Proraso Dopobarba / After Shave
Proraso

Proraso (1908) is often taken for granted by guys over in it's home turf of Italy, and has been the smell of a proper shave there for years in just the same way as Blenheim Bouquet (1902) might be in the UK, Clubman Pinaud (1890's, exact date unknown) in France, and Skin Bracer (1931) in the US. Proraso literally means "Pro shave" in Italian, and Proraso Dopobarba didn't come about until the 1940's, fusing the eucalyptus and mint characteristics of the original shave soap or cream to an aftershave lotion using a fougère base. The company itself was started by Ludovico Martelli in 1908, and the Martelli family continues to control the company today, with the line expanded beyond the original offerings into a color-coded cross section including a red, blue, and yellow line to compliment the original green one. Proraso has never gained much ground in the United States due to the company essentially being an independent operation reliant upon distribution agreements with chemists, druggists, apothecaries, and the like across Europe, which made sure the brand stayed stocked in various corner stores on that side of the globe. Elsewhere, Proraso would have to be imported with great cost outside of a direct distribution agreement from a store chain, and what multi-national chain in the consumerist US market would care about little old Proraso when Skin Bracer and Aqua Velva Ice Blue (1935) alongside Clubman Pinaud, Old Spice (1937) and Canoe (1936) already had the market choked out? Even Pino Silvestri (1955) had a difficult time making it's way out of Italy to the US in the beginning thanks to limited distrubtion, but I guess that damned pine cone bottle proves just too fascinating for trinket-obsessed Americans to ignore. Luckily, now we live in the internet age, so getting a bottle of Proraso from anywhere is pretty easy, if you have mail service.

Proraso Dopobarba feels like an evolution of the work done on the scent of Skin Bracer, in that Proraso also presents itself as a minty barbershop fougère, but with the added twist of eucalyptus and the pepperminty menthol of Skin Bracer switched out for a smoother spearmint variety. The instant Proraso hits the face, you are bombarded by a lushly green eucalyptus note bolstered by bergamot, with the mint only playing in the background. There's a teeny bit of dry English lavender here, and some clary sage, but it's a simple head note and heart note tandem that quickly calms down under the fougère base of tonka, and oakmoss. There isn't enough of either base note to really anchor this on skin longer than 45 minutes to an hour, and this isn't one of those old-school after shaves with 4 to 5 hour longevity which you can over-apply and stretch into a fragrance, as it's meant to do it's job and that's all she wrote for Proraso. Luckily, fougères were enormously popular when the aftershave came into being, and this stuff seems almost made to layer with any number of classic green fougères ranging from the original Fougère Royale (1882), to Italy's own Acqua di Selva (1949), Jacques Fath Green Water (1947), Paco Rabanne Pour Homme (1973), Duc de Vervins (1985) or even newer green fougères like Calvin Klein Truth for Men (2002). The way you wear Proraso if you're wearing it out of the house, is with something else, and that's just how it is. Combining the shave soap or cream during a wet shave with the aftershave tonic might extend the wear time into a few hours tops, but it's a very faint few hours like an old Mennen fragrance, so I'd only do that on casual weekends if I were to do it at all.

For frequent perfume and cologne wearers that shave, Proraso is actually a godsend, as it's a beautifully refreshing after shave you'll enjoy every minute of, but has enough propriety to get the Hell out of the way for your real fragrance of choice to shine, assuming you pair it with a green fougère. I wouldn't suggest clashing Proraso with more powdery mossy or musky examples like Penhaligon's Sartorial (2010), nor any of the more recent "near-fougère" ambroxan-powered sweethearts that are all the rage, but you can just wait it out if that's what you like wearing, as Proraso literally has a lifespan under an hour. I quite enjoy this stuff and often wonder if they were to base a cologne or toilette-strength fougère around this formula if it would sell, but something simple and single-mindedly fresh such as this likely would make itself a good day wear scent in summer anyway. Finding Proraso in the US means going through CO Bigelow, who carries it on their website or in their single Grenwich Village shop in NYC, as none of the partner Bath and Body Works stores carry it since the Proraso distribution partnership is specifically with CO Bigelow the store and not the larger LLC owned by The Limited (who also owns Bath and Body Works). I've seen bottles of the aftershave and balm turn up in Marshall's at half-price for those who want to hunt a bargain, which puts Proraso in the pricing territory of it's domestic conglomerate brand competitors, but that's splitting hairs. If you want a good, fresh old-school shaving experience that is just slightly outside the norm (unless you're in Italy), then Proraso's got you covered. Yeah, this stuff isn't some hipster Art of Shaving product, nor a fancy Penhaligon's or Trumper's creation, but it will set you right, and that's all I can really ask for in an aftershave. Thumbs up.

Wonderful clean, energizing smell. I own the cream aftershave, which has little to no burn; just a cooling menthol feel. It smells of mint, aloe, soap, and a bit of citrus. My fiancee loves when I come out of the bathroom after shaving.

This aftershave has a scent that manages to be fresh and subtle at the same time.

Floral, citrus, old school barber shop.

Very much agree with OP that it has a great cooling effect after the initial kick.

Personally, I find it quite long-lasting. A favourite.

I love using a quality aftershave splash. I have tried so many and then several years my son introduced me to Proraso, man I love this stuff. I wish they would make cologne out of this one.

I give it 5 stars easily for the fragrance. For longevity I gave it only 2. I know it's an aftershave, but there are some (Musgo Real and Floyd Amber and Blue) that last for a good 4 hours, MR can go 7 or 8 hours at times. As for how well it works, for me, it's the best, even better than Floyd Amber, which I still use, but after finding Proraso I have put it in second place.

Proraso has a cool menthol kick, it burns a little at first, but the smooth, soft skin you get after several minutes is worth the few seconds' worth of stings. The fragrance is hard to explain. A little citrus, a lot of clean and it just leaves you smelling and feeling like a man.

The small size, about 12 – 15 dollars USA, if you like it go for the Grande, 400 ounces in a thick glass bottle, about 40 bucks if you look for awhile online, otherwise never more than 50$. Considering the size, that great. If you are a serious wet shaver, at least try this one, you'll love it.

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me about the origins of this fragrance.

Granted, it's nothing but a humble aftershave, and there's no cologne. But it smells like an aromatic fougère, has the masculinity and strength to prove it, and drives my girl completely crazy.

Forget about Old Spice, and smell like a Uomo.

EDIT: Some intense sniffing the other night indicated that the top note what an earl grey-ish bergamot, which accounts for the potency, but there's more going on below to make it agreeable. It's hard to say how the menthol contributes to the smell, since it's there mainly as a skin product rather than a perfume, but Proraso is definitely in the fougère gang.

This stuff is awesome works great cools and heals the face, citrus type of scent. Eucalyptus and Witch Hazel...recommend this to anyone, definately old school, byt way better then Tabac.