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Omega versus Cella

I started out using Omega shaving soap and really enjoyed it. I have tried Taylor of Old Bond Street as well, but just didn't like it as much. They both worked and performed for me great but, I just like the smell of the Omega better, and I prefer the harder soap likedness of it. Was thinking about trying Cella as well. I'm sure that it will work great, as I have seen many posts lifting it up. I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions about it versus Omega.
 
Omega/Proraso appear to be the same soap, I like the Menthol/Eucalypt feeling during the summer and get a good face lather with Proraso. Cella produces a great lather but I prefer to bowl lather it and I see other posts here that suggest that it works great with a boar brush whereas I only have badgers. What kind f a brush are you using and do you prefer to face or bowl lather?
 
I've got both Omega and Cella. It's hard for me to discern a performance difference but I much prefer that sweet cherry-almond smell of Cella vs. the menthol-eucalyptus of Omega, however, I use both regularly. They work just fine with boars or badgers and face or bowl lathering. Most of the time I use a soft badger and bowl lather. For less than $20 you can have a tub of both.
 
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You won't have any problems making great lather with Cella. I prefer to face lather Cella with a boar brush, but you can certainly bowl lather Cella with no problems.
 
I use Omega with a boar usually, and Cella with a badger. I love the foam of both, and the marzipan smell of the Cella offers a nice contrast to the Omega. My two mainstay soaps,
 
I have three tub soaps; Omega in the black tub, Proraso green and Cella, they all give good shaves and don't require exacting technique to get decent lather...perfect lather apparently requires a bit of skill, but good solid shaveable lather comes easy from all three. Both Proraso and Cella are rather firmer than Omega, but are not hard like "puck" soaps.

My take on each in the order I tried them;

Cella makes a dense cushioning lather with ease and a loftier lather with more water and effort. It loads into the brush (I can only comment on boar, sorry) well and I can make two or three passes without any danger of being out of "product". The almond/cherry scent of Cella is subtle and underpinned by a rich note that I assume is tallow.

Proraso behaves much like Cella as far as lathering requirements and lather quality/capability (despite the *totally* different ingredients), the scent however is anything but subtle! As I have said before: it's a cough drop for your face ;) The super strong menthol/eucalyptus (camphor too!) is bracing and feels cool on the skin, but at least for me isn't at all irritating (skin, nose or eyes).

Note: both Cella and Proraso seem a bit slicker with more water worked in, but the flatter, gunkier "lazy lather" I get from just brush loading and making the lather on my face still works pretty darned well on mornings when I'm in a hurry.

Omega is completely different, the soap is much softer (looks like raw coconut fat/oil you get in a health food store) and behaves in a totally different way under the brush. It loads into the brush *very* easily and starts producing dense, lofty, slick lather immediately, even if it didn't bowl lather so easily it would hardly matter, since loading a bit into your brush and face lathering will give huge amounts of lather with almost no effort or skill required. Omega has a much milder scent than Proraso, although is still has a moderate aromatic overtone but it doesn't give the same chilly feel on the face as Proraso.

If you like the characteristics of Proraso you'll probably like Cella (and be able to make it work) too, at least as far as it's shaving qualities, the scent is a whole other deal though...if you like Halls Mentholyptus cough drops and Tiger Balm, then get some Proraso, you'll love it!

The "Omega is the same as Proraso" comments that are made around B&B baffle me... Either one of these soaps has recently been reformulated, or lots of people are passing on the anecdotal information seen in other threads and have never actually compared the two! Omega is *not* Proraso.

Hope this doesn't muddy the waters too much....the short of it is; I like Cella and would definitely recommend trying it to anyone who has not already done so.
 
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