Howdy there! Bambulance coming to you today with a review and comparison of my two favorite mass produced soaps, Proraso (we will be using Red today) and Clubman Pinaud. Lets start off with what I mean by mass produced. I'm including this term to refer to a soap that is non artisan and made in large batches meant to be sold all over the place. I use both of these soaps in my regular rotation and will be going over the diffrent aspects of each. We will review price point (I will use USA amazon as price refrence since that is my go to), ease of lather, slickness, cushion, and after-feel. As a control I will be bowl lathering both soaps with my trusty scratched up cereal bowl, and my Virginia Sheng 2 Band Badger. Both lathers will be with a 5 minute soak, and one large shake of the brush to knock out excess water. Lets start with Clubman. The price point on Clubman is a little less than Proraso but you are getting 3 ounces less in a tub. What can make it cheaper is you can sometimes find a 4 pack for $15. This is not quite a croap but it is definitely a soft soap. When taking a chunk out to bowl lather it reminds me of hardened coconut oil or chapstick. Very simple and easy to scoop a almond size amount out into the bowl. After spreading the soap out it lathered up to a decent lather in about 45 seconds. Lather is very slick, I'd say more so than Proraso yet not as cushiony. Covers very well and has enough lather for 3 passes with cleanup. Smell on the Pinaud is very very mild. It does indeed smell like the classic aftershave but it is so mild that you might forget it's there while enjoying your shave. This is great if you want to use a specific aftershave that dosnt pair well with any of your other soaps. As for the after feel my skin is slightly oily, and is always left with a hydrated feel. Deffinitly does not dry out your skin. Very moisturizing. Onward to Proraso! Proraso Red. I'm using red here since I am a huge Sandalwood fan. Price point on Proraso Red is hard to beat. It can usually be found on Amazon for $10 with prime shipping. For $10 you get 5.2 Oz. That is little over double what you get with Clubman. The soap is a soft soap easily scooped out with a finger. A little harder than Clubman. The smell is honestly my favorite version of Sandlewood I have yet to find including most Artisan soaps. Using the same method as the clubman I was able to obtain a great lather in about 70 seconds. Took a little longer since it is a little more of a thirsty soap than clubman. The lather has amazing cushion and decent slickness. I'd say Proraso wins on cushion here. The smell lasts the entire shave and is very pleasant without being overwhelming. Again I was able to get three passes with cleanup out of a single almond sized glob of soap. The after feel of Proraso always amazes me. Deffinitly the winner here and combined with Proraso Red Aftershave your skin will be thanking you. Well guys Thanks for the read and go try both of these soaps. Here is a album for reference. https://imgur.com/a/N0SFI Sent from my LGUS997 using Tapatalk
I'm 100% with you on the scent of Proraso Red! I love Sandalwood myself, and this is my favorite so far. Love the earthyness of it. Great comparison to. I haven't used Clubman before, but seen a couple videos on it. Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk
Thank you for the reviews. My favorite proraso soap is the white. I would recommend it to any proraso fans. Have you tried Fine soaps or musgo real? I also enjoy TOBS (Specifically...jermyn Street) and Truefitt and Hill (1805 in particular)
I've got a soap coming from Italy when my bride gets back Wednesday. So I'll keep this review of Clubman in the back of my mind for down the road.
You should do a showdown of the two I have a thread I’m starting for showdowns between two soaps. I’m doing a showdown between Proraso Red and Cella this week. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
