BDF Raffinato Plain and simple is a croap everyone who likes Italian Shave soaps should try. I got a tub of it yesterday and have shaved three times with it. Each time it has made a thich gooey slick lather and has left me without needing balm or AS each time (I added some AS anyway since i like the scent). This mornings shave with a Feather was Superb and I got a DFS in 2 passes. I hope Phil doesn't mind...I used his Stock Pic for my review since the phone was not cooperating with me. but I got a shot of my Shavemac filled with lather...
On to the review:
Price - I gave this 5-stars - Price cannot be beat! 200 ml for $15 is outrageously inexpensive!
Quality - I gave this 5-stars - the quality is unmatched for a soap at this pricepoint. I recently split a brisk of Boellis Panama and while this is a cousin of that it is a close cousin, scent notwithstanding. I would probably still buy the Boellis for special occasions, but I'd use the Raffinato every day...it's that good!
Packaging - 5-stars! Large Tub filled half way, no need to move this one out, as there is plenty of room to lather in this tub! Bravo!
Scent - 4-Stars - Sweeeet Almond Marzipan is great, but a little overpowering. It also smells a tad bit synthetic, and sharp at the finish, but it is a solid performer and the scent fades with the rinse leaving just a trace on your face. Works really well with the WM Neumann 1907 and 1911 line of AS...I found myself sniffing the air several times since it was so pleasant!
Lather - 5-Stars - I used both a badger 2-band and a WSP Boar for my shaves and it performed admirably with both types of bristles. With the Badger it took a bit longer to find the sweet spot for water to soap ratio since the badger (Shavemac in Finest) is a little thirstier than a boar, but in the end the lather was whipped cream with stiff peak and a shiny glow. The boar made mounds of gooey slick lather in no time flat. The boar's lather was different in appearance, but notdifferent in performance. I soaked the brushes and then loaded in the tub and lathered on my face adding drips of water from the faucet as I built it up. Compared to Boellis it took about twice as long to build the lather, but the consistency and end result were about the same. I do get a BBS with the Boellis, though.
Skin Care & Moisturizing - 5-stars. It simply cannot be beat at this price point. Even my P160 need a balm afterwards. Also i noticed that though it has a fragrance oil I did not detect any burn at all, and I left the lather on to resolve a dispute between my children at one point. My skin felt smooth and hydrated hours after the shave with no application of balm at all. In fact i used an alcohol based AS as indicated above, but there was no drying at all!
Slickness - 5-Stars. My second shave I used a fresh Feather, which is usually a no-no unless I use an oil, but in this case i did not need a pre-shave oil at all. The blade was gliding on whatever is in this making haste with the whiskers...This one was a 2-pass DFS, with some stubble on the hard to get areas on my jaw...More to my technique and I was just too scared to go for it...but I will next time!
Overall this soap gets a 4.8 out of 5. This is a must buy! I also got the Mistero Scent, but was not as impressed with that one as with this one. Something in the Mistero was off, scent-wise, so it affected the whole shave for me, even thougt the lather was the same as the Raffinato.
Thanks for reading my review, and please comment!
Matt
On to the review:
Price - I gave this 5-stars - Price cannot be beat! 200 ml for $15 is outrageously inexpensive!
Quality - I gave this 5-stars - the quality is unmatched for a soap at this pricepoint. I recently split a brisk of Boellis Panama and while this is a cousin of that it is a close cousin, scent notwithstanding. I would probably still buy the Boellis for special occasions, but I'd use the Raffinato every day...it's that good!
Packaging - 5-stars! Large Tub filled half way, no need to move this one out, as there is plenty of room to lather in this tub! Bravo!
Scent - 4-Stars - Sweeeet Almond Marzipan is great, but a little overpowering. It also smells a tad bit synthetic, and sharp at the finish, but it is a solid performer and the scent fades with the rinse leaving just a trace on your face. Works really well with the WM Neumann 1907 and 1911 line of AS...I found myself sniffing the air several times since it was so pleasant!
Lather - 5-Stars - I used both a badger 2-band and a WSP Boar for my shaves and it performed admirably with both types of bristles. With the Badger it took a bit longer to find the sweet spot for water to soap ratio since the badger (Shavemac in Finest) is a little thirstier than a boar, but in the end the lather was whipped cream with stiff peak and a shiny glow. The boar made mounds of gooey slick lather in no time flat. The boar's lather was different in appearance, but notdifferent in performance. I soaked the brushes and then loaded in the tub and lathered on my face adding drips of water from the faucet as I built it up. Compared to Boellis it took about twice as long to build the lather, but the consistency and end result were about the same. I do get a BBS with the Boellis, though.
Skin Care & Moisturizing - 5-stars. It simply cannot be beat at this price point. Even my P160 need a balm afterwards. Also i noticed that though it has a fragrance oil I did not detect any burn at all, and I left the lather on to resolve a dispute between my children at one point. My skin felt smooth and hydrated hours after the shave with no application of balm at all. In fact i used an alcohol based AS as indicated above, but there was no drying at all!
Slickness - 5-Stars. My second shave I used a fresh Feather, which is usually a no-no unless I use an oil, but in this case i did not need a pre-shave oil at all. The blade was gliding on whatever is in this making haste with the whiskers...This one was a 2-pass DFS, with some stubble on the hard to get areas on my jaw...More to my technique and I was just too scared to go for it...but I will next time!
Overall this soap gets a 4.8 out of 5. This is a must buy! I also got the Mistero Scent, but was not as impressed with that one as with this one. Something in the Mistero was off, scent-wise, so it affected the whole shave for me, even thougt the lather was the same as the Raffinato.
Thanks for reading my review, and please comment!
Matt