Back between Christmas and New Year’s, I picked up two product lines I was excited to get into–one because I have been using a sample of it and love it, and the other because it’s iconic and I needed to try it and apparently couldn’t be bothered to go down the sample path with it.
The sample I’ve been using and loving was Cella Organic shave cream. And the one I should have sampled first was Cella shaving cream (red, or sweet almond). And as you can see in the family portrait above, I also talked myself into getting their pre-shave gels and after shave balms. This has got to be some sort of OCD compulsion where I just feel weird using a product and not any of it’s matching products if I know they exist and they work well for me.
By the way, Cella is pronounced chel-la, in case you’re wondering. For a while I was calling it sell-a in my head, but that’s wrong.
Anyway, they’ve been in the collection for a couple of weeks now and I’ve used each at least twice, so let’s get into it.
Cella Organic (green)
As I said, I’ve had a sample of the shaving cream since July. And you’ll recall that in the Rating the Lathers post, I rated it at #5, just behind the 4 Proraso lathers. I note in that post that it’s “lather and faint fragrance is easily luxurious. It’s smooth, thick, slick, comfortable, and pleasant.”
It really just makes me happy to use it and I look forward to every shave with it. Though I do note some confusion at having a fairly firm soap being called a cream. But whatever. I don’t care because it’s so nice.
The pre-shave gel, while initially a strange form factor to me, just works. It’s slick, lubricates well, and has a clean but slightly traditional shaving fragrance that just gets reinforced by each layer of the shave. I will note that the holes in the tubes for both this and the aftershave balm are very small, leading me to believe that you aren’t meant to use much in each shave. I don’t think I did–I used enough to cover the skin I needed it to cover–and it worked well without feeling like it was too much.
The aftershave balm is a relatively thick lotion, similar in viscosity to the Dollar Shave Club or Barbasol 1919 balm, but just ever so slightly thinner. Again, that small hole leads me to believe I am not supposed to use much, but I put on enough to start, then add some just for good measure. And I will say that its light but apparent fragrance sticks around for much of the day, along with a nice feeling of softness on my skin from its moisture.
Cella Sweet Almond (red)
I’ve seen at least the Cella soap used online for quite a while, and it’s always gotten very positive reviews. I’m not sure why I’ve waited so long to get some, but here we are, about 16 months into my journey, and I finally picked some up.
I don’t recall seeing the pre-shave or aftershave that often, but whatever, you know me, and you know that if there’s a whole product line within a brand, I’ll generally give it a go.
The pre-shave gel feels and smells similar to the green. I’m sure it isn’t, but it’s got that same slightly menthol-y cooling feel, and has the same feel and lubricity when applied to the skin.
The soap lathers wonderfully. It quickly lathered up to a thick, rich foam that provided wonderful cushioning and protection with a very gentle and subtle sweet almond–almost marzipan-like–fragrance. Coupled with the pre-shave gel, I get plenty of slickness and protection in my shave.
The aftershave balm is the same viscosity of the organic line, with a slightly different fragrance. Not almond, which I find interesting, but kind of a classic barbershop coupled with some sweetness and freshness underneath. The fragrance is there, but apparent only at times, so it’s pretty easy for my mind to ignore.
Final Thoughts and a Comparison
Product lines like this from Cella and Proraso prove a few things: that making quality products for a century and selling them at a fair price is a good business model. Some in the shaving community thumb their noses at soaps and balms that aren’t “artisanal,” or small batch or whatever, but I’d reply that whatever works well for someone in their shaves is what they should be using, and how much they paid or where they bought it is fairly irrelevant.
I really like both of these product lines, though they don’t seem to quite be able to top Proraso as far as my shaves go. But I will say that the performance difference between my 10 or 12 favorite lathers and balms is pretty small, so make of this declaration what you will.
While I really like both of them, I have to say that the organic line is my favorite of the two. It’s a very small difference, but there is a difference in the lather and overall performance of the products that makes me prefer the green to the red. It won’t keep me from using the red, certainly, and I may keep the red in stock whenever I finish them, but the organic line will be the one that I prefer in my shaves over the red.