Santa Maria Novella Review (SMN)

[freeasimo]

Got another winner in shaving today.

This soap has been by far the most dense cream lather. When building the lather it looks small in volume but that's a false illusion. Used a 1/4 teaspoon (1.25ml) measurement spoon. The lather easily is wonderful for 3 passes. I would say there is no scent other than a very mild menthol but fades into the lather unless you go sniffing for it like a hog. Very creamy and not foamy not runny. It provided an excellent slickness like I have not experienced. And only small ding would say the lather build takes a while but what comes out is super excellent! It checks all the marks below.

Going to steal this list from Ariana and Evens store (albeit I have not tried their soap):

• Affordability (pricey but worth it for all of the below)
• Ease of use
• Creaminess
• Density of lather
• Slickness
• Residual slickness
• Cushion/ protection
• Longevity of lather
• Moisturizing
• Great post shave (hours after the shave)

6/18/2020: Ratings to date (in order of personal admiration)
1) Eufros, AdP
2) SMN

 

[xiletero]

I guess you did bowl lathering?
Boar brush?
How long did you "whip" it?
How much water did you add?

I have had significant trouble getting a decent lather from this soap, and may say it's the only soap I have (besides Williams ) which gives me problems....

Not to mention: i find it may cause acne, same as MaccaRoot.

 

[freeasimo]

Bowl lathering to get consistency but did a little on the face too;
boar brush (omega pro 49);
whip around 5 mins;
water maybe around 2-3 tablespoons (whip, add h2o, whip, etc...).

Hopefully does not make me break out but I always shave first then taken a shower

 

[xiletero]

Thanks for the info.
Will try mine again, and also shower after.

 

[Steve56]

I have a couple of tubs of it, the scent is stronger to my nose than your description, tobacco, eucalyptus, and an equally strong camphor component. I wasn’t sure if I liked it when I first got it, but it’s grown on me quite well and is now a scent that I always look forward to. It’s very slick and a good SR soap.

Hey, and if SMN was good enough for Hannibal Lecter, it’s good enough for me.

 

[sarimento1]

Welcome to B&B, Sir Freeasimo!
Thanks for the review!
Altho it's a bit surprising to me that you did not detect any scent; as mentioned above, SMN soap is noted for its tobacco and eucalyptus fragrance.

 

[freeasimo]

@Steve56 I get a waft of it but its not strong at all. Its definitely there. Its good for now but if it gets stronger, more the merrier as I enjoy it too. Overall, glad to have this in in my non-sample rotation! The creamy density is superb!!!!

@xiletero Hopefully its not the soap causing the acne. Try perhaps spreading the soap on the neck or on the arm to see what happens. And instead of taking a shower, use a facial wash. I normally just shower after since I shave my head too.

@sarimento1 Dude or Gal, when I first started with B&B it always blows my mind how well you post pics and sometimes GIF's.

 

[PeterPan]

I was lucky to have been gifted a tub of the original SMN made in-house and loved it so much that I got myself another tub when the first one ran out. Unknown to me, they had outsourced the production to Proraso by then. The difference is like night and day! The new formulation smells like Proraso and is not as slick or aromatic as the original! I have a small slice of the original one saved - even the color has become much lighter.
A real shame!

 

[xiletero]

I was lucky to have been gifted a tub of the original SMN made in-house and loved it so much that I got myself another tub when the first one ran out. Unknown to me, they had outsourced the production to Proraso by then. The difference is like night and day! The new formulation smells like Proraso and is not as slick or aromatic as the original! I have a small slice of the original one saved - even the color has become much lighter.
A real shame!

Is there any real evidence of this....or is it another piece of fake news as we get our daily diet of that....

 

[Robert G]

@PeterPan , are you talking about the most current whitish colored version that looks little Hershey Kisses when you first open a new tub? I have a few tubs of the current and the previous version which is yellowish in color. I haven’t shaved with the new version yet. One of the tubs they sent me recently from their Miami warehouse was unsealed and had a loose cap. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if the overall quality of their products has declined recently due to their massive expansion in Asia, and South Korea in particular.

 

[global_dev]

I was lucky to have been gifted a tub of the original SMN made in-house and loved it so much that I got myself another tub when the first one ran out. Unknown to me, they had outsourced the production to Proraso by then. The difference is like night and day! The new formulation smells like Proraso and is not as slick or aromatic as the original! I have a small slice of the original one saved - even the color has become much lighter.
A real shame!

What year or about are we talking?

 

[PeterPan]

Is there any real evidence of this....or is it another piece of fake news as we get our daily diet of that....

Ouch - that's harsh my friend! But I understand where you are coming from. See pic for my new tub with a chip from the old tub in there for comparison. Please note that I am not saying that the new one is the same as Proraso - it is much much better. However, it is not as good as the original formulation. I believe the new one is also paraben free, which might be a difference.

 

[PeterPan]

@PeterPan , are you talking about the most current whitish colored version that looks little Hershey Kisses when you first open a new tub? I have a few tubs of the current and the previous version which is yellowish in color. I haven’t shaved with the new version yet. One of the tubs they sent me recently from their Miami warehouse was unsealed and had a loose cap. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if the overall quality of their products has declined recently due to their massive expansion in Asia, and South Korea in particular.

Not sure what the latest version is like. This is a few years old. The original was much older. I do recall that the new one had swirls on top and the original was flat.

 

[PeterPan]

What year or about are we talking?

The original was picked up by a friend during a trip to Europe a decade ago - he was enchanted by the idea of wet shaving. Unfortunately he really did not have much hair to shave and gave it up - I believe his wife's words were "the juice was not worth the squeeze"!
When he found that I was into wet shaving a few years later, he passed it on to me. The new one (for me) was about 4-5 years ago?? I find that as I get older, I don't remember the dates as well!

 

[Robert G]

There have been several versions over the years. I’ve read the very first version was made for them by the Martelli company but all the ones after that one are made in house and have the tobacco toscano scent.

 

[daveinsweethome]

Got another winner in shaving today.

This soap has been by far the most dense cream lather. When building the lather it looks small in volume but that's a false illusion. Used a 1/4 teaspoon (1.25ml) measurement spoon. The lather easily is wonderful for 3 passes. I would say there is no scent other than a very mild menthol but fades into the lather unless you go sniffing for it like a hog. Very creamy and not foamy not runny. It provided an excellent slickness like I have not experienced. And only small ding would say the lather build takes a while but what comes out is super excellent! It checks all the marks below.

Going to steal this list from Ariana and Evens store (albeit I have not tried their soap):

• Affordability (pricey but worth it for all of the below)
• Ease of use
• Creaminess
• Density of lather
• Slickness
• Residual slickness
• Cushion/ protection
• Longevity of lather
• Moisturizing
• Great post shave (hours after the shave)

6/18/2020: Ratings to date (in order of personal admiration)
1) Eufros, AdP
2) SMN

View attachment 1114765

this is my favorite of all time. it just hits all the buttons, I get eucalyptus also but it is the only cream I have two full backups going into retirement. their aftershave balm is also my top one. it works unbelievably for me

 

[freeasimo]

@daveinsweethome I am looking at aftershaves now. Will put that in the sample list. Thanks!

 

[ask4Edge]

AFAIK, v1 (original) was made by Ludovico Martelli/Proraso (essentially same scent, texture and list of ingredients).


[v1]

[v2]

[v3]

 

[Robert G]

@freeasimo their Lavanda splash is very very nice. Soothing with moisturizing benefits. I also have the Melograno which is very old school (maybe grandma) type scent. Their men’s milk bath soaps are very high quality as well. I’m using the historic Potpourri scented soap at the moment. They do contain parben though, probably to preserve the milk ingredient.

 

[E38B]

This is unfortunate news. I'm almost out of my current tub and was going to buy another one but have some hesitation now. Has anyone tried the new formula that is familiar with the old formula?

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