Hey all, been shaving with a tub of Cella Bio for well over a month now (daily) and wanted to give my thoughts on the product. I'm impressed and I think its a great product. Out of my categories from worst to best of: yuck, bad, good and excellent...I would place Cella Bio into the excellent category. As always, the things that matter to be are ease of use, performance, scent and post-shave. I cannot and will not compare it to Cella Red (Cella original) as I absolutely hate almond/marzipan scents.
Overview:
This product is an extremely soft soap (or croap). Definitely softer than proraso in my experience but firmer than any cream. It is available in croap tub and (apparently croap not cream) in tube formats. Unlike a lot of other products which offer both cream and croap variations there is no price or volume difference between cream and croap. Therefore, I recommend getting the tub as it will be more cost efficient.
The formulation is fantastic. Completely vegan and free of harsh inorganic chemcials that act as sudsing agents, preservatives or detergents. It is a clean formulation with good ingredients that shouldn't react to most peoples skin (i had no dramas with it at all). The tub is a high quality tub with a screw top lid. Some might find it small but I had no issues with it. Its not going to shatter or crumple etc. with time unless you go around kicking it around the house or throwing it at the walls.
Ease of use:
Ease of use is good, you definitely need to load a little bit longer than ideal so you use more product than other soaps but I don't mind truth be told. Open lid, take wet brush and swirl off of tub for 30-60 seconds. Take to wet face and build into lather. No problems loading the brush or building a lather. It generates a nice lather quickly without fuss or frustration. Takes a good amount of water but I wouldn't classify it as thirsty. Two applications of water for me where I just run the tap and wet the brush under it. Dialing in is easy and the lather is stable even if you add too much or too little water.
Performance:
Its fantastic. The lather is dense and cushioning and is undeniably very slick and protective. Residual slickness is good and will allow for any additional swipes of the razor you may need to make. This is a top-tier product and will definitely provide better shaving than many other alternatives. There is a great sheen to the lather (Something that cheaper products in my experience do not create) and there is almost a 'gel' like feeling on the face when the lather is there. You really feel that there is a good barrier between the razor and the face without it feeling goopy or sticky. Lather doesn't dissipate, stays on the face, rinses very easily, leaves no residue etc. Excellent performance overall
Scent:
The only real weakness of the product is the scent. It is weak to mild scented and is really just a pleasant, green soapy scent. To me, it smells like the rind of honeydew melon or rockmelon with perhaps a note of musk or some cologney type thing but truth be told its not something I look forward to. I'm ambivalent, its neither offensive or appealing. Most will abide by it quite well imo. The fragrance is supposedly derived from organic ingredients so thats a plus. Its not a neutral scented product and leans a little torwards the sweeter, brighter side of scents. There is almost no trace of it once you rinse off everything.
Post-shave:
Good. Neither dry nor oily. Little better than speick cream. Skin feels good. Soft and supple. Breaking out or irritation haven't been problems for me. I just follow up with a splash and a little face moisturiser and I'm good to go. My brush feels great too. Soft and hyrdrated. Not dry or brittle like some products tend to make it feel after a while.
Overall an excellent product with a weak, inoffensive scent.
Overview:
This product is an extremely soft soap (or croap). Definitely softer than proraso in my experience but firmer than any cream. It is available in croap tub and (apparently croap not cream) in tube formats. Unlike a lot of other products which offer both cream and croap variations there is no price or volume difference between cream and croap. Therefore, I recommend getting the tub as it will be more cost efficient.
The formulation is fantastic. Completely vegan and free of harsh inorganic chemcials that act as sudsing agents, preservatives or detergents. It is a clean formulation with good ingredients that shouldn't react to most peoples skin (i had no dramas with it at all). The tub is a high quality tub with a screw top lid. Some might find it small but I had no issues with it. Its not going to shatter or crumple etc. with time unless you go around kicking it around the house or throwing it at the walls.
Ease of use:
Ease of use is good, you definitely need to load a little bit longer than ideal so you use more product than other soaps but I don't mind truth be told. Open lid, take wet brush and swirl off of tub for 30-60 seconds. Take to wet face and build into lather. No problems loading the brush or building a lather. It generates a nice lather quickly without fuss or frustration. Takes a good amount of water but I wouldn't classify it as thirsty. Two applications of water for me where I just run the tap and wet the brush under it. Dialing in is easy and the lather is stable even if you add too much or too little water.
Performance:
Its fantastic. The lather is dense and cushioning and is undeniably very slick and protective. Residual slickness is good and will allow for any additional swipes of the razor you may need to make. This is a top-tier product and will definitely provide better shaving than many other alternatives. There is a great sheen to the lather (Something that cheaper products in my experience do not create) and there is almost a 'gel' like feeling on the face when the lather is there. You really feel that there is a good barrier between the razor and the face without it feeling goopy or sticky. Lather doesn't dissipate, stays on the face, rinses very easily, leaves no residue etc. Excellent performance overall
Scent:
The only real weakness of the product is the scent. It is weak to mild scented and is really just a pleasant, green soapy scent. To me, it smells like the rind of honeydew melon or rockmelon with perhaps a note of musk or some cologney type thing but truth be told its not something I look forward to. I'm ambivalent, its neither offensive or appealing. Most will abide by it quite well imo. The fragrance is supposedly derived from organic ingredients so thats a plus. Its not a neutral scented product and leans a little torwards the sweeter, brighter side of scents. There is almost no trace of it once you rinse off everything.
Post-shave:
Good. Neither dry nor oily. Little better than speick cream. Skin feels good. Soft and supple. Breaking out or irritation haven't been problems for me. I just follow up with a splash and a little face moisturiser and I'm good to go. My brush feels great too. Soft and hyrdrated. Not dry or brittle like some products tend to make it feel after a while.
Overall an excellent product with a weak, inoffensive scent.