Love the Palmolive stick. Super slick lather with a good, clean scent. For the price it's hard to beat in my book. Lots of good suggestions here. Valobra stick is my next item to try...
Ben
Ben
Cult of Arko
- Thread starter Malakas1981
- Start date
After reading about it somewhere, i ordered a few from a ebay seller. Tried it out and liked it so much i recently ordered a 12 pack. Its a great soap but it took some time to get used to the smell. At least for me. Now i like it. Got that fresh barber shop kind of smell.
~~~I bought the dozen + pack of Arko stick from ebay sometime back. No regrets...it gets used in my rotation. I like Arko stick...and I leave a stick opened in two of my bathrooms at the sink and in the shower...it's a good all around soap IMO and I have better custom made soap to use as well, soaps wifey has been buying for years from a small soap maker in Georgia (U.S.A.)...she orders enough just before X-Mass to get us through to next X-Mass. Bidwell Botanical FWIW ...Okay, here is their URL http://www.bidwellbotanicals.com/soap.html Wifey orders only two, the Spa and the Bamboo Honey. Very good soap I will attest but as mentioned, I also like to use the Arko stick in the shower and for hand washing, just to break it up
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
I've only been trying sticks for the past few months (started with a pif of part of an Arko stick)...
So far my favorite stick is La Toja, it sees use once or maybe twice a week. It leaves the face pretty neutral as far as dryness/moisturizing is concerned. (It's not MdC when it comes to preserving natural oils/moisture, but it's not too far behind.)
If you like the Speick scent and don't have dry skin, Speick is a good shave stick to try, I use Speick about once a month or so, but always follow up with a moisturizer, as it is definitely the most drying product that I still have. (There have been products that were worse as far as drying, but I got rid of them... I keep Speick because I enjoy the scent on occasion, and because it lathers WONDERFULLY.)
I've never tried Valobra but there should be a stick of on my door step when I get home tonight.(I figure I *had* to give it a try, there is just no way a Ferrari F1 fan could dislike *all* Italian soaps... Unfortunately it's been that way so far.)
I'd love to give Irisch Moos a try some day, but at about $20 a stick, not knowing what the scent is like... It's just not too likely to happen any time soon.
The Irisch Moos stick is huge!! I think this one and Tabac are the largest sticks on the market, weight is 100 grams, as much or more than a standard soap puck. I think a DR Harris stick is 40 grams and I paid $14 for it, so the IM is not such a bad deal at all. The scent is very nice, fresh, and in my opinion I would get IM and not Tabac (same soap base, but different scents).
I was in Istanbul for a whole week, and I did not even bring back any Arko with me. I could kick myself for it. It was my first time in Turkey and I was too distracted by all of the sights, culture, and people I have tried Arko, and for the price, it is tough to beat.
I have tried Arko, and for the price, it is tough to beat.
I know it has been brought up, but I really like Speick. The performance (for me) is the same. I have only one complaint about Arko- if I go a day without shaving and use it, it is a lot harder to rinse out of the razor. I don't have this issue with Speick (or any of my other soaps)
As stated in a previous post , there are sticks with a more luxurious scent , but I think Arko performs just as well as any other with a much more simple scent.
Arko is great, and for the dough, you can't beat it.
Somebody mentioned the La Toja stick. It's a lather bomb, and the scent! Ah, bliss.
I have a vintage Williams stick that I treasure. It's still got some of the rose scent, and lathers like...well, like Arko.
Sir Irisch Moos is a great stick, and is like Tabac's freshly bathed brother, who doesn't show up for the shave reeking of stale cigars and last nights floozies and booze (and I like the way Tabac smells).
The European Palmolive is quite good.
Try them all.
Somebody mentioned the La Toja stick. It's a lather bomb, and the scent! Ah, bliss.
I have a vintage Williams stick that I treasure. It's still got some of the rose scent, and lathers like...well, like Arko.
Sir Irisch Moos is a great stick, and is like Tabac's freshly bathed brother, who doesn't show up for the shave reeking of stale cigars and last nights floozies and booze (and I like the way Tabac smells).
The European Palmolive is quite good.
Try them all.
I'm a huge fan of the Wilkinson Sword shave stick. It has both tallow and lanolin plus a nice aftershave like scent. Good stuff; the performance is right up there with Arko IMO.
I was in Istanbul for a whole week, and I did not even bring back any Arko with me. I could kick myself for it. It was my first time in Turkey and I was too distracted by all of the sights, culture, and people
Not to worry. You can buy it in bulk, cheap, on Amazon.
So true, so true!
I got a stick of Arko free with 100 Derbys off of Amazon, and free shipping. I was searching for Arko specifically but didn't want to buy 12 and certainly didn't want to buy one and pay the shipping. I just couldn't think of anything else that I needed at the time. Come to think of it...I didn't need 100 Derbys either, in fact I have never used them, but $12 seemed like a good price for getting two new items.
I smashed the Arko into a bowl and used it this morning. It lived up to all of the hype. I see 12 sticks in the near future. And I didn't mind the smell at all. It is strong, but certainly not urinal like. The Derby blades were pretty good too.
I smashed the Arko into a bowl and used it this morning. It lived up to all of the hype. I see 12 sticks in the near future. And I didn't mind the smell at all. It is strong, but certainly not urinal like. The Derby blades were pretty good too.
Derbys work for me too, in fact I shaved with a Derby DE blade Tuesday morning using this black handled Gillette Super Adjustable my good friend Rich found on ebay and sent to me recently
He likes to bid ebay auctions so I told him some months back to keep his eye open for a nice Super Adjustable for me (on the cheap) to round out my Gillette adjustable collection. I've used it twice so far, first go around with a Rapira blade set on #9, then yesterday with the Derby on #5. Soaps used?, Cella yesterday, Tabac the day before
About this razor, Rich paid $9.50 for it and $3.50 shipping...it's dated O,1 so it's the first year/quarter for this razor. FWIW, I cut myself (slight bleeders) both times I used it. Been shaving with STR8 's day in and day out for the past 3 months?, got that down to a science (or so i'd like to think) and shave with no bleeding, then I get a DE razor in my hands and the blood flows. Go figure, but it comes down to getting used to the tool you're shaving with, developing a rhythm with it. Sorry, but I digress, and wanted to show off my new DE razor, amongst like minded friends=
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
He likes to bid ebay auctions so I told him some months back to keep his eye open for a nice Super Adjustable for me (on the cheap) to round out my Gillette adjustable collection. I've used it twice so far, first go around with a Rapira blade set on #9, then yesterday with the Derby on #5. Soaps used?, Cella yesterday, Tabac the day before
About this razor, Rich paid $9.50 for it and $3.50 shipping...it's dated O,1 so it's the first year/quarter for this razor. FWIW, I cut myself (slight bleeders) both times I used it. Been shaving with STR8 's day in and day out for the past 3 months?, got that down to a science (or so i'd like to think) and shave with no bleeding, then I get a DE razor in my hands and the blood flows. Go figure, but it comes down to getting used to the tool you're shaving with, developing a rhythm with it. Sorry, but I digress, and wanted to show off my new DE razor, amongst like minded friends=
Best,
Jake
Reddick Fla.
One thread after another about this stick called Arko.Its fragrance could stop a charging Rhino in its tracks. Its cost clearly tells you its cheap stuff.
And yet person after raves about it. At first its whispers, "Hey this stuff stinks but it works good". Than the victim starts endlessly praising Arko.
Than he starts praising it until he's foaming at the mouth (could also be the Arko, it foams so well).
Its frighting the power this little stick has to indoctrinate people into its cult.
And yet person after raves about it. At first its whispers, "Hey this stuff stinks but it works good". Than the victim starts endlessly praising Arko.
Than he starts praising it until he's foaming at the mouth (could also be the Arko, it foams so well).
Its frighting the power this little stick has to indoctrinate people into its cult.
The cult nabbed me in shot order.
It's hard to beat, especially when considering the price. Derby sticks are good too.
As much as I reach for Arko I've started to fall in love with the Palmolive shave stick 
It's slicker than Arko and the smell is reminiscent of the Palmolive I smelled as a kid.
It's slicker than Arko and the smell is reminiscent of the Palmolive I smelled as a kid.
OldSaw
The wife's investment
If you're going to belong to a cult, the Arko cult is probably the safest bet on the planet.
OMG you are RIGHT! ARKO ZOMBIES!!! 
At least that explains JWCarlson!
At least that explains JWCarlson!
Count me in as well. I use Arko more than any of my other soaps. I love the lather , the scent , and the price..
I've gone through a number of "phases" since taking up retro shaving two years ago and I think my latest has been making some of the lesser expensive products work. I really don't think Arko or Williams stinks, it's kind of laundry fresh to me. The "no frills" aspect of it appeals to me.
Just about every thing works well in comparison to the typical department store fare and boy, am I thrilled to have found alternatives the past couple of years.
