I recently tried Al’s Shaving Sapone Da Barba soft shave soap (say that three times fast!). Soft shaving soaps seem to be trending with wet shaving artisans and Al’s take on it is excellent.
Although the scent is described as “a mix of strong floral notes of geranium and rose otto supported by West Indian sandalwood and cedarwood in the background” to me it just evokes “vintage Italian.” I don’t know how else to describe it except as a classic Italian scent…or at least how I imagine what an Italian scent would be. I find the scent strong but not over-powering.
As you might expect from Al, performance is excellent. In fact I think I would go as far as to say that it is his best-performing product for me and my hard water. Building lather is very easy and the lather itself is generous. Cushion is great and I think lubrication is exceptional.
Sapone Da Barba Ingredients?
Al describes the ingredient list as “unconventional. Other than coconut oil, no other oil is used…fatty acids, mostly stearic the lye, glycerin, water and the botanical essential oils along with the coconut oil.” Whatever the ingredient mix, it’s hard for me to argue with the results.
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My experience with this soap, as well as Al’s newer fougère soap, is similar to his creams. They produce a rich, almost decadent, luxurious lather, that performs as well as any other cream or soap out there. I particularly enjoy the strong, pleasant florals, with little fading throughout the shave.
Funny you should post this, as I just finished up a shave with it about 15 minutes ago. I think the performance is absolutely outstanding. One of the best that I’ve used. Unfortunately, I really dislike the scent. I find it pretty one dimensional (all floral, can’t pick up the other), and very heavy. Unfortunately, Fougere About It came out about a month after I ordered this. I would have gotten that instead. Will still get a tin of the new scent soon.
Sounds pretty good to me. I too have hard water here in Utah and I am always on the lookout for products that do well with it. The smell sounds very interesting as well!
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