saponificio veriseno

[English Shaver]

SV can play any game deems more profitable. Can they sell? Fine. I think this is exactly what they want. Become the soap Gucci. I didn't buy them when they costed 18 euros, i will buy them at 36? As long as people buy at 36, they (as company) are fine.

About offending, i don't know, i have more and more the feeling that i don't understand what is being written in this thread by the native english speakers, but what can i do!

I am a native English speaker and find it very easy to be a little surprised and confused by other posters. I think what unites us all is a passion for the hobby and that's the most important thing.

I'm a very recent joiner to the forum and cannot pretend to speak with the authority that comes from long standing here, but I would hazard the view that all are welcome and the diversity of perspectives enriches the debate.

 

[xiletero]

I was thinking about getting my first SV soap and aftershave combo, i was thinking about going with desert vetiver. the problem is im not too familiar with how vetivier smells, is there anything other soap thats not so expensive that has a similar note profile that i could smell in order to get an idea of what e4xactly this particular soap smells like? i dont mind spending the money on the soap i just dont want to buy the soap and then not like the scent. any thoughts would be greatly apreciated, thanks!

Pasteur NY has samples.

 

[Barbarian80]

I haven't been involved in this hobby for very long- but here are my two thoughts. There's no holy grail soap or even a Mt Rushmore of soaps. Soaps, in general, aren't expensive. So if i try a soap and think 'its just OK" it doesn't really hurt all that much knowing i'll never see the bottom of the tub for as long as i'm alive. I've spent more money on alcohol that gets flushed down the drain.

 

[Billy T.]

SV is a luxury product hence the steep price tag. Is there a better soap with a lower price tag? Probably. Is there a soap that can provide the experience SV provides? Probably not

You are not only paying for the soap itself but for the wonderful tin with the embossed logo on top of it, the amazing (imo) scents and the feeling of being a prestigious member of the Italian society. That sounds incredibly pretentious and it might just well be that.

On the other hand you can get wonderful shaves with a fraction of what SV sells for. Even a La Toja stick can give you great shaves, I have gotten plenty of em myself. La Toja stick, Palmolive cream, FINE hard pucks you name it.

Hell today I received an almost untouched tub of Dolomiti from a friend. Why? Cause he prefers Tabac and MWF. To be honest at first I was in disbelief but hey that's YMMV for you. Different strokes for different folks. This revelation has only made me more curious about MWF, I've tried Tabac before and it's indeed a great performer. Will have to get refill pucks of either in the near future.

I hope the native English speakers will be able to understand my poor attempt at the English language.

 

[Sotiris_A]

When you like something very much, you try to defend it. It is understandable, because by extension, you defend your preference. It's human.

SV Varesino is certainly a very good soap with no doubt very good smell. It has also a great length of exotic ingredients, which justify or at least try to justify the ever increasing costs. But, it is also a bad soap for those who like to stash soaps for long semi-used. Because all the "natural" ingredients, start going rancid in weeks and the process is well ongoing within a month. Then, metals in the water, can make the soaps oxidize after a couple of years if you don't use it. So, hard water users with long rotation, should be careful. I had read all this and more from the soapmaker himself in an extremely long thread in this forum (use auto translation). DYD is the maker of the soap (the page is random, i can't remember exactly where i had read it, but it was in this forum's thread).

Saponificio Varesino - Saponi da barba - Pagina 10 - Ilrasoio.com

Then, there are people who shave 200 times like mentioned by Mr. @DaveHStone here and there other users that finish the soap in 3 months or less (one uses 1,7g per shave!). The proverbial YMMV.

Price wise, i remember i could find these soaps a couple of years ago at less than €20, at least some of them. Now they are on a continuous race towards the top... With fame, comes price... As it is normal.

It's just a soap and IME most products in the market today can get the job done very well. The original review, perhaps strongly worded, is referring to the soap, IMHO. I don't see any attempt to belittle the users of the said soap. Thus, I still don't see a point in this discussion. Someone wasn't amazed by the SV soaps, so what?

When you go to an english speaking forum, i think this is fair and you should expect that you will not be able to comprehend or speak as well as you would like. I can't speak on behalf of @Sotiris_A , but i think it's within the rights of @DaveHStone to explain what he understood from the same text, so to be able to defend his position on the matter.

I can assure you and everyone else that I have understood the original review and have used the said soaps. Again, I see no reason or excuse for the way this discussion has turned. In fact, it is such replies, as the one you are referring to that I find condescending.

That really wasn’t needed.

+1



Apologies to @DaveHStone for not replying to him here, I ran out of words!

Over and out. Cheerio!

 

[old_school]

When a man scraps wicked sharp steel across neck he's allowed to pick his own poison and think what he wishes about it. SV is a world class shave, but so is Arko and you know what there's a whole lot of opinion in between.

As gentlemen we have a duty to give latitude, wide latitude, to the writings of fellow shavers. Why, because the writer isn't responsible for your interpretation, you are. Any one here with a name Hemingway, Vonnegut, Poe, Twain? Yeah, me neither, we all need and should give up some slack to each other.

 

[Burundian Hawk]

It's just a soap and IME most products in the market today can get the job done very well. The original review, perhaps strongly worded, is referring to the soap, IMHO. I don't see any attempt to belittle the users of the said soap. Thus, I still don't see a point in this discussion. Someone wasn't amazed by the SV soaps, so what?



I can assure you and everyone else that I have understood the original review and have used the said soaps. Again, I see no reason or excuse for the way this discussion has turned. In fact, it is such replies, as the one you are referring to that I find condescending.



+1



Apologies to @DaveHStone for not replying to him here, I ran out of words!

Over and out. Cheerio!

Dear sir, as i have written, i have not used this soap, however, i am convinced that there is no soap that in 5 years found some magical performance formula than other companies that produce shaving soaps for 50 or 100 years, couldn't find or at least come very close to. I will actually confess, that i do like to pull a bit the leg of gentlemen that buy whatever is the most expensive gear out there and immediately discover that it is also the best performing. Because today is one thing, tomorrow something more expensive comes out and becomes that the best performing. Alas, soaps are not like computer processors, where every year the new model is faster than the previous one.

In this discussion, i tried at some point to pour water into the "fire". This is why i wrote that it is not just about soap, especially in luxury products. You don't buy just soap. You buy the amenities, you buy the scent or just like the gentleman right above your post with the afroamerican avatar explains, with €36, you buy 15 minutes of entry ticket to the elite italian society. A soapmaker that has as avatar a soldier in mimetic suit, gives a ticket to the elite italian society. It not just a soap anymore, see? Have you been to a forum of other nature that was about material products of competing nature? If oftens happen the same. It becomes a defense of your choice, not of the product. So, i have understanding on the matter. It is within human nature, i have seen it many times. And there is no absolute truth in something like SOAP. In a famous american website, i found this:

Saponificio Varesino Aromatic Fern Shave Soap Review

Every now and then I get a comment from someone along the lines of “how can Saponificio Varesino not be on Sharpologist’s best shave soap list?”

sharpologist.com

It could be his water...

At any case, i hope you understand better what i meant now. I understand completely your position. But i have learnt that in forums one must be patient and even let go of things. In shaving, even more so. It is easier to come in this forum to laugh than to fight. When i shave, i put an african background on the PC screen before i leave, then i might even put Margaret Singana's "We are growing" on the speakers, i turn on my wife's essential oils dispenser to diffuse lemon grass scent and i step into my bathroom which is suddently in Africa and sometimes i swear i can even see Shaka Zulu, which i trust most of you have heard of, shaving next to me! And all this, with just a €1.8 Palmolive cream! To each his own!

Happy shaves, sir! Very respectfully and friendly, sir!

 

[Burundian Hawk]

I am a native English speaker and find it very easy to be a little surprised and confused by other posters. I think what unites us all is a passion for the hobby and that's the most important thing.

I'm a very recent joiner to the forum and cannot pretend to speak with the authority that comes from long standing here, but I would hazard the view that all are welcome and the diversity of perspectives enriches the debate.

Dear sir, worry not about me! I do not take offense easily! I come to this forum to entertain myself. Think, that if wanted, i could have registered in the forum as a French nobleman living in my chateau in Provence. Instead i chose to come as the Burundian Hawk. What gives?

 

[nav]

SV is killer soap! I love everything about it except the price!

Can I afford it? Yes.
Is it value for money? No.

What I mean by this is just 3 years ago, SV soaps were around 40% cheaper than current.

Inflation won't account for the price increase, neither will raw material cost. In fact, with the boom in their business, one would assume they have the advantage of scale due to the increase in sales.

I will continue using them because I love hard soaps and also I'm sensitive to most artisan soap scents but SV suits my skin just fine, despite being around 7/10 on scent strength.

On the note of being pretentious...if one can afford it without having to forgo their next meal, they are not pretentious. It's a simple matter of buying what you can afford...Value for money is a different matter though.

 

[DaveHStone]

SV is killer soap! I love everything about it except the price!

Can I afford it? Yes.
Is it value for money? No.

What I mean by this is just 3 years ago, SV soaps were around 40% cheaper than current.

Inflation won't account for the price increase, neither will raw material cost. In fact, with the boom in their business, one would assume they have the advantage of scale due to the increase in sales.

I will continue using them because I love hard soaps and also I'm sensitive to most artisan soap scents but SV suits my skin just fine, despite being around 7/10 on scent strength.

On the note of being pretentious...if one can afford it without having to forgo their next meal, they are not pretentious. It's a simple matter of buying what you can afford...Value for money is a different matter though.

Value Is In The Eye of the Beholder. Always.

As mentioned, it's impossible to put a "price-tag" on the level of joy the 15 minutes of Zen gives me each time I shave. You can say it's priceless. In that greater order of things, the price-tag on a tin of soap becomes rather insignificant.

Just my 0.02c.

 

[Burundian Hawk]

SV is killer soap! I love everything about it except the price!

Can I afford it? Yes.
Is it value for money? No.

What I mean by this is just 3 years ago, SV soaps were around 40% cheaper than current.

Inflation won't account for the price increase, neither will raw material cost. In fact, with the boom in their business, one would assume they have the advantage of scale due to the increase in sales.

I will continue using them because I love hard soaps and also I'm sensitive to most artisan soap scents but SV suits my skin just fine, despite being around 7/10 on scent strength.

On the note of being pretentious...if one can afford it without having to forgo their next meal, they are not pretentious. It's a simple matter of buying what you can afford...Value for money is a different matter though.

Exactly. Or, in the opposite mentality, like Shaka Zulu said to his soldiers when he took command and started training them: "Bopha febana!" (go barefoot!). It is all a matter of state of mind!

 

[phelix]

I wouldn't get too caught up with what vetiver smells like (usually earth/smokey, BTW). Per SV's description, it sounds like it is only used as a base note: The Desert Vetiver Collection from Saponificio Varesino is a composition with warm and enveloping notes. The blend of Elemi, Incense, Orange and Artemisia flare up in the flowery, peppery, spicy heart. A multifaceted sillage of Black Pepper, Juniper Berries, Oregano and Lavender swarms towards an elegant woody background sublimated by the precious Vetiver, the fresh Cloves and the seductive notes of Amber for a fragrance with a virile and unforgettable character.

Yeah I went with the Desert Vetiver and think it is one of the best scented soaps I have tried. I did an online order from pastures pharmacy since they have plenty of stock and the price is in line with other vendors, also added some proraso preshave to avoid shipping charges.
Can't argue with the abundance of positive reviews on B&B regarding the performance angle. I have been lamenting the site of all my artisan croaps just sitting in their untouched stacks since the SV arrived.

 

[newwetsahver]

i noticed that this is a triple milled soap and im guessing a very hard soap. i have never used a triple milled soap before. i recently changed the way i lather, i take about an almond sized, prbly about 1/2 teaspoon i think, of the soap i want to use and put it in my lathering bowl. i no longer load straight from the puck, i was noticing a lot of my soaps were going funky for some odd reason. i also have been getting better lathering results this way. can i do this with sv? how hard is that soap? and do i need that much? this method seems to be workign better for me. thanks again for all the info/replies

 

[Atlantic59]

i noticed that this is a triple milled soap and im guessing a very hard soap. i have never used a triple milled soap before. i recently changed the way i lather, i take about an almond sized, prbly about 1/2 teaspoon i think, of the soap i want to use and put it in my lathering bowl. i no longer load straight from the puck, i was noticing a lot of my soaps were going funky for some odd reason. i also have been getting better lathering results this way. can i do this with sv? how hard is that soap? and do i need that much? this method seems to be workign better for me. thanks again for all the info/replies

There is more than one way to skin this cat. My favorite is the "loading bowl" technique. Cut a slice of soap big enough for a week or so. Press it into the bottom of a separate container. You can put the lid on your nice, clean main puck of soap and put it away for several days. Load your damp brush from the "loading bowl" to get a soap paste on the tips of the bristles. Now, you can either face lather or bowl lather with the soap you have loaded on the brush. When finished, rinse the soap in the loading bowl and set it out to dry. Cover it later on when dry.

 

[Atlantic59]

P.S. I am using clear plastic jars with 90mm diameter. I have six of these loading bowls which is enough to rotate through several soaps at the same time.

Some people use Pyrex containers, etc. for a similar purpose. I like these since they are unbreakable and will stack up nicely.

 

[DaveHStone]

i noticed that this is a triple milled soap and im guessing a very hard soap. i have never used a triple milled soap before. i recently changed the way i lather, i take about an almond sized, prbly about 1/2 teaspoon i think, of the soap i want to use and put it in my lathering bowl. i no longer load straight from the puck, i was noticing a lot of my soaps were going funky for some odd reason. i also have been getting better lathering results this way. can i do this with sv? how hard is that soap? and do i need that much? this method seems to be workign better for me. thanks again for all the info/replies

FWIW, I load straight from the puck. That said, once I'm done shaving, I take the soap out of the container, run it under warm water and pat it dry with a clean paper towel. I then put it back in the tin, but leave it open over night to fully dry. Next day I put the lid back on and store it.

 

[phelix]

Yup a lot of ways to approach this soap. Although a hard soap, it is soft enough to press the edges into the sides of the container to ensure no water gets anywhere on the puck but the top face. I load straight from the puck, leave it open for a few hours after the shave and then close it back up until the next time.

 

[Dualist]

I got two samples of SV- Dolomiti and Felce Aromática. The Dolomiti is the first and only scent that has ever sent a shudder of physical revulsion through me. It made me question all that is holy and reminds me of my Italian friends complaints about Italy.

The Felce Aromática is somewhat less offensive. But I was instantly reminded of the wisdom of buying cheap samples first. By doubling their prices over the last few years SV invites critiqué.

It's an odor that is far too complex, too much going on. Like mixing 30 colognes or colors or foods, nothing stands above. It all just sort of competes and sinks.

I adore the sweet simplicity of nature. Pure, honest, magic, and elusive. It's something to savor during the sweet solitude of shaving.

As I type the scent of spring flowers drifts through the open window beside me. Impossible to capture for soap, but I think that is an ideal worth aspiring to. I'm not sitting here critiquing the flower scents kind enough to grace me with their breath. I'm just absorbing it and appreciating the moment.

And like all things wonderful, the magic of nature is light and fleeting. The SV smell sticks unnaturally. I wanted it to be magic but for me it wasn't.

Performance wise it's pretty good. But it's not stardust. On YouTube there are a few videos of the SV factory. Just machines mixing and pouring, nothing supernatural.

MdC for example has quite good performance as well but it's scents are clean, simple, and natural. Elusive, fleeting, it lands on your cheek with a smile. There are others. I believe the goal should be enlightment, or at least enhancement, of the shaving experience. To tickle the highest parts of our senses and stir our spirits. The complexity of SV becomes heavy and distracting. Nightclub cologne isn't what I'm after when shaving.

I don't think soap should smell like cologne. It chokes me while I'm trying to shave and obstructs cleanliness. I do think soap scent can contribute to the shave by providing a heavenly cloud of bliss, I dare say approaching enlightenment, provided it's pure and therefore fleeting.

All that said, to each their own and YMMV...

 

[DaveHStone]

All that said, to each their own and YMMV...

I couldn't agree more.

With almost everything else in the above post, I couldn't DISagree more, hence it is indeed YMMV.

 

[Barbarian80]

I adore the sweet simplicity of nature. Pure, honest, magic, and elusive. It's something to savor during the sweet solitude of shaving.

All that said, to each their own and YMMV...

In other words- Tabac