Antica Barbieria Colla | ABC | A Truly Great Soap

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Antica Barbieria Colla is a great soap. It might be the best soap I've used.

I have no idea why it's so good, but I'm not a soap maker and don't know jack about soaps other than how they perform for me. Maybe the ingredients list will tell you more than it tells me.

I long resisted buying this soap because it's very expensive. However, it's far less expensive than it once was, apparently due to the current relative strengths of the two currencies.

I bought it from the Milan vendor. Notice that this is the hard soap and not the more readily available cream which I've not used.

I grated it and put it into an empty Maggard soap container (the kind Maggard sells empty for the purpose).

When I think of good soaps I think of several things, but the most important of these is the shave. How is the shave with this soap called ABC?

In a word the shave is perfect!

This soap loads and lathers almost as well and as easily as MdC. No, it's not MdC-like exactly, but it's pretty close in how readily it loads and lathers. I know of nothing to compare it to in that regard except MdC.

I love MdC, but MdC might be just a tad drying to my skin. ABC is not drying to my skin. Not a bit. The shave with MdC is great, but the shave with ABC might be better.

The lather is above all things great to shave with, but the main simple adjective I'd use to describe the lather is creamy. It's incredibly creamy. It's also rich and luxurious.

There is very little scent (to my nose). I'd say it mostly smells like soap, but the soap it smells like is the most high class simple soap I can imagine.

The slickness and glide and ghost lather and all that stuff are right up there. Maybe not at the peak compared with some other soaps, but I've learned that the main thing is the shave and not the qualities going into the shave. Ghost lather and all those qualities are trumped by the overall quality of and results of the shave.

It Rinses Easily!

I don't mind soaps that are hard to rinse - think of Grooming Dept soaps - but I've noticed there's a correlation between being hard to rinse and stopping up the pipes in my old house. I like the performance of GD soaps except they tend to stop up my pipes. ABC is vastly lighter and far easier to rinse and it doesn't stop up my pipes.

Why ABC is so luxurious and such a great soap is beyond me, but it is.

I began with a sample and tried to convince myself it was much like the inexpensive Italian soaps I like such as AB Mondial. It is much like them, but it's a lot better.



The more I use Antica Barberia Colla the more I like it. I'm not the first to be impressed by ABC and I won't be the last.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Hooman]

Very tantalizing review Jim!

I'm not comparing 'apples' and 'oranges' so to speak, but are you suggesting that, overall, it performs even better than a soap like GD Lusso?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Very tantalizing review Jim!

I'm not comparing 'apples' and 'oranges' so to speak, but are you suggesting that, overall, it performs even better than a soap like GD Lusso?

It's a much different soap. Simple. Not loaded with fat.

It's been a while (months I think) since I used any GD soaps. My memories of them and their performance are very very good. My problem with them is my drains. I'm not entirely sure I could say after months that they compare unfavorably head to head with ABC.

In my view there are a lot of really good soaps. ABC might be the best I've used.

Whether it's the best or not doesn't much matter to me, but it is certainly a very good shaving soap, very worthy of inclusion in the top tier luxurious shave category.

If it has downsides they'd be price and faint scent. Not that the scent is by any means objectionable, but some gentlemen like a strong scent. I've not used it long enough to have a very good feel for how long the puck will last so I'm not yet sure if it's a good value long term, but the entry fee is steep relative to most soaps and yet less than some.

Mostly I wrote about ABC because it impresses me and because it seems under-appreciated within our community. I'm sure some of that has been because it was so expensive. It's still expensive, just not as expensive as it was (currency fluctuations).

Sorry, I know that's not a very good answer.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[Hooman]

Thanks Jim,

You always do a fantastic job of 'painting a picture' of a new shaving experience, in this ABC. I've been looking for a 'simple' soap with as few ingredients as possible, perhaps something like MDC or Pannacrema Nuavia, or Sebum.

I'm intrigued by your review and off to shavedash !!!!

 

[Atlantic59]

The ingredient list seems very similar to traditional Italian soft soaps that use very few ingredients. The sweet almond oil might be part of the reason it performs as it does. Have you tried 3P and can you compare it to the ABC?

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The ingredient list seems very similar to traditional Italian soft soaps that use very few ingredients. The sweet almond oil might be part of the reason it performs as it does. Have you tried 3P and can you compare it to the ABC?

As it happens I have a tub of 3P. I can't recall exactly what it's like but I'll use it soon.

As I recall I tried a good many (certainly not all) of the Italian soaps with ingredients similar to ABC. Several of them are quite inexpensive (and available in fairly small sizes at Connaught). I tried to convince myself ABC - which is obviously quite expensive - wasn't any better, or enough better, to justify its price.

It might not be enough better to justify the cost (that's subjective), but ABC is, in my view, definitely better. I don't really know why; the ingredient lists are very similar.

The big issue for me is post shave. My skin tends to be dry. I don't find ABC drying. I also judge soaps by the shave and my shaves with ABC have been consistently better than my shaves with most soaps. I have no idea why and am just reporting.



To be fair since I began applying a couple of globs of hyaluronic acid to my still damp skin after every shave I've had far less trouble with drying. However some soaps - thinking here of you, MWF - are far too drying for me even used with HA.

Frank @Dragonsbeard introduced me to hyaluronic acid. That bit of information was a great gift to me. It's a magic product, and inexpensive to boot.

Anyway, I'll give my 3P a spin.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[johnwick]

Jim,

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

Ironically I had ordered a tub of ABC cream a couple of days ago. I had tried a sample from shave dash awhile back and enjoyed it very much. I concur with your description of the scent. Very light. Exceptionally pleasant.

The hard soap is indeed very hard to find and I had no luck before buying the cream. My total investment was around $47 from English Shave Company with shipping included. A far cry better than US vendors selling it for $80. They are a very good vendor for some things. MdC comes to mind. I won’t ask what you paid. I have no doubt it is worth it.

I also hadn’t known that you had plumbing troubles with super fatted soaps. A shame, and I hope it didn’t cause too much grief. A few months ago I took apart either the P or S trap under my sink (I can’t recall what it’s called). To my immense surprise, it was clean as a whistle. Almost as if the combination of soaps I’ve been using the past few years was cleaning it rather than gunking it up. My wife’s sink... that was another store. Yikes!

Take care,
John

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Jim,

Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

Ironically I had ordered a tub of ABC cream a couple of days ago. I had tried a sample from shave dash awhile back and enjoyed it very much. I concur with your description of the scent. Very light. Exceptionally pleasant.

The hard soap is indeed very hard to find and I had no luck before buying the cream. My total investment was around $47 from English Shave Company with shipping included. A far cry better than US vendors selling it for $80. They are a very good vendor for some things. MdC comes to mind. I won’t ask what you paid. I have no doubt it is worth it.

I also hadn’t known that you had plumbing troubles with super fatted soaps. A shame, and I hope it didn’t cause too much grief. A few months ago I took apart either the P or S trap under my sink (I can’t recall what it’s called). To my immense surprise, it was clean as a whistle. Almost as if the combination of soaps I’ve been using the past few years was cleaning it rather than gunking it up. My wife’s sink... that was another store. Yikes!

Take care,
John

John, including shipping costs I paid several dollars less for the hard soap than you paid for your cream. The Milan store where I ordered, link, may be out of the hard soap now; I hope more is in the pipeline.

I haven't used the cream or seen it. I've read it has more scent, especially of cherry, than the hard soap, which has no cherry scent at all to my nose. I've also read the performance is the same, but elsewhere I've read the hard soap performs better.

Personally I like soaps and particularly hard soaps and buy them when possible, but it probably doesn't really make much if any difference in performance. Perhaps hard soaps last longer but I'm not really certain of that.

I will say (and I know this from grating the hard soap) this ABC hard soap is the very definition of dry. The moisture content has got to be extremely low assuming there's any remaining water at all.

The AB soap in my Connaught order is AB Mondial which is another good soap. All of the Italian soaps, most of them being similar in their ingredients, have been very good. I have both of the Vitos soaps.

I also love my two SV soaps (which are Italian). As great as SV is, I like the shave I'm getting with ABC better. I've read several posts here and there saying ABC hard soap seems to appeal particularly to straight razor shavers.

Happy shaves,

Jim

 

[SartorialRainer]

Thank you for the review. I agree, the ABC hard soap is excellent.

I asked them a few weeks ago regarding the hard shaving soap as it vanished from their website. They answered me that ABC is no longer producing the almond hard shaving soap.
This was the answer I got:


thank you for your email.


We confirm that Antica Barbieria Colla is not longer going to produce the Almond Oil Shaving Soap,

instead of it, we suggest you to buy:

Almond Oil Shaving Cream

available here:

xxx

Thank you for choosing Antica Barbieria Colla,

best regards,

Assistenza




Very unfortunate.

 

[johnwick]

Jim,

Indeed I looked at this vendors website and it was not listed. Perhaps they have some out drying in the desert.

By the way, the aftershave milk is better than anything I’ve ever tried. It was a free sample generously provided by Jim at Shave Dash and it’s skin care qualities were remarkable. Alas, I don’t have a bottle because I’d miss my alcohol based splashes too much. Do try a sample if you’re given the opportunity.

John

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The ingredient list seems very similar to traditional Italian soft soaps that use very few ingredients. The sweet almond oil might be part of the reason it performs as it does. Have you tried 3P and can you compare it to the ABC?

Here's my one shave of 3P comparison with ABC.

Thank you for the review. I agree, the ABC hard soap is excellent.

I asked them a few weeks ago regarding the hard shaving soap as it vanished from their website. They answered me that ABC is no longer producing the almond hard shaving soap.
This was the answer I got:


thank you for your email.


We confirm that Antica Barbieria Colla is not longer going to produce the Almond Oil Shaving Soap,

instead of it, we suggest you to buy:

Almond Oil Shaving Cream

available here:

xxx

Thank you for choosing Antica Barbieria Colla,

best regards,

Assistenza




Very unfortunate.

I'm mortified!

.

 

[JoWolf]

As it happens I have a tub of 3P. I can't recall exactly what it's like but I'll use it soon.

As I recall I tried a good many (certainly not all) of the Italian soaps with ingredients similar to ABC. Several of them are quite inexpensive (and available in fairly small sizes at Connaught). I tried to convince myself ABC - which is obviously quite expensive - wasn't any better, or enough better, to justify its price.

It might not be enough better to justify the cost (that's subjective), but ABC is, in my view, definitely better. I don't really know why; the ingredient lists are very similar.

The big issue for me is post shave. My skin tends to be dry. I don't find ABC drying. I also judge soaps by the shave and my shaves with ABC have been consistently better than my shaves with most soaps. I have no idea why and am just reporting.

View attachment 1063249

To be fair since I began applying a couple of globs of hyaluronic acid to my still damp skin after every shave I've had far less trouble with drying. However some soaps - thinking here of you, MWF - are far too drying for me even used with HA.

Frank @Dragonsbeard introduced me to hyaluronic acid. That bit of information was a great gift to me. It's a magic product, and inexpensive to boot.

Anyway, I'll give my 3P a spin.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Thanks Jim. I just got my back up bottle the other day. I now have normal neck skin.

 

[JeffJ]

Agree with the Op. This is the best soap I have ever used. Had the pleasure of 3017ing a puck in 2019.

 

[SonofdavidS]

Antica Barbieria Colla is a great soap. It might be the best soap I've used.


View attachment 1062981


I have no idea why it's so good, but I'm not a soap maker and don't know jack about soaps other than how they perform for me. Maybe the ingredients list will tell you more than it tells me.


View attachment 1062982


I long resisted buying this soap because it's very expensive. However, it's far less expensive than it once was, apparently due to the current relative strengths of the two currencies.


View attachment 1062983

I bought it from the Milan vendor. Notice that this is the hard soap and not the more readily available cream which I've not used.

I grated it and put it into an empty Maggard soap container (the kind Maggard sells empty for the purpose).


View attachment 1062986


When I think of good soaps I think of several things, but the most important of these is the shave. How is the shave with this soap called ABC?

In a word the shave is perfect!

This soap loads and lathers almost as well and as easily as MdC. No, it's not MdC-like exactly, but it's pretty close in how readily it loads and lathers. I know of nothing to compare it to in that regard except MdC.

I love MdC, but MdC might be just a tad drying to my skin. ABC is not drying to my skin. Not a bit. The shave with MdC is great, but the shave with ABC might be better.

The lather is above all things great to shave with, but the main simple adjective I'd use to describe the lather is creamy. It's incredibly creamy. It's also rich and luxurious.

There is very little scent (to my nose). I'd say it mostly smells like soap, but the soap it smells like is the most high class simple soap I can imagine.

The slickness and glide and ghost lather and all that stuff are right up there. Maybe not at the peak compared with some other soaps, but I've learned that the main thing is the shave and not the qualities going into the shave. Ghost lather and all those qualities are trumped by the overall quality of and results of the shave.

It Rinses Easily!

I don't mind soaps that are hard to rinse - think of Grooming Dept soaps - but I've noticed there's a correlation between being hard to rinse and stopping up the pipes in my old house. I like the performance of GD soaps except they tend to stop up my pipes. ABC is vastly lighter and far easier to rinse and it doesn't stop up my pipes.

Why ABC is so luxurious and such a great soap is beyond me, but it is.

I began with a sample and tried to convince myself it was much like the inexpensive Italian soaps I like such as AB Mondial. It is much like them, but it's a lot better.

View attachment 1063000

The more I use Antica Barberia Colla the more I like it. I'm not the first to be impressed by ABC and I won't be the last.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Have you ever used the softer soap/cream? If so how would you compare the two?

 

[anoop]

Have you ever used the softer soap/cream? If so how would you compare the two?

I'm interested in a comparison of the cream with MdC soap since that is what I use. I'm about half way through my second jar of MdC (a jar lasts about a year). The first was unscented, second is original. I'm fine with unscented products, so this thread was very interesting esp since since it said ABC was better than MdC.

 

[BigJ]

Here's my one shave of 3P comparison with ABC.



I'm mortified!

.

YIKES!! I was about to put this on the ’to buy’ list once I finish the Feb restraint!

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

Have you ever used the softer soap/cream? If so how would you compare the two?

I have not.

 

[Mataddor]

Jim, this is a Very nice review thanks for sharing it with us.
I love ABC products, can’t agree more with your thoughts.
I currently have the soap version and is outstanding in terms of performance my only “BUT” will be the scent; is too light for my taste (hard soap only)
On the other hand the cream is something else in terms of scent, I’ll say the performance is about the same when you compare the soap vs the cream, for the folks looking for a little more scent the cream will be ideal as well as the aftershave milk.
MdC is one of my favorites soaps currently available in the market, when it comes to decide between ABC and MdC is always a battle, each product have their own unique signature and attributes.
I personally consider ABC products to be among the best high end products available in the market.

Best regards:
Aroon R.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hooman]

The ABC Almond Oil "hard" shaving "soap" cannot be found at any online retailer. A few carry the cream but not the soap. Sadly, it is joining the likes of IColoniali mango shaving soap and Valobra. The rise of super-fatted Artisans and fall of classics.....

 

[Chan Eil Whiskers]

The ABC Almond Oil "hard" shaving "soap" cannot be found at any online retailer. A few carry the cream but not the soap. Sadly, it is joining the likes of IColoniali mango shaving soap and Valobra. The rise of super-fatted Artisans and fall of classics.....

This morning's shave was with Valobra. Just looked around and can't find any for sale anywhere.

Sad. At least I have an almost full puck.

Oh, the other hand, there are a great many good and excellent soaps.

Happy shaves,

Jim