Heads up, Ach Brito Shaving Soap back in stock :)

Asfalloth

Legendary Member
Ok credit to Marco for this content below, here’s your info Steve :)

The history of the Ach. Brito company dates back to 1887, in Portugal. It was then that Ferdinand Claus and George Schweder, two Germans living in Porto, started their own soap and perfume factory called after their name "Claus & Schweder".
In 1918 this society was acquired by Achilles de Brito and renamed "Ach. Brito & C.a Ld.a".
The Ach. Brito company quickly built a very solid reputation for being one of the world's best, thanks to the greatness of its soaps, the uniqueness of its fragrances and the overall superior quality of its entire range of products.
However, some marketing difficulties began to appear in the late 1980's - early 1990's and, consequently, the brand's name began to fade... Changes were needed and in 1994 the leadership of the company passed to Aquiles and Sonia Brito, great-grandchildren of Achilles de Brito. It was with their leadership that Ach. Brito started a profound process of renovation and modernization of its production procedures and facilities. But it was mandatory to maintain the old tradition of the soap manufacturing alive, at all costs. And this is exactly what the top managers of Ach. Brito did: they combined the modern technology of our days with the ancient wisdom of the Master Soap Makers of the past, the key element thanks to which this century-old company has always been famous for, everywhere.

With this spirit and awareness classic lines of products were updated just a few years ago and a new one has recently been launched on the market. This new range is called Mogno (translated from Portuguese it means "Mahogany") and consists of a shaving soap, a shaving cream and a bath soap.

The Mogno product I desire to review is the outstanding shaving soap.

Here is the ingredients list: Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Aqua (Water), Sodium Stearate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Palm Kernel Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, PEG-9 Cocoglycerides, Talc, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Pentasodium Pentetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Linalool, Limonene, Butylphenyl Methylpropional, Gerianol.

The packaging of the Mogno shaving soap is a simple yet beautiful cardboard box. Its vintage style and graphics highlight the concept I've put in the title of my thread: this is a brand new product that looks (and behaves!) like an Old School classic.
What really surprises is the shape of the soap because it's rectangular, rather than round. This very unusual shape for a shaving soap actually makes it look like a bath soap. But, at the same time, it's easy to hold in the hand and, if you prefer, you can also use it as a giant stick for building lather.

The scent is a complex masculine fragrance that combines acquatic and woodsy notes. To my nose it's a fantastic cologne-type scent, reminiscence of the great ones used by our grandfathers. It is not too strong or overpowering, but it's there and it's a wonderful fragrance to enjoy during the shave.

Latherability is excellent. With no efforts at all you can rapidly build-up a superb lather that is extremely stable, thick and rich.

Performance is top-notch. The soap is very slick and provides plenty of glide for both a DE blade and a straight edge.

Post shave is very good, too. Although, the soap does not contain any tallow, shea butter or lanolin, it leaves your face conditioned and silky smooth.

Price is another winning point: a bar of soap costs around €4,00 here in Europe. Considering that this is a hard soap (not sure if triple milled, though), it's also going to last a long time.

My final thoughts are that the new Mogno is an easy to use, low-budget shaving soap with no drawbacks of any kind. And most importantly it's a terrific all around performer, on a par with the finest Old School classics. Very highly recommended.
 

J-B-M

Forum GOD!
I have been intrigued by this one. It pops up on SOTD sometimes and the ach brito lavanda cream is a top performer, not just at the price point but overall.
 
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