La "Crema da Barba di Santa Maria Novella" is one of the very best shaving creams available on the market.
It is produced by the "Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella", in Florence, Italy.
This pharmacy, founded by Dominican Friars in 1612, is considered the oldest in Europe and one of the oldest in the World.
With almost four hundred years of history, wisdom and experience the Officina di Santa Maria Novella is renowned for offering top quality products, which include soaps, colognes, bath and shaving preparations, skin care and aromatherapy oils.
The majority of these products are still made by traditional methods, using proven techniques and selected ingredients.
The Crema da Barba, as already stated above, is one of these top-shelf products.
It comes in a nice cardboard box with, attached, two parchments called "Nota", which describe the history of the pharmacy and list the entire range of products offered by the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.
These parchments alone are, without any doubt, a touch of class.
As about the cream, it comes in a 220 ml plastic bowl and costs 25, with NO shipping charge, since here in Rome we have our authorized SMN shop.
It is essentially the same price I pay for other top-notch creams, like my beloved Castle Forbes, that costs £ 20, plus S&H.
The scent of the Crema da Barba, as its appearance and density, is very close to Proraso soap.
Anyhow the fragrance is not as strong as Proraso, although contains menthol and Eucalyptus oil.
I love this scent: it's fresh, clean and pleasant, not overpowering at all.
The latherability of this product is amazing.
Truly.
With a peanut size of cream I get enough lather for more than three passes.
And what a lather!!!
It's beautifully rich, slick, cooling, moisturizing and very, very protective.
Finally a question that most of you, who do not know the Crema da Barba, would probably ask: "How to compare SMN with Proraso?"
Here is my opinion: Proraso is an excellent, classical cream for having great, close and comfortable shaves.
The Crema da Barba, maybe for the added presence of lanolin, is simply an "upgraded version" of Proraso: better lather, more slickness, higher level of moisturzing and higher degree of protection.
The Crema da Barba di Santa Maria Novella is, with Castle Forbes Lime Oil and Castle Forbes Lavender Oil, in my top three shaving creams.
And it's also the very best our Italian barbershop tradition can offer.
I suppose no further commentary is needed.
It is produced by the "Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella", in Florence, Italy.
This pharmacy, founded by Dominican Friars in 1612, is considered the oldest in Europe and one of the oldest in the World.
With almost four hundred years of history, wisdom and experience the Officina di Santa Maria Novella is renowned for offering top quality products, which include soaps, colognes, bath and shaving preparations, skin care and aromatherapy oils.
The majority of these products are still made by traditional methods, using proven techniques and selected ingredients.
The Crema da Barba, as already stated above, is one of these top-shelf products.
It comes in a nice cardboard box with, attached, two parchments called "Nota", which describe the history of the pharmacy and list the entire range of products offered by the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.
These parchments alone are, without any doubt, a touch of class.
As about the cream, it comes in a 220 ml plastic bowl and costs 25, with NO shipping charge, since here in Rome we have our authorized SMN shop.
It is essentially the same price I pay for other top-notch creams, like my beloved Castle Forbes, that costs £ 20, plus S&H.
The scent of the Crema da Barba, as its appearance and density, is very close to Proraso soap.
Anyhow the fragrance is not as strong as Proraso, although contains menthol and Eucalyptus oil.
I love this scent: it's fresh, clean and pleasant, not overpowering at all.
The latherability of this product is amazing.
Truly.
With a peanut size of cream I get enough lather for more than three passes.
And what a lather!!!
It's beautifully rich, slick, cooling, moisturizing and very, very protective.
Finally a question that most of you, who do not know the Crema da Barba, would probably ask: "How to compare SMN with Proraso?"
Here is my opinion: Proraso is an excellent, classical cream for having great, close and comfortable shaves.
The Crema da Barba, maybe for the added presence of lanolin, is simply an "upgraded version" of Proraso: better lather, more slickness, higher level of moisturzing and higher degree of protection.
The Crema da Barba di Santa Maria Novella is, with Castle Forbes Lime Oil and Castle Forbes Lavender Oil, in my top three shaving creams.
And it's also the very best our Italian barbershop tradition can offer.
I suppose no further commentary is needed.
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