Hey Friends, i just want to do a review of my newest addition. The Soap is (as you may have seen) Saponificio Varesino "Felce Aromatica". The soap comes in a very nice, solid aluminum jar. This jar contains 5.3 oz or 150g of soap. You can also buy the soap only. Without the jar. Than it is a little cheaper. The soap itself has a very hard consistency, so i think it will last a very long time. Yesterday i used it the first time after i received it on Saturday. As i opened the jar, a heavenly scent came to my nose. Not a chemical scent, not artificial, just a pure, fresh and clean Fern scent. I have to say, that i never smelled a better Fern scent. Really really nice. To lather up i used my HJM Black Fibre. I gave the brush a few swirls on the soap and within seconds i had enough wonderful lather to shave with. Once lathered up the scent was spreading out. There was an addition with a light citrus note, which made the scent so fresh. Absolutely outstanding. The skin feel is absolutely top notch. There is no burning, no itching, nothing negativ about the lather. It´s very creamy, cushioning and the razor glides through the lather that it´s a pure joy. You don´t have to re-aply the lather. I let the lather sit on my face for about 5 minutes and what should i tell you... NOTHING happend!!! No drying or fading away...the same quality of lather all the time. Wonderful. After the shave i waited for abour 30 minutes to apply my Aftershave, because normally this is the time, where my skin get´s a little dried out if the soap has not the best moisturizing ingredients. I waited and waited and waited...and here again...NOTHING happend. My face felt like it has been creamed with a rich moisturizing balm or cream. Nevertheless i applied my Aftershave just to end up the shave like i always do. For me i can say, that this soap is one of the best soaps i ever used. The scent is georgeous, the lather is fantastic and the skin care is absolutely outstanding. I paid 14,50€ (which is app. 18$) and shipping cost me 8€ (which is app. 10$) for shipping to Germany. So i think, the price is absolutely ok. Here are some pictures and the link to the Homepage where you can get many more informations. I ordered the aluminum jar version. Looks really nice. Here the ingredients. The Logo of the Company has been stamped on the soap. Hope you can see it a bit... So, thank´s for reading and if you interested in this soap, here is the link: http://www.saponificiovaresino.com/shop/index.php Have a good time and take care of you. Greetings Thorsten
Thorsten, Looks like a very nice soap! I'll need to put this on my buy list for 2015. Thank you for writing the review. Kerry
I almost ordered some of this fine soap. $14 for the shave soap (no tin), plus I snagged a citrus bath bar ($5). Total came to $19. Shipping from the company's site (Italy): $19-$26…….too much. Had to pass. I'll wait for a US vendor to carry it.
Thorsten... You've been faster than I ! It is not too long a time I use this soap, especially in consideration I started shaving over half a century ago! As artisan Italian soaps/creams, I use myself the well known here Pannacrema and the Freelander soap which is one of the best soaps I ever tried. And this is my experience with Felce Aromatica! And, time ago, when the owner of Saponificio Varesino (which is close to the Brebbia Pipes factory) decided, as a mere skill exercise, to create a shaving soap which has no "chemicals" and is absolutely compatible with the most sensitive skin, I was very intrigued. After some tests he got to version 4.0 which I fell in love with because not only is anti-allergic, as many soaps are, but it lathers very quickly after a few turns in the bowl to load the brush. On top of this, it bares incredible after shave performance: the use of an aftershave is, for many, not needed. I am one of them, but I love either the alcoholic kick or to spread something on my face! This soap has been developed with the support of the members of my Italian Forum: so... no animal test! Human test only! I decided to take a video of it and who's patient and tolerant enough among you, might watch a fat not-so-dressed gentleman. The enormous round pink thing is my face! To show how Felce Aromatica Beta 4.0 works, I used 4 different brushes and it can be seen that bristle stiffness in definitely irrelevant to load the brush. I apologize for the duration of the video: it is my very first experience and, looking at the results, it will be probably also the last one! I extra loaded the brushes: in reality, very few rounds are plenty enough. I usually do face lathering, but decided to show what happens with bowl lathering and to achieve evident results I used my suribachi. I hope you'll find it interesting even if, as a matter of fact I am not too worried about your reactions: I used a nick and hid carefully where I live. Moreover, most of you live very far away!
Alfredo, thank you VERY much for that great video. I enjoy your pics of your shave´s of the day so much...wonderful atmosphere in your photos. You did a great video...interesting and very good to look at. I love the PannaCrema too but i never heared of the Freelander soap... I would definetly like to see more videos from you. Greetings Thorsten
Molte grazie, Alfredo e benvenuto al questo gruppo. Buon divertimento! Si, si, io posso parlare italiano. Qui, abbiamo molti membri d'Europa.
My Manna di Sicilia finally arrived along with the wooden shaving bowl. Out of the box the soap smells amazing. I can't wait to try it tomorrow. I really like the bowl. You can actually see the rings from the tree on it which is nice. I will try and posts some photos soon.
I have both the Felce and the Dolomiti. For me, excellent soaps; mild, distinct scent; great, easy lather; comfortable shaves. I face lather using a nice Semogue boar with these soaps. I recently did the "Thin the Herd" and I had to keep these soaps....just too good.
Ed was kind enough to send me a very generous sample of Dolomiti, I've read a lot of reviews about this soap many saying it equals or surpasses MdC in quality and performance. While everyone's opinion is subjective, IMO this soap is just as good as MdC.
I was able to get a sample recently of the Saponificio Varesino - Manna di Sicilia (1/2oz sample $5.00) from Garry's Sample Shop. Bluegoose carries the 150g product in the states for $28. plus shipping. Haven't tried my sample yet, may treat myself on Father's Day next week.
And, you are making it tough on me. Here I just thinned the herd and now I learn there is another SV soap. Father's Day...hummmmmm.
And I say it's Father's Day, you thinned the herd, - reward yourself! PS - and don't forget to send your friends a sample!
