Santa Maria Novella

Could this Croap be the holy grail ? I love the slickness, the lather and the cushion. SMN nails all the points for me of a great shave. Bonus points are for the Camfor, menthol and what ever smell. Its just great. I will use it again tomorrow and then start a competition between my other Italian products. Xpec, ABC and AdP, this is going to be a war gentlemen. I feel these could be the finest soaps or croaps on the market. What say you ? I am posting here as it is a croap not a crème, but most croaps are posted with the creams. I feel either croaps get there own heading or put them with soaps not crèmes. YMMV IMHO LOL

If it'll squeeze between your fingers, it belongs in Creams!
[emoji6]

Santa Maria shave croap is great. Mine is menthol, eucalyptus plus tobacco toscana.
The density is much firmer than any Creighton cream, and certainly firmer than Proraso cream, but a tad less thick than Cella.

Royalpar1 said:

What say you ?

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Well, since you asked, all of the creams you're talking about are in a price category I'm simply not willing to venture into anymore. Years ago, I bought into the SMN hype, knowing full well it was produced by Martelli and bore a striking resemblance to the Martelli-made Proraso and Omega shaving soaps. Still, all the swooning over it being so much better got me to bite. IMO, SMN was no better than either of the less expensive brands, despite the fact it cost nearly four times as much. The experience taught me that people will talk themselves into believing anything if there is sufficient motivation to do so, which is why I now view most of the "best shaving product ever!" proclamations on this forum with a jaundiced eye.

I recognize the SMN formula has changed since then, and is now a unique product, but I've been shaving long enough to realize that, for my needs, there are no shaving silver bullets. I get as good a shave out of TOBS as I do out of Castle Forbes, so I can't conceive of going into AdP and ABC territory, especially when they're all essentially composed of the same base ingredients. I understand there are other reasons for wanting or enjoying a cream (or any product) beyond its value per dollar, and I too still indulge in creams that I know are more expensive than they ought to be; but for me, that caps out pretty much at the DRH price point. Beyond that, the feeling I'm getting fleeced offsets any potential enjoyment I'd get out of the product.

Fair enough

Jerry-built Hustler said:

... Beyond that, the feeling I'm getting fleeced offsets any potential enjoyment I'd get out of the product.

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well said!
but nowhere near the degree I'm being fleeced by our esteemed Federal government!!

sarimento1 said:

well said!
but nowhere near the degree I'm being fleeced by our esteemed Federal government!!

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Ha! I wish I could help you with that.

Royalpar1 said:

Could this Croap be the holy grail ? I love the slickness, the lather and the cushion. SMN nails all the points for me of a great shave. Bonus points are for the Camfor, menthol and what ever smell. Its just great. I will use it again tomorrow and then start a competition between my other Italian products. Xpec, ABC and AdP, this is going to be a war gentlemen. I feel these could be the finest soaps or croaps on the market. What say you ? I am posting here as it is a croap not a crème, but most croaps are posted with the creams. I feel either croaps get there own heading or put them with soaps not crèmes. YMMV IMHO LOL

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You should order the S. maria soap from razorock and compare. From what I understand it is very similar and may even use better ingredients than SMN. I have used neither but I am very curious.

How strong is the scent?

jovan said:

How strong is the scent?

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I do not feel the scent is very strong at all, you can feel/smell the Menthol but the luxuriousness of the shave is wonderful. It does not have the voluminous lather as Xpec or ABC but it is more than enough after a quick load for 3 passes and a full touch up

haganah said:

You should order the S. maria soap from razorock and compare. From what I understand it is very similar and may even use better ingredients than SMN. I have used neither but I am very curious.

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where do I find that to look at ?

Royalpar1 said:

where do I find that to look at ?

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Italian Barber!
http://www.italianbarber.com/

fordfather said:

Italian Barber!
http://www.italianbarber.com/

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Thank you !

You are torturing me, Dane. I keep expecting to see RR Santa Maria in quotation marks. Yes, it would be for the win.

JimmyTheChooch said:

You are torturing me, Dane. I keep expecting to see RR Santa Maria in quotation marks. Yes, it would be for the win.

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[emoji3]

Royalpar1 said:

Thank you !

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I think they're out but I could be wrong. I've seen it sold on other sites like Amazon too. Google razorock s Maria. You use the better soaps generally and have smn so I'm looking forward to your feedback if you get it.

This will be of great interest to me. My top products include AdP, ABC and Boellis Panama. You need to include Boellis....because it is also an Italian top performer. Also......it has an ingredient none of the others have.....tallow!

haganah said:

You should order the S. maria soap from razorock and compare. From what I understand it is very similar and may even use better ingredients than SMN. I have used neither but I am very curious.

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Does anybody know if the S. Maria is based on the old or current SMN formulation?

Steelman said:

This will be of great interest to me. My top products include AdP, ABC and Boellis Panama. You need to include Boellis....because it is also an Italian top performer. Also......it has an ingredient none of the others have.....tallow!

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You are KILLING me, just when i thought i was out, i was dragged back in ! Do you feel it is as good ad AdP or ABC ? Are you comparing it to the cremes or the ABC soap?

Jerry-built Hustler said:

Does anybody know if the S. Maria is based on the old or current SMN formulation?

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Old. Notably, lanolin in common. Current SMN is not lanolated.