Barbieria Italiana shipment arrives

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As I mentioned in another entry, I have been a bit under the weather. But today, when I got back into work, there was a care package from Giovanni at Barbieria Italiana.

I actually wish I had snagged some Sputnik blades on this order , but I still had some nice surprises to unpack.

Since I am a bit of a push-over when it comes to bay rum, I ordered a bottle of Superior 70 bay rum. I tried some this evening and it was a very nice exclamation point on a very nice shave.

I also received a bottle of Constanza bay rum, which really has a pretty stout scent to it. I imagine I’ll give it a go tomorrow evening.

I also received a bottle of Murray & Lanman Florida Water cologne. Very alluring scent, one I am anxious to try.

On a lark, I had Giovanni send me a cube of the Savon de Marseille Palm Oil soap. I’ve noticed a lot of gents are using a technique known as ‘method shaving’, where a cube of olive oil soap provides the base for a very rich ‘super’ lather, supplemented with a cream and an activating product. I thought I would try a cube of the palm oil soap, just as an experiment. The Barbieria Italiana Web site indicates this soap can be used as a shaving soap and Giovanni is certainly not fibbing on that count! A couple of swirls of the Omega brush on the cube loaded up the badger bristles nicely. Not wanting to be wasteful, I lathered up my face with it. All I can say is, “Wow!”

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — if you’re looking for a nice source of shaving supplies, you really need to visit the Barbieria Italiana Web site. Giovanni is a friendly gent, with excellent customer service. You may find some of his product lines are not the same, run-of-the-mill products that everyone else sells, but Giovanni provides those of us in North America an excellent opportunity to discover some outstanding European shaving products. I give Giovanni two thumbs up.