I have been fortunate of late to have some wonderful new (at least to me) soaps and creams. Some of them beckon the question, "where's da' love?" Razorock's S. Maria is one of those. This purported clone of Santa Maria Novella is one of the best creams I have tried of late. Although I have never tried the original SMN I can attest to S. Maria being in a class close to that of Simpson's Luxury Shaving Cream, having a very similar consistency. It is a harder or denser cream compared to most traditional creams; you can't just dip the brush, you have to also give a twist of the wrist with a little pressure to get sufficient product on the brush. The scent is a clean foresty eucalyptus scent, I imagine similar to original SMN.
I like to begin lathering with a well-squeezed out brush to "pre-lather" my face. Then with a few drops of hot water added to the brush little by little, a thick creamy lather develops. I shaved with a Red Tip and a Rapira Swedish Supersteel blade (its fourth shave), and without exaggeration, the blade performed like my first with it (I keep notes b/c I like comparing blades). The first pass was effortless in that it was slick and smooth-no tugging. The second pass around the goatee region felt like the blade was missing from the razor. ATG on the neck was smooth but probably could have been a bit closer (I think this is more the blade showing diminished properties, than the performance of the cream or razor). I felt a brief and significant (but not terrible) aftershave sting.
In conclusion, I have but one heartfelt question: "wherez da' friggin' love" for this outstanding product? I hope others will try it and post their thoughts, especially if they have also tried the original SMN-I would like to see a comparison, although I will not spend $65 for the honor.
Thanks for listening.
I like to begin lathering with a well-squeezed out brush to "pre-lather" my face. Then with a few drops of hot water added to the brush little by little, a thick creamy lather develops. I shaved with a Red Tip and a Rapira Swedish Supersteel blade (its fourth shave), and without exaggeration, the blade performed like my first with it (I keep notes b/c I like comparing blades). The first pass was effortless in that it was slick and smooth-no tugging. The second pass around the goatee region felt like the blade was missing from the razor. ATG on the neck was smooth but probably could have been a bit closer (I think this is more the blade showing diminished properties, than the performance of the cream or razor). I felt a brief and significant (but not terrible) aftershave sting.
In conclusion, I have but one heartfelt question: "wherez da' friggin' love" for this outstanding product? I hope others will try it and post their thoughts, especially if they have also tried the original SMN-I would like to see a comparison, although I will not spend $65 for the honor.
Thanks for listening.
Last edited:
