I Coloniali

Interesting:

Amazon has the I Coloniali Mango in the terracotta pot for sale at the incredible price (for I Coloniali anyway) of $27.71 delivered with Amazon Prime. I should receive mine today. I hope that I am not getting soap that is left over from the middle ages.

Does anyone know: When you buy the I Coloniali in the terracotta pot, is the soap inside in a sealed wrapper or has it been sitting exposed to the dry air for ages?

Yes, it is sealed. The lid is taped on and there is a foil piece glued onto the soap's bowl to seal it.

By the way, those glue spots on the outside of the bowl (the ones from the sticker) will come off with Goo Gone.

Brian

rodmonster said:

Interesting:

Amazon has the I Coloniali Mango in the terracotta pot for sale at the incredible price (for I Coloniali anyway) of $27.71 delivered with Amazon Prime. I should receive mine today. I hope that I am not getting soap that is left over from the middle ages.

Does anyone know: When you buy the I Coloniali in the terracotta pot, is the soap inside in a sealed wrapper or has it been sitting exposed to the dry air for ages?

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I tried I Coloniali because a few people compared it to Stirling in terms of slickness and density. After shaving with it for a good two weeks new I have to say I'm quite pleased. I'm still on the fence over whether it's worse than, the same as, or better than Stirling lather though. Perhaps it's just equal-but-different. I Coloniali seems to make a slightly stickier lather, if that makes any sense. It really clings to the face in a good way and makes for a very protective shave, and it lets me do lots of blade buffing over the same spot without loss of slickness.

Because of this it's also a little harder to rinse off than any other soap I've used. Really have to use a lot of water to get it all before I put alum on.

Smells like dirt to me, but the good kind of dirt rather than the dirty kind of dirt. Smells like earth. I didn't get the terracotta bowl, just a cheaper refill that I smushed into a metal tin, but I understand very well why they chose terracotta. It's reminds me of potting soil. You know that earthy-dark-soil note you can get from Terre d'Hermes/Fine L'Orange Noir? It's like that except without the sweet orange note on top. Instead you just have a very slight menthol scent with a very slight floral scent that may or may not be from the mango oil. It also tends to linger even after the save, less so than aftershave but more so than other soaps with the possible equivalence of Tabac. I think this is more because it's so hard to rinse off fully.

BDF said:

By the way, those glue spots on the outside of the bowl (the ones from the sticker) will come off with Goo Gone.

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Good to know, thanks. I think it was The Shaving Enthusiast on You Tube who issued a warning about that and as a result I was hesitant to remove the sticker. It's as distracting as the dickens!

Potentially a silly question, but here goes: Is the inside of the terracotta bowl rough, as the outside appears to be? If so, I would think that it wouldn't be good for a brush (like running it over finer sandpaper). And to clarify, by "rough," I don't mean super-rough, but not glossy-smooth (like a glazed porcelain or ceramic bowl is).

I'm definitely interested in trying I Coloniali, but I'm unsure whether to purchase the refill or get the terracotta bowl.

The inside is the same as the outside- unglazed terracotta. It may be hard on a shaving brush but to be honest, the brushes that ended up being my very favorites are so inexpensive that wearing them out is not much of a concern. It might be given a high cost badger though.

It is only the second product I have bought with the optional container, Tabac being the other one. Neither one is really as practical as, say, a tin of Mike's soap because they are both taller and narrower.

For you guys mashing yours into a different receptacle, are you grating this stuff first? My puck of I Coloniali is as hard as a rock and won't 'mash' without a hydraulic press. ??

Brian

Peter_A said:

Potentially a silly question, but here goes: Is the inside of the terracotta bowl rough, as the outside appears to be? If so, I would think that it wouldn't be good for a brush (like running it over finer sandpaper). And to clarify, by "rough," I don't mean super-rough, but not glossy-smooth (like a glazed porcelain or ceramic bowl is).

I'm definitely interested in trying I Coloniali, but I'm unsure whether to purchase the refill or get the terracotta bowl.

Click to expand...

BDF said:

The inside is the same as the outside- unglazed terracotta. It may be hard on a shaving brush but to be honest, the brushes that ended up being my very favorites are so inexpensive that wearing them out is not much of a concern. It might be given a high cost badger though.

It is only the second product I have bought with the optional container, Tabac being the other one. Neither one is really as practical as, say, a tin of Mike's soap because they are both taller and narrower.

For you guys mashing yours into a different receptacle, are you grating this stuff first? My puck of I Coloniali is as hard as a rock and won't 'mash' without a hydraulic press. ??

Brian

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Thanks, Brian. I'm still not sure which way to go, but at least now I can make an informed decision.

The inside of my terra cotta pot is not glazed BUT is not the same as the outside. My inside container has a sealer coating of something and I did buy it new. It has a slightly smooth feel to the interior.

BDF said:

For you guys mashing yours into a different receptacle, are you grating this stuff first? My puck of I Coloniali is as hard as a rock and won't 'mash' without a hydraulic press. ??

Brian

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Mine is distinctly non-mashable too! I get the feeling if I tried to grate it, it would possibly crumble it is that frickin hard! What gives?

Just heard from another person on this forum (privately) that the soap is quite soft. The only thing I can think of is that mine, and perhaps yours, is old stock? My soap puck was covered with small white dots, as if it had dried out over <months or years>. Maybe ours came from the back corner of the warehouse or something? Not to insult you but glad to hear I am not alone on this....

Fantastic soap but it takes a bit of work to load the brush. Maybe I will grate mine and put it back into the bowl with a bit of water to see if I can soften it a bit.

Brian

Reevers said:

Mine is distinctly non-mashable too! I get the feeling if I tried to grate it, it would possibly crumble it is that frickin hard! What gives?

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BDF said:

Just heard from another person on this forum (privately) that the soap is quite soft. The only thing I can think of is that mine, and perhaps yours, is old stock? My soap puck was covered with small white dots, as if it had dried out over <months or years>. Maybe ours came from the back corner of the warehouse or something? Not to insult you but glad to hear I am not alone on this....

Fantastic soap but it takes a bit of work to load the brush. Maybe I will grate mine and put it back into the bowl with a bit of water to see if I can soften it a bit.

Brian

Click to expand...

Old stock sounds about right! Let me know how the grating experiment goes.

Mine had the white dots on it too and felt quite hard. No way you could just mash it around. The box it came in had the new blue label so I don't think it could be that old. I put some warm water on top of mine and use a badger/horse or badger/boar and haven't had trouble loading and getting a great lather.

The scent reminds me of the soap equivalent of an unfiltered hefeweizen.

I have the bowl and the soap was hard in arrival. I think the moisture escapes through the terracotta bowl, but if soaked for a few minutes it loads up nice and easy. The refills in the sealed foil pouch seem to stay soft as there is no way for the moisture to escape. I love everything about this soap, especially the scent.

MMMmmmm, I just washed my face with it. Love the scent and hint of menthol.

It's really a soap that has to be grated into a container for easiest results. It's simply too small to load with otherwise.

coryforsenate said:

MMMmmmm, I just washed my face with it. Love the scent and hint of menthol.

It's really a soap that has to be grated into a container for easiest results. It's simply too small to load with otherwise.

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I have been considering this in the last week and wanted to shred and then transfer so it has a bigger diameter to load.

I seem to have read plenty of comments suggesting to add warm or hot water on top of it prior to loading the brush.

I soak it in hot water for 10-15 minutes, and it gets a slick, slimy coating that lathers easily.

A Great Shave:

I shave at home with soaps, my favorites being Maggard and B&M. To make things easier, when I travel I use a shaving cream. Several years ago I discovered the I Coloniali Rhubard cream and I use it exclusively on the road. I find it to be a cream that lathers easily and provides a slick, moisturizing shave. My only problem with the Rhubarb cream is the scent. I describe it as woody compost pile with a hint of menthol. NOT my favorite. Recently, I purchased the I Coloniali Mango in the terracotta pot from Amazon. Here is my review:

SCENT:
The I Coloniali Rhubarb and Mango are definitely from the same family. They both have an underlying earthiness to them with a bit of menthol. The good news, for me anyway, is that I get less wood/earth from the Mango soap and more menthol and citrus(lemon, I think). Overall the scent of the Mango soap is lighter and more appealing to me than the scent from the Rhubarb cream. 4 Stars

PUCK:
As mentioned by other people, the puck is rock hard. I Coloniali calls this a shaving "cream." No way. It is not even a croap. My puck came sealed within the terracotta pot. It did not have a "best by" date on it, but I have no reason to think that it is old and infirm.

LATHER:
I did my usual thing this morning. Everything about today's shave was per routine except for the new soap. As always do, I put a few drops of hot water on the puck while I took my morning shower. Using my 20mm synthetic brush(3 band synthetic knot from TGN), it was very easy to create a proto-lather on the brush. It was then super easy to create a wonderful, copious lather on my face. This soap lathers itself. 5 Stars.

SHAVE:
The shave was everything that I have come to expect from I Coloniali. It was slick and easy and incredibly moisturizing. Hours later my face is still soft from the soap. I don't believe that any other soap has managed to do that. 5 Stars

OVERALL:
The I Coloniali Mango is pretty pricey, especially when compared to the current crop of great American artisan soaps. It is priced as a premium European soap. Maybe not quite as expensive as MdC, but in the tier just below it. Does the performance justify the price? Performance, a most definite yes. Great soap. And the scent? Still not my favorite but an improvement over the Rhubarb cream. The soap is a keeper, for sure.

Cheers

Well, I took the puck out of the container and found the sides were very soft from staying wet after adding a bit of water to the top. So instead of grating it, I just put it back and put enough water in the container to cover the puck; that was last night and this morning, the water is gone, and the puck is pink and very soft. Works for me. Now it is more like a creme than even a soft soap so it should load very easily.

Brian

Dear lord this soap is fantastic. Slick lather with an awesome scent (absolutely no mango, I assume they are referring to mango butter or something?). The scent is a nice peppery incense smell. A bit tough to describe other than spicy

This will forever be in my cabinet, this I decree.

I received a sample of I Coloniali AS balm. It's great! However, as a mango lover, I have to say there is absolutely no mango scent in it.