tobs sandalwood vs. proraso

[jonwilson]

I am thinking about buying one of these. For those that have used both, do you prefer the tobs sandalwood or any other tobs scent over the proraso red and green tubs?

do you lather directly in the tobs or take a small bit out and apply it to your shaving brush? is tobs a shave cream or a croap? please compare the two

 

[maximedboisvert]

First the Proraso Red and the TOBS Sandalwood are two completely different scents. The TOBS is more a cologne type scent and the Proraso is more of a woody scent.

The TOBS is a cream and not a croap, so I don't load my brush from the tub directly. What I do is take about an almond sized chunk that I put in my shave bowl and lather from the bowl. The Proraso Red, on the contrary, I load my brush directly from the tub as it's a hard(ish) soap.

You cannot go wrong with either one of those in my opinion! Hope it answers a couple of your questions!

 

[Phog Allen]

Jon, ToBS offers their sandalwood fragrance in both shave cream and hard shave soap form. The creams are decent and as good as most in that category. Their shave soaps are plenty hard being triple milled. I have used the cream but not the soap. I do not know for sure but the soap is kind of considered middle of the road I believe. They also offer the fragrance in an entire suite of grooming products. The aftershave is a particular favourite of mine. Very old school in its profile, you should not think straight up wood scent but very complex with powder, florals, soapy notes, and of course wood in the base.

 

[Randall J]

Having used both, I would rank Proraso Red or Green higher for function (e.g. cushion, slickness, etc.) but TOBS Sandalwood hard soap as much more pleasing as to scent. As others have said TOBS is a very hard soap. I have difficulty getting the lather right. It is the only soap in my rotation that I have to bloom befoe using.

 

[John Rose]

do you lather directly in the tobs or take a small bit out and apply it to your shaving brush? is tobs a shave cream or a croap? please compare the two

I load the brush directly from the TOBS tub, because it's one less item to clean up. Since it is a soft cream, I prefer to use a small brush, like a Simpson Wee Scot or Omega 10086. That way I'm less likely to overload it and waste most of it.

I would call Proraso a croap, but not TOBS.

What I do is take about an almond sized chunk that I put in my shave bowl and lather from the bowl.

People never clarify - is that an almond in its shell, or without a shell?

 

[maximedboisvert]

People never clarify - is that an almond in its shell, or without a shell?

Without the shell... just the part you eat!! ;-)

 

[Roccomon]

Awhile back I had a puck of TOBS Sandalwood soap, loved the scent. Lathering was a different story. It is a very hard soap, needs blooming to get a decent lather. Used it for approximately a month and then something happened, it would no longer produce a decent lather. I put it aside for a few weeks, giving it and me a rest. Coming back to it after a rest period did not help, still a very weak lather, no slickness, no cushion.

I have heard others have had similar experiences with the hard soap, but not with the creams which seem to perform very well.

 

[JamesBlades]

I have both the TOBS Sandalwood hard soap and Proraso Red croap. While I like them both, I use the TOBS much more often. It’s probably my #2 soap all time, behind only the old AoS Sandalwood tallow.

I prefer TOBS Sandalwood ahead of other top performers that would round out my top tier - DR Harris, MWF, Haslinger, and PDP.

For those having trouble lathering TOBS Sandalwood, I would recommend a synthetic brush and the Marco method of lathering. That works best for me with this particular soap.

 

[NDHoosier]

I have both TOBS sandalwood and Proraso Red.

For TOBS, I wet the (nylon) brush, shake out the excess water, dip the tip of the brush in, and lather up in a bowl. No problems getting a good lather, and the scent is wonderful.

For Proraso Red - When I first opened the container, a wave of stench hit my nose, and I wondered what I had bought. I decided to try it anyway. I found I had to bloom it briefly with a small amount of water or I could not load enough soap on the brush. I also build the lather for this one in a bowl. Fortunately, the offensive scent had dissipated by the time I put the lather on my face.

I get a better shave from TOBS sandalwood. I want to like Proraso Red, and I will give it a few more tries, but it isn't looking promising after three face and two head shaves.

 

[GearNoir]

Just throwing in my own $0.02:

Have used both TOBS Sandalwood cream and Proraso Red soap extensively.

TOBS Sandalwood cream is a very classic barbershop scent to me, very light, bright, and slightly floral and powdery. The sandalwood note is well mixed in with the rest. The cream is newbie proof to lather and fairly slick.

Proraso Red is a more simple scent, the sandalwood more pronounced and I bit darker; this is offset though by a wonderful fresh background scent. The soap takes a little more work than the Proraso to get lathered, but I use it as my baseline soap to rate others’ performance.

Both soaps are solid reputation classics for a reason. The edge for me goes to Red for scent and lather feel. The TOBS cream can deal very artificial at times IMO.

 

[Somnos]

First the Proraso Red and the TOBS Sandalwood are two completely different scents. The TOBS is more a cologne type scent and the Proraso is more of a woody scent.

The TOBS is a cream and not a croap, so I don't load my brush from the tub directly. What I do is take about an almond sized chunk that I put in my shave bowl and lather from the bowl. The Proraso Red, on the contrary, I load my brush directly from the tub as it's a hard(ish) soap.

You cannot go wrong with either one of those in my opinion! Hope it answers a couple of your questions!

+1 I have both and wholeheartedly agree...

 

[cw62803]

I have used both of these products for years and have formed strong opinions. First of all the TOBS cream is superior to the TOBS soap. Easier to lather, more cushion, same scent. Very luxurious stuff with a strong, cologne scent. Proraso Red has a much more simple, single-note sandalwood scent that I find about absolutely intoxicating. A tub of Proraso Red soap cost about $8, making a true bargain. It's not the most moisturizing product you'll ever use - you'll probably want to use some kind of moisturizer or balm after using it, and it doesn't rinse off my razors and brushes as easily as some other products - but that scent is a classic. I often use the matching pre-shave cream and aftershave splash, too.

As for TOBS creams, I like some of their other scents (St. James, Jermyne Street, grapefruit, lavender) better than the sandalwood.