Crema da Barba Santa Maria Novella

[sarimento1]

Well, this thread prompted me to pull out the new tub of SMN shave cream.
IMO, awesome! There is still menthol and eucalyptus from the earlier version.
But now also a sublte but recognizable, tobacco toscano scent that comes out during the shave.
Performance-wise, just fine, about same as earlier version.
Finished it off with SMN balm and Acqua di Cuba cologne.
Happy camper.

 

[Jerry-built Hustler]

True of all their products. Where else can you buy a bar of soap that costs $44.00?

No kidding. When the Toscano bath soap first came out, Lafco didn't specify how many bars were included for the $40 asking price. I actually e-mailed them to ask, since I couldn't believe they were charging that for a single bar. Their milky soaps were, at the time, selling for $17 for a 3.5 ounce bar, so I figured $40 for two 5-ounce bars would be in the same neighborhood. When they wrote back to tell me, indeed, it's for one bar, I just shook my head. That was the moment I became disenchanted with the brand.

I suppose people with money to burn can justify any price if it's for something they want (or think they want), but come on...it's just soap. How good could it be? Likewise, the shaving cream is just shaving cream. Unless it's infused with fairy dust and will make me forever young, I don't care how good it is. To me, it's not worth $71.

 

[sarimento1]

How good could it be? Likewise, the shaving cream is just shaving cream. Unless it's infused with fairy dust and will make me forever young, I don't care how good it is. To me, it's not worth $71.

Jerry, the SMN shaving cream is great, I got it for much less than $71 on my visit to London.
Anyway, it's far cheaper than wine or alimony!

 

[Stubblefield]

I suppose people with money to burn can justify any price if it's for something they want (or think they want), but come on...it's just soap. How good could it be? Likewise, the shaving cream is just shaving cream. Unless it's infused with fairy dust and will make me forever young, I don't care how good it is. To me, it's not worth $71.

I had the opportunity to handle the Toscano, and I questioned the price. The salesdroid answered, without batting an eye, "but it will last forever!"

I passed on the Toscano. But I did buy the shave cream. Will I buy it again? Probably not, as I have enough soaps to stretch it out for yearssssssss, and so it should last "forever."

 

["6"]

Sharing my experience with this as I absolutely rate this croap. I first picked up a tub of this in 2014 in Florence, so I never had a chance to try the old formulation.

I'm currently on my 2nd tub of this stuff; and this cream/croap remains the undisputed #1 performer in my den.

1. Its gentle on my skin. I have sensitive skin, and alot of other soaps/creams give me irritation. E.g. CF Lime burns my face and has never given me a good shave (a tragedy given its wonderful scent). Another popular soap which my face just disagrees with is D.R. Harris Arlington. But with SMN, I can probably leave it on my face all day and not have issues.

2. Performance is superlative. Stays slick, thick, protective through my entire shave (I normally do a 2-3 pass shave). The best part for me is that the lather is super forgiving and you have quite a wide margin for error, which means it gives me consistently enjoyable shaves.

3. Fragrance. It smells like SMN Tobacco Toscano, which is sweet vanilla, tobacco, and leather (to my nose). Earthy and masculine. There is a slight menthol eucalyptus aroma present which imparts a good level of lightness and freshness to it. I can't speak for the old formulation, but this croap bears no resemblance to the icy kick of Proraso Green (which I am also a fan of).

4. Post shave: leaves my skin feeling great, no dryness to speak of.

This is the crown jewel of my shave den. I used it for about a year straight as my sole cream, and was still left with about 1/3 of the tub by the end of that year. Full disclosure, this was with a small EJ badger brush (18mm knot). I am now using professional sized boars, so I expect to go through these slightly quicker. Still I would be surprised if a tub didn't last me an entire year (and that's if I use it exclusively).

As always YMMV.

 

[shavefan]

Thanks for the review. I have a SMN sample I need to dig into

 

[TAM340R]

Sharing my experience with this as I absolutely rate this croap. I first picked up a tub of this in 2014 in Florence, so I never had a chance to try the old formulation.

I'm currently on my 2nd tub of this stuff; and this cream/croap remains the undisputed #1 performer in my den.

1. Its gentle on my skin. I have sensitive skin, and alot of other soaps/creams give me irritation. E.g. CF Lime burns my face and has never given me a good shave (a tragedy given its wonderful scent). Another popular soap which my face just disagrees with is D.R. Harris Arlington. But with SMN, I can probably leave it on my face all day and not have issues.

2. Performance is superlative. Stays slick, thick, protective through my entire shave (I normally do a 2-3 pass shave). The best part for me is that the lather is super forgiving and you have quite a wide margin for error, which means it gives me consistently enjoyable shaves.

3. Fragrance. It smells like SMN Tobacco Toscano, which is sweet vanilla, tobacco, and leather (to my nose). Earthy and masculine. There is a slight menthol eucalyptus aroma present which imparts a good level of lightness and freshness to it. I can't speak for the old formulation, but this croap bears no resemblance to the icy kick of Proraso Green (which I am also a fan of).

4. Post shave: leaves my skin feeling great, no dryness to speak of.

This is the crown jewel of my shave den. I used it for about a year straight as my sole cream, and was still left with about 1/3 of the tub by the end of that year. Full disclosure, this was with a small EJ badger brush (18mm knot). I am now using professional sized boars, so I expect to go through these slightly quicker. Still I would be surprised if a tub didn't last me an entire year (and that's if I use it exclusively).

As always YMMV.

+1!!!!

Tam