After losing the European source of the soap base the company had been importing to make its product line (the factory shut down), Fine Accoutrements managed to resurrect its line. I sent away for the American Blend along with the companion balm and aftershave, and it is clearly a croap. Smells and lathers great, especially in the Fine Lather Bowl. Never having used the previous iteration, I wonder who has tried onr, the other, or both, and if so, what your thoughts are.
This is so sad. I have the old Italian Citrus soap-looks like triple milled. It is one of the finest (see what I did there) performing soaps I have ever used. That scent is great for summer. Also, as a hard puck it fits into your favorite shave mug. If I am going to use a croap, I may as well pull out the Cella. Thanks for the information though-looking forward to your report.
Like I said, it smells great and lathers great. I'm definitely a fan of the new formula. It can't hurt to give it a try through ordering a sample. If you don't like it, you can always do a PIF.
After shaving with the new croap this past Friday, I noticed on the label something I missed earlier and should have seen: that the product was made in Italy. Now, the Italian soaps I've tried have all been fantastic in quality, performance, and scent, and I don't think Mr. Fine would get very far selling a product he knew to be inferior, so I'm confident having used it that there is nothing to worry about.
Alright, a while back I managed to get a couple refill packs of the tallow-based American Blend soap, as well as a Fresh Vetiver puck in the plastic jar. The refills were off the 'bay, while the new package was clearance off the F.A. web site. Last week I finally used up the last of the croap, so today I opened up and shaved with one of the American Blend refill pucks. The difference in lather consistency really isn't comparable given that the 21st Century formula is an Italian-made vegetable-based croap and the older one a tallow-based soap puck. The tallow-based lather had the consistency of whipped cream, went on great, leaves an excellent feeling on my face hours later. The croap is also great, but the lather is different in terms of consistency. Neither is better or worse than the other, in my opinion; the two are simply different. Both perform superbly. Now, as to which I now prefer...I'm gonna go with the tallow-based formula for after-feel. The puck now sits in my F.A. soap bowl, with the lid to the 21st Century croap container resting atop it to help preserve the scent.
The new formula is made, for Fine, by an "artisan" in Italy. I wasn't particularly impressed with it and, considering the $25 price, I consider it the single worst price: performance ratio in the modern artisan space. The old puck, while still not an amazing soap, was better performing and less expensive, and even they were hard to recommend when Mike's Natural, Stirling and Shannon's all blow both Fine soaps out of the water at half the price. The only thing positive I can say about Fine soaps are the scents, which are excellent. Ymmv etc
