funny you should say that because i was sent some of it along with Vitos Red. The Cella and Vitos both smelled like a linen napkin/table cloth. I didnt smell any cherry scent at all. Still a good performer though and im sure i will get a tub at some point. So far when it comes to Italian products...Bigelow gets my vote out of what i have tried.
Cella's one of the topnotch soaps available. Its been in production since 1899 but only available in America to wetshavers since about 2008, it was the Italian born vendor Gio Abrate of the now defunct Barberia Italiana webstore who first introduced it . Its smell is closer to raw almond than the very sweet cherry amaretto almond of some Italian soaps. Superb performance , tallow based and all for about $10 bucks , its a vain search to try to find better.
Bull Goose sent me a small sampler of it and for variety I like it. I’m not sure the scent is something I’d want each morning. It does lather up real nice.
Just leave the top loose so it can air out. I did this with my Arko as I thought its scent was too strong. After about a week I was able to use it comfortably. I'd imagine the same could work with Cella.
I was thinking of getting the kilo block but the idea of having a block that will most likely last 4 years feels a bit over the top. I would rather rotate. If I rotate with this, my future grandchildren will be using it still!!! As superficial as it may sound, I kind of like the wrapper. Also, I am a loyal Italian-soap user. Cheap as chips and as good as gold.
I agree with you on this. I love old style packaging and that box does get your attention. But like you, I cannot justify that large of a block of soap. I would be afraid it might go bad over a long enough period of time. The CELLA in the small red tub is one of my favorite soaps that I will not be without.
I just got my first red tub of cella last week and I thought everything about it was great except for the small container. I had to move it into something a little bigger so it would be much easier to move my shave brush around.
I just tried Cella in the red tub yesterday for the first time. The lather that I made was only average. I'll give it a week and try using a boar brush to see if I can't get a great lather.
I will try to remember to do a Cella shave tomorrow and do a lathering demo using my badger brush. When I'm through it will look like a bowl of whipped cream.
Decided why wait until tomorrow. So I just went in and whipped up a batch. Looks and smells good enough to put on top of my strawberries. The tools: Cella Red Tub Scuttle or cup/bowl of your choice Harris H1 Best Badger Brush Small coffee cup for soaking brush Step 1: Soak brush in "hot" water. Step 2: After gently shaking out some of the water from the brush, swirl around in tub for around 20-30 seconds. Should look something like this. Step 3: Start swirling in a fast motion the brush in the scuttle or your favorite lathering cup/bowl and add "hot" water as need for your satisfaction. After about 30-45 seconds of doing this, you have a very nice lather.
Thanks for the great pics, Johnny. I just got done shaving, actually, and was able to make a lot better lather than I did before. I'm not sure if it was the brush I used, an Omega boar, or the fact that I used more water this time but I can definitely see why people like Cella. In the very short list of soaps that I've used, it's moved into second place, ahead of MWF but still behind DR Harris Arlington.
I love my CELLA and I rank it second behind my MWF. I tried the Harris Arlington and to be honest, I took it off my list all together. My Proraso comes in #3. To each his own.
Maybe I need to try bowl lathering, you could be winning me over. Nice photo's, thanks for sharing your insights.
In honor of this new Cella pictorial by Johnny I just finished my Cella shave. I normally face lather but choose to use the bowl this time so I could add some M-Bomb to the mix. The MMOC glided through the luxurious Cella lather with just a slight tug (blade retired after this shave, #6 btw). After the chilly, cherry, sweet almond shave was over I mixed a little Osage Rub in my hand with my moisturizer & massaged it in for a splendid finish. Thanks for the inspiration (& the Cella) Johnny. I really enjoyed this shave!
I love my Cella and just noticed Italian Barber has a sale on it. $9 for the 150 g tub and $35 for the 1000 g block http://www.italianbarber.com/cella-1kg-shave-cream-block
One of the best affordable italian soaps, IMHO. Although I'm not a big fan of the traditional almond scent, I do find it's performance superior to any Proraso soap... and the scent has started to grow on me too!
