Thread: Italian Reds head to head: Proraso and Cella

Just for fun, I decided to do a head to head comparison between Proraso Red and Cella Red. I used a Thiers Issard full hollow ground razor for three days and a Parker PTW Shavette with Wizmet blade for three days. I shaved one day with Proraso and one day with Cella with the straight razor, and then repeated with the shavette.

Scent: Oh man, that Cella smells amazing, even in the tub! I love that Marzipan smell. The Proraso is a sandalwood scented soap and in the tub has a strong chemical smell, to me. However, once lathered an on the face, that goes away and it has a nice, soft sandalwood scent that is not too sweet. I like it.

Lather: Both made great lather and were easy to get the consistency and sustainability that I wanted. I had peaks, but I wanted a moister yogurt, so I added a bit of water to my tips. To me, both felt great, but maybe the tallow based Cella felt a bit creamier. Both were nice, though, for the money.

Performance: I have found that for me and my environment, loading Proraso as I normally load other soaps is not optimal and performance suffers. I overloaded my brush enough to easily get six passes and I got far better performance out of the soap. The Cella, I overloaded just to keep things equal and I got good performance out of it, as well. I did three passes, WTG, ATG, XTG. With my straight razor, I had a bit of dragging with both, though I was able to do all of my passes, and even the scything XTG on my Adam's apple and along my jaws which are real problem areas. The shavette had no such issues. That thin, sharp blade cut through the whiskers with only a small amount of dragging. After all, these are not top tier soaps, but they are good enough to give a safe shave. I had enough residual slickness to touch up areas without re-lathering, though I found it more expedient to do so.

Value: Both of these soaps are inexpensive. There are some that perform better for me that cost less or slightly more. Still, for the money they are pretty good. The Cella cost me the equivalent of $9.40 USD and the Proraso cost the equivalent of $8.60 USD. However, I can get the top tier performing Shannon's Soaps Rebrab with the Chupacabra base for $9.99 and it is one of the best soaps I have ever used.

In summary, both of these are nice shaving soaps and not expensive. They smell good. However, for the same money I can get a top tier soap, so that is something to keep in mind.

Edit: I forgot to add that I overall preferred the Cella.

Originally Posted by DocDan

I forgot to add that I overall preferred the Cella.

I too prefer Cella.

In the first one or two years of my shaving carrer I used Proraso, but after a skin reaction to Proraso pre-shave cream Proraso dropped completely out of my rotation.

In those days, the white and red Pororaso had just appeared and I found the white one’s scent pleasant but not remarkable, and the red one was like no sandalwodd scent that I ever tried or looked for. I found the red one’s scent “chemical” and artificial.

On trips to Italy I sometimes bought some green Proraso, but never seemed to finish it.

But I consider (green) Proraso almost a rite of passage. Every shaver should have tried Proraso at least once, but IMO it would be a mistake to stop the search for one’s favourite shaving cream or soap just there.

Cella in the 1 kg block and the small red tub stayed with me for a much longer time.
At home, I mainly used slices of the 1 kg block pressed into an apothecary mug, on travels I used the small tub.
Conversly to some other shavers and despite needing more than three years to finish a block, I had never issues with the big block going rancid and that without even storing it in a fridge or freezer.

Maybe I’ll give Proraso a try again, but with the current line up that took me years to get to I’d be surprised if Proraso should survive for long.


B.

Well, they are both Italian and in red tubs, but that is where any comparison ends, IMO.
Cella is popular with some, esp those who bought a brick and have to justify by using it up I think.

I tried it, a hunk from a brick, and was not impressed. I suppose the scent was my main gripe. Quit trying.
In fact The Proraso soaps have been quite enjoyable to use for me.

Lots of soaps I could not lather before I have learned the nuances of, but never had issue lathering Proraso.
Some fast drying before done with a pass at times, easily remedied. Been through 2 tubs of the red and green and will reorder again.
Nothing makes a top tier soap stand out like going down the ladder on occasion, IMO.

Anyway, I never got Cella (nor Tabac) to be in my rotation. It's all subjective, I suppose

Tom, if you like Proraso red and green, you have to try the white. I keep all three in my rotation. For me, the white is tops!!

Pete <:-}

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Well, they are both Italian and in red tubs, but that is where any comparison ends, IMO.
Cella is popular with some, esp those who bought a brick and have to justify by using it up I think.

I tried it, a hunk from a brick, and was not impressed. I suppose the scent was my main gripe. Quit trying.
In fact The Proraso soaps have been quite enjoyable to use for me.

Lots of soaps I could not lather before I have learned the nuances of, but never had issue lathering Proraso.
Some fast drying before done with a pass at times, easily remedied. Been through 2 tubs of the red and green and will reorder again.
Nothing makes a top tier soap stand out like going down the ladder on occasion, IMO.

Anyway, I never got Cella (nor Tabac) to be in my rotation. It's all subjective, I suppose

No Tebac ?....what the heck !

Originally Posted by nessmuck

No Tebac ?....what the heck !

See? Something for everyone!

Originally Posted by nessmuck

No Tebac ?....what the heck !

Was thinkin the same thing!