Member
When I first looked into shaving soaps, I asked, which one was the best and became quickly disillusioned. Over and over again I was given recommendations only to find these recommendations lacking in some way ranging from scent to performance. Products proclaimed to be superb, I found to be “average”. It was noted to me that many people have not tried some of the more expensive offerings so they cannot comment. And then I found I found Santa Maria Novella, the Bugatti of soaps. In a way, I was prepared to be disappointed again. I was not.
While not cheap, it’s also not as expensive as ADP or ABC, its Italian supercar brethren. But IMO, and at least from getting recommendations of many others, SMN is the Platinum Standard by which all others are judged. IMO, this isn’t the bronze, nor silver, nor gold – but the best of the best, the Bugatti of the shaving world. At an expensive per unit cost, this is not for the faint at heart. But is it a work horse? Maybe it is. Maybe not. Only the cost/shave will finally decide that.
As par for the course, reviews of SMN are far and few between. Inevitably when discussed in forums, naysayers would proclaim SMN nothing more than an expensive version of Proraso and seem to believe that story despite the ingredients being different. Not even close. In comparison, Proraso is so pedestrian it’s like comparing that Bugatti to … well a walking pedestrian.
There is little I can complain about from the sublime scent, the touch of menthol, the bit of tobacco or the technical attributes – the way it explodes in lather, its lather feel, glide, and cushion. Naysayers also like to proclaim there is no way its performance is four or six times as good as say Proraso, but the same naysayers don’t seem to understand the Law of Diminishing Returns.
SMN is the complete package for me, a summer soap. I imagine it’s like driving a Bugatti Veyron on the Autobahn into the Italian Alps waving good bye to the Ferraris. But my real question is if it’s a summer work horse or not. I haven’t got enough uses done to judge but my initial judgment is “maybe”, at a slightly higher cost than MdC.
If you have never tried SMN and like a touch of menthol, you owe it to your self to try it. Its per unit cost might be difficult to get over, except you do get a whopping 7.4 fl oz of product, something nahsayers also tend to ignore.
Forget the Ferrari for a moment – try a Bugatti, you might like it.
While not cheap, it’s also not as expensive as ADP or ABC, its Italian supercar brethren. But IMO, and at least from getting recommendations of many others, SMN is the Platinum Standard by which all others are judged. IMO, this isn’t the bronze, nor silver, nor gold – but the best of the best, the Bugatti of the shaving world. At an expensive per unit cost, this is not for the faint at heart. But is it a work horse? Maybe it is. Maybe not. Only the cost/shave will finally decide that.
As par for the course, reviews of SMN are far and few between. Inevitably when discussed in forums, naysayers would proclaim SMN nothing more than an expensive version of Proraso and seem to believe that story despite the ingredients being different. Not even close. In comparison, Proraso is so pedestrian it’s like comparing that Bugatti to … well a walking pedestrian.
There is little I can complain about from the sublime scent, the touch of menthol, the bit of tobacco or the technical attributes – the way it explodes in lather, its lather feel, glide, and cushion. Naysayers also like to proclaim there is no way its performance is four or six times as good as say Proraso, but the same naysayers don’t seem to understand the Law of Diminishing Returns.
SMN is the complete package for me, a summer soap. I imagine it’s like driving a Bugatti Veyron on the Autobahn into the Italian Alps waving good bye to the Ferraris. But my real question is if it’s a summer work horse or not. I haven’t got enough uses done to judge but my initial judgment is “maybe”, at a slightly higher cost than MdC.
If you have never tried SMN and like a touch of menthol, you owe it to your self to try it. Its per unit cost might be difficult to get over, except you do get a whopping 7.4 fl oz of product, something nahsayers also tend to ignore.
Forget the Ferrari for a moment – try a Bugatti, you might like it.
