Italy is a country whose national identity, culture, and lucrative tourism industry is based on preserving the old, slow ways of doing things. While the Gillette/ Borg cartridge pushing collective is making inroads here, it never erased DE shaving, like it did in America. It’s great to observe that while DE shaving is enjoying a renaissance in the US, it never really fell out of favor here in Italy. Except for my travel kit, I’ve remained true to DE shaving.įast forward 16 years and I am once again living temporarily in Bologna, Italy. Truth be told, I was shamed back to DE shaving by Italian colleagues who claimed that no self-respecting man used a disposable cartridge razor. In 2004, while living temporarily in Bologna, Italy, I rediscovered DE shaving. Upon leaving home for Uni, I began a many decades wander in the desert of multi-blade cartridge razors. The goal of this article is to introduce (or reintroduce) readers to the glories of premium and more affordable Italian shave software.Īs a past Sharpologist article chronicles, I began my shaving life with my father’s DE razor. However, when our thoughts travel south down to Italy, they land on the ubiquitous corner drug store brand – and yes, it is available at every corner drug store in Italy. It is interesting that in the American wet shave community, old-school British shave translates to the three T’s – premium shave creams/soaps and possibly the even older and pricier Yardley brand. While it may not top many “best shaving cream” lists based on shave quality alone, if one were to somehow relate some numeric measure of shave quality to cost per shave, I am confident Proraso, regardless of color/flavor (green, red, white, or blue) would be a serious contender. Yep, Proraso! The 112 year old shave cream from Florence, Italy.
Quick what is the first name that comes to mind when you think “old-school Italian shave?”