Shaving with PantaRei's Fresco Di Sicilia and the Muhle Rocca R95
Hello everyone. It’s a sunny summer day here, sunshine coming straight through the skylight, and I’ve got another Italian artisan soap to run through. This one’s Fresco Di Sicilia from Panta. Beautiful packaging, classy label, exactly what you expect from an Italian artisan. And honestly, it might be one of the best manly summer scents I’ve tried in a while.
This isn’t my first shave with this one. It’s fresh, light citrus, not overly sweet, really well balanced. There’s something slightly spicy and herbal in there too, not overpowering, plus some floral elements. I’m bad at describing scents, so that’s about as precise as I can get. Just trust me, it’s beautiful.
The Lather
I already did a light brush load before starting, and something weird happened. If you look closely, you’ll see these tiny little balls, like little dots, smudged because I loaded gently. For some reason this time, maybe because the weather’s hotter, they started shaping into cream almost immediately and stuck right to the brush.
I don’t know what’s in there causing it. Maybe the oils, maybe some of the skin food ingredients, but that load generated a ton of thick, dense lather from barely any effort. Less than 10 swirls and I had enough for multiple shaves, easy. This went into my Brousseau and Dov bowl with my cream soda brush, and just look at that lather sitting in there. Genuinely creamy.
This isn’t my first time with Panta either. My friend Brett let me borrow his last Panta set, and Fresco Di Sicilia is his favorite. I get why. Once you actually lather it, the scent gets even better, not stronger exactly, just fresher, like the blend opens up.
Some of those little hardened balls were still in there, so I had to whip the brush a bit longer to break them all down. Once I did, I had more lather than I knew what to do with. I’ve seen this happen with other bases before, even some tallow soaps, but never quite like this with Panta. I wonder if the summer heat had something to do with how the base reacted to the brush load.
The Razor and Blade
For this shave I reached for my Muhle Rocca with the birch bark handle, which matches the label nicely. I used this same razor recently comparing it against my Edwin Jagger 316, and that one had to go back to the retailer. There was a defect in the assembly, something off with the knurling on the handle, and unfortunately it was their last unit of that variation, so there was no replacement to be had. I’d rather return a razor with a problem than keep something that isn’t right.
Blade inside is a Gillette Silver Blue, on its fourth and probably final use.
The Shave
First pass, and right away I noticed something. Rubbing a dry finger across my skin, the residual slickness was off the charts. My past shaves with Panta have had good residual slickness, but this time, even with a vegan base, it wasn’t holding back at all. Going into this with a day and a half of growth.
After rinsing off the first pass, that residual thickness was still there, and it’s fantastic. Panta’s post-shave feel is already good on a normal day, but this time everything felt turned up. Those little dots were still visible in the lather, plenty left, and the shave itself had zero issues. The razor glided smooth the whole way. Rich, creamy lather, not high structure, exactly how I like it.
Second pass, I went against the grain right away. No complications, no problems, just an easy pass.
By the end I’d gone quiet, which doesn’t happen often on these videos. The lather from this soap just feels that good on the face, and the scent stays refreshing the whole way through. I took the opportunity to enjoy it instead of talking over it.
After the Shave
Even after two passes my face was still wet and I was still thinking about that slickness. There was a ton of lather left over, honestly enough for someone else to shave with. A few of those little balls were still in there too, but they never caused a single issue during the shave. If anything they felt like a tiny exfoliant while I washed my face afterward.
My skin was a little extra dry going in, and there was some redness after, but that’s just how my skin is, not razor burn.
The Splash
Time for the splash, which is alcohol based like most of Panta’s aftershaves. It stung a little more than usual because my skin was already dry, but that faded in a few seconds. A few minutes later it settles into something that feels less like an alcohol splash and more like you followed it up with your favorite moisturizing balm. Strange feeling, in a good way. Generous pour, and the scent just gets better from there. More summery, more fresh, everything about it turned up a notch.
Final Thoughts
I’ve tried three different Panta sets at this point and every one has been great. I honestly couldn’t tell you which is my favorite. But if I’m picking one for summer, this might be it.
One thing worth mentioning: Panta’s US and Canada availability has been hit or miss. Last time I checked their site, a lot of the lineup was gone. They’re apparently still scaling up on the hardware side of the operation, so if a set like this ever catches your eye, check their site for availability rather than assuming it’ll be there.
Thanks again to Brett for letting me borrow this set. He makes it hard for me to use my own gear because he’s always handing me something new, telling me I have to try it. Go check out his channel, he explains scents way better than I do, and give him a follow on Instagram if you’re there.
Thanks for joining me for this shave. I’ll see you in the next one. Until then, stay safe and enjoy smooth shaves.