The smell of Cella

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:02 am

loueedacat1 wrote:
bernards66 wrote:Fortunately the women I hang out with don't smell like ghee and salt. The Cella I had merely smelled insipid and vaguely unpleasant when I got it. But after a year it had seriously gone 'off' and had to be tossed.
Regards,
Gordon
By scent of a woman, I meant the scent of a particular region.....

TMI

kronos9 · Post by **kronos9** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:12 am

Time to get out the thread bleach.

m3m0ryleak · Post by **m3m0ryleak** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:10 am

All this Sturm und Drang caused me to unearth my Cella soap which resides in a Pyrex bowl with a snap on plastic lid . I spooned it out of the OEM Ferrari colored bowl sometime ago for easier brush lathering. Still smells the same to me a year after purchase, muted almond and "something" else, but still not objectionable. Color best described as a pearlescent parchment, not at all like the snow white sample Phil sent me sometime ago. With 500g of Tipo Duro to use, I suppose the Cella will make a nice hand soap or possibly bath soap.

gil3591 · Post by **gil3591** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:52 am

i am considering buying the kilo size of cella. i think it would be a wonderful hand soap

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:36 pm

Gil, good luck locating one. It seems they're sold out. Evidently there is a stirring sentiment out there in shaving land that the Kilo (it does have a different name) is slightly different: i.e. better, than the little red corvette version. Flying off the shelves at $50 a pop, none the less.

gil3591 · Post by **gil3591** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:43 pm

brothers wrote:Gil, good luck locating one. It seems they're sold out. Evidently there is a stirring sentiment out there in shaving land that the Kilo (it does have a different name) is slightly different: i.e. better, than the little red corvette version. Flying off the shelves at $50 a pop, none the less.

bullgoose has them for $42 and he doesn't say he's sold out. just not sure if i want to spend all that on soap. hmmm!

brothers · Post by **brothers** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:49 pm

I was adding the cost of shipping. I must have been mistaken about it being sold out everywhere. Good for Phil. He'll be sold out soon enough.

So if you do decide to take the plunge, let me know and we can split two ways, or maybe more if there are others who are curious. I've not had pleasant experiences with Cella, as I've said, but since you seem to be going through the same thing with multiple attempts to conquer the Futur, you understand.

drumana · Post by **drumana** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:57 pm

gil3591 wrote:
brothers wrote:Gil, good luck locating one. It seems they're sold out. Evidently there is a stirring sentiment out there in shaving land that the Kilo (it does have a different name) is slightly different: i.e. better, than the little red corvette version. Flying off the shelves at $50 a pop, none the less.
bullgoose has them for $42 and he doesn't say he's sold out. just not sure if i want to spend all that on soap. hmmm!

If you like Cella, the kilo is an incredible deal. I'm thinking of getting one myself. Supposedly, from gents who are familiar, keeping it wrapped air tight and out of sunlight prevents any kind of spoilage.

BullGoose · Post by **BullGoose** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:34 pm

[quote="drumanabullgoose has them for $42 and he doesn't say he's sold out. just not sure if i want to spend all that on soap. hmmm/quote]

Unfortunately I am sold out of the Kilo at the moment but I am expecting a shipment any day now (hopefully Monday).

gil3591 · Post by **gil3591** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:58 pm

when i use cella i'm always impressed by how my hands and face feel afterwards from the tallow. i think it would be a wonderful hand/face soap.

m3m0ryleak · Post by **m3m0ryleak** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:20 pm

Gil,

I've used the Cella as a hand soap for two days now, it works very well as such. Though it's rather awkward to use since it's so soft compared to say a bar soap. I keep a plastic spoon in the glass bowl of Cella and smear a wee bit into the palm of my hand and then pass my hands under running water. It doesn't take much by the way. If there's a possible group buy on a kilo of Cella, I'm in !.

jhclare · Post by **jhclare** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:23 am

I'm neutral on the scent. It's dry almond and a hint of something else, I guess the natural ingredients.

However, if there's a soap out there that out-performs it, I want to know.

In my opinion it beats MWF, Harris, Trumpers, and even Moos/Tabac. I'd even go as far to say it performs better than MdC. Slippery as... a very slippery thing.

John

95% · Post by **95%** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:38 am

John - the "something else" in the scent is fat. Animal fat, tallow. That's what some of us object to. Other products with tallow, like Tabac and Speick, do a better job than almond oil of masking that natural fatty smell. I can even detect a trace of it in Harris Almond soap, another product with tallow.

I was initially very keen on Cella because of its superior lather, but since I can shave with any soap or cream, I decided to give it up.

bernards66 · Post by **bernards66** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:04 pm

Well, despite what many seem to think about the Cella lather, I wasn't all that impressed with it in that department either. The scent was the main turn-off but I might have been more inclined to work with it a little more if the lather was as good as it apparently is for some other members. For me, it was on the thin side and some of my usual tricks to get it to thicken up were not that successful. Interestingly, I find the AoS soap lather to be a bit weak in the cushion department as well, although the lather at least looks better than what I was able to squeeze out of the Cella. Admittedly, my water is not the greatest, but I don't have these issues with the Trumper or Harris's soaps.
Regards,
Gordon

colinmono · Post by **colinmono** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:30 am

Gordon, I suspect it is a water issue. Where I live, I get better lather from Cella or Valobra than I do from Harris or Trumpers (Harris is a close third place).

Gene · Post by **Gene** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:38 am

I bought a red tub several months ago...and I like it.

I tend to group all my soaps into the same catagory - sort of difficult to lather, and slightly less cushion than cream.

But the Cella lathers nicely for me, and the performance is very nice. It's a permanent part of my rotation for sure.

If it had the same scent as the T&H Almond I would probably never use anything else, but like all things in our world that's a YMMV.

loueedacat1 · Post by **loueedacat1** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:01 am

colinmono wrote:Gordon, I suspect it is a water issue. Where I live, I get better lather from Cella or Valobra than I do from Harris or Trumpers (Harris is a close third place).

ditto

I go

1.cella
2. AOS/valobra
3. Harris
30. Trumper

Must be something in the water as they say.

ATLpr8head · Post by **ATLpr8head** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:13 am

I have used Cella for a week straight with a Simpson Colonel and I must say.....there must be some bad batches out there. Mine is very lightly scented and lathers into some of the thickest lather I have seen. I do admit that the lather is light after I lather off the soap but once it hits the face it grows and grows and grows. Very nice and pleasant. I do think the soap has a tendency to spoil though because of the nasty scent descriptions.

hoffo · Post by **hoffo** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:45 am

This morning was my first shave with Cella - definitely a favorite now!

That lather just wouldn't quit! Even with a middle-of-the-road Altesse brush it just kept on - super thick, great smell, and left my face just as refreshed as can be. Close to BBS - not there yet though.