Soft soap

Arrowhead

Arrowhead

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West Yorkshire
I've got it into my head that I want to try an Italian soft soap, which seems to mean either Cella or P160. Any opinions, advice or cautionary tales would be appreciated, since I'll no doubt buy a kilo of one or the other.
 
P160 is a great soap, I have a chunk of cella donated by Hando but haven't tried it yet.The cella doesn't smell as strong with regard to the almond/marzipan scent, more soapy (although I haven't lathered it yet).There was a P160 group buy previously and I think everyone was very happy with it.It may be worth posting to see if anyone else fancies chipping in for a kilo.I would recommend it as a great performer.
 
Definitely the P160

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Pete
 
Yep, the P160 is a lovely soap. It takes no effort to lather either with a badger or a boar brush. It seems to possess the best aspects of soaps and creams. No doubt he scent is not to everyone's taste, in fact I went in that fateful group buy with a real aversion to marzipan! The initial hit of scent is quite strong, but it becomes more subtle and pleasant once it's on the brush for face lathering. I actually really like the scent now I'm used to it, which didn't take long at all.

Well worth a go, but probably only if you can get your hands a reasonable amount rather than 1kg! Though if you do buy a slab and dislike it, you'll make yourself a very popular chap if you PIF it all!!
 
Pig Cat said:
... if you do buy a slab and dislike it, you'll make yourself a very popular chap if you PIF it all!!
Click to expand...
Even if I think it's wonderful, I'd still want to pass some on, considering the saving over the price for a 125g bowl. Anyway, the consensus seems to be in favour of P160, so I'll place an order with Connaught sometime soon (I'm waiting for the black Omega 49 to come back in stock). What I forgot to mention was the Valobra soap: does anyone have experience of that?
 
I know you specified Italian but might I recommend "Monsavon"
It is a French soft shaving soap that smells herby and performs equally well with Badger or Boar.
It's cheap as frites, and is available in virtually every pharmacy in France.
Unfortunately the only way to get some is to go and get it yourself, as it's not available in the UK.
I will now retire to a dark corner to ponder why I posted this response.
 
I think these soft soaps are rather ideal as they combine the ease of lathering that creams provide with a good dose of tallow and economy of a harder soap. I'm not keen on marzipan but I actually like the scent of the P160 when lathering it is not as strong as it smells straight off the soap.

I have a both Cella + P160 and I prefer the 160 because of the scent, the Cella is much more subtle but both good provide good lather.
 
Arrowhead said:
What I forgot to mention was the Valobra soap: does anyone have experience of that?
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I tried the Valobra and had no problems. To be honest the Valobra, Cella and P160 are very similar but the P160 wins it for me. One nice thing about Valobra is that they offer a menthol version too. I have also read about a fougere version but never seen it for sale anywhere.

I like the look of that Monsavon too. I will have to keep a lookout for it.

Pete
 
P160 and Cella both give me great shaves. As does Valobra. Some of my observations...
P160 does dry me out ever so slightly.
Valobra Menthol has such an odd scent I got rid of it. Not especially mentholated, either.
I'm convinced regular Valobra is the same as the harder P160.
Cella performs the best out of them for my skin. I am not a huge fan of the scent, though. I overlook the smell purely because it's such a great soap - it's as good as Proraso, Trumper's etc and probably more moisturising.

Basically, if you can live with the almond scent, they're all winners, really.
 
Andy

If you wish I'll send you a sample of Valobra menthol. It is a fantastic performing soap, though, not the strongest menthol scent. I believe performance is what counts, the scent is, if enjoyed is a bonus.

Regards
 
JDE was kind enough to supply a generous lump of Cella, which I found to be excellent and very easy to use. My thinking about soap has been given a bit of a shake up by Henk, but for what it's worth I felt that the Cella did my skin some good in much the same way as Wool Fat. The appearance and plasticity of this substance was a surprise: I wasn't sure whether to put it on the cheeseboard or stick a detonator in it.
 
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