Santa Maria Novella store

[jbaca]

Has anyone been to the Los Angeles store? Have you tried some of their offerings? Fun or stuffy attitudes:001_smile

[StylinLA]

I have not and called them one day to check their hours and they wouldn't give me a very specific answer. The guy said words to the effect of he wasn't sure but probably around 6. Since that was about the earliest I could get their, I passed on trying to stop by. I got a sample of the one scent I wanted to try and haven't seen a need to go. Let us know how it is if you go in.

[tehtimmeh]

I haven't been yet. I emailed the Lafco store in Dallas and they sent me 7 frag samples and a shaving cream sample for free. Very generous.

FWIW, The NYC Lafco store charges $2 per sample.

[professorchaos]

I haven't been yet. I emailed the Lafco store in Dallas and they sent me 7 frag samples and a shaving cream sample for free. Very generous.

FWIW, The NYC Lafco store charges $2 per sample.

You've had more luck than I. I asked them about samples via email and didn't even merit a response :thumbdown.

[BRuhling]

They knew their product wasn't "elite" enough for you, Henry! :tongue_sm

[professorchaos]

They knew their product wasn't "elite" enough for you, Henry! :tongue_sm

Ah ... but they should have tried. I don't do anything half assed!

[tehtimmeh]

You've had more luck than I. I asked them about samples via email and didn't even merit a response :thumbdown.

Experience was great. I sent them an email and received a response from the store manager within a day or two. Maybe your email to them got stuck in spam or some such.

The sample sizes are about 2ml for 2 bucks (if you go through the NY store). Even at that price, it's reasonable imo.

[Antique Hoosier]

If you are in Seattle or nearby, Mario's downtown carries the line... as well as a few other high end grooming lines to include Geo. F. Trumper. I almost purchased the big tub of Santa Maria Novella Shaving Cream but TSA would not have allowed it in my carryon duffle I suppose.

[bladeruner]

I found it on Yelp. It received nothing but good reviews. There's even a review by a gentleman who say's he write's for basenotes. He gave it nothing but high praises. His review made me want to go down there. He say's the staff is very knowledgeable and very nice. I guess the lady you want to talk to is Jo. I saw her name mentioned a few times. Here is the link:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/santa-maria-novella-west-hollywood

[Tha Baron]

I've been to the SMN store in Bal Harbor (Miami) and I believe it was open later in the evening perhaps around 8ish.

They guy offered me samples for whatever I wanted, but I was buying some cream, an AS and the balm. Sales guy did seem pretty stuffy, but that part of Miami is VERY pretentious.

[jbaca]

I had a great day in LA today started out at a favorite Bookstore The Bodhi Tree then my wife and I had a bite to eat at Le Pain Quotidien wonderful bread great Omlettes and coffee seems like a chain wonderful stuff. Then we went over to SMN nicely laid out store the two young sales people young had some product knowledge not overly helpful. No prices were posted so you have to ask. But I did get some aftershave the pomegranate it had this peppery note that was very nice,I also picked up some soap too. My overall experience in the store would be 3 out of 5 stars. Ill be trying the AS in the morning encouraged my wife to get some cologne she liked one called Eva. The store is on Melrose place very trendy very high-end. We then stopped by Liz's Hardware wonderful lighting outstanding selection of antique and otherwise hardware, and a wonderful and knowledgeable staff.

[Ron991]

Has anyone been to the Los Angeles store? Have you tried some of their offerings? Fun or stuffy attitudes:001_smile

Have never been to their store. I do own several fragrances fron their line though,and have sampled others. My favorites are as follows.

Vetiver:Bone dry, scorched earthy scent. Closest I could compare to this would probably be Etro's offering.

Acqua di Cuba: Citrus opening. Transform into a heady Tobacco note. This is a big bold Tobacco fragrance. This is a potent brew to be sure, and is not for the timid.

Peau Despagne: This is a top shelf leather fragrance. Opens with floral notes, and transforms into a heart of light woods accompanied by notes of neroli, and a dry-down of birch tar very similar to 1776 Russian Leather, by Elsha. A marvelous leather fragrance.

[StylinLA]

I finally made into SMN store yesterday. What a surprisingly cool little store on quirky LA side street filled with small boutiques. Very warm and friendly store that made me want to try everything. Friendly, non pushy staff. But as noted, no prices on anything so you're at their mercy poking around.

Ended up with their shaving cream, which was the main point of the trip there.

Lots of tempting soaps and scents. $$$

Gave a sniff to Acqua de Cuba. Can see the fascination some have with this one. Really strong cigar tobacco note in opening. Tosacano kind of nice too. Nostalgia I have already sampled - sort of odd one.

[The Knize]

Went by the brand new SMN store in Bethesda, Maryland today. Very small but very tasteful. The guy behind the counter (German first name I cannot quite recall now and probably did not get right in the first place, last name Scott) was a apparently a manager down from the Manhatten store to open this up. Very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Not stuffy, I would say. But this is a very high-end store. Apparently all the US stores are Lafco operations. This store carries only SMN.

I tried about 10 SMN edcs (I think they are edcs rather than edts) some of which I had had before.

I pretty much like SMN across the board. I have a good bit of Acqua de Cuba and I do think it is fascinating. To me it is strongly tobacco, but not cigar tobacco. More like cigarette tobacco--think Camel non-filters. I think cigarette tobacco is generally "bright leaf" and "burley" tobacco, lighter than most cigar and, say, pipe tobacco.

Toscano is nice. I had never tried Nostalgia before, but it seemed very nice and interesting. I think I had had the vetiver previously, but do not remember liking it as much as I did today.

Overall very fresh and natural smelling scents, and I would guess that they are largely natural if that means anything to folks. As I recall, I do not get much tenacity from many of them. I think Acqua de Cuba would be an exception. I am guessing things like their Amber would be, too.

The scents are mostly $110 for 100 ml with some apparently going for $125. No prices on anything. That does not seem so bad for excellent scents. But their bath soaps, room fragrances, and the like seemed just amazingly expensive! $35 for a smallish bar of bath soap, for instance. I did not ask how much their shaving soap was. Very lightly scented and in a simple plastic bowl about like Prosaro.

[The Knize]

I just had a look at SMN scents on EBay.

How the heck can someone be selling SMN scents for $174, when anyone can order the same scent from Lafco for only $110?! The seller has quite the selection of SMN, I will give him that!

[StylinLA]

$35 for a smallish bar of bath soap, for instance. I did not ask how much their shaving soap was. Very lightly scented and in a simple plastic bowl about like Prosaro.

I'm a soap fan and was tempted, but the bars are pretty small, yes.

Their shaving cream is $52 for a pretty large tub. It is nice stuff. Quite similar to Proraso indeed. I'd roll with Proraso personally, I loved it. It's a bit stronger. But something in Proraso broke out my face.
The SMN cream is a nice, albeit pricey, substitute.

[The Knize]

At $52 one is starting to close in on Martin de Candre territory, which seems like a long way from Prosaro, which I like, too, but does not seem in the same league as MdC. I am sure the SMN would last a long time.

Frankly, the pricing a SMN seemed a little scary, except for the scents! Maybe I have just become acclimated to scent prices. But I would think a 100 ml bottle of almost any SMN scent would last me a long time, although the SMN scents are a bit light. I cannot see three bars of that sized bath soap last all that long!

[Isaac]

I have used SMN cream for over two years. It is definitely top notch stuff. WHile there are many comparisons to it being the same as Proraso, I beg to differ. It isnt as "harsh" as proraso, and always leaves my skin very smooth.

[gaj90027]

I have used SMN cream for over two years. It is definitely top notch stuff. WHile there are many comparisons to it being the same as Proraso, I beg to differ. It isnt as "harsh" as proraso, and always leaves my skin very smooth.

+1 maybe it's the price affecting my judgment but I find SMN shaving cream to be more refined than proraso in both the scent and performance department.

With regards to SMN perfumes I have only tried Eva so far and absolutely love it. Despite the girly name it's a masculine citrus-vetiver scent with great longevity.

http://www.basenotes.net/ID26123287.html

[The Knize]

Thanks!

I suspect the SMN SC is more refined than Prosaro. I do not see how SMN could sell any if it were not. I would expect it to be a great product based on the SMN products I am familiar with.

My question is more whether it is as good or better than other SCs at similar price points. So far in my exploration of shaving products, I have found nothing that matches the Martin de Chandre for me in quatlity as to any criteria I can think of!

I do not know why I did not try Eva yesterday. I should know better about the name seeming feminine. Bn likes it alright. No neutral or negative riviews. Perfumed court apparently gives these notes: Citrus, bergamot, black pepper and vetiver. SMN seems very good with vetiver, and I like the idea of the addtion of pepper to the mix. Bergamot should fit right in with the other citrus. Others seem to smell things like cedar and other woods in it. Others green herbs, although I would guess that is really the vetiver.

The impression I have about SMN scants is that they are mostly collections of rather pure, high quality notes/ingredients, where those notes often stand out sort of independently. Not complex examples of scentmaking art, which is no dis to SMN. I would compare a house like Mazzolari, where there is often a complex, often brilliant, interplay of notes/accords.

Either approach clearly works. And I am guessing that doing it in the seemingly simple way SMN does is much harder than one might think. Although doing it the Mazzolari way has to be extremely skilled!

[tehtimmeh]

Proraso is not even in the same ballpark as SMN IMO. SMN runs circles around it performance wise. It is a top notch cream and perfect for this ridiculous heat we've been seeing already here in Texas...

[OldSaw]

I've only been to the SMN farmacia in Florence, Italy and a local store that carries some SMN products. I really enjoy my SMN shave cream and lavender aftershave splash. Looks like the prices have gone up quite a bit on the scents since I was there a few years ago.

If I could afford it, I would use SMN aftershave every day. Not only is it soothing and leaves my face feeling very replenished, it has something magical about it that is extremely addictive for me. I'm not sure what it is, but this stuff just makes me feel very much at ease the instant I apply it. Must be something in the scent that hits the happy buttons in my brain.

[tehtimmeh]

I've only been to the SMN farmacia in Florence, Italy and a local store that carries some SMN products. I really enjoy my SMN shave cream and lavender aftershave splash. Looks like the prices have gone up quite a bit on the scents since I was there a few years ago.

If I could afford it, I would use SMN aftershave every day. Not only is it soothing and leaves my face feeling very replenished, it has something magical about it that is extremely addictive for me. I'm not sure what it is, but this stuff just makes me feel very much at ease the instant I apply it. Must be something in the scent that hits the happy buttons in my brain.

Which scent of the AS do you have? I've heard great things about their AS, but I haven't tried any.

[OldSaw]

Which scent of the AS do you have? I've heard great things about their AS, but I haven't tried any.

I have the lavender.

My wife bought the verbena EDC because she is a lemon freak. I use some of that once in a while, but only on days when I use an unscented aftershave. I wear it because she likes it.

[StylinLA]

Yow... I guess the SMN is better than Proraso!

Though it's $52, I have to say that tub would probably last a long time if used everyday, which really means it's not that pricey.

[tehtimmeh]

Yow... I guess the SMN is better than Proraso!

Though it's $52, I have to say that tub would probably last a long time if used everyday, which really means it's not that pricey.

Give it some more time bro. The SMN cream is a different beast than Proraso. It takes a bit more work, but the reward is much bigger! You almost have to treat it more like a soap than a cream. Load directly from the container by swirling your brush on top of it until you feel like the brush is loaded, then move to your bowl or face to lather, depending on how you roll. You'll probably find you need to use a bit more water with it than Proraso.

The lanolin in it gives you a slicker shave and a more moisturizing shave imo. It puts it in another league than most creams. Don't give up on it yet and I think you will be handsomely rewarded in the end.

Of course, as with everything else, YMMV!

[StylinLA]

The lanolin in it gives you a slicker shave and a more moisturizing shave imo. It puts it in another league than most creams. Don't give up on it yet and I think you will be handsomely rewarded in the end.

No worries, I'm in it for the long haul and really like it a lot. While I liked the strong menthol in Proraso, I believe that might be what was tearing up my face. It was bad. Almost like hives on my cheeks.

[gaj90027]

No worries, I'm in it for the long haul and really like it a lot. While I liked the strong menthol in Proraso, I believe that might be what was tearing up my face. It was bad. Almost like hives on my cheeks.

I had the same problem with Proraso. I loved the menthol kick but it really turned my face red every time. SMN treats my face kindly and the smaller amount of menthol in it is more than sufficient for me.

[Pinaud]

Went by the brand new SMN store in Bethesda, Maryland today.


I've been using samples of SMN EDCs for awhile. When it came to buying a bottle the Internet always saved me. I stopped by the Bethesda store (Thanks Robbie) this afternoon to pick up some Imperial Lavender. When I left I was weighed down with Imperial Lavender, Eva, Peau d'Espagne, Vevtiver AS, Colona Russa AS and a tub of shaving cream.

This is indeed the most dangerous B&B forum!

Broke, but smelling good:
Pinaud