Shaving Product Review - Saponificio Varesino "Stella Alpina"
Value (Cost, Packaging and Performance)
Lather (Density, Glide and Feel)
Post-shave (Healing, Moisture and Feel)
Scent (Quality, Strength and Longevity)
Head to the mountains and grab some Edelweiß by way of Saponificio Varesino Stella Alpina in a #soap and #aftershave combo - with some parting comments on the Timeless Razor bronze razor.
This great offering from #SapVaresino isn't new - in fact, Stella Alpina was announced nearly a year ago and I've done an in-depth review of Stella Alpina a while back. I've shaved with it several times since then, but oddly, haven't posted them. Today's the lucky day, I suppose!
Saponificio Varesino Stella Alpina was the first product to bear the Beta 4.2 moniker and is bettered only by Felce Aromatica Limited Edition which is in the latest Beta 4.3 formulation. Honestly, they're all really, really good. They're vegan formulas, and probably the most complex out there. Seriously, they have a little of everything. As for the scent, it has top notes of lemon, bergamot and basil, middle notes of cistus, myrtle and eucalyptus and base notes of cypress and amber. Very nice.
Anyway, I wanted to give closure to my testing of the #TimelessRazor #TRBR38 bronze razor today. I had one day's growth (shaved yesterday) so with my prior testing, I knew today would be an issue. Despite throwing in a fresh #PolSilver blade, the jawline was left stubbly out of the gate. The rest of my face wasn't too much better. Therefore, I can conclude that this razor doesn't work on short, wiry stubble. The only way, it seems, that I can get a really good shave from it is with three (not even two) days growth... That is, it's a Monday morning razor and not a daily driver as I was hoping for. The solution is to wait for additional base plates to become available that have a bigger gap, unfortunately. The timeline for those is currently unknown, but that's my plan. Just for my own satisfaction, I will shave with a similarly equipped (scalloped cap, solid bar) .68mm gapped stainless steel razor tomorrow for direct comparison, also with a fresh PolSilver blade.
The #WildWestBrushworks brush and its 24mm BOSS knot loaded the soap nicely from the standard PET "dish" provided within the cardboard box you see above and generated the lovely, plush lather in the #GTP scuttle. I will say though, that this super plush lather really shines with a real silvertip badger brush. If you've got one, I'd suggest using it. The best analog I've found is the Mühle Silvertip Fibre knots, in my case, in the BSB shaving brush in an XL (25mm) size.
I wish I could say, "what a great shave today" but alas, I can't. In fact, it's maybe just a DFS, especially along the jawline. A decent shave with great software that made up for it - but the razor left me wanting.