Thread: Italian Shaving Soaps

Ok, onto my favorite: Italian shaving soaps. And not all of them are soft and almond scented.....it just seems that way.

Valobra Almond Soft Shaving Soap



I LOVE this stuff. It has a nice pastry almond scent, but it's not overpowering, and it's not oversweet like conk and the classic English almond shaving creams. The performance is wonderful - the face feels very good afterwards, and you get a nice slick lather and close shave. It has a putty like consistency, so you take the block and squoosh it into the container of choice - I put it in an anchor hocking bowl. This soap is not tallow based (if you care), but gives an incredibly close shave. It's also very affordable (around $11).

Cella Soft Shaving Soap



Another great Italian take on a soft almond soap. This almond scent is a little more "bitter almond" than sweet marzipan. It has no preservatives, and is very nice on the face, ala IK (although no shea in this stuff). I'd say this feels better and more natural on my face than any other soap. It yields a nice close shave, though for me I get a little closer with the Valobra almond for some reason - that's probably just me. I get a thicker creamier lather from cella than valobra almond. I found this performs better when I take it out of the small diameter red plastic bowl and transfer to an anchor hocking, where I have more room to load the brush. This is great great, relatively natural (no preservatives apparetly) stuff. It is tallow based but doesn't feel at all like the old English tallow soaps. Very reasonably priced (around $10). Wonderful.

Valobra Shaving Stick



Unlike the soft valobra putty soaps, the shaving stick is hard and tallow based. The performance is as good as any hard soap out there - very creamy, slick, protective lather, that yields a VERY close shave. I find it a little bit drying, though not everyone does. The smell is a bitter soapy smell - for me it's not appealing, not unappealing. So for me this is a just a no nonsense no romance great shave shaving soap. I find it fits nicely in the older larger DRH shaving stick containers, so that's where I put mine for ease of use. Very cheap.

Art of Shaving



Rumor is this is made by Valobra - in any event it performs exactly like the valobra shaving stick for me. It comes in unscented, lemon, sandlewood and lavendar. I have the unscented, which smells like wet cardboard on its own. But the performance is absolutely first rate - it's just a great tallow based hard shaving soap. I used the unscented as a face lathering uberlather vehicle - I load the brush with the AOS soap, and then squeez a little KMF on the brush, and face lather away for a great shave with a great (choice of KMF) scent. Done that with CremoCreme for the perfect tallow based pina colada shave.

Things I'd like to try when my wife isn't looking:

1. Valobra Fougere Soft Shaving soap
2. P. 160 Soft Soap
3. Figaro
4. Fitness
5. PREP
6. La Riana
7. Proraso Classic Soap
8. Proraso Shaving Soap with Aloe and Green Tea
9. AOS sandlewood, lemon, lavendar shaving soaps

Thanks,

I've got the Valobra, but sadly it's a little hard on my skin, so I've been looking at Cella as my next purchase, after reading your description of Cella, I better hurry up and get me some new soap soon.

Anyone have any experience with the soap on this page RasurPur Online Shop - The finest tools for a perfect shave (click on creams and soaps, the item at the top)

I have these with the exception of the cella. Great soaps, as the review says. I really need to get a tub of cello now!

$10? Where's the best place to get this, Louee?

I've only tried the cella here. Like it like you. don't know about the price as I bought one of the 1kg packages - not sure I'll ever get through it.

Originally Posted by RayG

I have these with the exception of the cella. Great soaps, as the review says. I really need to get a tub of cello now!

$10? Where's the best place to get this, Louee?

bestgroomingtools.com

I love the Cella, P160, Valobra, and the Fitness soaps. They all work perfectly for me, but the Proraso Green soap is NOT a favorite of mine. On the other hand, the white-bowled version of Proraso is great.

Jeff

Originally Posted by crackstar

I love the Cella, P160, Valobra, and the Fitness soaps. They all work perfectly for me, but the Proraso Green soap is NOT a favorite of mine. On the other hand, the white-bowled version of Proraso is great.

Jeff

Great to see you here Crackstar. Welcome.

I love the volabra almond soap. I don't know about Proraso soap, but their cream is as good a performer as anything (yeah, you CF guys might argue it, but whatever).


Jordan

Originally Posted by crackstar

I love the Cella, P160, Valobra, and the Fitness soaps. They all work perfectly for me, but the Proraso Green soap is NOT a favorite of mine. On the other hand, the white-bowled version of Proraso is great.

Jeff

what is the Fitness like? is it a soft almond thing too? how is it on performance and face sensiitivity compared to valobra almond?

Originally Posted by jnich67

Great to see you here Crackstar. Welcome.

I love the volabra almond soap. I don't know about Proraso soap, but their cream is as good a performer as anything (yeah, you CF guys might argue it, but whatever).


Jordan

Sorry for my late answer, but I thank you for the welcome!

Jeff