I've been wanting to try some factory soaps and creams for a while because even though I love the scents, performance, and sheer variety of artisan soaps, every artisan fragrance that I've tried to date seems to cause at least a mild amount of irritation. I've had good results with other scented factory products so I figured it was worth a shot. I was inspired by this thread to order some Proraso cream samples, and I'll be reviewing all four of them here. I also liked the review format so I'll try sticking to the same template. First up is Proraso green: I kept the shave as simple as possible in order to give the most priority to the cream. This meant skipping the pre-shave balm that I normally use. I shaved with a Slim set on a 5 loaded with a Voskhod (2). I splashed some water on my face, scooped some cream into a scuttle, and I began lathering up with a Whipped Dog synthetic with most of the water squeezed out, adding droplets of water as needed. Ease of lathering: (10/10) Loading a soap can be tricky for me because the brush needs to have the perfect amount of water in order to properly load soap. There was no thinking involved here since it's a cream so I was able to just scoop it from the sample tub and into the scuttle. Once I had added enough water, I got a very thick, creamy lather that was absolutely perfect. It shouldn't be hard to achieve a perfect lather every time from here on out. Life span of lather: (10/10) The lather was shaving commercial worthy and it stayed that way throughout the shave. I am an extremely slow shaver and I had no trouble whatsoever with the lather drying up during the entire course of my shave. Lubrication: (10/10) I've seen creams knocked by other reviewers for not being slick enough, but I found the slickness to be superb. Add a dab of water to skin that has already been shaved and the residual slickness is good enough for touching up without reapplying the lather. Protection: (10/10) The lather was creamy and the shave was smooth even though the Voskhod wasn't as smooth as it normally is. The lather compensated for any imperfections with this particular blade. Scent: (10/10) This is where the cream sealed the deal for me. I don't even know what eucalyptus smells like but I loved this scent. Have you ever stumbled upon a beautiful song that you hadn't heard in decades? This scent was much like that. It reminded me of a fragrance that I haven't smelled since I was a little kid. It took me way back and I had no idea that a scent could make me feel so happy. Fair bit of warning: there were traces of what reminded me of Vicks VapoRub but it really wasn't medicinal at all. I absolutely love this scent. Post-shave: (10/10) This is the moment of truth. No matter how well a cream performs or how good it smells, none of it matters if it irritates my skin even a little bit. Usually, the irritation kicks into overdrive hours after shaving. I shaved late today since I have some overnight obligations today, so I need more time to decide but so far, so good. My mouse is already hovering over the "add to cart" button on this cream since I am elated that my face isn't burning up right now, but I need to be patient and ensure that it stays that way. The menthol is making it hard to feel the effects of the fragrance oils alone. Another plus is that the scent gets even better for a little while the shave. Any hints of the medical topical cream completely fade away leaving behind a very soothing scent. Price: (10/10) Even without any special discounts, this cream is very inexpensive. Money is extremely tight for me right now but this won't break the bank. Overall: (10/10) It feels a little strange giving a mass produced factory product a perfect score since I can't think of a single other mass produced product that is this good, but the cream deserves this score. Just remember that your mileage may vary so this still might not be for everyone, but there are samples so it's worth checking out. At this moment, I couldn't be happier due to the nostalgic scent and the lack of irritation. If my face stays this way well into the late evening, I will be on cloud nine. My only complaint is that I'm not crazy about the menthol. Menthol in general gives me a slight burning sensation but the end result was soothing once I washed away any remaining lather. Come spring and summer, I will switch back to cold water shaving and I'm sure that the menthol will feel much better at that time. For those who live life so that every day is menthol Monday, I think that you will love this cream. I'm looking at you, @crackstar.
Wow. Straight 10's. This'll be tough to beat. I enjoy the Proraso green too. I have a tube (actually the C.O. Bigelow) that I always take with me when I travel. The only drawback, and it's a small one, is that it tends to leave a white film on my razor. No biggy, easy to wipe clean. There is a thread with a link to a tube of the green for less than $7.00 shipped. That's quite a deal.
I've read of the white film issue so I will be keeping an eye out for this. It seems like something that takes some time to develop however so I could deduct points for something like this, but one shave doesn't seem like enough to start noticing the residue. I also should have used all four creams before reviewing since it does seem a little silly to give perfects 10s across the board, but I can always go back and change things once I try everything. I'm not even sure that I can pick a favorite. At first I wasn't crazy about red but the more I smell it, the more I like it. I might just have to pick up all four creams when I buy the full sizes since I'm really enjoying all of them.
Proraso Green was my first soap. It might be the reason why I am partial to it. I also agree with @americanshamrock that red good, but not a close second.
lollllll My experience with Proraso Green has been love/hate. For a long time I loved it, then I started to hate it. Now once again, I love it. I just don't find that strongly-mentholated but it's cooling enough!
i have been using williams or wilkinson blue bowl and brush for years,even with cartridge mach 3s.proraso green was my first with de ,the only soap i could find instore. love it with the green preshave.now i have the red,i use both equally.wife like the white.
Tuxxdk already gave an excellent review of the red soap that is worth reading. As I did previously, I kept the shave as simple as possible to give the cream priority. I shaved with a Slim set on a 5 and loaded with a Voskhod (3). The Voskhod was tugging a bit on my first pass and it ended up being a little harsh on my upper lip but otherwise the final result was very good. Unfortunately, this is the last Voskhod in my sample pack so I will have to forgo consistency and use a different brand of blade for my next few shaves with the remaining creams. Ease of lathering: (10/10) No surprise here, it performed just as well as Proraso green. I wrung out way too much water from the brush this time but I had no trouble getting another commercial quality lather after slowly adding drops of water until it was perfect. Life span of lather: (10/10) As I stated previously, I am the sloth shaver and most likely the slowest shaver in the world. I had no issues with the lather drying up in spite of my criminally long shave. Lubrication: (10/10) I don’t have any complaints about the slickness or lack thereof. Again, the residual slickness is good enough to do touch ups without reapplying lather, although I try to avoid doing this no matter how well soap or cream performs. Protection: (10/10) The Voskhod was feeling pretty harsh while going over some of my trouble areas. I caught myself absentmindedly applying pressure at one point but I still didn’t end up with so much as even a little razor burn. Scent: (9/10) I struggled with this category for a while because I didn’t want to deduct any points. The scent emanated nicely from the scuttle while lathering up, which is something that I don’t always get with my soaps. I’ve seen this fragrance described as being “earthy,” and I feel that’s a very apt description. I also think that it has a bit of a buttery quality to it. I’m only taking a point off because one, it doesn’t seem right to give every cream perfect 10s across the board and two, the other three creams really grabbed my attention a lot more when I initially smelled all of them. I also found it weird how the scent improves a lot only after lathering up. I said that the green fragrance took me back to my childhood but red goes even further and took me back to pre-school. Before lathering up, the cream is almost reminiscent of clean diapers and baby wipes. Very strange. Post-shave: (10/10) I think that I really need an entire day to judge this since irritation can sometimes really kick in many hours after shaving but a lot of time has already elapsed so I think that I’m in the clear. It is such an unexpected yet pleasant feeling to not have any noticeable burning after shaving. I’ve almost come to accept irritation from fragrances as a fact of life after my experience with my other shaving soaps and aftershaves but now I’m seeing that I can still enjoy amazing scents without being in constant pain afterwards. The red line also has shea butter, which is a great ingredient for dry skin in my experience. I didn’t notice it as much as I do with one of my favorite soaps that also incorporates shea butter, but my face felt very soft after shaving. I normally can’t walk away from a shave without applying some cream or lotion, but I’ve been avoiding this in order to really ensure that the Proraso creams aren’t causing any irritation. I felt good for several hours but I had to apply some cream later in the day because it is way too dry right now and even my hands are chapping up like nobody’s business. Price: (10/10) I can’t find any steep discounts on the red cream like I could with the green cream but even at full retail price, it’s a good deal. Overall: (9.9/10) This is another winner for me and I will be buying the full size cream as long as I don’t suddenly get any irritation tonight. I’m not keen on menthol in my lather so this was a huge plus over the green cream. The lack of menthol coupled with the “warmer” scent would make this a great choice for the winter. The post-shave is fantastic too. I stopped using Aqua Velva because I find that it’s too drying for me but I haven’t had any issues since coupling it with this cream. Is it the shea butter? I don’t know. All I do know is that I really like this cream.
I need to do a better job at reading item descriptions before buying them. It turns out that the sampler from Maggard includes three creams and one soap with Proraso white being the soap. This makes for a pretty unfair comparison but I have to work with what I have. I decided to go with a Nacet since it was one of my favorite blades in my sample pack alongside the Voskhod. My setup was therefore a Slim set on a 5 with a Nacet (1), and I followed up with Aqua Velva as I have been doing since I know that it doesn't irritate my skin even though it's far from my ideal aftershave. For anyone quickly glancing through this thread and just looking at the overall scores, please note that this is a SOAP review, unlike my other reviews that involve the creams. Ease of lathering: (9/10) It took a bit more effort to lather the soap compared to the creams. I think that I started with too much product and I had to add a lot more water compared to when I had used the creams. Even then, I ended up feeling like it could've used even more water because the lather in my second pass seemed somewhat dry. Life span of lather: (9/10) This is not approved for slow shavers but keep in mind that I might be the slowest shaver in the world. I somehow took even longer than usual today, spending probably close to 20 minutes just on my two passes alone. I can't remember the last time that I took this long to shave and I'm sure that the average guy would have given this category a perfect score. Lubrication: (9/10) Again, I felt like this could have used a bit more water but I was apprehensive because I had already added quite a bit of water. I also don't know what it is about the spare blades in my sample pack, but all of them have been vastly inferior to the first blade. The Nacet felt like it was tugging initially in my trouble spots, so the blade could be partly to blame for what felt like a lack of glide. Protection: (10/10) It might have not been as slick as the green and red creams, but the lather was thick and beautiful. I made a few bad moves with the razor but I didn't notice any lasting damage after finishing up. Scent: (9.5/10) This might have been my favorite scent by a very small margin when I initially smelled all of the samples. Before lathering, I could smell what I assume was the green tea and a hint of freshly cut grass. After lathering, I think that the cardboard fragrance of the oatmeal kicked in. This is the only Proraso product so far that smells better before lathering. I'm only taking off half a point because the scent actually wasn't strong enough. I loved the green tea and freshly cut grass smell, and I wanted it to have more staying power like the green and red creams. Post-shave: (10/10) This is where the soap really shines. It deserves an 11/10 to differentiate it from green and red but I don't want to get ahead of myself because if the blue cream ends up being even better, then it would be ridiculous to give it a 12/10. I don't know what it is about this soap but I genuinely feel that rather than simply not causing irritation, it actually combats irritation and razor burn. I made two noticeable mistakes while shaving and I also made the big mistake of apply pressure in one spot where I felt the blade tug, but I have zero irritation or razor burn now. I can hardly even tell that I shaved apart from the fact that I look as smooth as a baby. I was also able to get a closer shave than when I had used the green and red creams, and normally closer shaves come with a price but not this time. Absolutely fantastic post-shave. Price: (10/10) This was a pointless category for this thread because this rating is going to be the same for all four creams/soaps. Overall: (9.5/10) Remember this is a SOAP review, not a review of the white cream!! With the exception of the scent not being as strong as I'd have liked, I'm pretty sure that all of the other points that I deducted had more to do with the fact that this was a soap and not a cream. There was some user error as a result because I should have added a few more drops of water. With this in mind, I think that this is actually my favorite in the lineup so far solely because it seems to actively address my biggest issue, which is irritation. I should definitely have some serious razor burn around my chin right now but I feel absolutely nothing. I'm am skeptical that rubbing green tea and oatmeal extract on your face somehow helps but I can't deny the results. The post-shave feel is out of this world even though I feel like the soap was a bit more drying compared to the creams. I should also mention that I was surprised to find that the white soap is mentholated. It doesn't feel anywhere near as strongly mentholated as the green cream but it was noticeable. As I stated before, I'm not a fan of menthol in my lather, at least not when I need to immediately go and shovel snow outside. In spite of this, I'm sure that I will love the cream version a lot more and I think that I will use it more often than the green and red creams. It's one thing to find a soap or cream that doesn't cause irritation, but it's infinitely nicer to find something that seems to eliminate irritation and razor burn altogether. I really want to give this an 11/10 overall just for the post-shave but again, this is a review of the soap and not the cream, and I definitely feel that the cream would've performed better.
Nicely done reviews. Like others, Proraso Green was my first shaving cream albeit in the C O Bigelow tube. Then I bought a tube of the real deal. I find that I don't use it as much as my other creams. So, for the rest of this week during my blade Focus, I'll be using the green for my shaves.
I'm not a Proraso user but I do make my own shaving soap and can compare ingredient lists. There's nothing there indicating that Proraso isn't "the real deal" just because it's mass produced. The mythology surrounding artisan soap making is just that IMO. Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
I've noticed that a lot of people seem to think that Proraso is highly overrated or much inferior to their artisan soaps, but I've really been enjoying the creams. Tomorrow I will be using the blue cream and I'm really looking forward to it. The Proraso products seem to use a few more synthetic ingredients compared to artisan soaps, but I don't think that necessarily makes for an inferior product. Maybe it's because I place really great value on fragrances that don't cause any irritation but these creams have ended up becoming my favorite product for lathering. I have one soap that has better performance and a much nicer post-shave feel, but that doesn't matter so much to me when it burns my face. In that respect, I guess the post-shave feel is much worse.
