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Anything head and shoulders better than the new improved Proraso Blue?

mcee_sharp

MCEAPWINMOLQOVTIAAWHAMARTHAEHOAIDIAMRHDAE
Proraso Blue is about the best performing product I have used in my dozen or so years.

You will get people who hate it and people who love it.

Blue is also what I measure other soaps/creams against. It's about as good as it gets in performance and ease of lathering.

It's a bit harder to find in Canada recently. Amazon was my go-to source for it for years. They have been out of stock for some time now. Our local stores don't stock the Blue.

If it was $6 and local for me, I wouldn't use anything else.

The best deal I've found so far is at Fendrihan (yet to order from there tho), enough tubes purchased and free shipping.

I bought a tube at a local barbershop (Calgary) for a comparatively ludicrous amount...
 

brucered

System Generated
The best deal I've found so far is at Fendrihan (yet to order from there tho), enough tubes purchased and free shipping.

I bought a tube at a local barbershop (Calgary) for a comparatively ludicrous amount...
Thanks.

After I succesfully complete this years Sabbatical, I may stock up on some, just in case.
 
I'm not sure there is much in this world that is "vastly superior" to anything else (assuming we're starting with something pretty good). There is the immutable law of diminishing returns that insists (correctly) that improvements come in small doses at a high price. I used Proraso for quite a while back in the day and it's a fine product. If you asked if there were pucks considerably better for the same price range I'd say no.

Does it compare well with MdC and SV? Not in my book. But there is no requirement for purchasing anything expensive and comparisons are not necessary either. If you've found something you like at a very cheap price and your happy, you win! Everyone should use what they like and enjoy their shaves. My corollary is to never pay for quality you don't see/feel/appreciate. (You would be doing me a huge favor if you refrained from insisting that others can't see/feel/appreciate an increase in quality and happily pay sizable chunks of money for them).
Good feedback! This is what I am looking for. Things that people think are much better. What is MdC and SV?
 
I am a fan of the Blue as well, and my ranking of Proraso for me would be Blue, Green, Red, and lastly White.

In my opinion, it sounds like you are more than just "satisfied" with Proraso Blue. I believe it is a great choice for an everyday cream that outperforms its price. Enjoy and relish it.

If you choose to one day expand your options, great. You'll always have a solid performer in your den with the Blue.
 
I am a fan of the Blue as well, and my ranking of Proraso for me would be Blue, Green, Red, and lastly White.

In my opinion, it sounds like you are more than just "satisfied" with Proraso Blue. I believe it is a great choice for an everyday cream that outperforms its price. Enjoy and relish it.

If you choose to one day expand your options, great. You'll always have a solid performer in your den with the Blue.
I would love to expand the collection. It is actually slowly growing, but I need guidance to know what is a superior product that is even better. I have thrown away probably $25-$30 of various shaving cream that was too inferior. And those averaged to about $5 per cream. If a single cream gets into the $20s or $30s, that would be kinda painful.
 
I like the Taylor of Old Bond Street "croaps." All that I've tried perform wonderfully and maybe even better than the Proraso Blue. However, at roughly double the price (approx $14-$18 per 5.3 ounce tub on Amazon), the price difference may not be worth the difference in performance if you are limiting your budget. To me, they would be worth a splurge to compare to a higher-end product that isn't outrageous.

A Jikoryen stick that I received in a PIF performs amazingly - great lather and lubrication. The scent, however, is somewhat "industrial" compared with the elegant Blue scent. While price is similar to the Proraso Blue (I think), I would stick with the Blue unless you just want to try something different. (I haven't tried Arko, but from what I gather, it is another affordable strong performer but with a more pedestrian scent (YMMV) than Proraso Blue.)

Finally, I'm sure you're watching the forum for PIFs - there are some very generous folks here who are willing to pass along soaps and other products to those who are looking to expand their shaving experience. This is a fantastic community!

Happy hunting!
 
If money is no object there is none better than Santa Maria Novella but it’s $70ish. It’s the best I’ve ever used.

A better performer (for me) at about the same price as Proraso is Antiga Barbearia….very good cream.
 
I like the Taylor of Old Bond Street "croaps." All that I've tried perform wonderfully and maybe even better than the Proraso Blue. However, at roughly double the price (approx $14-$18 per 5.3 ounce tub on Amazon), the price difference may not be worth the difference in performance if you are limiting your budget. To me, they would be worth a splurge to compare to a higher-end product that isn't outrageous.

A Jikoryen stick that I received in a PIF performs amazingly - great lather and lubrication. The scent, however, is somewhat "industrial" compared with the elegant Blue scent. While price is similar to the Proraso Blue (I think), I would stick with the Blue unless you just want to try something different. (I haven't tried Arko, but from what I gather, it is another affordable strong performer but with a more pedestrian scent (YMMV) than Proraso Blue.)

Finally, I'm sure you're watching the forum for PIFs - there are some very generous folks here who are willing to pass along soaps and other products to those who are looking to expand their shaving experience. This is a fantastic community!

Happy hunting!
Cool feedback!
 
Proraso Blue is probably my all round favourite creams. For cheapish creams that come close in performance, I'd say ARKO Hydrate (I think it has more glycerine than the other variants, although not sure, I haven't tried all of them). It still doesn't beat Proraso Blue though.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
Good feedback! This is what I am looking for. Things that people think are much better. What is MdC and SV?
Martin de Candre and Saponificio Varesino. They are both pricy, but SV has good longevity and MdC has great longevity. Stirling and Haslinger are very nice soaps at a lower purchase point.

I always think searching the "favorite soap" or "5 favorite soaps" threads is a good way to get ideas about what people find excellent. When you see some that appear on many shaver's lists those are safe soaps to try.
 
I found the Proraso Blue quite by accident not long ago. I added it to my Proraso Red (sandalwood) and love them both. The Speick is interesting - I love their aftershave. I checked online - there are 3 distinctly different tubes offered - what's the diofference between them?
 
My favorite shaving cream is Nivea Men, but it's not head and shoulders above Proraso Blue for me. Either cream would be a "change of pace" for the other.
 
I got quite a bit of Proraso product a couple of years ago at TJ Maxx when Proraso was switching to the new formula. I like the blue cream a lot, but I disliked the scent of the blue aftershave balm. I thought they would be the same, but weren’t.
 
I got quite a bit of Proraso product a couple of years ago at TJ Maxx when Proraso was switching to the new formula. I like the blue cream a lot, but I disliked the scent of the blue aftershave balm. I thought they would be the same, but weren’t.
Don’t mean to challenge your statement, but is it accepted by most that the Proraso Blue shave cream scent is different than the Proraso blue aftershave? The reason I ask is that I bought a sample of Proraso blue aftershave and didn’t care for the scent. After reading all the glowing reviews of Proraso blue shave cream, I am tempted to buy some, but not if it’s the same scent as the aftershave. Thanks
 
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