The very best luxury soaps/creams, money no object

Well said onethinline! It's hard to compare many of the products at the upper end of the spectrum. Each of these products have different operative mechanisms, so it's tough to evaluate what is "better". One person may prefer slickness; another cushion. Especially when comparative performance is flawless, it's all a matter of taste.

Thanks David

Santa Maria Novella (Version 3 - current version)

Overall Rating: 10/10

Packaging: If you haven't seen the products before, the packaging is quite odd. One opens the magnificent, high quality, and beautifully textured box only to find a plastic tub with low-resolution writing. The box is beautiful. The tub is merely functional. In short, this product is a luxury cream for its performance, not necessarily for its packaging.

Olfactory impressions: SMN claims that this cream is lightly scented with Tabacco Toscano. For those who haven't smelled the EDT, Tabacco Toscano is a (naturally) tobacco fragrance that is backed by vanilla and amber. It is quite sweet. Here it is present, but very lightly. To me it (by far) takes a back seat to the refreshing notes of eucalyptus and menthol. But that the Tobacco Toscano fragrance is not dominant is a good thing, since the menthol and eucalyptus notes cut the sweetness of the fragrance and balance the entire composition. In the end, opening the cap will reveal a beautiful and moderately strong mix of menthol and eucalyptus, with the slightest hint of tobacco that is lightly sweetened by vanilla and amber. Lovely stuff!

Performance characteristics: In my view, when evaluating performance, there is a crystal clear top tier of shaving creams - some are simply better than others (for me). Santa Maria Novella sits at the pinnacle. The shaves I am able to get from SMN are some of my very best, so SMN was easy for me to love.

This is a harder cream, and consequently one should keep in mind that it requires the incorporation of more water than usual. When I first tested this product, I thought I was having issues lathering it because the lather appeared thin. I was wrong. While less visually voluminous than most, the lather was eminently functional.

This cream's slickness - and in particular residual slickness - is unrivaled. Unlike some creams (take ADP as a great example - another one of my favorites), which seem to operate through softening the beard, SMN creates a thin layer of ultra-slick lather on the face, which ensures that the blade glides easily and without obstruction. In this respect SMN resembles the performance of Czech & Speake: both products are all about the slickness and don't produce much cushion. This characteristic ensures an exceptionally close, easy, and comfortable shave.

Post-shave feel and look: For me this produces a healthy and flawless complexion, and the cream is heavily moisturizing in feel (though it leaves the skin matte). Interestingly, the menthol in the cream (combined with the eucalyptus) ensures that the skin feels comfortably cool after the shave, which will be wonderful in the summer.

As an aside, I've used Proroaso quite a bit, and for some reason these two creams are unjustly compared - SMN is vastly superior to Proraso in post-shave and in-shave performance. There is simply no comparison for me.

Who might like this product: Do you want a top-quality cream that will feel cool and refreshing in the summer? Buy SMN. This is a top performer, and lovers of slickness shouldn't miss out. I can see this being a holy grail shaving cream for menthol fans.

Who might not like this product: This is an expensive product. At more than $70 for a tub, it will be tough to justify for shavers on a budget. Additionally, if you prefer cushion over slickness, get ADP or a similar cream instead - SMN may not be to your liking. Avoid if you don't like menthol or eucalyptus.

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Thanks for reading gents! If you have any comments or suggestions on the format of this review, please let me know.

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Question: I haven't yet decided on my next review, and I'm wondering if I should start on my roundup and ranking instead. What do you think? If not, my next review will be of PannaCrema Nuavia, Savonniere du Moulin, or Barrister & Mann. If you like, I could also spend some time reviewing products that didn't work for me (you'll notice that I've been focusing on the top performers). As always, I welcome your suggestions.

PannaCrema Nuavia would get my vote for your next review---BTW,thanks,the reviews are great

NeoXerxes  the "other" forum "awarded" C&S, in 2014, and Klar, in 2015 as the greatest things since canned corned beef.

Are these two products not on your Radar?  No ADP either? Nor XPEC which some think the best thing on the planet?

Thanks for reading gents! beisler, your vote is noted .

grim, I've thoroughly tested all of the above and could provide reviews for each of these. In short, C&S is one of the top luxury soaps on the market IMO, easily a 10/10 for a number of reasons. ADP and XPEC (good timing on bringing those up) are both in my top 5 best creams, along with Castle Forbes and Tabula Rasa (and of course SMN). As for the last product you mentioned, I'm not the biggest fan of Klar. It isn't a bad soap by any means, but it reminds me of MDC and I prefer that by a solid margin.

Nuàvia, B&M, then round-up.

Count me in (with a bag of popcorn) to read the reviews of what didn't work as well for you.

Noted SharpSpine, thank you sir!

I'd be happy to do those other (less than overwhelmingly positive) reviews after the roundup is finished. Be prepared for it to run smoothly and without issue, until I get to a certain brand, at which point all hell will break loose :/. Le sigh.

Santa Maria Novella at last! Glad to finally see that review NeoXerxes. Well done. SMN is an excellent cream, at the very top of what I've used at this point, along with Nuàvia, Tabula Rasa, Castle Forbes, B&M, etc. You're right to point out the residual slickness: that was one of the first things I noticed about the cream. I should say, though, that I don't find its lather thinner than average; in fact, I get a good, dense, creamy lather from it. Notably, AdP was trickier for me to "dial in" at first. Now, both do very well for me, though I give the edge to SMN between the two.

Anyone else get a note similar to Bvlgari Black in SMN? There's something sort of rubbery in the fragrance. I do like it, but it's different. I get more "tire rubber" than refreshing from it, though I do like the touch of menthol (as I do with AdP).

Thanks much onethinline ! Due to my discussion on another thread, I was able to clarify what I meant and edited my review accordingly: it's not that SMN isn't dense (it is dense enough to provide a good slick coating all over the face), but rather that it doesn't produce a voluminous lather such as one might find with MdC, which simply explodes with lather and is visually deep on the face.

If I remember correctly, Bvlgari Black has that same sort of slightly ambered tobacco note that provides the tobacco vibe. This aspect isn't strong in SMN (at least not in my tub), so for me the menthol/eucalpytus are dominant. It isn't an overload of menthol, but rather adds to the overall experience (similar to ADP but a bit more IMO).

Overall, SMN is fantastic .