The first thing you notice is that the consistency is very ‘creamy’. It has an almost a metallic silver hue to it. It’s hard not to judge this in comparison to the Proraso Green so I am going to judge it against the famous older brother:
The Red has a much nicer scent. It’s infinitely nicer going on than the old fashioned menthol/eucalyptus ‘dencorub’ style scent of the green. This is far more cultured as a scent. Not sure there is as much sandalwood, but it’s very, very nice in aroma. On that front it wins over the Green.
However, when it comes to value, you are going to be going through the Red much, much quicker. It’s a very light, frothy, creamy consistency and these jars are way too small. As a pre-shave, to cover an average two-day growth you are going to be using a lot of it because it’s pretty ‘runny’ and thin. The Green has a very different texture, almost a chalky feel to it, much thicker and much better value for money. A tub of the Green in the same size will last you a lot longer. As for effectiveness of the Red, it is just OK. It’s possibly 25% better than a straight up good lathered shave soap would be. And that’s at best. Now the Green on the other hand, that straight up melts your beard. While I don’t like the smell of the Green anywhere near as much as I do the Red, you will find it much less effective than the Green. So in the Green VS Red battle, if you are looking for something that will really prep your skin and a thick beard for shaving, the Green wins over this. The red is nice, but not a must have in your arsenal. If you want a beard melter, go check out the Green.