Thread: Review of Abbate Y La Mantia Shaving Soap-Saffron variety.

The soap in question is made in Italy and can be ordered from the maker or from the Italian Barber. It comes in several varieties and this review will be concerning the Saffron variety though I also have the Biscuit or "Crumiro" which I have not used yet though I will say it smells exactly like a sweet Italian biscuit.

I bought mine directly from the manufacturer and he actually asked me if I would prefer to order from the Italian Barber and save on the shipping though he said it wouldn't be available until 8/15 from that source. Shipping from Italy is steep with a capitol S.

It was shipped FedEx and arrived in 3 days. It was very well packed and the soap comes in an outer corrugated cardboard box which seems very plain and simple but it's presentation is actually elegant. It has a rope tie and a ribbon in the Italian flag colors and a wax seal on the top. The soap comes in a metal tin except for the saffron which comes in a very heavy and large (wide) clear glass dish. unless you have a very slippery counter that baby ain't going anywhere when you load up the brush. By the way, brushes used so far are; Simpson chubby 3 Manchurian, Plisson HMW #14, Thater SRP edition, Simpson Chubby 2 band classic.

First a word on Saffron. If you don't like Saffron don't buy this soap. Saffron is considered the king of spices and is frightfully expensive. It's sold by the gram and just a few grams can cost $50+ depending on the grade.

The soap is more a croap or a soft soap not really a cream. It has a moderately strong scent of saffron. but is not overpowering at all. It's a single scent and is very clean and has this quality about it that exudes class. My ranking system is different than Obie's and for a soap to be top tier it's scent has to be complex and masterfully executed. No single scent soap is a top tier in my ranking so far except this one.

My water is hard but I have a water softener so with the softened water the lather was created in a few seconds and exploded on the brush. I face lather and it didn't take much face lathering because the lather was already there. Also, you don't have to load too much because this lather just kept going and going. I could lather a platoon with one load. The results were the same with all brushes. I would recommend not using a really big brush like the Chubby 3 because you will have way more lather than you can ever use. Also it seems to take heat like in a scuttle really well with no breakdown though my scuttle uses hot tap water no boiling water.

The slickness of the lather was the best I have ever used and I have all the good soaps and creams (xpec, tremonia, Harris, C+S, Le Pere, Castle Forbes, ABC Alvarez Gomez, Esbjerg, well you get the idea).

The Lather was rich and moderately thick and substantial and once applied this baby stayed on. No evaporation here or drying out. I think the cushion is as good as it gets.

Once rinsed off it was gone period. Also it rinsed out of the brush cleanly with no lingering scent in the brush or on me.

For pictures check out the previous thread on the stuff. My results were the same so I can't add anything with more pictures.

So there you have it. Of course these are all my opinions and depending on your water quality and your olfactory abilities you may have more to add.

I had no allergy issues and I don't see any ingredients that would cause issues. The ingredients in the two varieties I have are similar with just a couple more things added to the Saffron. I won't list them unless someone wants me to.