moment. Probably tomorrow, I'll put Vanilla to the test.
