Another expression from the world of driving that may be appropriate for you is "Stay in your own lane." There was really no need for you to create this thread. You don't understand why some people love a product that you don't care for? Don't worry about it. No one's going to ask you to write a 5-7 page paper on why some people like Proraso.
Proraso - What's the big deal?
- Thread starter grim
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Mine too (if anyone bothered reading my post earlier).
It wasn't: "it doesn't work for me, why does it work for you" question. It was "do you get it because it's cheap" (and putting it down).
I don't get "specials" on Proraso (more than on sale for a few pennies less), certainly not free or 2 for 1...
I've in no way close to the lunatics in here
-p) that have combed the world and have more soaps that I have hairs on my head, I've simply tried a few (soaps and creams) and absolutely enjoy Proraso very much, and I don't care about the price (it's about 10$+ here locally) as a tub lasts me a really long time (less now that my wife and daughter uses and loves it). I would and will keep buying it, enjoying it, and I don't have any inclination to jump at trying another dozen soaps. I don't have the money, nor believe that I would find something that would be so much better that I'd forget about it.Heck, I enjoy Williams (which is so much cheaper at 2$ a puck that lasts just as long) just as much, so burn me on the stake over that...
I enjoy both soaps, they both lather very well, provide the glide and cushion that I want from any shaving soap. Compared to just these two, goop (canned foam/gel) is icky to me and more like a gummy gunky paste that sticks (but some people like it still, and that's fine).
Again with the wife and daughter here, but until they tried Prorasso, they were using canned goop, and now they won't even touch it.
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- #103
I did not ask that why people love Proraso. You read into that something that wasn't there. I also did not say I don't care for it. Where are those words?
I asked:
"So whats the story with Proraso? Why is it popular? Is its popularity simply because its cheap? ... basically they give Proraso away free. ... do some people truly find Proraso shaving creams superior in technical performance over other creams like T&H, GFT, XPEC, etc.?"
The consensus is apparent - perceived value for the cost.
Perceived value for money spent does not mean its technically better than T&H, XPEC, etc., It only means "its good enough". Now surely there will be some percentage of people who think its the best thing since canned corned beef and that is where the YMMV appears.
However, MWS and Mikes are just about as cheap. They seem to have niche following yet are highly praised. Perhaps they are niche due to lack of marketing. OTH some RazoRock products are actually cheaper than Proraso and seem to have a massive following in the wet shaving community. Yet for some reason, RazoRock does have the same reverence here as Proraso. What's with that?
I get the fans of certain products can get defensive about the products they like. But try to not read something that isn't there.
[MENTION=106009]grim[/MENTION]: You keep saying to try not to read something that isn't there, but you seem incapable of understanding that a bunch of people on this forum found THE TONE of your post abrasive. The drawing below is applicable to someone here. It is either you, or the vast majority of the people on this thread. I'll bow out and let you decide. Good luck to you.
Very well played
Grim - you come across as more than slightly prickly at times. We're trying to let you know that your tone is being misread and your valid points are being discounted because of it....
Actually, grim, you referred to Proraso as subpar. The inference that I, and many others, get from that is that you don't like.
Perhaps "perceived" by the person using the Proraso, and other creams, but to them it is also a fact.
My Proraso Blue cream is just as good as other creams I enjoy (Geo F. Trumper. Truefitt & Hill, TOBS, etc.)
It is not the cost (although it is always nice to find a good product that is low cost), as I enjoy higher cost creams as well.
It come down to performance, and Proraso performs IMHO.
Proraso is top shelf for me. I use Williams Mug Soap, or Arko/Palmolive sticks or creams almost exclusively. Proraso green is THE most expensive product I regularly purchase, and I do so because it is a good product at a fair price. I love the ease of lathering, the protection, the scent, and the menthol greeting it gives me. Its been my Sunday soap for a number of years.
I think we often lose sight of the fact that we are talking about soap here. Not war and peace, not love and hate, but s-o-a-p. I often need to remind myself of what Marcus Aurelius wrote about esteeming material goods:
When we have meat before us and other food, we must say to ourselves: This is the dead body of a fish, and this is the dead body of a bird or of a pig, and again, this Falernian [wine] is only a little grape juice, and this purple robe some sheeps wool dyed with the blood of a shellfish so that we see what kinds of things they are. This is how we should act throughout life: where there are things that seem worthy of great estimation, we ought to lay them bare and look at their worthlessness and strip them of all the words by which they are exalted. For the outward show [of things] is a wonderful perverter of reason, and when we are certain the things we are dealing with are worth the trouble, that is when it cheats us most (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.13).
I think we often lose sight of the fact that we are talking about soap here. Not war and peace, not love and hate, but s-o-a-p. I often need to remind myself of what Marcus Aurelius wrote about esteeming material goods:
When we have meat before us and other food, we must say to ourselves: This is the dead body of a fish, and this is the dead body of a bird or of a pig, and again, this Falernian [wine] is only a little grape juice, and this purple robe some sheeps wool dyed with the blood of a shellfish so that we see what kinds of things they are. This is how we should act throughout life: where there are things that seem worthy of great estimation, we ought to lay them bare and look at their worthlessness and strip them of all the words by which they are exalted. For the outward show [of things] is a wonderful perverter of reason, and when we are certain the things we are dealing with are worth the trouble, that is when it cheats us most (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.13).
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Here:
12 parts that puts Proraso down.
1) We get it, you don't like it.
2) Other people do.
3) The why: because it is an actually great soap and of the gents that stated that they like it, none stated having the issues that you appear to have with it.
4) it's about 10$ where I am, not free or close to free. It goes on sale (maybe 2$ off) once in a while. It's probably the most "expensive" shaving soap I get, but it can last me close to a year as my main go-to.
5) see 1)
The fact is, substitute Proraso to any other decent brand/soap and it would be the exact same.
As per my earlier post I give the example of Williams: we have a lot of threads about it, at first they put me off from getting it, then I decided that 2$ wasn't that much to "waste" and get my own experience, and it turned out that I actually love it and it works great for me. I don't understand why the hate, nor why people have trouble lathering it when I can do a great thick and plenty of lather in less than 30 seconds with it. These people make me want to go to their homes and have a "shave get-together" and see what the heck is the problem they're having and help them out if I can.
ymmv, that's all.
I'm starting to consider.. would starting a "shave class" as a evening course be something that we could start doing to help those having trouble with the learning curve?
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- #112
OK, fair enough. That's the problem for the last 20 years with the internet, you can't read the body language. May be I should throw more
into discussions. Criticism received.
What I find ironic about cost is that I consider RazoRock superior to Proraso yet its quite a bit cheaper on the surface. I find that very ironic for those thinking I was dishing on the price.
Subpar means exactly that. I have found it below average compared to others. And yes, some other creams costing 2 or 3 time as much, to me, were twice or three times better. But I never said a word about "like". I was referencing performance and scent. I can understand using Green on a hot summer morning, but not in the winter.
I guess I would call my opinion of it "apathetic" and hence my initial question. There is cheaper stuff out there that I consider better and if value for price paid is the performance indicator, then its subpar there too - for me. And there is other stuff just slightly more expensive that IMO is far superior. But I do get the YMMV.
You're reading way to much into this so I give up. I got my answer.
If CO Bigelow is Proraso then they sell that routinely buy 2 get one 1 bringing the cost down to under $7. Then they have sales. Yes, they give this stuff away
Claim what you want to, your entire tone was that you don't like it. Thank you for being done with it.
OK, fair enough. That's the problem for the last 20 years with the internet, you can't read the body language. May be I should throw more
What I find ironic about cost is that I consider RazoRock superior to Proraso yet its quite a bit cheaper on the surface. I find that very ironic for those thinking I was dishing on the price.
Subpar means exactly that. I have found it below average compared to others. And yes, some other creams costing 2 or 3 time as much, to me, were twice or three times better. But I never said a word about "like". I was referencing performance and scent. I can understand using Green on a hot summer morning, but not in the winter.
I guess I would call my opinion of it "apathetic" and hence my initial question. There is cheaper stuff out there that I consider better and if value for price paid is the performance indicator, then its subpar there too - for me. And there is other stuff just slightly more expensive that IMO is far superior. But I do get the YMMV.
You're reading way to much into this so I give up. I got my answer.
If CO Bigelow is Proraso then they sell that routinely buy 2 get one 1 bringing the cost down to under $7. Then they have sales. Yes, they give this stuff away
So, they give it away in the form of CO Bigelow, yet people will pay more for the Green Tub of Proraso soft soap, white red, and blue products soaps/creams. They will also pay more than razorock, and buy the pre-shave cream and after shave on top of it. So, when people talk of great value it is not merely money alone they are talking about, as you have concluded, because they are definitely willing to pay more for it even over products you say are superior. Therefore one must conclude that when people talk about value they are talking more than money but the Proraso experience as a whole (especially if you include the pre and post products).
On another note: My grandpa always taught me if it walks like a duck, talks, like a duck, flies like a duck, swims like a duck, it's probably a duck...just sayin'
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- #116
Just so no one thinks I'm picking on the inexpensive products, I also think XPEC is overrated.
Price is not an issue for me. It's soap. It's not liquid gold. It's a consumable that one consumes. Now Xpec is not, IMO, subpar, but overrated. But that is another issue.
I didn't think you were picking on inexpensive products, just being needlessly argumentative about a product that many here love. Let's call it a draw and go back to square one.
Now if you post that you think Mama Bear is subpar, them's fighting words
Now if you post that you think Mama Bear is subpar, them's fighting words
Gents.....
Love it or hate it, I was enjoying this thread until several of you made it personal. Its a freaking shaving cream nothing to come to blows over. Grim finds it subpar, he is entitled to that opinion. Some of the rest of you love it, I do too, we are entitled to that opinion.
Knock off the Kindergarten stuff and talk, about how good or bad Proraso is. We can argue that all day long and go to bed friends, or we can be done.......your choice.
Love it or hate it, I was enjoying this thread until several of you made it personal. Its a freaking shaving cream nothing to come to blows over. Grim finds it subpar, he is entitled to that opinion. Some of the rest of you love it, I do too, we are entitled to that opinion.
Knock off the Kindergarten stuff and talk, about how good or bad Proraso is. We can argue that all day long and go to bed friends, or we can be done.......your choice.
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When I started in wet shaving (revisited wet shaving?) I used Proraso 'green' and I found it quite acceptable. Nice easy lather and had a nice cooling as well. I don't see it as anything special though.
The reason I stopped using it is it tends to complicate my clean-up afterwards...I found it leaves a fair amount of a white residue on my equipment that requires a little more effort to clean.
The reason I stopped using it is it tends to complicate my clean-up afterwards...I found it leaves a fair amount of a white residue on my equipment that requires a little more effort to clean.
Grim, Since a moderator has stepped in with a warning, and in the interest of going to bed friends, I would hope that you might think it would be a good point in the conversation to share what you have learned starting this thread? Is it that this medium is a difficult and cumbersome place to communicate? Or do you think the Martelli family may have a secret ingredient that causes extreme devotion and fanaticism in their product in all but a few, such as yourself, that are immune? Or do you stick with the observation that people largely value it because of cost...perhaps availability...or any combination of the above? Curious minds want to know.
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