Wondering if anyone else's RR SMdF is crystalized. Not sure if that would be the correct term. I have had it for quite some time and I believe it came that way. Its visible when looking at the soap. Would include a photo but not home right now. When I'm lathering I sometimes I get these little chunks (crystals) on my face so they don't break down when face lathering. I've been meaning to send an email to Italian Barber to see if that is normal or if something went wrong with the soap but after seeing this thread I thought I would throw it out there.
Razorock Santa Maria Del Fiore Firenze Shave Soap
- Thread starter DEsafetyrazor
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I think I know what you're talking about. It looks unlike any other shave soap I've seen, kind of has a mottled appearance. It reminds me of unrefined coconut oil. I bowl lathered with it and didn't get any residual crystallized material in it though, so maybe try that with it?
Have had several soaps that have had this "crystalizing" issue and believe it to be Steric Acid from what I have been told. It doesn't effect performance and does not mean the soap has gone bad so no worries there, I wonder if carefuly cooking it Double Boiler style or perhaps using a electric whisk would help. I know another fourm member Primo used a Coffee Strainer and was able to strain out the "Grains" of a different soap so it is possible to get rid of them if it bothers you enough to go through the trouble of correcting the issue.
On a side note, have a tub of SMDF I have been wanting to use recently and will perhaps bust it out for tomorrow's Mnethol Monday shave! Havent used it in a while and tend to get my thoughts of various RR formulas confused a bit as there are a few available over the years and they vary quite a bit IMO.
On a side note, have a tub of SMDF I have been wanting to use recently and will perhaps bust it out for tomorrow's Mnethol Monday shave! Havent used it in a while and tend to get my thoughts of various RR formulas confused a bit as there are a few available over the years and they vary quite a bit IMO.
Hello,
I tried this soap and what a nice discovery. It lather really well, very easily, and what I appreciate a lot is that there is no residuals after your rinse your face with water. The scent is a discovery for me I never had a tobacco scent before it smells good. Now I do not like menthol at all, neither the smell or taste or the tingling effect it can have. What is nice with this soap is that I barely smell it and apart from the light cooling effect I do not feel it.
The aftershave is good but the scent is too strong for me. I might have to dilute it.
I understand why a lot of people appreciate this soap.
I tried this soap and what a nice discovery. It lather really well, very easily, and what I appreciate a lot is that there is no residuals after your rinse your face with water. The scent is a discovery for me I never had a tobacco scent before it smells good. Now I do not like menthol at all, neither the smell or taste or the tingling effect it can have. What is nice with this soap is that I barely smell it and apart from the light cooling effect I do not feel it.
The aftershave is good but the scent is too strong for me. I might have to dilute it.
I understand why a lot of people appreciate this soap.
If I ever get to the bottom of my SMdF jar I will try the real Santa Maria Novella to see what all the fuss is about.
Of the eleven soaps in my den, Santa Maria Del Flore is far and away my favorite. The price has definitely gone up since I purchased it, but a Dollop a little bigger than a pea makes enough wonderful lather for a 3 pass shave. So it will last a very long time.
And out of curiosity, I tested the container with my soldering iron, and didn’t make a mark, so it's glass. At least mine is.
And out of curiosity, I tested the container with my soldering iron, and didn’t make a mark, so it's glass. At least mine is.
100% glass no doubt about that!
Hi Marco, Thank you for the insight on the Razorock soaps. I'm an Italian Barber/Razorock fan with a lot of my hardware, including all three of my brushes, and some soaps from there via multiple orders. Big fan of their What-the-Puck shaving soap.
Your above post finally got me to break out the new tub of Razorock P.160 that I threw in my order for a $5.99 sale price late last year. You are right that this is an excellent shaving soap with great core shaving performance and a nice classic almond scent.
My only other soft Italian soap is a tub of Tcheon Fung Sing (TFS) "Ciotola Rossa" (Red Bowl) I picked up from Italian Barber a while ago. It's even softer than the P.160 and I've found that the best way to use it is to apply it like a shaving cream to ensure that sufficient product is loaded.
What was surprising to me is that both of these shaving soaps produced equally good lather. After shaving with the P.160 I did a TFS Red Bowl test lather and really couldn't tell much of a difference. Both produced lathers that were rich, stable and slick with a nice creamy texture. As expected they both had a similar classic almond aroma though the P.160 was a bit stronger. Since I shaved first with the P.160 before testing the Red Bowl I'll need to shave another day to better determine if there is any difference in post-shave feel that one might expect from the P.160 lanolin. For comparison purposes I lathered both of these in a small stainless steel bowl with my Monster plissoft brush after scooping soap with an expresso spoon. It was interesting that all the extra ingredients at the bottom of the P.160 list didn't have a discernable effect for me on the quality of the lather versus that from the Red Bowl.
I did some analysis of the ingredients in these, and a few other Razorock soft Italian soaps, and found that they appear to all use the same or a very similar base with identical top five ingredients in the same order (highlighted in blue italics in the comparison below). Interestingly Razorocks Classic Italian Shaving Soap is identical to the P.160 with the exception that P.160 has some tallow in 6th place on the ingredients list. Not sure that tallow that far down the list makes a significant difference once saponified.
My takeaway from this is that the first three soaps on the list below are likely all great quality soaps with excellent performance and similar classic Almond scents. Any performance differences will likely be subtle. Since these are sold for between $4 -$6, when on sale or $5-$9 at regular price, all three are great value soaps.
I extended the analysis to three other Razorock soaps that use the same base but do have some additional unique ingredients highlighted in red bold italics below such as Fullers Earth in Mudder Focker, Menthol in the SMDF and Eucalyptus Oil in the SMDF soap.
Curious if you or others have noticed a significant difference between these and the P.160 or Classic Italian Shaving Soap or if, thanks to the same base, these are all great soaps with very minor if any differences in lather quality? Realize that some of these soaps have very different scents that many consider important though the focus of this question is on lathering ease and quality.
Comparison of Select Razorock Soft Italian Soap Ingredients: (Base in Blue Italics)(Select unique ingredients in red bold Italics)
Tcheon Fung Sing "Ciotola Rossa" Traditional Artisan Shaving Soap:
Stearic Acid, Aqua(Water), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance (Parfum), Potassium Carbonate
Classic Italian Shaving Soap:
Stearic Acid, Aqua (Water/Eau), Cocos Nucifera(Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Hydrogenated Lanolin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter, Fragrance(Parfum), Argania Spinosa (Argan)Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Extract(Aloe).
P.160 Shaving Soap:
Stearic Acid, Water(Eau), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Potassium, Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Tallow Acid, Hydrogenated Lanolin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter,Fragrance(Parfum), Argania Spinosa (Argan)Oil, Aloe Barbadensis Extract(Aloe).
The Dead Sea Shaving Soap:
Aqua(Water/Eau), Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera(Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Myristic Acid, Fragrance(Parfum), Lanolin, Maris Sal(Dead Sea Salt), Aloe Barbadensis(Aloe Vera) Extract, Citronellol, Eugenol, Geraniol, Linalool.
Santa Maria del Fiore (SMDF) Shaving Soap:
Stearic Acid, Aqua (Water/Eau), Cocos Nucifera(Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Fragrance(Parfum), Eucalyptus Globolus Oil, Menthol, Camphor, LanolinMudder Focker Shaving Soap:
Aqua(Water/Eau), Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera(Coconut) Oil, Tallow Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum(Fragrance), Solum Fullonum(Fuller’s Earth), Benzyl Salicylate, Coumarin, Limonene, Linalool, Hydroxyisohexyl-3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde (HMPCC), A-Isomethylionone.
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I just used my P.160 for the first time today and agree it is excellent. Curious if there you have found any significant difference in lather quality, other than scent, between your P.160 and SMDF. I just posted above that my simpler TFS Red Bowl, with similar base ingredients, generated lather that was as good as my P.160.
Each soap has its own lather quality and is overall unique. That said performance is very high in all those you mention if you lather them up properly. I have switched to tallow-free soaps only in the last years and cannot provide further support on tallow-based soaps since no longer using them.
Thank you. Confirms that the differences for these RR soft Italian soaps, with the same or similar base, are subtle outside of scent as surmised.
How long ago were you one of the testers for the P.160 you commented on above? That is one of Razorock's tallow based soaps. It uses their Super Tallow formula that is the basis for a few other soaps that they offer. Was the P.160 you tested based on the same formulation used by RR today?
We are talking about many years ago. I was a tester when it was only a prototype version and it immediately got my approval.
It was then Razorock came out with a newly formulated version that Italian Barber sells online. I purchased a tub this past November. Note that as of yesterday Italian Barber were out of stock.
The original "Tipo Morbido P.160" is LONG discontinued, before I started in 2010. Most of the P.160 discussion in this thread is RR P.160
A few years after the original Tipo Morbido P.160 was all gone, RazoRock introduced a clone. I'm guessing it will come back in stock.
If you want the ORIGINAL Tipo Morbido P.160 1KG brick, you can get it here:
P.160 1kg Shave Cream - Tipo Morbido – ItalianBarber
P.160 Shave Soap 1kg Tipo Morbido -- THE MOST EXPENSIVE SHAVING SOAP IN THE WORLD!This is the last 1kg piece that we have at ItalianBarber.com and as fa...
It's often out of stock. You could send an email to Italian Barber and they'll let you know.
Those top five ingredients are common for many Italian soft soaps (including Cella Extra Extra Bio).
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