It took up many years to understand that...

[Nicholas]

...all I ever needed was already in my den.



Tonight I used a product that we've all tried. It is very affordable and easily obtainable.



I gave one of these creams to a close friend of mine years ago to get him started. Some time later I offered him some "premium" artisan products I no longer needed. His response was that he already had what he needed for a great shave, but he would give them a try. He was talking about that cream I gave him.



Proraso, gents. All you'll ever need. This is my honest opinion. It took me years and cost me thousands of euros to understand that.



You can snob it all you want. You can prefer artisan products. You can spend hundreds of dollars on a premium set. It's your money, I don't blame you, you can do whatever you want with your hard earned money. I'm not here to judge anyone. But all you want is to achieve that kind of lather and have a nice and smooth shave. Proraso offers that. Scents are not fancy or luxurious, but that doesn't stop you from using the EdT/EdP of your preference at the end of your shave.



Proraso does not just get the work done. It does it better than many other products I've tried. I could name some more expensive artisan or mass produced products that are inferior to Proraso, but that would not make any difference. I would just start a flame war among members and this is not my intention.



Let's be honest. If I didn't mention the name and just saw you the following photos, you'd think it's some super hyped artisan product, one of those that we see in the instagramish SOTDs.



No special techniques needed. No pun intended. Just a cheap bowl, a synthetic brush, some cream and a few drops of water.



My thoughts and prayers are with my neighboor and fellow Italians. Stay strong and keep offering glorious products!

Does it get any better than this? Can any other product produce a better, more luxurious lather than this? Photos don't do it justice, my photo skills are not great and I used my phone camera. My almost 8 years of experience with shaving soaps and creams says no.

 

[Ace the Masta]

Right on buddy its always nice when you find out a less expensive product works better for you.

 

[Neil-O]

I’ve never understood the hate that some have for Proraso. For those that think artisan soaps are the bees knees I can appreciate that. I have a bunch of soaps that I am in the process of using up, then after that I will stick Cella, Tabac and Proraso green, red, blue and white. These are all readily available, inexpensive, and work very well for me.

 

[Dave-the-rave]

There's more to a soap than a luxurious lather.
So Proraso might not be the best for everybody.

 

[Heron]

Does it get any better than this? Can any other product produce a better, more luxurious lather than this?

Yes

 

[Nicholas]

There's more to a soap than a luxurious lather.
So Proraso might not be the best for everybody.

I know. Proraso performs greatly all around. My skin is semi-sensitive and it offers me great shaves each time.

Yes

Whatever you say

 

[Nicholas]

I’ve never understood the hate that some have for Proraso. For those that think artisan soaps are the bees knees I can appreciate that. I have a bunch of soaps that I am in the process of using up, then after that I will stick Cella, Tabac and Proraso green, red, blue and white. These are all readily available, inexpensive, and work very well for me.

If it cost an arm and a leg, they would love that.

 

[MntnMan62]

Clearly some people love it and some people hate it. But just like everything else, there are people who don’t love it but don’t hate it. I’m one of those. Sure, you can work up a great looking lather. But protection and slickness are only ok. Not terrible. Not great. And I find scent to be average at best. I have lots of Proraso. Red, Blue, White and Green. And I’ll end up using it. I find it hysterical how so many people occupy such extreme positions. If you don’t love it, then you must hate it. Really? Give me a break. It’s just shaving soap/cream.

 

[Ted Danson]

Clearly some people love it and some people hate it. But just like everything else, there are people who don’t love it but don’t hate it. I’m one of those. Sure, you can work up a great looking lather. But protection and slickness are only ok. Not terrible. Not great. And I find scent to be average at best. I have lots of Proraso. Red, Blue, White and Green. And I’ll end up using it. I find it hysterical how so many people occupy such extreme positions. If you don’t love it, then you must hate it. Really? Give me a break. It’s just shaving soap/cream.

What he said.... If it is all I had, I would be fine with it. But there are, IMO, better creams out there. TOBS is one of them, again IMO.

EDIT: Amazon has Proraso cream for $10.00 for 5.2 oz and TOBS Rose (my fav) for $10.81 for 5.3 oz.

 

[Atlantic59]

For years, it was one of the most popular soaps and you could get it for fairly cheap anywhere. Now people have more choices. Many people believe if a soap is cheap, it can't be very good.

 

[Nicholas]

What he said.... If it is all I had, I would be fine with it. But there are, IMO, better creams out there. TOBS is one of them, again IMO.

EDIT: Amazon has Proraso cream for $10.00 for 5.2 oz and TOBS Rose (my fav) for $10.81 for 5.3 oz.

I for one find that Proraso performs a little better than the ToOBS creams. Also, their Rose smells much more like Geranium than actual Rose. It's a very chemical scent I couldn't get used to it so I binned it. Where I live, Proraso costs 3,8 euros and ToOBS creams start from 13 euros.

 

[Ted Danson]

@Nicholas - good point on price being subjective to the location you live in.

 

[Stiglitz]

I'm in the same boat as you are. Spent lots of money on many different forms of Mike's B&M, ToBS, etc. But at the end of the day, Proraso Red is all I need and then some.

Although, I do have a jar of MdC Rose on it's way to me, and unless it blows my mind and puts Proraso to shame, it'll likely be the last artisan soap I buy.

 

[dabrock]

I started with a tub of Proraso green and bought a tube of red after. After spending thousands of dollars on soaps and creams I realized that if I hadn't come on this site I would be happily shaving with Proraso still. I wouldn't have an issue if it was my only soap or cream. It may not be the best but it certainly works and it's not breaking the bank.

 

[JumboSlim]

I'm almost addicted to the Proraso range, I get a jar of each cream for around £14 on Amazon, and rotate between the sensitive, nourishing and refreshing. I occasionally use the pre-shave cream although I haven't finish the jar I got for Christmas 2018...I really don't need it with those creams.
I always use the aftershave lotion, currently I'm into my second straight month of using the Eucalyptus & Menthol daily/per shave. but, I also really like the sandalwood too.
It's nice to finish a shave with the balm too, but not all the time.
I've tried Taylors of Old Bond St and while it feels nice and smells nice, it doesn't lather like Proraso

 

[dan86]

I can't fault Proraso. I've not bought a cream in a tube (yet) but own both a tub of red and a tub of green.
There are some shaving products I've bought, which I've ended up thinking, "well that was a waste of £!" I could never say that about Proraso.

I have Proraso to thank for inspiring me to give soaps another try because the first brands of shaving soap I bought were rubbish for getting good quality lather despite a considerable effort on my part to do so. I bought a tub of Proraso red after reading good things about it on here and was impressed from the first shave. Like others I'd tried a number of other shaving products which claim to have a 'sandalwood' fragrance but so many of them are blended with a host of other notes that you can barely detect the sandalwood. This isn't so with Proraso.

It was inevitable that I'd buy a tub of green as I like shaving with mentholated products and I like eucalyptus scented things. I find my tub of Proraso green even easier to lather than the red and the scent is again simple but as it says on the tub 'refreshing.' It's not overly mentholated but it's enough to do the job you want a mentholated product to do, particularly when the weather's warmer. Mind you it's also one of my go-to products when I have a cold.

 

[JoeLr]

Proraso and Arko are the two very affordable traditional soaps/creams I love to use in conjunction with Cremo to make a super lather.

 

[Teppanyaki]

I have a variety of soaps & creams, but Proraso green (cream) is a staple. I buy mine under the COBigelow brand from Bed Bath and Beyond. Great stuff.

 

[ajkel64]

It is great stuff. I love all the Proraso products that I have tried so far. I am a fan. If you are not then I am okay with that. It works great for me and I love the scents.

 

[Nicholas]

Today's shave.

Just amazing. I've had these products for years but only recently I truly appreciated the Proraso range.

Myrsol Don Miguel has a very strong floral (jasmine) scent. I'd never recommend it to anyone that does not really (I mean REALLY) like floral scents. I bought this on impulse and I still haven't decided if I love it or not. I use it once in a blue moon.

As another side note, WR1 0.61 pairs very nicely with the Bic Chrome Platinum.