180 turnaround on Speick

[jlk819]

I had wanted to try a Speick shave stick for a while, since it receives much love on these boards. I finally ordered one last week.

When I opened it, I almost threw it right into the trash. The smell was just so strong and I couldn't imagine why people actually liked it. I put it aside for a few days, and decided that this morning, I'd just give it a go and see what happens.

Well, the scent from the stick is indeed strong, but after rubbing the stick on my face, watching the lather build (more like explode) after a few brush passes, and having a great 3 pass shave, I understood the B&B love. The performance and the scent were just amazing. The scent of the lather lightens into a manly, spicy, woodsy aroma that doesn't overwhelm. As I left for work, my wife even commented on how much she liked the scent, which was a first after about 1 year of traditional DE shaving.

I plan on using it for the full week to give it a proper trial, and am definitely looking forward to tomorrow's shave.

 

[mrmoonbeam]

I too have found I did not like it as much at first sniff.
Frankly it reminded me of washroom industrial soap (like you'd find at as gas stop bathroom).
Needless to say, after a few rounds I enjoy it. The scent grows on you, and becomes less washroom and more of a clean fresh type of scent (SWIMBO enjoys too

Here's to Speicktember!

 

[Go West Young Man]

If you think Speick has a strong scent, I'm curious to know what you think of Tabac or Arko!

 

[rosborne]

Speick and Tabac. What Heaven must smell like.

And all that tallowy goodness to go with it!

 

[VT_Hokie]

Tabac and Arko I can tolerate, enjoy them actually.

Never tried Speick, but the one that I couldn't even bring myself to put on my face was La Toja. My god that stuff is hideous.

 

[craig87c]

If you think Speick has a strong scent, I'm curious to know what you think of Tabac or Arko!

I love Tabac's scent and am perfectly ok with Arko. But I'm really starting to get away from the super-scented soaps. I want them to be a bit more subtle than those two soaps- gotta get me some Speick!

 

[MikekiM]

I just recently discovered the joy of Speick Stick when it was included as a freebie in the purchase of a Feather AC..

To say the lather explodes is an understatement.. I have to remind myself not to apply too much!! I pressed my stick into an emptied twist up stick deodorant dispenser and it works great!

Not sure what it is, but I suspect it's the tallow.. I especially like the residual left after after a pass and before the next lather. No other soaps I have tried do this, they all seem to be entirely removed from my skin once a pass is complete.

 

[gaseousclay]

If you think Speick has a strong scent, I'm curious to know what you think of Tabac or Arko!

I just got my Arko delivered today and it does indeed smell like a urinal puck

 

[Go West Young Man]

I just got my Arko delivered today and it does indeed smell like a urinal puck

I like to say it smells like the soap in a budget hotel's toilet!

 

[Suzuki]

Agree with the urinal puck comments - threw mine out after a couple of years of waiting for the scent to dissipate.

I'm a huge fan of the Speick - love the scent and performance. This stuff is truly one of the underappreciated products in shavedom and pretty inexpensive to boot.

If you like the scent, the aftersahve spash is a great companion - same great scent and very good on the skin.

 

[rosborne]

I just got my Arko delivered today and it does indeed smell like a urinal puck

I like to say it smells like the soap in a budget hotel's toilet!

Now I'm glad I haven't tried that one! I was 2 for 2 on Speick/Tabac. Love them. Sounds like Arko would have messed up my batting average!

 

[tylerdurden]

Same reaction here. I wasnt so sure about the smell until i used it. Now i think Speick is Tabacs hotter sister.

 

[gaseousclay]

I like to say it smells like the soap in a budget hotel's toilet!

I take back my urinal puck comment. I had my wife smell the arko shave stick and I gave it a few more whiffs and i'm starting to agree with your comment...that it does in fact smell like the cheap soap you'd find in a budget hotel. it's not entirely unpleasant but it's not the greatest smell either.

 

[gaseousclay]

Now I'm glad I haven't tried that one! I was 2 for 2 on Speick/Tabac. Love them. Sounds like Arko would have messed up my batting average!

well for the money, you can't really go wrong. I remember finding Tabac to be pretty foul smelling when I first got it, but now I can tolerate it no problem. it's the same with Arko. at first the smell isn't very appealing but once you're used to it it becomes tolerable.

 

[jlk819]

well for the money, you can't really go wrong. I remember finding Tabac to be pretty foul smelling when I first got it, but now I can tolerate it no problem. it's the same with Arko. at first the smell isn't very appealing but once you're used to it it becomes tolerable.

I say this not trying to be a jerk, but with all the products out there, shouldn't your routine include something you enjoy and not just tolerate?

Sure, I got into this DE shaving thing thinking I'd save money, and sure, that's WAY out the window already... but at least now I enjoy my shaves. For 23 years, I've loathed shaving. There are numerous family pictures of me looking like a hobo because I hated shaving so much. Now, I'm irritation free and enjoy my shaves... so I sure don't want to my products to smell "tolerable."

 

[craig87c]

I say this not trying to be a jerk, but with all the products out there, shouldn't your routine include something you enjoy and not just tolerate?

Sure, I got into this DE shaving thing thinking I'd save money, and sure, that's WAY out the window already... but at least now I enjoy my shaves. For 23 years, I've loathed shaving. There are numerous family pictures of me looking like a hobo because I hated shaving so much. Now, I'm irritation free and enjoy my shaves... so I sure don't want to my products to smell "tolerable."

I too got into DE shaving to save money. Then the ADs kicked in! Now I've pretty much got my setup and am looking to thin out the den a bit. In addition to this, I'm in grad school and am living with little to no money- some people just have Arko in their price range. I'm one and I'm proud of it!

Plus the cheap stuff works as well as the 'spensive, purty smellin' stuff for a lot less money.

 

[FL shaver]

Does anybody else think the Speick stick smells like Polo cologne?

 

[jlk819]

Plus the cheap stuff works as well as the 'spensive, purty smellin' stuff for a lot less money.

I agree. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that to enjoy your shaves you need to spend a fortune. There are so many great products out there that you can find something you like, rather than tolerate.

 

[ouch]

Same reaction here. I wasnt so sure about the smell until i used it. Now i think Speick is Tabacs hotter sister.

 

[TheChefs]

Tabac and Arko I can tolerate, enjoy them actually.

Never tried Speick, but the one that I couldn't even bring myself to put on my face was La Toja. My god that stuff is hideous.

I've not tried Arko and I'm not planning to, but I couldn't disagree more with you. While I hate scent of Tabac I really enjoy La Toja and Speick. I've just ordered La Toja balm and splash hoping they have similar scent. Even tough La Toja stick performance is great, it just isn't as good as my top 5 soaps, so very often I just give it a sniff and use another soap instead.