Arko taunts me in my sleep lol. I have yet to try it. Derby Extra blades are made there too, so how bad could it be...
Vitos | Extra Super Coco | Extra Super Rosso+ | 1000 ml | Storage Issues
- Thread starter Chan Eil Whiskers
- Start date
Arko taunts me in my sleep lol. I have yet to try it. Derby Extra blades are made there too, so how bad could it be...
Please don’t use Derby Extra blades; not even your pre-2016 stash; as any soap. Not even as a soft, Italianate soap.
I think the bottle of Dawn I bought was made in the USA. It’s soap, it’s soft, but works well even without grinding Derby Extra blades into its lather. Might be imperialist, though. Takes Greece out of your way or something
My days of chewing blades and spitting nails are over lol.
I'm being drawn to the Italian soft soaps because I want the most luxurious soaps, creams and shaves I can have and, I think, they'll provide them.
Two on my short list are SV, a hard Italian soap, of which I'm sure @Marco would approve, and Acqua Di Parma. SV I strongly suspect will fit my definition of "Luxurious" but I'm not sure about Acqua Di Parma.
I'm really happy with Wickham 1912 but I feel its lacking a bit in the "luxurious" department, although it could be I've just become use to it. I tend to follow my gut and my gut is telling me Italian soft soaps will give me what I want, I'm just not familiar enough with them.
I’ve heard of a soap by Susan Darnell called Vitos Extra Super Coco. Jim’s committed to it. Cal uses a powered-down variety. Connaught’s sells it to North Americans for a song (you saw it in Dr. Doug’s most recent mail call).
I‘ll also wait for Marco’s recommendation, but Vitos Extra Scrappy Coco, Cella Extra Extra Bio, and Stirling Naked & Smooth are my “Trinity of Soft Soaps to try if my hoard of creams can even be used up. I swear there was more shaving cream in my KMF Pomegranate Grapefruit bottle last night.
I‘ll also wait for Marco’s recommendation, but Vitos Extra Scrappy Coco, Cella Extra Extra Bio, and Stirling Naked & Smooth are my “Trinity of Soft Soaps to try if my hoard of creams can even be used up. I swear there was more shaving cream in my KMF Pomegranate Grapefruit bottle last night.
Cella Extra Extra Bio.
I didnt think you could pick only one! lol
I'll have to see where it can be found. Connaught doesnt have it...
Is this it?
Cella Milano Bio Organic Aloe Vera Shaving Cream, 150ml | Maggard Razors Traditional Wet Shaving Products - https://www.maggardrazors.com/product/cella-milano-bio-organic-aloe-vera-shaving-cream-150ml/
Thanks Marco!
Italian Barber, Maggards, Amazon all have it
Yeah, but apparently not Connaught. I can never manage to get a complete order at one store haha.
Both Saponificio Varesino and Acqua di Parma are 100% "luxurious" Italian soaps that perform VERY well.
Do SV and AdP perform better than Cella? No, not to me. They are just more pricey.
My humble suggestion: get a top performing Italian soft soap at a budget price and, with the savings, buy a bottle of Acqua di Parma Colonia.
As always, my 2 cents.
Yes Sir, it's exactly that one.
Thank you.
I believe I'll take your advice Marco. However, since I havent tried any SV soaps and I have no Vetiver scents in my collection thus far, I'll try the new SV 4.3 Desert Vetiver while I'm at it.
Now if Fatip would ship some gold slants, I'd be where I want to be. For a while anyway haha.
Thank you.
I believe I'll take your advice Marco. However, since I havent tried any SV soaps and I have no Vetiver scents in my collection thus far, I'll try the new SV 4.3 Desert Vetiver while I'm at it.
Now if Fatip would ship some gold slants, I'd be where I want to be. For a while anyway haha.
Yes, I endorse the Beta 4.3 SV soaps over their previous formulas. These hard soaps, vegetable based, are large and last a long time.
Wickham 1912 is currently my top soap and its a veg soap. I have 3 Wickham soaps and they do seem to last pretty well. Very little is needed for a rich lather, yet they seem to lack....something. I believe I'll find that 'something' in Italian soft soaps.
- Thread starter
- #76
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Today I packaged segments of my Vitos Red block.
I began with ^ this box of Vitos Red (notice Cocco sticker on the end of the box).
In these ^ thumbnails, which can be enlarged by clicking on them, you can see the weight of the original "kilo," and how much of that weight is in the packaging. No matter how you slice it, it's a whole lot of soap for the price.
Each of these twelve chunks weighed between about 65 grams and about 88 grams. The largest chunk was added to the small amount remaining in my existing Vitos Red jar. It fit easily into the container leaving room to spare for easy brush loading. The consistency is like putty. It can easily be pushed into the container and shaped with my thumbs.
Each of the other chunks was wrapped in waxed paper, placed in a sandwich bag, and then put into a large freezer bag with its siblings. That bag is in a box in the top of my closet where it should be safe, dry, and cool. There is certainly a little air in the bags, but not much. Vacuum packing would be a perhaps better option but I am not buying the vacuum and sealing machine for just packaging soap and my wife has no interest in vacuum packing food (she said).
I first used Vitos Red back in February of this year. Here's a link to that shave. Anyone following my shaves or comments might already know I've not used Vitos Red every single day since then but I have used the stuff most of the days since I began using it. It's that good in my opinion.
I got about four months of shaves out of the 100 ml chunk Connaught sold me. I'd guess this block of Vitos will last me about three and a half years.
Also, and this is a comment for Mike @Esox and others interested in the soap's scent: The soap right out of the box and just unwrapped has a significantly stronger scent than the soap I've been using. I attribute that to the fact my daily driver Vitos Red is always open to the air. My container of Vitos Red has a lid, but it's on only when I take a photo of it or when I know I'm not using it tomorrow or when I'm traveling with it. When I use the Red day after day the container stays open to dry.
My memory of the soap I received from Connaught is of a much milder scent. Of course, what I bought from Connaught was a chunk cut from a block.
I'd describe the scent as marzipan.
Marzipan is not a scent I hate, but it's also not a scent I much like. What I'm saying here is the scent of the just opened package is definitely marzipan, but I have never noticed much scent at all when I lather or shave with this soap. The only scent I've picked up on - in the tub I've been using - is a coconut scent which I can smell if I stick my nose in the tub and try to find a scent.
I expect I'll notice a little bit of a marzipan scent for a few days as I load my brush off a new chunk. Maybe not. I would be amazed if it's a strong scent. After all, the just opened brick was a "kilo" with a ton of surface area, far more than the daily container will present to the air.
We'll see.
Happy shaves,
Jim
I began with ^ this box of Vitos Red (notice Cocco sticker on the end of the box).
In these ^ thumbnails, which can be enlarged by clicking on them, you can see the weight of the original "kilo," and how much of that weight is in the packaging. No matter how you slice it, it's a whole lot of soap for the price.
Each of these twelve chunks weighed between about 65 grams and about 88 grams. The largest chunk was added to the small amount remaining in my existing Vitos Red jar. It fit easily into the container leaving room to spare for easy brush loading. The consistency is like putty. It can easily be pushed into the container and shaped with my thumbs.
Each of the other chunks was wrapped in waxed paper, placed in a sandwich bag, and then put into a large freezer bag with its siblings. That bag is in a box in the top of my closet where it should be safe, dry, and cool. There is certainly a little air in the bags, but not much. Vacuum packing would be a perhaps better option but I am not buying the vacuum and sealing machine for just packaging soap and my wife has no interest in vacuum packing food (she said).
I first used Vitos Red back in February of this year. Here's a link to that shave. Anyone following my shaves or comments might already know I've not used Vitos Red every single day since then but I have used the stuff most of the days since I began using it. It's that good in my opinion.
I got about four months of shaves out of the 100 ml chunk Connaught sold me. I'd guess this block of Vitos will last me about three and a half years.
Also, and this is a comment for Mike @Esox and others interested in the soap's scent: The soap right out of the box and just unwrapped has a significantly stronger scent than the soap I've been using. I attribute that to the fact my daily driver Vitos Red is always open to the air. My container of Vitos Red has a lid, but it's on only when I take a photo of it or when I know I'm not using it tomorrow or when I'm traveling with it. When I use the Red day after day the container stays open to dry.
My memory of the soap I received from Connaught is of a much milder scent. Of course, what I bought from Connaught was a chunk cut from a block.
I'd describe the scent as marzipan.
Marzipan is not a scent I hate, but it's also not a scent I much like. What I'm saying here is the scent of the just opened package is definitely marzipan, but I have never noticed much scent at all when I lather or shave with this soap. The only scent I've picked up on - in the tub I've been using - is a coconut scent which I can smell if I stick my nose in the tub and try to find a scent.
I expect I'll notice a little bit of a marzipan scent for a few days as I load my brush off a new chunk. Maybe not. I would be amazed if it's a strong scent. After all, the just opened brick was a "kilo" with a ton of surface area, far more than the daily container will present to the air.
We'll see.
Happy shaves,
Jim
Good to know. Mines on its way, with a traveling companion.
I'm not sure what Marzipan smells like but I hope its not an Almond scent. Coconut would be good...
- Thread starter
- #78
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Yep. (A favorite of mine.)
Yep. It's an almond scent, but as Jim says it's very faint. I also have to stick my nose right into my tin to get the slight scent... and unlike Jim, my container remains closed every moment that I'm not shaving.
We look forward to your findings once you've received it Mike.
The Vitos block is sold as a volume of 1000 ml, rather than a weight of 1000 g. Since the soap is less dense than water, the weight of the Vitos block is less than 1 kilogram.
This is inconsistent with the way most soap is sold, but that's the reason.
