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[Guest2023]

Watching my hard earned $4~500 spent on 'artisan soaps' washed away for 3 years, I deicided to go back to my first shaving soap : Tabac and Arko

It has been almost a decade since I used them. So I was curious how they can match today's premium soaps with my increased lathering skill.

When I first used them, I kinda like them but What I didn't like them about was Tabac's scent and Arko's fast drying.

Tabac shaving cream cost me $5 and a full dozen box of Arkos cost me $8 at our local market with discount coupon applied.

I've used them 5times respectively and they were really good. All of them produced very slick and creamy lather easily.

They never pale in comparison to the lather quality of 5~20 times pricier soaps. and to add my surprise, their scent begin to grow on me.

With PDP still in my den, I think I will enjoy the superb lather quality and not need to regret having spent too much on shaving soap.

I don't like the stick rubbed on my skin directly so I mashed 2stick of Arko and pressed them into Old Spice mug.

 

[Multum in parvo]

If you want to spoil yourself get the 90 gram Arko puck, it fits perfectly in the OS mug and works exactly as the sticks.

 

[ksblazer]

Congrats on finding what works for you and enjoying your shaves with it

You don't have to spend a lot of $$ to get great shaves.

That's what I like about this hobby.

 

[BigJ]

…

You don't have to spend a lot of $$ to get great shaves.

That's what I like about this hobby.

+1! Yes indeed! Price and performance are often very different things!

 

[JCinPA]

Yep. I've discovered that the relationship between price and quality is very, very tenuous. People will argue about "value" (# of shaves, quality of shaves, price per shave) ad infinitum, but after 10 years or so I tend to stick to the medium-to-lower price points generally. Doesn't have to be the lowest necessarily, but I sure have not found the top-end of the price scale is worth it to me. YMMV.

Skill, however, does factor into this in a big way. We are going to get much better results with about any product at this point, relative to our "youthful shaver" stage, whatever age you were when that was the case.

 

[Marco]

The classics are so called because they are "evergreen immortals". They were, are and will always be reliable, predictable and high-performing soaps. Remember: there is no better test of greatness than standing the test of time.

 

[ShavingPanda]

There is a reason these two are classics, love 'em or hate 'em. I personally love all things Tabac, great scent (to me), easy to lather, and good performance. Arko is easy to lather and performs very well for the low cost - the scent for me is a bit more meh, tolerable but not loved. Glad you've had some success with them.

After collecting and hoarding a decent stockpile of soap, I find that I like ones that lather relatively easily and perform well. The latest and greatest have (for now) lost its 'can't live another day without trying it' status. Also, as my technique has improved, I'm able to just enjoy a mediocre to good soap now having the experience and technique to make it work. I think my earlier days learning, I relied too heavily on better soaps that could, to a degree, cover up poor technique.

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for your thoughts. Two of my favourite soaps and I do like Tabac Cream. Will always have them in my bathroom drawer.