Italian soap with the Russian soul Fenomeno.

I've been fond of classical shaving for 3 years. Over time, out of necessity, it grew into a ritual, even a hobby. Many different shaving soaps have been tried, as well as aftershaves of European, American and Russian production. In Russia, as it does not sound sad, but with the era of foam from cylinders and plastic razors, much was forgotten, old recipes ceased to exist, fans of classical shaving became less, but in 2012-2013 there were enthusiasts who began to revive it, to share information, we became more.
We began to follow the novelties of world classic shaving, register and read your forums, taking from them a lot of useful information.
Have appeared good and not so manufacturers and artisans of wet shaving.

One of them was Vyacheslav Yagudin, a craftsman and at the same time a manager of Progetto Contentezza.

The history is interesting, how he came to such hobby, overgrown later in the search for the "Holy Grail".
Vyacheslav really liked to wander around the abandoned places with a metal detector in search of some interesting and even valuable things. Once he found in a small box a small notebook with handwritten text with an old recipe for some soap. Having become interested, he began to search for information in old libraries, gradually reading various sources on the Internet and decided to make soap for shaving. It took a whole year to get the soap according to the old Italian recipe, with the addition of course, of its achievements turned out to be of a better quality, and I want to tell you about one of them, a photo of which I recently uploaded to SOTD.

It is called an Afghan with a Russian heart.

Now in his line-up there are 4 soaps for shaving, united by the common name Fenomeno.

A soap is 150 ml or about 6 ounces is supplied in a dense, high-quality plastic jar with a diameter 80 mm or 3.2 inches from which it is convenient to use a shaving brush and a small knot size, as well as a diameter of 24-27 mm. The composition can be seen below in the photo.

Label, painted by a friend-artist under the order, is made of water-resistant laminated material.

Soap of a dense solid consistency, slightly softer than French soaps Martin de Candre, is insignificant. The consumption of soap approximately 2 grams. 20-30 seconds applying the soap on brush is enogh for 3 passes. You get thin thick lather.
You can safely shave the visible stubble without lather, which I think is a huge plus.

After shaving, it is felt that the skin is moisturized, there is no dryness, stiffness, allergic reactions, not the slightest hint of any discomfort. The use of a aftershaves or aftershave balms can be canceled.

The fragrance is made up of 8 natural aromatic oils and is a mixture of tart spices, thyme and cumin, as well as warm notes of dry herbs with lavender, rosemary, mint and geranium.
The scent is medium intensity, does not hit your nose, but it is pleasantly enveloped when shaving. Relaxes, adjusts to mental and physical rest after a hard day's work.
On a calm relaxation.

As the author himself wrote, it is the fragrance of an unknown perfumer who was inspired by the spirit of unruly freedom-loving Afghans during the Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th century.

In the end ,I would like to say that this soap did not leave me indifferent. I shaved with him and a shaving brush of boar bristles, and with a badger,
and with synthetic bristles. In all cases, the quality of the lather did didn’t change, it was the one that is needed for a perfect shave.

And by its characteristics soap is no worse than more famous and expensive shaving products.

Thank you for attention.



Several introductory photos:

The worst soap, not even worth the attention

Interesting. How can this soap be purchased and at what price? Thanks.

Mr. Dinky - I've just read the entire thread on the Russian forum about this soap brand. I enjoyed your test writeups there and your photo comparisons with other brands.

I'm always interested to read about new soaps and add them to my wish list, which after nearly 3 years in the hobby is already very long. I've used 64 soap products already (many of them samples) and have a few on my shelf I still haven't even opened yet!

The artwork on the Contentezza Fenomeno soap jars is phenomenal! And I see from various reviews that the soap itself is pretty good, though the scent on the initial product that you bought, the '1870 Venezia' (not pictured here on DFS) is/was not to everyone's liking - some people liked it and said it had to be tried, you noted it's scent was "devoid of character", while another said it was weak but disgusting, like a damp apartment being repaired. I know you've been testing the products and giving feedback - and the newer scents (Afghan With a Russian Heart, Dancing Forest, Venice, and soon Geronimo) are better, so that's good. I have to say I do like shaving soap that fill the bathroom with a pleasing aroma though most soaps I have admitted do NOT do that, and some (even ones that generally get high praise on forums) are extremely weak to my nose.

By the way, having read the Russian thread, I saw the address where Fenomeno can be bought by Russians domestically - but either the seller's site (Britva11) is not working right now or else it is inaccessible from Canada (or outside of Russia). I just get a browser "ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE" error and nothing loads. However, I found a way to see an archived copy of their Fenomeno pages, so I've seen the Russian prices for these products and they are quite reasonable.

Do you know —or could you find out— if there are plans to make these available internationally? And can you find out whether Britva11 ships internationally (I'm in Canada or alternatively if by chance postage to America is cheaper also have a US address).

Thanks!

DanielB, thank you for your attention to our products.
At the moment we are in search of trading partners, as Britva11 sells only in Russia and does not carry out international transportation. If you are interested, we are ready to discuss it. If on the contrary, it only remains to wait)

DanielB, thank you for your attention to our products.
At the moment we are in search of trading partners, as Britva11 sells only in Russia and does not carry out international transportation. If you are interested, we are ready to discuss it. If on the contrary, it only remains to wait)

Oh, I did not know you actually work for or operate the Britva11 online shop. I am just a person who shaves and sometimes exchanges soaps and soap samples with others internationally, but I'm not a retailer or professional trading partner. I'll have to wait.

DanielB, thank you for your attention to our products.
At the moment we are in search of trading partners, as Britva11 sells only in Russia and does not carry out international transportation. If you are interested, we are ready to discuss it. If on the contrary, it only remains to wait)

Oh, I did not know you actually work for or operate the Britva11 online shop. I am just a person who shaves and sometimes exchanges soaps and soap samples with others internationally, but I'm not a retailer or professional trading partner. I'll have to wait.

I am not the owner or representative of this Britva11 store, I represent the interests of the manufacturer Fenomeno here. A new soap with an improved formula will soon appear in your market if all the circumstances are favorable for us. Thank you for understanding)

Ah, thanks. What you wrote originally makes sense. My mistake.
I will send you a PM.

I'm interested in this. Where else can i purchase this product?

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