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

[ErkRusselReserve]

Hey there,

I have been in the wet shaving game for a couple of years and have tried various budget creams and pucks. A little money was spent, but I have yet to buy any premium pucks and have tossed a few creams that I thought were too inferior to Proraso Blue. It is my mainstay and the baseline I thus compare. Very pleased with it as well, although I do wish its slight menthol was even more slight.

In your experience are there any creams/pucks that are vastly superior to Proraso Blue? It is about $6 a tube where I am. All creams have at least a 50% price increase on them here, so I fear trying some of the premium/pucks creams on the market. Many things are available, but a bit spendy and I don't want to throw money away on things the perform about the same as Proraso Blue (which again, I really like).

Scents are not really a selling point for me. I try to use unscented things when I can.

Thank you for any insight you might have!

 

[mcee_sharp]

Palmolive makes a beautifully performing, and mildly scented, cream. With, or without menthol.

As far as creams in a tube, I have it, and the Proraso blue. Happy to use either.

 

[brucered]

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.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Palmolive makes a beautifully performing, and mildly scented, cream. With, or without menthol.

As far as creams in a tube, I have it, and the Proraso blue. Happy to use either.

I have the red and green Palmolive. They made the cut and didn't get binned, but they are more a change of pace cream for me. For me, Blue is just better.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

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.

Thanks for the feedback. You see my reluctance to try anything more expensive. There is some 2021 Tabac floating around for ~$20, but I am not sure. That would be 3 tubes of Blue!

(Plus I have a few pucks of Monsavon already for tallowed pucks. The tallow is nice, but Blue is just great.)

 

[reformedshavr]

Proraso Blue is a top performer and one of my top 3 all time favorites .... I consider Dr Selby's Luxury Cream, Ach-Brito Lavanda, and Ach Brito Mogno equal performers .. all are available in a tube and are reasonably priced.

 

[brucered]

Thanks for the feedback. You see my reluctance to try anything more expensive. There is some 2021 Tabac floating around for ~$20, but I am not sure. That would be 3 tubes of Blue!

(Plus I have a few pucks of Monsavon already for tallowed pucks. The tallow is nice, but Blue is just great.)

I've been a fan for years.

Spoiler

2023

Proraso Blue in the metal tube is by far, my favorite cream. If all other soaps and creams were to vanish, I'd be happy shaving with this one exclusively. It is a top tier cream, hidden in a drug store available $10 price point.

2016.

Proraso Blue is a top notch, world class cream hiding in a $7 metal tube. Package it in a glass jar, pewter covered dish and give it a fancy French name and people would be knocking down the doors to pay $70 for it.

2015

Proraso Blue is a hidden gem amongst creams.

2014 first full tube

It's done! $8 tube of cream, 55 shaves, 2.73ml(g) per shave which is one of my lower used/shave product and it's a cream.

I was able to squeeze the exact amount out each shave as I bowl lathered it from start to finish. My DB has the webbed ridges and I picked a spot and gave it a sqeeze the length of that little ridge and it was perfect every day. The cream was amazing from day one, no issues with any part of it. It held up to the hottest water from my tap and the scuttle and showed no signs of break down. Post shave feel and irritation was no problem and I did not find it drying in the slightest.

It seems to hold water very well, but I always started with my soaked brush, squeeze the knot at the base and then lathered in the bowl adding drops as I saw fit. This left me with 3 luxurious passes that were thick, creamy, slick and cushioning. After the third pass, I always applied a layer to my face while I cleaned the brush, sink, scuttle etc. This is a regular for me and factors in to how much product I use. The scent was mild and manly. Not Anise like MW or Stirling which are strong, polarizing and in our face. This is very laid back and any AS can follow it with no risk of conflicting scents, as it seems to wash away with the final rinse.

Overall, this is one of the most economical creams I have ever used, but also one of, if not the best cream I have used. I will not hesitate to purchase again and highly recommend anyone looking for a quality cream to give it a try.

The tube was dissected to see how much is lost in a tube vs a tub, and there was very little in there. This proves to me that tubs and tubs are close enough in product usage to not worry about how much is left inside after the final squeeze.

Proraso Blue gets two HUGE thumbs up from me.

Next Up....Cella red tub.

Tube after final squeeze:
View attachment 436183

Side shot:
View attachment 436184

Dissected:
View attachment 436185

Scraped from inside tube:
View attachment 436186

My next victim:
View attachment 436187

 

[rockviper]

Speick is also a great performer (for me anyway) and smells wonderful. It's more expensive and a smaller tube than Proraso. I'm not saying it's better than it but still worth trying though.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Proraso Blue is a top performer and one of my top 3 all time favorites .... I consider Dr Selby's Luxury Cream, Ach-Brito Lavanda, and Ach Brito Mogno equal performers .. all are available in a tube and are reasonably priced.

What looks to be a long box (tube?) Lavanda E Jasmin is available here. ~$18 though!

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Speick is also a great performer (for me anyway) and smells wonderful. It's more expensive and a smaller tube than Proraso. I'm not saying it's better than it but still worth trying though.

Do you prefer the stick or the cream? Both are available here for about $6.

 

[reformedshavr]

Lavanda E Jasmin

Here is what I have and is $7-10 here in the USA

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

View attachment 1804055
Here is what I have and is $7-10 here in the USA

Cool, I'll keep an eye out for it. The $18 stuff is a bit different. i think it is a proper soap, not barbear.

 

[rockviper]

Do you prefer the stick or the cream? Both are available here for about $6.

Both are great IMO.

 

[Marco]

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.

Exactly my own thoughts.

It costs me around €2 and I find it anywhere. I'm reserving the option "not to use anything else" should a Proraso Lavender ever be produced.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Both are great IMO.

Groovy. I’ll have to try the stick. Never had one before.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Exactly my own thoughts.

It costs me around €2 and I find it anywhere. I'm reserving the option "not to use anything else" should a Proraso Lavender ever be produced.

The Man with the Method lay down the Law.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

Exactly my own thoughts.

It costs me around €2 and I find it anywhere. I'm reserving the option "not to use anything else" should a Proraso Lavender ever be produced.

Or 1000ml tube/refill for 10 EUR with lavender. Holy moly, the cream sub-forum could be closed because it wouldn't make sense to talk about other creams anymore.

 

[musicman1951]

In your experience are there any creams/pucks that are vastly superior to Proraso Blue?

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).

 

[borwish]

There are some (myself included) that feel that Proraso red is slightly better than Proraso blue. Of course, anytime one of us mentions it someone soon arrives to correct us that Proraso blue is slightly better than Proraso red. Either way Proraso makes a darn good product and I personally think that you'd have to double the cost to see a large improvement.

 

[borwish]

I'm reserving the option "not to use anything else" should a Proraso Lavender ever be produced.

Have you ever considered adding lavender oil to a tube of Proraso white? My wife likes the scent of Arko sensitive which has a light lavender scent.