La Riana: a different kind of shaving soap
By Giovanni Abrate
I recently received a shipment of shaving soaps from La Riana of Italy.
These are hand-made vegetable soaps, rich in olive oil, produced on the Ligurian coast, the Italian Riviera, where some of the purest and finest olive oil is produced. The Liguria region is adjacent to the French Cote d'Azur and to Marseille, the French capital of high quality soapmaking. Many of the French soapmakers have moved their operation across the border, into Italy. Some of the oldest soap brands of Marseille, like "L'Amande" are now Italian owned and operated.
I gave the La Riana shaving soap a try and I experienced for the first time a different type of shaving soap.
First, let me start by saying that I used the latest, improved formula, just in from the factory. Some outlets are dumping older La Riana soaps on the market; my comments only refer to the latest version.
First: what the La Riana is NOT:
1. it's definitely NOT a traditional shaving soap. The lather is very airy and disappears quickly from the face.
2. it's NOT a tallow-based soap or a glycerin based soap.
What IT IS:
1. a handmade, olive oil soap, enrichened with castor oil, coconut oil and other natural emollients.
2. it is all-natural, with scents that are subtle and very pleasant.
The shave:
the soap is very hard and dense; the smallish 80g cake should last a long time. I found that I had to scrub hard with my pure badger brush to get enough soap for a good amount of lather. I would imagine that a boar brush would be best with this soap.
The lather is thin and very short lived: this initially disappoints. However, as the gentleman who makes the soap told me, the secret is in the lubricating film that is left on the skin. This is very pleasant and very slick.
These are hand-made vegetable soaps, rich in olive oil, produced on the Ligurian coast, the Italian Riviera, where some of the purest and finest olive oil is produced. The Liguria region is adjacent to the French Cote d'Azur and to Marseille, the French capital of high quality soapmaking. Many of the French soapmakers have moved their operation across the border, into Italy. Some of the oldest soap brands of Marseille, like "L'Amande" are now Italian owned and operated.
I gave the La Riana shaving soap a try and I experienced for the first time a different type of shaving soap.
First, let me start by saying that I used the latest, improved formula, just in from the factory. Some outlets are dumping older La Riana soaps on the market; my comments only refer to the latest version.
First: what the La Riana is NOT:
1. it's definitely NOT a traditional shaving soap. The lather is very airy and disappears quickly from the face.
2. it's NOT a tallow-based soap or a glycerin based soap.
What IT IS:
1. a handmade, olive oil soap, enrichened with castor oil, coconut oil and other natural emollients.
2. it is all-natural, with scents that are subtle and very pleasant.
The shave:
the soap is very hard and dense; the smallish 80g cake should last a long time. I found that I had to scrub hard with my pure badger brush to get enough soap for a good amount of lather. I would imagine that a boar brush would be best with this soap.
The lather is thin and very short lived: this initially disappoints. However, as the gentleman who makes the soap told me, the secret is in the lubricating film that is left on the skin. This is very pleasant and very slick.
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The
lather from the La Riana soap is rather thin and does not last long.
The olive oil rich formula, however, provides plenty of lubrication and
allows a very close shave, even after the the near disappearance of the
lather |
I got a
fantastic shave with this soap. Even though most of the lather quickly
disappears, the razor glides on the skin effortlessly. The soap also
seems to do a great job at conditioning the beard. After two passes, I
had a superb shave, zero irritation and absolutely no nicks. Even in
spots where I was a bit too aggressive with the razor, the soap
provided a great amount of protection.
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The La Riana soap comes in six different varieties, all scented with natural vegetable essential oils.
The scents are: Bay Leaf, Lavender, Grapefruit, Sage, Sandalwood and unscented.
The scents are: Bay Leaf, Lavender, Grapefruit, Sage, Sandalwood and unscented.
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Conclusions: if you
are looking for a thick and rich lather, this soap will disappoint you.
If you give it a try, however, you'll find that it gives a superb,
close shave and lots of skin care. I could actually smell the virgin
olive oil and my skin feels absolutely great. In fact, it's probably
the best skin-care shaving soap I have.
I used the Grapefruit scented soap: it smells like Citronella to me and it's very hard to discern any grapefruit scent, but the citrusy scent is very pleasant and mixes well with the faint olive oil notes that are in the soap base.
The tin is small, but this hard soap should provide many shaves. I think it would make a perfect travel soap.
Definitely different, but surprisingly effective.
I used the Grapefruit scented soap: it smells like Citronella to me and it's very hard to discern any grapefruit scent, but the citrusy scent is very pleasant and mixes well with the faint olive oil notes that are in the soap base.
The tin is small, but this hard soap should provide many shaves. I think it would make a perfect travel soap.
Definitely different, but surprisingly effective.
© 2008 by Giovanni Abrate - All Rights Reserved