English actress and socialite Lillie Langtry was recruited to become the poster-girl for Pears in 1882, and in doing so, she became the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product.

He completed his apprenticeship in 1789, established a barber's shop in Gerrard Street in Soho, and began to produce cosmetic products.

At that time, Soho was a high-end residential area, and Pears' clientele included many wealthy socialites who took pride in their appearance.

Pears found that his powders and creams were frequently being used to cover up damage caused by the harshness of the soaps and other beauty products that were in general use at the time, many of which contained arsenic or lead.

That same year, Thomas married Mary Pears, Francis's eldest daughter, and was appointed to run the administration in London.

[9] The takeover process was completed in 1920[10] and marketing and other secondary functions moved to Port Sunlight in north-west England, but production continued at Isleworth.

In the mid to late 1950s, each batch of soap, about 12 a day, was tested to ensure the absence of excess alkali or free fatty acid.

Production moved to Port Sunlight in the 1960s, when Unilever, successor to Lever Brothers, set up a cosmetic development laboratory on the Isleworth site.

It has not been possible to determine what was used in the early days of the product, as the writings of Francis Pears mention only alkali in industrial methylated spirits.

As soon as the translucent amber liquid had cooled enough to solidify, it was extruded into opaque oval bars cut into bath- or toilet-weight tablets, ready to begin their long spell in the drying rooms (ovens).

It was run by a handful of staff, who not only had experience with the specialised process but had developed immunity to the effects of breathing the alcohol-laden atmosphere in the building.

As with many other brands at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century, Pears also used its product as a sign of the prevailing European concept of the "civilizing mission" of empire and trade, in which the soap stood for progress.

Lillie Langtry became the first woman to endorse a commercial product when her famous ivory complexion earned her a contract to advertise Pears soap.

[11][12] Pears' unique manufacturing process required the soap to be dried for up to thirteen weeks so that the alcohol used could evaporate and be reused.

The aroma of the classic transparent amber bar, which used to be characterized by a mild, spicy herbal fragrance, had been altered to a more pungent aromatic scent.

On 6 January 2010, after a Facebook campaign, it was reported in the media that Pears planned to abandon the new formula and that by March 2010, a new version would be available that is "much closer to the original".

[21] An analysis of the current ingredients list reveals items such as limonene, whose variant called L-limonene is characterised by a "turpentine-like odour" also typical of frankincense.

However, one unknown in the original formula is the "Pears fragrance essence": the customer cannot be sure whether the "new" fragrant compounds are indeed all new—or simply formerly unlisted items.