Proraso Pre-Shave Cream was the original Proraso product, developed in an era when a lot of folks didn't have a dedicated shave soap. They just used... soap. Proraso mixed into this normal-soap-lather and made it smoother, creamier, and stabler: more suitable for shaving. And a few years later when they introduced their own shave soap to the market, it was formulated to be paired with their pre-shave cream.
Used together, Proraso shave soap and pre-shave cream develop a darn good lather that I'm entirely satisfied to use, even in comparison to most modern artisan shave soaps. THAT SAID, modern artisan shave soaps already incorporate all the ingredients that Proraso pre-shave cream is bringing to the mix... making it utterly unnecessary for anything beyond vintage Euro-style soap formulations (Proraso, Martin de Candre, etc.). But when paired with Proraso soap? Yeah, totally worthwhile!
Three out of five stars for the following reason: the green pre-shave smells way grosser than the green soap and aftershave, and the red pre-shave burns my face even though I'm fine with the matching soap. The white pre-shave is the only one of the three that works for me.
