The Omega Experience

The other day I was placing an order on line for a shave brush and as is my wont, I ordered a few extra inexpensive items just because it’s fun. One of the cheap things I picked up was a tub of Omega shave soap. And, here is where things and my memory are having problems. Omega is the same as Proraso only cheaper… right? My memory of Proraso cream in the tube is that it was a little rough on my face. But it had been years since I had used it, so, I guess I wanted to reconfirm that I didn’t like Proraso. Yesterday, I opened the tub of Omega and swirled my brush around in it and then lathered up on my face. How odd, no irritation, it felt rather nice. I did my usual 3-pass shave and it was thoroughly enjoyable – and my face was exceptionally close shaven. So close in fact that when I woke up this morning, I could have skipped shaving and looked just fine.

So, now I’m curious, is there a difference between Omega and Proraso? Is there a difference between the soft cream in the tube and the soap in the tub that would explain the lack of irritation? Is it a miracle? Or more likely, have I gone insane?

Whatever the reason, this spring will be all the more wonderful with my tub of Omega being a frequent option in my daily shave.

 

The Omega cream and soap are manufactured by Proraso. I can't speak personally for the creams being identical, but I've heard they're very similar. The Omega soap is identical to the Proraso soap, I have both. There's a difference between the creams and the soaps; but they're both eucalyptus and menthol based. I doubt that cleared anything up BTW-They all give me great shaves.

 

There is a very large cosmetics lab/manufacturer based in Florence/Firenze named Martelli. Martelli makes their own shave cream/soap which is branded and sold as "Proraso." They also private label for Omega, Santa Maria Novella, and CO Bigelow. All of the formulas are the same basically with the exception of scent/menthol/eucalyptus. Personally I favor the Omega version.

Chris

 

Chris,

Is the Santa Maria Novella also the same product / same scent? I have heard of this before, but don't recall any specifics.

Thanks!
Neale

 

I did some poking around the internet to see if there were any other comments or reviews concerning the difference (if any) between Proraso and Omega. It was remarked by a couple of people that they thought Omega was a bit smoother. One person said that Omega contains lanolin and Proraso doesn’t. An interesting point, but I can not confirm it.

 

another kind of Omega shaving cream

Guys, there's also an Omega shaving cream in a blue tube, which comes from Pakistan. The only good things about this cream are the lather, and the price, because it has a strong, soapy scent, and little or no skincare.

 

The SMN "formula" is very similar to the other Martelli produced creams. I cannot say it is eaxactly the same as the ingredients list is not a perfect match and even if it was the list doesn't explicitly tell you the exact amount of each ingredient. A similar phenomenon exists within the traditional english shave cream brands all being produced by Creightons.

The SMN product is scented a bit differently from the Omega and Proraso and as has been pointed out is much more expensive. SMN is a "luxury" brand in the general sense and as such one would expect different marketing/pricing than a "drugstore" brand like Proraso. This is a typical phenomenon within the entire cosmetics industry worldwide so it is no surprise/nothing new.

Chris

 

Yes, that would be truly amazing. Talk about good marketing.

 

Are there any equivalents in these creams to the discontinued Proraso Red?

I've stocked up on enough of that to last a while if it doesn't go bad on me, but sure will miss it when there's no more to be had.

 

i feel your pain. my cuboard's full, too. however, by the time it dwindles i gotta think that surely proraso will have a sensitive skin cream back to market.