Santa Maria Novella

I know everybody’s different but I find this to be some good stuff. To the ones who like it. What do you find better?

I always get an excellent shave with the latest formulation of SMN. However, there are now so many excellent products that it's impossible to classify them as better or best. I have my own personal favorites, but that doesn't mean that they are better than anyone else's.

I love SMN, especially in the summer.  It gives me a nice chill when when rinsing.  Where you do find it?  I stopped buying more because I was ordering from SMN in New York.  Product cost $71, then add the sales tax and crazy high shipping, damn near costs $100 for a jar of SMN.  Does anyone know if is is available somewhere else at a better price?

When my SMN was running low I too was looking for a replacement.
YMMV

CRSW Glide 
CRSW Select

There must be a SMN presence in Florida if they’re charging tax. I’m in Tennessee and it’s $71 + about $10 shipping. Expensive but it is 220ml of shaving cream and it’s fairly concentrated.

Most of the other Italian creams are close, Atkinson’s for Gentlemen/I Coloniali Rhubarb (same cream different scent), AdP, XPEC, ABC are all excellent but some are more expensive. In soaps, Valobra tallow (C&S, AoS tallow....) and for me at least, Martin de Candre performs very similarly.

(06-02-2019, 05:20 AM)Steve56 Wrote: There must be a SMN presence in Florida if they’re charging tax. I’m in Tennessee and it’s $71 + about $10 shipping. Expensive but it is 220ml of shaving cream and it’s fairly concentrated.

Most of the other Italian creams are close, Atkinson’s for Gentlemen/I Coloniali Rhubarb (same cream different scent), AdP, XPEC, ABC are all excellent but some are more expensive. In soaps, Valobra tallow (C&S, AoS tallow....) and for me at least, Martin de Candre performs very similarly.

Yes, there is an SMN store in Miami.

SMN is outstanding, period.

There are a few products on the same level.
I prefer some of the mentioned products simply for their scent.
A subjective thing, a matter of taste.

Oh, and don’t you ever forget another great Italian soap,
I Coloniali Mango.





Gesendet von iPad mit Tapatalk

Yeah I colonial is good too but is had to find. I’d buy a couple if I seen some.

Santa Maria Novella is right near the top for me! The performance and fragrance are just wonderful...same with their matching aftershave!

Three soaps that I like better because of their superlative lather are: Ralph Lauren Safari, Old Spice, and Art of Shaving Sandalwood (tallow). These are out of production soaps, but can still be found and purchased for less.

As far as in production soaps go, Martin De Candre is neck and neck with SMN!

Vr

Matt

(06-01-2019, 04:23 PM)Chaddy Wrote: I know everybody’s different but I find this to be some good stuff. To the ones who like it. What do you find better?

To me the cushioning effect this soap provides is just out of the world. At the end of the day what all wet shavers want is clean shave without any irritation. This is the product. Let me tell you i am compraing SMN with the soaps that i have

Saponificio varesino
Aqua di parma
MDC
Boellis panama
Nuvaia Blu
SDM donkey milk soap

SMN is never discounted.

Sometimes you get lucky and a vendor will offer free shipping.

Yes for example Smallflower offers free shipping over $75 and SMN cream is $71. Throw in a tidbit and you’re there. Maybe a way to avoid local taxes too?

Side note, you almost never, ever, see SMN on the BSTs. Artisan soaps by the truckload, but SMN, not much. What people are not selling is telling.

It's been in my top 5 soaps for many years.I was in the SMN Miami store yesterday!Yes it's expensive but like MDC it lasts forever.I have tried all three versions and my favorite is version 2.Many compared it to the scent of Proraso but I find it to be quite different.V3 is scented with Tobacco Tuscano.I just did not like the scent and sold it. ( traded it along with cash for a Weber ARC).

I coloniali mango is hard to find. It’s good too.

(06-04-2019, 12:38 PM)joe j Wrote: ...version 2.Many compared it to the scent of Proraso but I find it to be quite different.V3 is scented with Tobacco Tuscano.

Just to clarify, v2 too was scented with TT; v1 was made by Ludovico Martelli (Proraso).

I own SMN V1 and V3.

V3 performs better. V1 reminds me of Proraso green, but with better cushion, Glide and protection.

But honestly, these days just one of my many great shaving soaps performs almost on par with pretty much all other soaps in my collection.

Very little minute differences for me.

I have 8+ years of lathering experience now.

I used to make numerous Top 5 best this list and Top 10 great that lists. In reality experience with brushes and lathering technique now has made all my many shaving soaps perform far more consistent and equal regarding their performance.

Whether I use LPL, MDC, SDM, Tabula Rasa, CRSW, B&M, Mike’s, Jabonman, Saponificio Varesino, Meißner Tremonia, Klar Seifen, Esbjerg, Castle Forbes, Nuavia, Acqua Di Parma, Caties, Czech & Speak, I Coloniali, Xpec or other soaps from my collection I find very minute differences between them these days.

Experience has helped me the most.
Knowing how to hydrate my lather correctly just to the perfect point has helped me the most in achieving almost perfect lather every time, when I face lather.


YMMV of course.

(06-05-2019, 10:05 PM)CHSeifert Wrote: I own SMN V1 and V3.

V3 performs better. V1 reminds me of Proraso green, but with better cushion, Glide and protection.

But honestly, these days just one of my many great shaving soaps performs almost on par with pretty much all other soaps in my collection.

Very little minute differences for me.

I have 8+ years of lathering experience now.

I used to make numerous Top 5 best this list and Top 10 great that lists. In reality experience with brushes and lathering technique now has made all my many shaving soaps perform far more consistent and equal regarding their performance.

Whether I use LPL, MDC, SDM, Tabula Rasa, CRSW, B&M, Mike’s, Jabonman, Saponificio Varesino, Meißner Tremonia, Klar Seifen, Esbjerg, Castle Forbes, Nuavia, Acqua Di Parma, Caties, Czech & Speak, I Coloniali, Xpec or other soaps from my collection I find very minute differences between them these days.

Experience has helped me the most.
Knowing how to hydrate my lather correctly just to the perfect point has helped me the most in achieving almost perfect lather every time, when I face lather.


YMMV of course.

+1
ymmv
I notice positive difference with more scuttle/brush time
nota bene - nice list!

I think SMN is my second favorite cream/soap...right between Sebum and Eufros!

This lather was made by adding one ml of distilled water at a time via the syringe.

Vr 

Matt

I’ve been at it 10+ years now, and pretty much agree with CHS regarding performance of the better soaps and creams. However, with the exception of MdC, Stirling grapefruit, and CF Lime, I have yet to find an artisan scent that I think that I could use every day over an extended period of time. 

I think Claus’ comment also reflects a sentiment that I’ve heard on other forums, people are noticing that in spite of new artisan ‘formulas’, there’s really not much difference between versions or brands anymore, so there’s really not much point in chasing the rabbit down the hole except maybe for scents. Hey, soap is like sausage, the right ratios have been known for centuries. Like baking, the wrong ratios don’t work as well and they’ve all been tried.

I test a lot of razors and razor hones, and the soap makes a difference. The soaps that I use for testing edges, my ‘reference’ soaps are SMN, AoS Ocean Kelp, 3P, ABC (cream or hard soap), or AdP.

Claus if you haven’t tried the current yellow tub version of AdP you should - I’d be interested in your opinion. For the SR folks, that Filly has 80 shaves on the edge as of this morning, and I’ve used it about 30% of the time since it was honed on May 24th, 2019. It’s still doing DFS every shave, but I can tell the difference in soaps with it.

I think that I’ve only bought one artisan soap in 3 years or so, and I’m just getting by with these old things.... The ABC hard soap is also discontinued now.