Thread: Santa Maria Novella

Originally Posted by Scareface

Reads like you should plan on which soap you want to run out of next so that your brother can surprise you with it!

Scarface, my friend, what a great idea. Yes, I think he is going to France next year . . .

Originally Posted by Obie

Scarface, my friend, what a great idea. Yes, I think he is going to France next year . . .

maybe you should start wishing for your ultimate razor too!

Originally Posted by Scareface

maybe you should start wishing for your ultimate razor too!

Scarface, my friend, I like you, because you are a man of ideas. Yes, your suggestion is a plan.

Obie, my friend,

I am terribly sorry, but I have to disagree in the strongest possible terms. I was given a tub each of both the old and the new formulation soaps. Not samples. Tubs. Fresh from the factory, so no age issues here, either. Having previously read colourful and lyrical reviews of the product, I was expecting shaving heaving. However, both instalments of Santa Maria Novella fell miserably short. Why?

First, price. We are talking about US$32 for 100g/3.5oz. Castle Forbes is US$15. Even Meißner Tremonia is only US$22. Which places Santa Maria Novella firmly into Martin de Candre territory as far as price is concerned. And we all know how highly I think of Martin de Cadre.*

Second, performance. Those who know me also know that I do not care about price. If a product performs exceedingly well, I will just buy it. Truth be told, if I had bought Santa Maria Novella, I would have invaded Italy by ways of retaliation. Yes, it lathers, Yes, the lather is reasonably stable. But it is no better than, say, anything made by The Real Shaving Co.

Third, packaging. Yes, the box is very nice. Unfortunately, I do not keep boxes in my bathroom. I keep jars. Tubs. Bowls. But not boxes. And the Santa Maria Novella tub is flimsy, and tacky. We are talking about Barrister & Mann tacky here, or Truefitt & Hill if you are so inclined. The cheapest of the cheap. At this price point, I would be expecting something like glass. Or solid plastic. But no, you will get something uncannily closely resembling a supermarket yoghurt pot.

Fourth, scent. Menthol. Mono dimensional, slightly soapy menthol. Pitted against Savonnerie du bon Berger's Menthe Petit Grain, or Meißner Tremonia's Mint Ice Menthol, Santa Maria Novella's scent is decidedly dull and uninspiring.

Fifth, after shave skin care. It is Proraso's rich kid cousin. Equally drying, and making you reach for a nourishing after shave balm almost immediately.

Summary: Just don't. The popularity of these products begs more questions than I care about.

Full disclosure: I ended up giving away those two tubs to people I did not care about.

Salvatorius clause: YMMV.

I still love you, Obie, and I still love your reviews. Only, this time I think you are terribly, terribly wrong. Well, I did give Mitchell's Wool Fat a rave review about a decade ago, so it is fair deuce, do you not think?

*In case you do not, I consider Martin de Candre a sadistic joke. Soaps made by La Savonnière du Moulin and Savonnerie du bon Berger blow it straight out of the water, but only cost half or even a third.

Obie inspired shopping trip!

Those that disagree with my purchase remember YMMV and I buy what I want when I want.

Robin, my dear friend,

I am delighted to hear your thoughts. Yes, of course, you may disagree with me on my assessment of Santa Maria Novella and I graciously acknowledge and respect your conclusions. Naturally, to each his own. The cream works well for me, however, in almost every respect. The lather is not big, no, but the glide and the cushion are impressive. Admittedly, the cream needs lot of water, which is fine. I also like the fragrance. What's more, after the shave, my Hollywood face feels as if kissed by Kim Novak. Now, who can ask for anything more?

Most importantly, the cream is another sweet connection to my dear brother. He takes pride in purchasing it for me from the original store in Italy, and I take pride in sharing in his pleasure. That makes Santa Maria Novella especially worth it.

No, it is not Castle Forbes. Nothing is. Castle Forbes is in its own class. I have three full tubs of it in the shave den closet and am already starting to get nervous that I will run out of it. I may order a couple more tubs in case the world comes to an end.

And, yes, I do like Martin de Candre for almost the same reasons that I like Santa Maria Novella. Most of all, [I]it, too, is a sweet connection with my brother who loves getting it for me when in France.[I]

As for Meisner Tremonia (the name reminds me of a Wagnerian opera that puts you to sleep), I am not all that impressed by the soap. Sure, lather, glide and cushion are good, but the fragrance is so overwhelming that I can't help but picture a floosie with with too much makeup. The face feel, however, is like a sloppy smooch from a circus fire eater — the soap torches my skin. Something in it doesn't like my face, Hollywood or not. When a shave soap does that to me, I don't think much of it.

I have eyed Savonnerie du Moulin and Savonnerie du Berger for a while. When I was in California about two weeks ago working on a stage production, I spent a little too much money, and returned home flat broke. That's why I have not ordered the soaps. I know where to get the Savonnerie du Moulin, but for the life of me I don't know where to find the Savonnerie du Berger. If you can send me a link, Robin, I would be grateful.

For me, my dear friend, it is not a question of price, or if something is overpriced, or not. Within reason, of course. If I want it, and if I have the funds and am not shortchanging the family for something, I will get it. So whether Santa Maria Novella or Martin de Candre are overpriced is not the point. I like both.

And yes, the Savonnerie du Moulin and the Savonnerie du Berger are half the price of the others. So much the better. Since I have not tried them — but will soon — I cannot comment on their quality. I realize you like them, as do others, but for me, until I try them and form my own conclusion about their quality, critical reviews, whether good or bad, have little significance for me.

Now, the real good stuff. I will take you up on your invitation to visit you in Berlin. By Jove, give me a few months. I am working on the third novel right now and cannot break up the flow. I have been to Berlin several times, when the Berlin Wall was still up, and took indescribable delight in visiting the Pergamon Museum because of its impressive Assyrian collection. And put away a few beers, too, which was the best part of visiting Berlin.

Oh, by the way, did you know that the German Eagle image is based on the image of the eagle from the ancient Assyrian empire? I am a full-blooded Assyrian and know what I'm talking about.

Stay well, my friend, and I love you, too. What the hell, we can hold hands and sashay down Kurfurstemdamn.

Your friend,
Obie

Well the only way to settle this will be as gentlemen. We'll set a date and Obie and Robin will meet under the Brandenburg gate and it will be dueling pistols at 30 paces. The winner will be vindicated and the loser, well....

we'll name a subforum for him here at SRP in his memory.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well the only way to settle this will be as gentlemen. We'll set a date and Obie and Robin will meet under the Brandenburg gate and it will be dueling pistols at 30 paces. The winner will be vindicated and the loser, well....

we'll name a subforum for him here at SRP in his memory.

My dear Spendur, no duel between Robin and me. We disagree as gentlemen who are also good friends.

Okay, I cracked open the tub!
Dang this stuff smells great.
I finished a tub a of Castle Forbes Ceder stuff and liked the smell.
This beats out CF scent for me.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Well the only way to settle this will be as gentlemen. We'll set a date and Obie and Robin will meet under the Brandenburg gate and it will be dueling pistols at 30 paces. The winner will be vindicated and the loser, well....

we'll name a subforum for him here at SRP in his memory.

That might be the most clever post on this forum.