In Praise of Santa Maria Novella – Crème de la Crème

Hi grim, and thanks very much for the review.  

I followed the USA link in your post and found one entry for shaving cream, Crema da Barba.  Ingredients are not listed, which is unfortunate, since an ingredients list might mute comparisons with cheaper brands.  However, I found this list at menzbiz.au:  Aqua, Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Hydroxide, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Parfum, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butlyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Camphor, Menthol, Allantoin.

The SMN site lists the price at $71.00 for 7.4 Fl Oz., which is better per ounce than ABC and ADP, and the SMN product description also mentions that their cream is mildly scented with a Tabacco toscano cologne.

I would appreciate knowing if the ingredients list above looks right to you.  Also, I get it that the scent and performance are superb, but I would also be interested to know if the SMN scent gives you any above par longevity and/or silage.

Thanks in advance.

Here ya go. Agree, it’s one of the best. This is v3, the current product.

Here ya go. Agree, it’s one of the best. This is v3, the current product.

Thank you Steve. It may be time to treat myself. 

The scent from the cream doesn’t linger, most creams are not designed to do that. I’d recommend the ‘body cream’, it’s very thin for a body cream, about like the ABC balms in consistency, and it has the tobacco toscano scent (but not the camphor or eucalyptus), and the scent does have decent longevity, several hours.

I bought a ‘used’ lot that included the body balm from a friend in Virginia who’s close enough the SMN Chevy Chase boutique to journey up. He told the lady that he found the normal AS a bit cloying, and she suggested the body balm. I’ve not tried the AS, but I’ll highly recommend the body balm as an AS balm, and it’s 250ml. So it’s a ‘good buy’ as much as you can get with SMN.

Just a heads up, SMN has free shipping through cyber Monday. Maybe not much, but on a $75 order, that amounts to about 15%.