I just had this pop up on my Amazon page and I never heard of this brand. Who's tried it? What ere your thoughts?
If you like a sweet almond aroma, go for it. Ever opened a jar of maraschino cherries and stuffed your nose in for a giant whiff? Very close! The Amazon reviews are pretty spot on. Italians know how to make a shave soap. Very quick and easy lather. Here’s part of my post from July’19: The Darwin Drake and the Cella family of products.....finally got the AS Balm and PS Gel early last week. These Italians know shaving....putting it all together finally, was not only a great slick face feel from the beginning application of the PS Gel, but now even an hour after shaving and using the ASB and AS. I'm not the biggest fan of many AS Balms....just too greasy, like a bad sunscreen (for the few balms I've tried). Definitely not like that with the Cella AS Balm. Light and dissipates within a few minutes. While Cella isn't trendy artisan shaving (in the US), it's a top 5 or 6 contender in my world and rotation (big fan of the fragrance too, a very sweet almond).
I have Cella crema da barbra in my soap rotation as well. In fact I shaved with it today too. It performs great for it price. I like it better than some artisan soaps I've tried.
I'll add one other little tidbit....the fragrance, if all you use is the soap, or even adding in the Pre-Shave and After Shave Balm, isn't overbearing or long lasting. You can use just about any aftershave or cologne without the Cella Almond interfering. The Cella After Shave Lotion, lingers for me. Early 6am application, still catch whiffs past lunch. If you are familiar with Proraso Red (Sandalwood) or Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood, Cella is even more powdery (sweet w/almond) smelling.
A Tuesday Morning shave with Cella and my Rockwell 6S Matte Black. Prep: Hot Shower and Bloom/Lather Building Water Soap: Cella Razor: Rockwell Razors 6S Matte Black(R6, R5, R4, and R3)/Merkur Mustache and Eyebrow Razor Blade: Personna Med Prep (5)/Merkur Mustache and Eyebrow Blade (No Idea) Brush: Zenith Horse AS: Cella ASB: Captain's Choice 45th Parallel A nice relaxing shave. Just nice and relaxing.
I hope that I am not breaking any etiquette by reviving an old thread but i want to say that i really love Cella in the winter. I had a great double pass SR shave today with Cella. On a cold winter day I love making my lather in a pre-warmed Fine Accoutrements lather bowl. I do bloom the soap and load for about 20 seconds, shake out my boar bristle brush and make mountains of hot lather. Plenty of suds to make myself look like Santa Clause and no need to worry about clogging a SR! Lots of lather for the second pass, back of neck and any touch ups I want to do. Post shave feel is fantastic, clean up is easy and the pleasant aroma of cookies baking is perfect on a snowy day. Finished off with a liberal splash of spicy VIBR. Really, does it get any better? Tedolph
