Tüff Rasierwasser herb Mawa

Tüff (red) by MAWA is a small German success story and now connects fragrance lovers (I will omit the feminine form here, as this is a shaving lotion) in the East (former GDR product) and West (more and more appreciate the quality).

Background: MAWA was probably founded in 1946 by M. Selinger in Leinefelde (Thuringia). Reliable sources about the person and founding legend are lacking, they can only be found on the company homepage. In 1972, MAWA was nationalized in the GDR and renamed VEB MAWA Kosmetik Leinefelde. The origin of the name MAWA remains unclear. The AI suspects a word combination from the components "MArken" and "WAren": Perhaps!
In 1990, the brand was returned to the former owners and still produces various well-known cosmetic products today, particularly fragrances such as Tüff (red), Tüff (green: unscented but with nourishing ingredients), and formerly also Tüff (blue), a light fougère scent, which has unfortunately been discontinued for some time. The company now resides almost appropriately on Ernst-Thälmann-Allee in Zeulenroda-Triebes.

The production of the shaving lotion Tüff (the term fits better here considering the affordable-rustic brand than After Shave) has been documented since 1968/69 and initially bore the name Tüff Rasiertonikum Tabacco herb: how nice! It would have been lovely to keep this nostalgic name. I simply imagine it when I use it.

Tüff was widely available in the GDR, but was also sold in the somewhat controversial Exquisit retail stores, where high-quality goods were offered at higher prices.
After the reunification, the formula of Tüff (as so often) was revised/reformulated, but it is still close enough to the original to maintain its identity. As always, it is difficult to make an exact comparison (at best with a ideally well-preserved vintage original). But who really remembers how the original recipe of Nutella tasted today?

A particular cult was the angular bottle, which is still depicted in the photo of the fragrance, but has since been replaced by a similarly beautiful glass bottle that tapers conically at the sides. I can live with this change; however, what I find hard to accept is the loss of the wonderful red Bakelite cap that adorned the old bottles (see also the photo above for illustration), while the new bottles feature a (still quite valuable) black plastic screw cap. The bottle still feels solid, heavy, and of high quality, and it brings me joy to hold it. A ritual for me every morning!

Now to the scent: The old name (Tüff Rasiertonikum Tabacco herb) already suggests it: The fragrance is oriented towards traditional tobacco scents for men, similar to its comparably venerable West brother "Tabac Original (After Shave Lotion) | Mäurer & Wirtz," but it takes its own path: while the tobacco note in Tabac Original After Shave Lotion is characterized by aldehydic-soapy nuances, with delicate lavender notes and hesperidic undertones, and has an amber base, Tüff Rasierwasser herb seems to reveal a birch tar note that gives the fragrance a rustic yet very subtle and distinguished leather vibe, beautifully rounding out the East tobacco scent. One might also suspect, as with the West brother, lavender and hesperidic notes that fit so well with men's fragrances, but here they recede a bit more into the background due to the spicy leather accents. The manufacturer specifically mentions a nourishing "herbal complex," namely chamomile flower, marigold, and woad plants, as well as menthol. However, this complex is likely to be very subtle in scent, as it is also said to be contained in the comparatively unscented Tüff (green: here notably listed as a pure care product). MAWA has been silent about the ingredients of the perfume formula in Tüff (red) for years. There is something mystical about it. Tüff smells great, but no one really knows why.

What does such a bottle with wonderful fragrance and politically unifying and caring sensitive effect cost for 100 ml? You don’t have to pay more than 5 euros, man, and if you order from the pleasantly traditional online shop, you can get the bottle for 3.80 (plus shipping costs, of course: I always order a whole case at once: it gets used up faster than you think): once again highly recommended! Not just on the Day of German Unity!