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Santa Maria del Fiore

Excellent review. I am almost in complete agreeance. I too am a straight razor shaver. I utilized my superspeed for the first shave because I did not want to attribute and possible irritation to the shave itself. No irritation. Beautifully smooth. I have the benefit of having a water softener and I feel this contributed to the lather as well. Shaves 2-4 have been with my straight razor and I can personally tell you the cushion, slickness, protection, and overall quality are exceptional. I have never used MdC but I would say my 0-10 scale would start at modern day Williams and end at SMdF. Best soap I have used to date. I do have a puck of Haslinger Schafmilch on the way and am excited to try that one as well.
 
Mine has stayed a very soft cream so today I am leaving the top off to see if it hardens up. I think it may just be because of the heat.
 
Mine has stayed a very soft cream so today I am leaving the top off to see if it hardens up. I think it may just be because of the heat.

I don't have any of this but I have a shaving cream that broke down and apparently due to getting too hot during shipment. I can still use it but that never firmed back up. I'll hazard a guess that an Italian style soap should be fine.
 
Boy, I like this soap! Opened the jar and got a whiff of the fragrance; Loved it. SWMBO was standing beside me and said, "Ooh, that's nice". I'm not good at putting what I smell into words, but I definitely get tobacco and vanilla hints from this. Very complex and nice overall. Performance was excellent. Lathered up very nicely (face lathering) using the Marco method. Shave with my Slim was slick and smooth, and my face felt great afterwards. I will be using this and The Beach all summer long.

Quick word on the customer service and the web site. The soap was out of stock on my first attempt to buy. I was given the option to be notified when more was available - I took it. Got an e-mail a day or two later that it was in stock. I ordered immediately and received the soap three days later. Excellent buying experiencing. I know RR is making this stuff fast and shipping it quickly to meet the demand. Mine was shipped so quickly that the glue on the label must not have been dry. It slipped off like a decal when it got wet LOL.
 
Boy, I like this soap! Opened the jar and got a whiff of the fragrance; Loved it. SWMBO was standing beside me and said, "Ooh, that's nice". I'm not good at putting what I smell into words, but I definitely get tobacco and vanilla hints from this. Very complex and nice overall. Performance was excellent. Lathered up very nicely (face lathering) using the Marco method. Shave with my Slim was slick and smooth, and my face felt great afterwards. I will be using this and The Beach all summer long.

Quick word on the customer service and the web site. The soap was out of stock on my first attempt to buy. I was given the option to be notified when more was available - I took it. Got an e-mail a day or two later that it was in stock. I ordered immediately and received the soap three days later. Excellent buying experiencing. I know RR is making this stuff fast and shipping it quickly to meet the demand. Mine was shipped so quickly that the glue on the label must not have been dry. It slipped off like a decal when it got wet LOL.

My decal came off also, small quibble but if that's all I can find wrong with this product joe is doing something right[emoji3]
 
Joe has said the label is not waterproof, but the jar is :tongue_sm

MdC had the same issues with their labels until they went to the waterproof ones.
 
Joe has said the label is not waterproof, but the jar is :tongue_sm

MdC had the same issues with their labels until they went to the waterproof ones.

Haha sounds like joe[emoji3]. Waterproof labels would be nice but at twenty dollars there's not really anything to complain about and I've gotten use to the jar with no label.
 
I don't have any of this but I have a shaving cream that broke down and apparently due to getting too hot during shipment. I can still use it but that never firmed back up. I'll hazard a guess that an Italian style soap should be fine.

My SMdF was delivered to mailbox on a 32 degree Celsius day. Sat there for hours till I picked it up. It was very soft when I opened the lid. 24Hrs sitting in a cool basement fixed it no issues. First shave with it tonight!!
 
I haven't come back to mine yet since the first 2 shaves. Again, nothing wrong with it just not in love with the scent. It's funny i seem to be the only one lol.

Does anyone have XX and can do a sniff comparison just to make me feel better? ;) I swear that's what I get with added eucalyptus scent

On the firmness topic, I left mine open for an entire day. Only a thin layer on the surface dried out a bit. It was still soft n sticky underneath. It's fine like that, we're just not used to it. I do a brush tip dip and twist kinda move and it loads up well.
 
Thanks Chris. I am going off scent memory ;) I remember that XX is an AdP scent, and I wasn't saying it was it. Just very similar to what I remember. I wish I got the scent notes you all do more noticeably. But I just get quick hints and then they're gone.

Oh well, can't win 'em all lol
 
I haven't come back to mine yet since the first 2 shaves. Again, nothing wrong with it just not in love with the scent. It's funny i seem to be the only one lol.

Does anyone have XX and can do a sniff comparison just to make me feel better? ;) I swear that's what I get with added eucalyptus scent

On the firmness topic, I left mine open for an entire day. Only a thin layer on the surface dried out a bit. It was still soft n sticky underneath. It's fine like that, we're just not used to it. I do a brush tip dip and twist kinda move and it loads up well.

I'm not in love with the scent as I do not really like tobacco scents but I bought it because of the ingredients. To me the scent is a tobacco, vanilla, amber, camphor and eucalyptus. They all seem about equal in strength in mine. I do not get a huge menthol or eucalyptus smell like I have heard some say that it smells like vicks.

It is a complex scent that is both warm (tobacco, vanilla) and refreshing (eucalyptus)

The performance is great and honestly I love the jar.
 
My SDmf was delivered while I was in florida for a few days, it sat in my mailbox in 90 plus degree Georgia heat for 2 days. It was very transparent in color and a jelly consistency. It hardened back up over night in my bathroom and the color turned back to white. It didn't seem any worse for the wear. Lathered up nicely with good cushion and glide.
 
I left mine out to dry, lid off, for a few days. It dried up a bit but still very, very soft. I like using a shave stick now during my dayshifts for ease of use and cleanup, but as I said earlier, rubbing a bit of this soap on my wet face with my fingers then face lathering has really been good.

I am getting excellent lathers each time I use this soap.
 
Again, I'm not saying it is the same as XX, I'm saying it smells similar to me. Subjective perception kinda thing :)

I have never smelled SMN Tobacco Cologne and never will, as I don't plan on paying that much for any fragrance. The people who have, own it and are saying it isn't the same, will be smelling the other ingredients in the soap and how they are reacting with it.

At least now we know, it's the exact same fragrance oil and that is not up for debate. But just like the XXX vs ADP discussions, people will still refuse to admit it's the same scent as it can't be for the price Joe is offering it. :001_rolle Just wait until RR releases a matching AS or Cologne with the same scent, then people will really have to justify the price of SMN AS/Cologne.
 
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