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To Saponificio Varesino: "Your Majesty, please accept my apologies"

thanks for this post @Marco

I haven’t been getting good lathers with SV (I have Manna di Sicília 4.3 without the aluminum tin). Always foamy and far inferior to what I m’d expect from such an expensive soap

I guess I’m using too much water, so I will try the FLM. I was a big fan of SV manna di Sicília back in 2015 (4.0?) when it was sold for 16€. I don’t recall any it being so picky about water content

I still have reservations about the brand following the nearly 100% price increase “due to increased raw materials costs” back in 2015, but I know I’m in the minority here and therefore decided to give it another chance recently
 
thanks for this post @Marco

I haven’t been getting good lathers with SV (I have Manna di Sicília 4.3 without the aluminum tin). Always foamy and far inferior to what I m’d expect from such an expensive soap

I guess I’m using too much water, so I will try the FLM. I was a big fan of SV manna di Sicília back in 2015 (4.0?) when it was sold for 16€. I don’t recall any it being so picky about water content

I still have reservations about the brand following the nearly 100% price increase “due to increased raw materials costs” back in 2015, but I know I’m in the minority here and therefore decided to give it another chance recently

So yes, sir @macintoshBR , I support you 100% when you say that SV has increased prices excessively. You are not alone in the fight against exaggerated prices. Maybe @Burundian Hawk can hear us, I miss his support! With the money required for a single SV soap I bought 6 pucks of LEA Classic (6x 100gr). Maybe tell us @Burundian Hawk or @nav , how long will 600 gr of LEA Classic hard puck soap end.
I don't want to advertise SV soap negatively.
SV is a very good soap, but it has become too expensive lately. I only protest against the exaggerated rise in prices for shaving soaps. SV is not a handmade soap. I understand that the artisans don't have enough donkeys and goats to milk them and bison to take their fat, but now also SV? Prices have risen as if they were selling gold in those boxes. Do you really think you shave better with a SV than with La Toja, Pre de Provence, Haslinger, LEA. Tabac, Cella?
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
I always just use a damp brush to start and add water as I need it so when I first got Opuntia it produced the most fantastic lather, and I found I was still using too much water. After fiddling around a bit I got it just right for me very quickly and had to buy 70th anniversary. Now that I have that I am looking longingly at desert vetiver or Felice aromatica.
It is the second time I have wanted to try all the soaps by a manufacturer, the first was Fine old formula which I discovered just as they closed their factory and became unavailable leaving me with just Lavender Pour Homme. Hoping I'll have better luck this time
 
OK, watched a few YooToobz. To my U.S. brothers, talk scents? Where to get it? I better get this in before the end of the month, so I can do the GRUME October.

I know, that's a little like saying "I'm going on the wagon next week, so I'm going on a real bender this weekend!" But hey. Thanks, in advance.

Connaught shaving in England is where I buy mine. Cheaper and with cheaper shipping than anything stateside. Arrived in about 10 days from when I ordered as well, not expedited shipping either, all the way from across the pond.


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So yes, sir @macintoshBR , I support you 100% when you say that SV has increased prices excessively. You are not alone in the fight against exaggerated prices. Maybe @Burundian Hawk can hear us, I miss his support! With the money required for a single SV soap I bought 6 pucks of LEA Classic (6x 100gr). Maybe tell us @Burundian Hawk or @nav , how long will 600 gr of LEA Classic hard puck soap end.
I don't want to advertise SV soap negatively.
SV is a very good soap, but it has become too expensive lately. I only protest against the exaggerated rise in prices for shaving soaps. SV is not a handmade soap. I understand that the artisans don't have enough donkeys and goats to milk them and bison to take their fat, but now also SV? Prices have risen as if they were selling gold in those boxes. Do you really think you shave better with a SV than with La Toja, Pre de Provence, Haslinger, LEA. Tabac, Cella?

I agree, these prices are beyond insane. I’m totally satisfied with a wonderful assortment of soaps that don’t require a mortgage. We’re doing this to ourselve.
 
I agree, these prices are beyond insane. I’m totally satisfied with a wonderful assortment of soaps that don’t require a mortgage. We’re doing this to ourselve.
I'm in UK and had a look at a USA retailer . SV soaps which cost £23 in UK, cost around £37 in USA ! I'm under the impression that your best to buy products made on the continent you live in!
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Wow! 11 scents?! And what’s the 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 about? I might have trouble pulling the trigger on this one.
 
So yes, sir @macintoshBR , I support you 100% when you say that SV has increased prices excessively. You are not alone in the fight against exaggerated prices. Maybe @Burundian Hawk can hear us, I miss his support! With the money required for a single SV soap I bought 6 pucks of LEA Classic (6x 100gr). Maybe tell us @Burundian Hawk or @nav , how long will 600 gr of LEA Classic hard puck soap end.
I don't want to advertise SV soap negatively.
SV is a very good soap, but it has become too expensive lately. I only protest against the exaggerated rise in prices for shaving soaps. SV is not a handmade soap. I understand that the artisans don't have enough donkeys and goats to milk them and bison to take their fat, but now also SV? Prices have risen as if they were selling gold in those boxes. Do you really think you shave better with a SV than with La Toja, Pre de Provence, Haslinger, LEA. Tabac, Cella?

I agree with your statements.
Whilst i love SV soaps, in the end it's just scented soap! How can a bar of scented soap cost this much?

But i also feel the same about most artisan soaps being sold for such high prices.

Replacing abc fats/oils with xyz fats/oils doesn't make the base infinitely better.
Most modern high-end artisan soaps just make my skin feel more greasy.

These days, I'm really enjoying the reasonable priced but high performance soaps like MWF, DRH, La Toja stick, Speick stick, Lea puck etc

SV is in my rotation but unlikely to be replaced in future!!
 
I've always had success with SV starting with a soaking brush and then squeezing water out of the tips only. I'll have to try using a drier brush next time and seeing how it compares!
 

Marco

B&B's Man in Italy
Wow! 11 scents?! And what’s the 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 about? I might have trouble pulling the trigger on this one.

John, Saponificio Varesino is a complex formula that has required a lot of study over the years and many tests to get it right. It's a process that started with the original Beta 4.0 version and went on until the current Beta 4.3. Basically, it proceeded step by step, with improvements at each step. The latest Beta 4.3 version is universally considered the finest. I strongly suggest getting the Beta 4.3.
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Thanks for verifying how to lather SV, @Marco !

I'm under the impression that your best to buy products made on the continent you live in!

We’re all connected under the oceans and seas. For North America: our best safety razors come from Canada and Italy; our best blades from Japan and Russia; our best soaps from Turkey (ARKO!).
 
Wow! 11 scents?! And what’s the 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 about? I might have trouble pulling the trigger on this one.

They refer to successive iterations/ improvements to their soap formula, 4.3 being the most recent. I don't have firsthand knowledge of this, but apparently they relied quite heavily on feedback from an Italian shaving forum over a number of years during product development for each version. Your best bet is probably to grab a soap in the beta 4.3 for a first purchase.
 
unlike some other soaps, SV gets better with each version.
Their brushes are quite superb, and worth the money.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I'm still very much in the "meh" camp with Saponificio Varesino.

No, actually that's not entirely fair...

I got some very nice shaves with it, but no better than other soaps which cost a fraction of the price. I therefore directed my money elsewhere. Lea shave sticks, DR Harris, Wickhams, Phoenix and Beau, Haslinger, The Goodfellas Smile (their hard mug soaps), and several others, all gave me shaves that were at least as good. Plus, with a bit of careful shopping, the price of a Saponificio Varesino would get me three of the other soaps.

For the record, my shaves with the other products I bought instead, are so good that I rarely need or use a post shave product. When I can get such tremendous shaves, at such little cost, soaps in the higher price brackets really struggle to win my affection.
 
I'm still very much in the "meh" camp with Saponificio Varesino.

No, actually that's not entirely fair...

I got some very nice shaves with it, but no better than other soaps which cost a fraction of the price. I therefore directed my money elsewhere. Lea shave sticks, DR Harris, Wickhams, Phoenix and Beau, Haslinger, The Goodfellas Smile (their hard mug soaps), and several others, all gave me shaves that were at least as good. Plus, with a bit of careful shopping, the price of a Saponificio Varesino would get me three of the other soaps.

For the record, my shaves with the other products I bought instead, are so good that I rarely need or use a post shave product. When I can get such tremendous shaves, at such little cost, soaps in the higher price brackets really struggle to win my affection.
Thanks for the sincerity and objectivity sir!
 
I'm still very much in the "meh" camp with Saponificio Varesino.

No, actually that's not entirely fair...

I got some very nice shaves with it, but no better than other soaps which cost a fraction of the price. I therefore directed my money elsewhere. Lea shave sticks, DR Harris, Wickhams, Phoenix and Beau, Haslinger, The Goodfellas Smile (their hard mug soaps), and several others, all gave me shaves that were at least as good. Plus, with a bit of careful shopping, the price of a Saponificio Varesino would get me three of the other soaps.

For the record, my shaves with the other products I bought instead, are so good that I rarely need or use a post shave product. When I can get such tremendous shaves, at such little cost, soaps in the higher price brackets really struggle to win my affection.

SV is an indulgence to be sure, but in the grand scheme of indulgences chronicled on these pages, it may not be a huge one for many.

I'd consider it a wash cost-wise with most US artisan soaps considering how long one of these pucks lasts, for perspective.
 
SV is an indulgence to be sure, but in the grand scheme of indulgences chronicled on these pages, it may not be a huge one for many.
For me, I have to have the whole package. If it doesn't have an aftershave, bath soap and maybe EdT that I enjoy, I am reluctant to purchase more. SV is arguably the total package.
 
@Marco , after you presented us with great and cheap soaps like Mogno, Musgo, La Toja, Haslinger, LEA, are you really willing to pay 5-7 times more money just for the smell? What does SV have and Musgo doesn't have, for example?
 
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