Hi all. Happy Friday! 
How many here use (or have heard of) Crème Pogonotomienne?! (I will use "crème" and "cream" interchangeably--same definition here.)
WOW, this is next level stuff! No wonder(!), the company is 200 years old founded by Jean Vincent Bully in approx 1807, though he had started his Parisian perfume boutique on rue Saint-Honoré in 1803 (and was well known throughout Europe, and even though there were "139 perfumers" in Paris in early 1800s, he was successful and one of the last from that era. (Though there is one from the 1200s that started out as a Dominican friars convent, still operational, more modern today: Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella Since 1221 - https://us.smnovella.com/ , they also own the Idralia line for those who have seen other products. Anyway, they, too, have a shaving line of products, in particular this crème: Shaving Cream - https://us.smnovella.com/collections/shaving/products/7030915 )
Background: A couple months ago, as I was easing back into wet shaving after a several year/beard hiatus, I was sent a tiny sampler/half used tube by an eBayer from whom I purchased a mint Vikings Emperor Meiji (great buy). He is now growing a beard, and wanted to them sell all his shaving goods. Unlike many of us on here, he did not have a hundred of everything (blades, creams, 20 razors
, and so on), but he did have the basics (brush, bowl, a couple creams, the shaver I wanted (Meiji) and a few blades. I bought the shaver and he sent the few other items as freebies. ONE of the items was a small, half used sample of Crème Pogonotomienne "Unctuous Shaving Cream".
Current: I used the Crème Pogonotomienne it for a shave (direct FACE lather), thinking "what the heck; might as well give a freebie a try", and it produced a smooooooooth shave; the scent is lovely too (sweet almond,m woody, teensy scent of lemon if you smell for it). GREAT stuff. I went online and could not find it for sale in the US nor on eBay. This led me to their website of the product: Crème Pogonotomienne - Crème de rasage - Officine Universelle Buly - https://buly1803.com/fr-us/products/soin-essentiel-creme-pogonotomienne. Mind you, a lot is in French, but they have English translation, and they only sell in Euro (not even in USD). SUre enough, I found the cream (crème) I wanted. It is sold in 75 milliliter (approx 2.5 oz) tubes, so I bought two (might as well since shipping all the way from France). I also bought two of the "after shave oil"; they do not believe in a traditional balm we use here, which is usually a lotion-like consistency. This comes in a smaller 30 milliter bottle. Photos posted below.
Package of my order arrived = VERY classy.
Cheers,
Ezra
(old storefront photo)
How many here use (or have heard of) Crème Pogonotomienne?! (I will use "crème" and "cream" interchangeably--same definition here.)
WOW, this is next level stuff! No wonder(!), the company is 200 years old founded by Jean Vincent Bully in approx 1807, though he had started his Parisian perfume boutique on rue Saint-Honoré in 1803 (and was well known throughout Europe, and even though there were "139 perfumers" in Paris in early 1800s, he was successful and one of the last from that era. (Though there is one from the 1200s that started out as a Dominican friars convent, still operational, more modern today: Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella Since 1221 - https://us.smnovella.com/ , they also own the Idralia line for those who have seen other products. Anyway, they, too, have a shaving line of products, in particular this crème: Shaving Cream - https://us.smnovella.com/collections/shaving/products/7030915 )
Background: A couple months ago, as I was easing back into wet shaving after a several year/beard hiatus, I was sent a tiny sampler/half used tube by an eBayer from whom I purchased a mint Vikings Emperor Meiji (great buy). He is now growing a beard, and wanted to them sell all his shaving goods. Unlike many of us on here, he did not have a hundred of everything (blades, creams, 20 razors
, and so on), but he did have the basics (brush, bowl, a couple creams, the shaver I wanted (Meiji) and a few blades. I bought the shaver and he sent the few other items as freebies. ONE of the items was a small, half used sample of Crème Pogonotomienne "Unctuous Shaving Cream".Current: I used the Crème Pogonotomienne it for a shave (direct FACE lather), thinking "what the heck; might as well give a freebie a try", and it produced a smooooooooth shave; the scent is lovely too (sweet almond,m woody, teensy scent of lemon if you smell for it). GREAT stuff. I went online and could not find it for sale in the US nor on eBay. This led me to their website of the product: Crème Pogonotomienne - Crème de rasage - Officine Universelle Buly - https://buly1803.com/fr-us/products/soin-essentiel-creme-pogonotomienne. Mind you, a lot is in French, but they have English translation, and they only sell in Euro (not even in USD). SUre enough, I found the cream (crème) I wanted. It is sold in 75 milliliter (approx 2.5 oz) tubes, so I bought two (might as well since shipping all the way from France). I also bought two of the "after shave oil"; they do not believe in a traditional balm we use here, which is usually a lotion-like consistency. This comes in a smaller 30 milliter bottle. Photos posted below.
Package of my order arrived = VERY classy.
- Look at the handwritten greeting card they placed on top of the order? And then when I opened it up, wow.
- Opened the tube boxes, the tube itself is a work of art. It is all metal (not plastic as in many of our US creams) though Prosaro tubes are also metal (Made in Italy--see the trend here? Less plastic from European makers of these goods?).
- Cremo, US/NJ based ---> plastic tube
- Art of Shaving, ---> plastic tube
- Gillette Soothing Shaving Cream in Tube ---> plastic tube
- (you get the picture)
- The tube CAP is even metal and has a "B" monogrammed for Buly, the company name (after the longer "Officine Universelle Buly"). It even has knurling(!) on the cap (see photos!).
- The tube itself isn't cheap metal (not that I am an expert, but it feels very solid)
- Crème itself, most importantly, is wonderful on the face and in a shave. Smells great, "fatty" creating a wonderful lather (I would say Prosaro is very similar, but Prosaro cream is "denser", this is more "whipped" consistency--which they tell you outright that one does not need a lot of this "unctuous shaving cream" (uncutuous = dictionary definition, "excessively or ingratiatingly flattering").
- The packing material is even wood shavings (not tiny that gets everywhere, but refined long strands.
- Almost everything is recyclable, even the packaging!
Cheers,
Ezra
)
