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Love the idea of the stick but am just not a stick guy

I have Arko, Speick, Palmolive, and La Toja sticks (I should say, had). The first three were grated into little ramekin cups early on with the Zyless cheese grater. Arko, didn't seem to love holding its shape (looked like a dry lake bed and little chunks kept coming off) so I replaced it with I puck when I learned about them. The Speick and Palmolive were easy to grate and mold into the cups and have held their shape in the years since. I have replacement sticks for when the time comes.

The La Toja has been in my shaving cabinet for at least a year and while I love its fragrance and lather quality, I just didn't like using it as a stick. I go to find the Zyliss grater and my wife tells me it's at the other house and, as we're going to town later, I could pick it up then. Too impatient so I came across the thin disc method posted here and elsewhere in the past and that's what I did. Added a wee bit of hot water and used my thumbs and, finally, the back of a plastic spoon which I modified by cutting off the handle so I could really press it down and shape the surface. Seems to have worked fine. Planning to shave with it later.

OK, work for the day completed. Back to goofing off.
 
I have yet to smell anything Tabac. Hate to say it but I use an electric when traveling. But neither was really the gist of this topic. ;)
 
You don’t have to like sticks. You don’t have to like face lathering. I don’t like electrics and will never touch one to my face again willingly. We can all enjoy that YMMV thing.

I’ve got grated Speick in a tub at the house and travel sticks made from pucks of all my house soaps.

What works for each, works for each.
 
Sticks get better and easier to load as the get hydrated from daily use. I just finished two weeks with a DR Harris stick while on holiday. By the end of the trip it had softened up a bit and was really enjoyable.
 
I rather like the Via Barberia ‘Cream’ from Omega (which is a soap, not a cream - similar consistency to MdC soap or your La Toja). The Herbae one is to my nose a very pleasant, light scent and perhaps even nicer than the La Toja scent, but similar in tone. It comes in an aluminium tin. I suggest it’s worth a try - I use it interchangeably with La Toja when I don’t feel like using a stick. Don’t get the Via Barberia ‘Soap’ - that’s a hard, oval bar soap.
 
I'm in the shave stick all the time camp too...

I mix and press into a twist up container 50/50 mixes of Arko/Mitchell's Wool Fat, Cella/MWF & latest is a mix of Saponificio Varesino Dolomiti/MWF.
I'll probably be giving Pre De Provence 63 a go with MWF later...

ps You don't need to grate Arko to fit it into a tub or whatever if your prefer to load that way - it's malleable enough to squeeze and press by hand into a bowl etc. The mixed sticks above I do grate the MWF and the Arko, Dolomiti and mix together - the Cella is so soft you can just add grated MWF and mix with a fork ;-)

 
Sticks get better and easier to load as the get hydrated from daily use. I just finished two weeks with a DR Harris stick while on holiday. By the end of the trip it had softened up a bit and was really enjoyable.
Totally agree. I took a palmolive stick on vacation and was shaving every day with it. The product was coming off real easy after the first day and eliminated one of my main issues with shave sticks- could have been quicker then a brush load at home.
 
Totally agree. I took a palmolive stick on vacation and was shaving every day with it. The product was coming off real easy after the first day and eliminated one of my main issues with shave sticks- could have been quicker then a brush load at home.
That was my experience too. A new stick is dry and sticks to the face. Not very enjoyable. Once they get going, they are so much easier to apply.
 
The benefit for me is that I'll use that La Toja now instead of just sniffing it. Same with my Speick, Palmolive and Arko (well, until I bought the puck to replace the grated stick).
 
I tend to convert a lot of my sticks into bowl soaps just because I enjoy that a little more. The main exception is Sir Irisch Moos which I keep in its original stick container, but I only use it a few times a year.
 
ps You don't need to grate Arko to fit it into a tub or whatever if your prefer to load that way - it's malleable enough to squeeze and press by hand into a bowl etc. The mixed sticks above I do grate the MWF and the Arko, Dolomiti and mix together - the Cella is so soft you can just add grated MWF and mix with a fork ;-)
I did this not too long ago with a bar of Ach Brito Mogno into a 4oz Maggards soap container
 
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