SWMBO is going to Italy alone...

[ovrmnjake]

My wife leaves on Tuesday to go to Rome with her mom, aunt, and sister and she's leaving me home alone. That is ok, though I will miss her tons!

While she is in Rome, I'm definately sending her shopping. But I'm not entirely sure what for. I'm giving her $100 American, and telling her that it should be spent on shaving gear. But I've got a feeling that she is going to need a shopping list. I want soaps, creams, ***, colgones, maybe brushes and maybe even razors.

Can someone help me with such a list?

 

[jwcarlson]

My wife leaves on Tuesday to go to Rome with her mom, aunt, and sister and she's leaving me home alone. That is ok, though I will miss her tons!

While she is in Rome, I'm definately sending her shopping. But I'm not entirely sure what for. I'm giving her $100 American, and telling her that it should be spent on shaving gear. But I've got a feeling that she is going to need a shopping list. I want soaps, creams, ***, colgones, maybe brushes and maybe even razors.

Can someone help me with such a list?

I have a feeling you're going to end up with about 15 tubes of Proraso.

 

[ovrmnjake]

And that is the reason I need a list!

 

[buyandhold2018]

If you can find it... I highly recommend P.160

Cella is also another name you may want to get; although it's tough to find.

Figaro and Fitness for Men are two very good mainstream soft soaps, they are the identical formulas. Inexpensive, under 2 euro.

Obviously Proraso will be the easiest to find.

Blue Floid I have yet to try, but it comes highly recommended from my Barber friends.

Some harder to find names, Prep, Acca Kappa, Aqua di Parma.

Valobra is another name, not sure how easy it is to find.

Santa Maria Novella.

B&B member Marco is from Rome and is very knowledgeable.

 

[Chimensch]

+1 on the Cella (have her buy the kg) and Floid. If someone from Rome doesn't chime in with the name of a store, have her ask at the hotel for a store that sells razors or barber supplies because you won't find that stuff in a supermarket or department store.

 

[Monkeydad]

I have a feeling you're going to end up with about 15 tubes of Proraso.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Zino Davidoff]

My wife leaves on Tuesday to go to Rome[...]I'm definately sending her shopping. But I'm not entirely sure what for. I'm giving her $100 American, and telling her that it should be spent on shaving gear[...]

With 100 $ you can buy enough Italian stuff to shave for your whole life

Let's start with your list: since I live in Rome, I'll add some addresses (finding shave stuff here isn't easy... except for Proraso products)

- Acqua di Parma crema da pennello Collezione Barbiere
Pro: wonderful smell, wonderful packaging, quite good efficacy
Con: It costs 48 € (about half your budget)
Where: Profumeria Pantheon 70, Piazza Della Rotonda, 70/A. Basically, if you 're in the square, and you have the Pantheon on the front and the fountain at the back, it's on the left, about 30 metres away.

- Cella crema da barba extra extra purissima
Pro: The best Italian shave soap. Period. 10 € a kilo.
Con: You have to like almond.
Where: Profumeria Bertozzini, Via Cola di Rienzo 192-194. Near Piazza Risorgimento.

- Floid
Pro: The quintessential italian aftershave. 15 € for 400 ml (there a smaller bottle, but it costs about the same)
Con: The real experience comes with the pump atomizer, but not every perfumery stores the bottle AND the atomizer
Where: Almost every perfumery worth of its name has the Classic one. The Blue is only slighty harder to find.

- Valobra sapone da barba Mandorla/Mentolo
Pro: Very very good. The last italian soap made only with natural ingredients. 7,5 €
Con: Costlier than Cella.
Where: Profumeria Bertozzini See above


Also, I recommend a visit at the Officina Santa Maria Novella (Corso del Rinascimento, 47. It's a pebble's throw from Piazza Navona, just ask). Their entire line is very interesting. Unfortunately I don't remember the prices.


P160 is hard to find out of barber stuff sellers (all in the outskirts of the city): I think Acca Kappa, Vitos and Prep are not worth the effort. If you want to stock up on Proraso, it's only 1,5 € a tube.

Hope this helps.

 

[ovrmnjake]

Thanks, guys! Not that I'm pushing her off on her trip, but I sure am excited to see what I'll end up with at the end of the month!

 

[oversaturn]

Shaving cream: Santa Maria Novella crema da barba
Aftershave splash: Santa Maria Novella Lozione dopo Barba
Aftershave balm: Santa Maria Novella Emulsione Analcolica

 

[Luc]

There's always the shaving supplies list for Italy but it's quite short...

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Italy_Shaving_Supplies

Then, there's the compendiums...
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Italian_Shaving_Soap_Compendium
http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/index.php/Italian_Aftershave_Compendium

 

[Cuttingboard]

You can find most Acqua di Parma and Santa Maria Novella products in the US. Therefore, I would target products that are not sold in the US.

 

[rsaltonstall]

[QUOTEThe monk up there is Ockam. Got it?
[/QUOTE]

Ockam's Razor ... very sharp wit!

 

[K.T.]

SWMBO going to Italy alone?

Time to stock up on good old American stuff while she's not around!

K.T.

 

[ovrmnjake]

K.T.

That's also a very good point.