La Saponeria Artigiana Sapone a Barba Vegetale alla Mandorla

La Saponeria Artigiana - Sapone da Barba Vegetale alla Mandorla is a "classic" style Italian soap.

Soft / croap - Yes!
Almond scent - Yes!
Reasonably priced - Yes!

Great performer?... again a big Yes!

With so many Italian soft almond scent-based soaps out there; Cella, Valobra, Vitos, ABCBA, Panama Boellis, why should you choose the offering from La Saponeria Artigiana?

Firstly, I think the scent is better than Cella, which IMO is a bit too "sickly" sweet. I found Cella a fantastic scent at first but got tired of it quickly. La Saponeria Artigiana, has a much more balananced scent, the sweetnes is dialled down just a margin to make it a long-term favourite.

Secondly, the price of this soap puts it between the cheapest soap (Cella) and all other soaps that are more expensive (from an EU perspective).

Amazingly easy to make great performing lather and nice post shave feel means this is a soap you shouldn't overlook!

Intro
Well, I purchased this at Barbiere di figaro. It's an Italian soft soap with an almond scent. I had read some comments on some of the Italian shaving forums about this soap and was quite intrigued, enough to take one for the team so to speak. This is an Italian soft soap and can be bought in a 150g tub, 250g and 1kg blocks. It is all 'veggie' as it doesn't contain tallow. I purchased the 150g size (and currently wishing I bought the 250g block) which comes in a white plastic container the same shape as the red Cella tub.

Scent
8/10
This almond scent is along the same wavelength as Cella, but to me a little crisper. Personally, I really like and enjoy the scent.

Lathering
10/10
I remember conducting science experiments in high school, in particular seeing how quickly certain chemicals burned when exposed to a flame and 'on contact' was one of the possible responses. Well that's the response for how this soap lathers. Once the brush hits this soap, bubbles start forming. After swirling for maybe 30 seconds the lather is nice and thick and ready to be applied. It didn't matter if I used one of my TGN badger brushes or my Omega boars, the lather thickness was the same. I will say that the lather wasn't as 'pastey' as Cella, almost the perfect balance. I also should point out that I have well water in the house and the water isn't always the best.

Skin Care
10/10
Top notch. I used Proraso ASL and Dominica Bay Rum as aftershave splashes while trying out this soap and with both, I felt my face later in the day and thought "Wow, didn't think that aftershave was so good to my face" but it was the Artigiana soap. This is obviously a ymmv thing, I have oily skin and can't say how this soap would be with someone with dry skin.

Efficacy
9/10
Glide is really nice and helps the blade slide along. The slickness is almost MWF like. After my third pass during a shave, I rinse my face off and blade buff for touch ups. With the Artigiana, the water on my face was still slick to help the razor buff along my face.

Price
8/10
Purchased from Europe, the price for the 150g tub translates to ~$8.60. On par with Cella to purchase. Currently the 1kg block at Barbiere di Figaro is 16.10 Euro which translates to a little over $20, which is a heck of a deal.

Conclusion
I'm super impressed with this soap. As I mentioned earlier, I like the scent, even though its a ymmv thing, performs similar to Cella, but has better moisturizing properties. For me, this is a top notch soap that performs way above its price point.

Found this one by accident. Joe had this Italian soap maker on his site for bath soaps, I checked them out, and found they made a soft shaving soap too. Almond, of course, and I do not like almond. I have been shaving with this soap for a couple of weeks and the scent is growing on me. It is a soft almond scent, not overly sweet. Like Vitos.
The price is good for what you get (they carry a 150 grams bowl, 250 grams small brick and 1000 grams brick). It is an artisan product, handmade in small quantities, from good ingredients. Nice thing is that they call their shaving soap vegetale, while the third ingredient is tallow . But it works great. I get a dense and slick lather, that gives a lot of protection. The razor glides very well. The feeling after the shave is another strong point: my face feels baby soft. I have compared this soap to Cella and Vitos (red and green), but for me this one works best. If you can find it, try it