Proraso Red comes in at 8th place out of 14 because of irritation

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

Introduction

Below is the optimum lather table and review of Proraso Red shaving soap from my lather optimization guide in the ShaveWiki. Please see the guide for an overview, a disclaimer, and general information about optimizing lather.

Back in June, @Cal generously donated a large sample of Proraso Red for evaluation. (Thanks, Cal!) I wish that I could say that I enjoyed optimizing Proraso Red, but the soap irritated my skin. It would have otherwise been ranked higher.

Does anyone else get irritation from Proraso Red? Feedback is welcome.

Optimum Lather Table

PR	Performance Ranking
PD	Purchase Date (YYYY-MM-DD)
SCM	Soap/Cream Mass (g)
WM	Water Mass (g)
TM	Total Mass (g) = SCM + WM
WSCR	Water-to-Soap/Cream Ratio = WM / SCM
SCIT	Soap/Cream-Incorporation Time (s)
LBT	Lather-Building Time (s)
SCP	Soap/Cream Price (USD)

PR	Soap/Cream	PD	SCM	WM	TM	WSCR	SCIT	LBT	SCP
1	Nanny's Silly Soap (NSS) Original Shaving Soap	2017-04-23	1.20	9.60	10.80	8	30	45	0.15
2	Declaration Grooming (DG) (Formerly L&L Grooming) Shaving Soap	2017-08-11	0.81	8.91	9.72	11	20	60	0.15
3	Proraso Single Blade (PSB) Shaving Cream	2018-01-12	0.95	7.60	8.55	8	3	60	0.07
4	Barrister and Mann (B&M) Shaving Soap	2017-10-19	0.71	8.52	9.23	12	25	30	0.12
5	Cold River Soap Works (CRSW) SELECT Shaving Soap	2017-12-15	0.86	9.46	10.32	11	6	60	0.15
6	Stirling Soap Co. Shave Soap	2017-08-14	0.53	9.01	9.54	17	20	30	0.04
7	Barrister's Reserve Shaving Soap	2017-06	0.96	11.52	12.48	12	45	60	0.15
8	Proraso Red Shaving Soap	2017-11-27	0.82	8.20	9.02	10	5	75	0.06
9	Martin de Candre (MdC) Shaving Soap	2018-05-31	0.70	7.70	8.40	11	45	60	0.16
10	Mike's Natural Shaving Soap	2017-09	0.75	9.00	9.75	12	60	60	0.07
11	Barrister and Mann (B&M) Latha Shaving Soap (Discontinued)	2018-01-30	0.75	9.75	10.50	13	10	30	0.07
12	The Art of Shaving (AOS) Shaving Cream	2018-01-03	1.00	7.00	8.00	7	3	45	0.19
13	Mystic Water (MW) Shaving Soap	2018-01-27	0.70	9.10	9.80	13	30	30	0.07
14	The Sudsy Soapery Shave Soap	2018-02-05	0.46	8.28	8.74	18	10	60	0.05

Proraso Red Shaving Soap

Top label, bottom label with ingredient list, and close-up of soap in small jar​

Purchase Date: November 27, 2017. A sample was received on June 16, 2018, from @Cal, who generously donated the soap for evaluation. The sample was then placed in a small jar and photographed. The other photographs were taken by Cal.

Review Period: October 9 to 18, 2018. 9 optimization shaves and 1 ranking test.

Manufacturing Location: Fiesole, Italy

Ingredients: Aqua (Water/Eau), Stearic Acid, Cocos nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Lactic Acid, Parfum (Fragrance), Butyrospermum parkii (Shea) Butter, Theobroma cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-di-t-butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Citronellol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Coumarin, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate, Santalum album (Sandalwood) Oil

Appearance: Off-white

Scent: The scent is difficult for me to describe, but I don't find it offensive

Hardness: Very soft

Optimum Lather Overview: Sheen is okay. Lather has some good "peaking", but very little yogurt-like behavior of "stringiness". Lather does not seem "airy", but there are some visible larger bubbles. Adhesion and application are okay, but lather is thinner than desired in some spots. Scent is not really noticed. Slickness is generally good and steady with a few very good moments and a few moments of moderate friction. Cushion/protection is okay or pretty good. Post-shave is good with respect to moisture, but only okay with respect to comfort because of irritation. Some soap scum is left on the brush handle.

Optimization Details: Water-to-soap ratio was nonsequentially varied from 6 to 20. Overall, with increasing hydration for this soap, (a) slickness decreases and/or becomes less steady, such that a lot of stick-slip was experienced with a water-to-soap ratio of 20, (b) cushion/protection decreases, (c) post-shave moisture decreases or changes little, and (d) post-shave comfort increases. The limiting factor, at least for me, was found to be post-shave irritation, which usually started by or during the third pass. Properties at a water-to-soap ratio of 10 were found to be similar to those associated with a water-to-soap ratio of 9, but the biggest difference was that the post-shave irritation at a ratio of 10 was better, still not good, but not as bad. Lather-building time was varied with some shaves. 60 seconds seemed too little with respect to lather quality, 90 seconds seemed to provide nothing more than extra aeration, and 75 seconds seemed to be around the optimum time needed.

Ranking Details: Based on memory and an inspection of previous evaluations, I estimated that Proraso Red's optimum would be most closely ranked to Martin de Candre's (MdC) optimum, so a ranking test was conducted using sequential shaves with the two soaps. MdC's lather was thicker with more sheen and yogurt-like behavior, and it also applied better. Slickness was a little better overall with MdC. Cushion/protection was similar. Up to the third pass, MdC was definitely winning, but then irritation kicked in. After the shave, the irritation from MdC was definitely worse. Also, the post-shave moisture from MdC was not as good. Proraso Red was behind, but then it caught up. Overall, I gave the edge to Proraso Red because of its better post-shave and more balanced performance. Testing Proraso Red against Barrister's Reserve was deemed as unnecessary in ranking Proraso Red below Barrister's Reserve.

 

[Nerollin']

Yesterday, I decided to bowl lather a bit of my unused tub and just wash my face with it. Lovely scent for this time of the year! No visible irritation to report, but it was unfortunately drying for my skin. I can't say how exactly much water I used, but it was a good amount for such a soft soap.

 

[emwolf]

I've only had irritation from one soap so far: Jons Cinnamon Girl. My face burned.

 

[BigD]

I just received my tub of the Red not less than an hour ago. I'll post if I do or do not get irritation here in a bit.

 

[member 119848]

I find it interesting, how an affordable (mass produced) soap like Proraso can outperform a luxury soap like MdC. Thank you for your analysis, I look forward to following your work.

 

[BigD]

Okay,
Here we go, just so you get the full picture;
A. Rockwell 6S
1. Brand new out of the box less than an hour
2. R5 Setting
B. Concord DE Blade
1. Brand new out of the wrapper
2. Middle East version
C. Van Der Hagen Boar Brush
1. Less than two weeks old
2. Used everyday
3. Soaked with hot water while showering
D. Proraso Red Shave Soap
1. Brand new out of the box less than an hour
2. Bloomed with hot water while showering
3. Used bloom water as pre-shave while lathering soap
4. Used what was left in brush as face wash after the shave
E. Old Spice Aftershave
1. P&G current version of the Classic

The shave was a three pass plus some pick ups. With the grain I was shocked on how little of the beard was picked up. However, it knocked down my two days growth, which would be a weeks growth for mere mortals, to a twelve hour growth. The second pass was much smoother and satisfying. Got down to what my DSC would have done after a complete shave. The third pass made everything baby belly smooth. The pickups were unneeded, but I'm still learning and have OCD.

After the shave I washed my face with the last of the lather in the brush. I cleaned my gear while it soaked in. After that I rinsed with hot water and then cold water. Finished off with some Old Spice.

Looking at my face right now I am not irritated, but the process and products didn't magically make me pretty.

I hope this helps.

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

Yesterday, I decided to bowl lather a bit of my unused tub and just wash my face with it. Lovely scent for this time of the year! No visible irritation to report, but it was unfortunately drying for my skin. I can't say how exactly much water I used, but it was a good amount for such a soft soap.

Proraso certainly wasn't the most moisturizing shaving soap that I've tried. Skin really is different from person to person. If my skin was good with it, my optimum for the soap probably would have been different and it definitely would have ranked higher.

I've only had irritation from one soap so far: Jons Cinnamon Girl. My face burned.

Yikes!

I just received my tub of the Red not less than an hour ago. I'll post if I do or do not get irritation here in a bit.

Cool.

I find it interesting, how an affordable (mass produced) soap like Proraso can outperform a luxury soap like MdC. Thank you for your analysis, I look forward to following your work.

For me, MdC and Proraso Red would have been ranked higher if they didn't irritate my skin. Since skin varies from person to person, I can completely understand why some people love or really like MdC and Proraso Red.

You're welcome for the analysis, and thanks for reading it! Up next is SV!

Okay,
Here we go, just so you get the full picture;
A. Rockwell 6S
1. Brand new out of the box less than an hour
2. R5 Setting
B. Concord DE Blade
1. Brand new out of the wrapper
2. Middle East version
C. Van Der Hagen Boar Brush
1. Less than two weeks old
2. Used everyday
3. Soaked with hot water while showering
D. Proraso Red Shave Soap
1. Brand new out of the box less than an hour
2. Bloomed with hot water while showering
3. Used bloom water as pre-shave while lathering soap
4. Used what was left in brush as face wash after the shave
E. Old Spice Aftershave
1. P&G current version of the Classic

The shave was a three pass plus some pick ups. With the grain I was shocked on how little of the beard was picked up. However, it knocked down my two days growth, which would be a weeks growth for mere mortals, to a twelve hour growth. The second pass was much smoother and satisfying. Got down to what my DSC would have done after a complete shave. The third pass made everything baby belly smooth. The pickups were unneeded, but I'm still learning and have OCD.

After the shave I washed my face with the last of the lather in the brush. I cleaned my gear while it soaked in. After that I rinsed with hot water and then cold water. Finished off with some Old Spice.

Looking at my face right now I am not irritated, but the process and products didn't magically make me pretty.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the report. I'm sure that I'm in the minority for getting some irritation from Proraso Red.

 

[BigJ]

I find it interesting, how an affordable (mass produced) soap like Proraso can outperform a luxury soap like MdC. Thank you for your analysis, I look forward to following your work.

+1! Me too!! Excellent work!!

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

+1! Me too!! Excellent work!!

Thanks, BigJ!

 

[Nerollin']

I find it interesting, how an affordable (mass produced) soap like Proraso can outperform a luxury soap like MdC. Thank you for your analysis, I look forward to following your work.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but this metric is more about speed and quality of the lather than actual on skin performance. Still valuable information nonetheless.

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but this metric is more about speed and quality of the lather than actual on skin performance. Still valuable information nonetheless.

Performance metrics are primary in my optimization. I judge slickness, cushion/protection, post-shave, etc., while varying water-to-soap/cream ratio, lather-building time, and total mass until I've hit the optimum combination for the soap/cream. Ranking the soap/cream is then based on overall performance. I still use words to fully describe performance metrics as best as I can, rather than just assigning a grade or number, so you don't see ratings for performance metrics in the table. The table shows the optimum lather formulas that I found for the soaps and creams, along with their prices per shave, and how the soaps and creams rank to one another.

It should be mentioned that the optimums are in my opinion for my face. If anyone else optimized lather, I'm sure that they'd come up with different results and rankings. Nevertheless, I hope that my particular results can help others make better lather and possibly inspire some to get into lather optimization.

 

[Nerollin']

Performance metrics are primary in my optimization. I judge slickness, cushion/protection, post-shave, etc., while varying water-to-soap/cream ratio, lather-building time, and total mass until I've hit the optimum combination for the soap/cream. Ranking the soap/cream is then based on overall performance. I still use words to fully describe performance metrics as best as I can, rather than just assigning a grade or number, so you don't see ratings for performance metrics in the table. The table shows the optimum lather formulas that I found for the soaps and creams, along with their prices per shave, and how the soaps and creams rank to one another.

It should be mentioned that the optimums are in my opinion for my face. If anyone else optimized lather, I'm sure that they'd come up with different results and rankings. Nevertheless, I hope that my particular results can help others make better lather and possibly inspire some to get into lather optimization.

Thank you for that explanation. It's a great guide and I'm excited to try your water/soap ratio the next time I lather up a soap you've reviewed. Lately I've realized that what I like in a lather consistency may not be what works the best once the razor gets involved. I love the luxurious lather consistency and post shave feel I get with Wholly Kaw and Declaration Grooming, but Captain's Choice slickness and cushion is just off the charts despite having a more foamy lather. It was eye opening for me.

What soap have you experienced the best slickness and cushion with?

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

Thank you for that explanation. It's a great guide and I'm excited to try your water/soap ratio the next time I lather up a soap you've reviewed. Lately I've realized that what I like in a lather consistency may not be what works the best once the razor gets involved. I love the luxurious lather consistency and post shave feel I get with Wholly Kaw and Declaration Grooming, but Captain's Choice slickness and cushion is just off the charts despite having a more foamy lather. It was eye opening for me.

What soap have you experienced the best slickness and cushion with?

No problem, @Nerollin'. Thanks for the compliment. I hope that my evaluations help. Even if you don't measure mass or volume, you should be able to at least use my water-to-soap/cream ratios in a relative sense. What I mean by that is that if I have a water-to-soap ratio of 12 for one soap and a water-to-soap ratio of 6 for another soap, the first lather has twice the hydration, twice as much water per unit soap. So, let's say that you really like the second soap and you believe that you have it dialed in. Let's also say that you're not sure about dialing in the first soap. Based on my table, you might try using twice the water for the same amount of soap. That could be a good starting point. Also, the lather-building time could be followed with a timer. Actually, lather-building time could also be followed in relation to soap-incorporation time. Let's say that my table gives the soap-incorporation time as 30 seconds for a particular optimum lather and the lather-building time as 60 seconds for that lather. Those times are based on my rate of lather building, but in a relative sense, it took twice as long to build the lather than it did to get the soap incorporated. Let's say that you're finding that it takes you 60 seconds to incorporate the soap. By the same ratio of 2:1 for that soap, I would suggest that you take 120 seconds to build the lather. This discussion of time is based on bowl lathering with the soap pressed into the bowl and the water poured on top. If you are loading a brush or face lathering, you could adjust accordingly based on your best guess.

I get what you're saying about thick vs. thin lather and different lather properties. My eyes were opened, too. I keep an open mind when evaluating soaps and creams, trying to be as objective as possible. Quite a few of my optimum lathers are thinner than I'd prefer because that's what happened to optimize the overall performance. I haven't tried Wholly Kaw and Captain's Choice yet, but I'll get there. Of the soaps and creams that I've tried so far, I think that Nanny's Silly Soap had the best slickness, edging out a few others, and it might also have had the best cushion/protection, too, but not with a lot. NSS is currently ranked #1. I haven't tried a soap or cream yet that checks all the boxes, being very good in all major categories of slickness, cushion/protection, and post-shave.

 

[John Rose]

The only thing that irritates me about Proraso Red is that my local brick & mortar store do not carry it. I have to order it online and pay extra for shipping. (Unless I get enough stuff to rate free shipping, still expensive.)

 

[fast shaver]

Proraso does not irritate my face but, that awful menthol smell & the face drying turns me off.

 

[MM879]

I'm a confirmed Proraso Red lover. The performance is fantastic with no hint of irritation. Proraso is one of the few companies that the products are tested " Testato Dermatoligicamente"
MM879

 

[mmaggi]

Never irritation. Proraso Red (along w/the Green) is one my fav & best performing soaps. By far the easiest soap to lather I've ever used. But Tabac & Arko are 1 & 2 for me.

 

[toma.honfoglalo]

Thank you for that explanation. It's a great guide and I'm excited to try your water/soap ratio the next time I lather up a soap you've reviewed. Lately I've realized that what I like in a lather consistency may not be what works the best once the razor gets involved. I love the luxurious lather consistency and post shave feel I get with Wholly Kaw and Declaration Grooming, but Captain's Choice slickness and cushion is just off the charts despite having a more foamy lather. It was eye opening for me.

What soap have you experienced the best slickness and cushion with?

The slickness from Captain's Choice is just out of this universe. I don't really miss the huge volumes of lather I use to build using other soaps.
I can't even wash it off from my face after the shave it's so slick so protective...

Sent from my RNE-L01 using Tapatalk

 

[ShavingByTheNumbers]

The slickness from Captain's Choice is just out of this universe. I don't really miss the huge volumes of lather I use to build using other soaps.
I can't even wash it off from my face after the shave it's so slick so protective...

Thanks for the tip. Captain's Choice is now in my wish list.

 

[andromeda673]

I've been using Proraso red now for a week straight, no issues at all with irritation, I use it with the red aftershave splash though, and my face feels alot better when using that compared to other brands of aftershaves.