Proraso Launch New Sandalwood and Shea Butter Shaving Cream

NEW Proraso Sandalwood and Shea Butter Shaving Cream

It's not every day that Proraso launch a new shaving cream, in fact it has been decades since they launched a shaving cream. This most traditional of all Italian Shaving houses has been around since 1926.

In lieu of forthcoming EU legislation on parabens in beauty and grooming products, Proraso have re-launched and re-branded their range and at the same time introduced the all new Sandalwood & Shea Butter Shaving Cream.

According to Proraso, this cream is specifically for those with those with coarse beards. The branding tells us the cream is 'moisturising and nourishing with sandalwood oil and shea butter and that it has been dermatologically tested'.

According to Proraso the contents are 95% natural, No Parabens, No Silicons, No Mineral Oils, No Artificial Colours.

So far, so good. As a huge Proraso fan, I was keen to get started with this new cream.

First impressions

I like the snazzy new barbershop type branding, nice and modern but unmistakably barbershop / shaving related. The tube is the handiest of all containers I think so no complaints there.

I squeezed a good sized dollop of cream onto my lightly wet and warmed up Executive Shaving Best Badger Hair Brush and lathered up on my face. Although launched as sandalwood and shea butter, the scent of sandalwood is barely present, instead I detected notes of cedarwood, and shea butter - very little sandalwood.

Although maybe slightly boring, the scent is not unpleasant but it's certainly not a strong sandalwood such as Taylor's, Trumper's and Castle Forbes. Lathering up Proraso Sandalwood & Shea Butter Shaving Cream was an absolute pleasure, it goes on a treat with very little effort required to get that rich, non stodgy, emulsion like coating that allows the razor to glide over the cream easily without sticking in the cream and without digging into the face while shaving a first pass with the grain. My second pass is always diagonally against the grain, there was lots of cream left in the brush to give me another incredibly rich coating for pass number two.

With some creams you may need to top up the cream in the brush to maintain the creamy richness needed for a good third pass but not with Proraso Sandalwood & Shea Butter Shaving Cream, no sir! The third lathering up was as rich as the first one, producing a nice emulsion like coating, just as I like it. I had one or two wee bits of stubborn stubble left under my chin and nose so I gently squeezed the brush and applied the cream using my fingers, there was lots left in the brush and one my face for a fourth, full pass if needed.

I have to say that this new cream provides a superb lather effortlessly. It is also remarkably cheap at only £6.30 for 150mls. This in fact may work against Proraso, I remember taking stock down to our retail outlet one lunchtime and watched a guy browsing the shaving creams. He picked up several creams including Proraso, he scan read the labels, took the tops off, sniffed the contents, checked the prices and considered his options with great thought. Eventually he chose Trumper's Coconut Shaving Cream at £15.50 for 200g. Intrigued, I asked him why he chose Trumper's, he told me that he was going to buy Proraso but thought that ''at only £6.30 it can't be much good compared to something twice the price''. Hat's off to Proraso for keeping their prices down but I doubt if they would lose significant sales if they doubled the price and sold it as a luxury shaving cream instead of a cream for the hoi polloi like me.