Inexpensive items from Italy

I have a friend who is studying (probably not too much) in Italy until May, which means, in addition to living vicariously through his blog, I could suggest that he should pick up something that I can't get easily in the US. My problem is twofold. (1) I am pretty new to this, so I don't really know what it to long for from foreign markets. (Heck, I don't even really know what is to long for from US markets!) (2) I am on a limited budget ... think starving grad student.

Nonetheless, I know there must be something that is definitely worth picking up (but maybe not worth the normal shipping involved) that I should get him to bring back for me. Afterall, I've seen the Europeans and Australians wonder "What is this Aqua Velva" you all speak of. There must be something, and many of you know what it is. I need to know! Please help.

Understand that this is potentially a limited time possiblity for me. I could, at any moment, finish my dissertation and get a job teaching at a school where hardly anyone "studies abroad," and then my chances to live vicariously through former students will dry up. I need this information now, before SWMBO realizes that humanities professors will never earn enough to support any kind of AD!

All the usual suspects:

Italian Floïd After Shave
Italian Palmolive Shave Cream
Proraso
Cella

Request him to locate a source of a boar brush Boreal 976, manufacturor's group buy, any internet site or whatever, the brush which is no longer carried in NA but is alive and doing well, and is in a regular production in Italy.

Santa Maria Novella?

GoldenMonkey said:

Santa Maria Novella?

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Santa Maria Novella is a fabulous shaving cream, one of the very best here in Italy.
Unfortunately it is an expensive product.

Proraso
Floid

Italian Floid (amber) and Floid Blue.

Definitely go for Floid Blue AS. It's so tough to get here.

P.160 Duro shaving soap!

- Chris

Hey, thanks for all these suggestions. About how much are we talking about for some of these, and am I sending him to a Roman corner drug store, or some sort of shave shop? I'm assuming that since I asked for inexpensive items, probably a "drug store" sort of place. In the end I'm going to have to pare down my list to a few, I really don't want to impose upon him much, especially with all the luggage restrictions.

I really wish I could try out decants of the AS suggestions. I REALLY don't want to do that if I don't like it. Unfortunately I looked on superlather and he is all out of them. To be expected - otherwise they wouldn't be on the list!

The P.160 might be a little pricey (like over $15) and heavy because it's a kg of shave soap

82R100 said:

P.160 Duro shaving soap!

- Chris

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Oh, come on, P.160 is only available in a 1-kg block. I don't think this is realistic.

Look at this shop.

It is a big supplier of barber shops and as such, their prices are at the very bottom.
I ordered two times there now and the service is flawless. They charged me less than €25 for a signed delivery of a package of 5kg from Italy to Belgium.

Take the p.160 soap, Proraso soap/cream, both of the Floïds AS, the Proraso AS and the yellow hair lotion (Edel).
Try also the Floïd Sandolor pre-shave.
Their price for the Astra blades are very reasonable too.

Chimensch said:

Oh, come on, P.160 is only available in a 1-kg block. I don't think this is realistic.

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At €6/kg, who cares? You can give some away, do some real abundant lathering, ...

xgunterx said:

At €6/kg, who cares? You can give some away, do some real abundant lathering, ...

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How much is the shipping?

I hear the Neopolitan pizza is pretty good there.

Oh, you mean shaving products

K.T.

Chimensch said:

How much is the shipping?

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Heu, from where to where?

Like I posted earlier, I paid less then €25 for a signed delivery of a package (5kg!) from Italy to Belgium. I guess it will even be lower for a domestic shipment.

Well, the OP is in the US and was asking for some inexpensive items that a friend could bring back with him. The site you mentioned as a minimum purchase amount and pretty stiff shipping to the US that would probably eat up the savings. I think that he's probably thinking to spend less. It's a nice site and the prices are good, if you know what you want.

Chimensch said:

Well, the OP is in the US and was asking for some inexpensive items that a friend could bring back with him. The site you mentioned as a minimum purchase amount and pretty stiff shipping to the US that would probably eat up the savings. I think that he's probably thinking to spend less. It's a nice site and the prices are good, if you know what you want.

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It doesn't matter where the OP lives since he is asking his friend to bring the stuff along.
So, if the OP buys online and let the stuff be domestically delivered to his friend in Italy, the costs will be OK.
In fact, because of the lower costs, the cost for shipment will likely be compensated and he doesn't have to put any burden on his friend to shop for it.

xgunterx said:

It doesn't matter where the OP lives since he is asking his friend to bring the stuff along.
So, if the OP buys online and let the stuff be domestically delivered to his friend in Italy, the costs will be OK.
In fact, because of the lower costs, the cost for shipment will likely be compensated and he doesn't have to put any burden on his friend to shop for it.

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Sounds awfully complicated to me. First of all, IIRC, the site is in Italian. That may be a problem for the OP. Also, coordinating a shipment to someone who is traveling may also be complicated. Plus, there's the weight to be carried back, probably the OP would feel that it was an imposition to ask someone to carry that much stuff. But I'll just let the OP decide if he wants to do that.