I thought I would offer-up a quick review/compare/contrast for two of the most revered creams from Italy:
Santa Maria Novella
Acqua di Parma
Cost
These are both pretty pricey choices, especially if you also purchase the matching aftershaves.
Are they worth it?
In my experience, yes.
Both in performance and scent, these two really are sublime.
And to note: You do receive a large quantity (especially the SmN), and both are pretty concentrated (especially the AdP). I haven't done the math on number of shaves per container? But I bet this lessens the sticker shock a bit.
Winner: Tie
Scent
These two creams are very different from eachother with regard to scent.
SmN is a lovely "tobacco toscana" which is actually pretty hard to characterize. It's complex, a little sharp, and not at all sweet. Green-leaf tobacco and eucalyptus. There is a tinge of vanilla in there, along with camphor. It's very refreshing and slightly to the darker side of neutral.
AdP, being a "colonia", is a complex mixture of citrus and light woodiness. It's certainly brighter than the SmN, but all of the scent components are very balanced, and no single ingredient dominates. (this is not a lemon-blast colonia) Adp is definitely brighter than the SmN, but only a touch above neutral. This is not a sweet, or candied complex, but more just fresh and light.
I really like them both, but if had to choose, the SmN is really my jam.
Winner: SmN
Lather
Here is were these two differ a bit, for me (and my water)
The AdP very easily explodes into a nice thick lather, from just a pea-sized dap of cream.
The SmN takes a bit more product AND work, for me. It also produces nice lather, but noticibly less dense/cushion than the AdP. I don't mind this at all - I tend to like my lather a little wet/runny, anyway.
Winner: AdP
Glide
Maybe because these two are such concentrated creams, the slickness/glide for both is just outstanding.
After the first pass, I could probably do another just on the residual slickness.
But of course, I don't, because i just love massaging these into my face with a boar as much as possible. ;-)
Winner: Tie
Conclusion
I toiled for a few years over these two. I read all of the raving reviews, but kept balking at the cost. And it's still a risk to buy a product, based upon crowd-sourced reviews alone. Eventually, the idea just gnawed at me long enough, that I broke-down. The SmN showed-up on the Forum BST last Fall, so I jumped on it - and was very pleasantly surprised. (surprised isn't probably the right word. "affirmed", maybe). And this week, I received the AdP, after scouring the internet for the best price I could find. I hedged my bets a bit, and haven't purchased the matching aftershave (tonic), but I will be adding that this week, for sure. With both of these, after acquiring, my first reaction was: "Why did I reserve myself from these two wonderful products for so long?"
Santa Maria Novella
Acqua di Parma
Cost
These are both pretty pricey choices, especially if you also purchase the matching aftershaves.
Are they worth it?
In my experience, yes.
Both in performance and scent, these two really are sublime.
And to note: You do receive a large quantity (especially the SmN), and both are pretty concentrated (especially the AdP). I haven't done the math on number of shaves per container? But I bet this lessens the sticker shock a bit.
Winner: Tie
Scent
These two creams are very different from eachother with regard to scent.
SmN is a lovely "tobacco toscana" which is actually pretty hard to characterize. It's complex, a little sharp, and not at all sweet. Green-leaf tobacco and eucalyptus. There is a tinge of vanilla in there, along with camphor. It's very refreshing and slightly to the darker side of neutral.
AdP, being a "colonia", is a complex mixture of citrus and light woodiness. It's certainly brighter than the SmN, but all of the scent components are very balanced, and no single ingredient dominates. (this is not a lemon-blast colonia) Adp is definitely brighter than the SmN, but only a touch above neutral. This is not a sweet, or candied complex, but more just fresh and light.
I really like them both, but if had to choose, the SmN is really my jam.
Winner: SmN
Lather
Here is were these two differ a bit, for me (and my water)
The AdP very easily explodes into a nice thick lather, from just a pea-sized dap of cream.
The SmN takes a bit more product AND work, for me. It also produces nice lather, but noticibly less dense/cushion than the AdP. I don't mind this at all - I tend to like my lather a little wet/runny, anyway.
Winner: AdP
Glide
Maybe because these two are such concentrated creams, the slickness/glide for both is just outstanding.
After the first pass, I could probably do another just on the residual slickness.
But of course, I don't, because i just love massaging these into my face with a boar as much as possible. ;-)
Winner: Tie
Conclusion
I toiled for a few years over these two. I read all of the raving reviews, but kept balking at the cost. And it's still a risk to buy a product, based upon crowd-sourced reviews alone. Eventually, the idea just gnawed at me long enough, that I broke-down. The SmN showed-up on the Forum BST last Fall, so I jumped on it - and was very pleasantly surprised. (surprised isn't probably the right word. "affirmed", maybe). And this week, I received the AdP, after scouring the internet for the best price I could find. I hedged my bets a bit, and haven't purchased the matching aftershave (tonic), but I will be adding that this week, for sure. With both of these, after acquiring, my first reaction was: "Why did I reserve myself from these two wonderful products for so long?"
Last edited:
