I used Arko for this A.M.'s shave. Its every bit as good as my 4 Dollar an ounce soap.
My first dance with Arko
- Thread starter Gryffindor
- Start date
I love me some Arko.
I have a bunch of Wholly Kaw donkey milk soap samples, and so I’ve been in artisan croap land for a while now, but I shaved with Arko again two days ago just to remind me of the difference.
The Arko instantly responded with an overflow of suds, faster and easier to lather than Wholly Kaw - advantage Arko (and not even close).
The Arko smelled like LEMON OPPRESSION. Actually, that’s only true on a new stick. Now, my milled into bowl Arko smells lemony and soapy, but much less overwhelming than when new. Wholly Kaw on the other hand has several scents, some of which are very much to my liking. Advantage, WK, but only just (scent is t really that important to me).
The Arko provided solid slick performance, and adequate cushion /protection. Certainly quite slick enough for a comfortable straight razor shave, for which I prefer slick to cushion. I would say it is roughly 80%-85% the slick performer of WK. not quite as good, but close enough for great shaving. Advantage WK.
After the shave is really where I start to notice the difference. While WK is not difficult to lather, it is t the instant overwhelming responder Arko is. Conversely, after I shave, I cold rinse, apply alum while I shave the noggin, cold rinse again, dry off, apply witch hazel, then when that air dries, alcohol free after shave (either Nivea or lucky tiger). Even after ALL of that, an Arko shave leaves my skin feeling puckery dried out, and just a little sensitive, like it will start to itch a little soon, but doesn’t quite itch yet. WK leaves my face feeling smooth and buttery by comparison. Advantage WK, by a similarly wide margin as lathering was won by Arko/
And so these two soaps are damn near equivalent in total use. Only when price and price/ performance ratio are accounted can I decide on one being better. Obviously, Arko wins that fight, and so I have several spare sticks of it. Nonetheless, when I really, really want a fantabulous shave, the WK is what I reach for.
I have a bunch of Wholly Kaw donkey milk soap samples, and so I’ve been in artisan croap land for a while now, but I shaved with Arko again two days ago just to remind me of the difference.
The Arko instantly responded with an overflow of suds, faster and easier to lather than Wholly Kaw - advantage Arko (and not even close).
The Arko smelled like LEMON OPPRESSION. Actually, that’s only true on a new stick. Now, my milled into bowl Arko smells lemony and soapy, but much less overwhelming than when new. Wholly Kaw on the other hand has several scents, some of which are very much to my liking. Advantage, WK, but only just (scent is t really that important to me).
The Arko provided solid slick performance, and adequate cushion /protection. Certainly quite slick enough for a comfortable straight razor shave, for which I prefer slick to cushion. I would say it is roughly 80%-85% the slick performer of WK. not quite as good, but close enough for great shaving. Advantage WK.
After the shave is really where I start to notice the difference. While WK is not difficult to lather, it is t the instant overwhelming responder Arko is. Conversely, after I shave, I cold rinse, apply alum while I shave the noggin, cold rinse again, dry off, apply witch hazel, then when that air dries, alcohol free after shave (either Nivea or lucky tiger). Even after ALL of that, an Arko shave leaves my skin feeling puckery dried out, and just a little sensitive, like it will start to itch a little soon, but doesn’t quite itch yet. WK leaves my face feeling smooth and buttery by comparison. Advantage WK, by a similarly wide margin as lathering was won by Arko/
And so these two soaps are damn near equivalent in total use. Only when price and price/ performance ratio are accounted can I decide on one being better. Obviously, Arko wins that fight, and so I have several spare sticks of it. Nonetheless, when I really, really want a fantabulous shave, the WK is what I reach for.
Lol, you right! made me wonder what the price of the others was
Arko $2
Cella $9
Proraso $4
Tabac $9
Well, guys, in the interest of fairplay I pulled out my tub of Arko to see if my negative feelings were still the same. Result was that while I wouldn't eat my words completely, I might eat around 50% of them.
With a MMOC and 2x PTFE blade I had an excellent shave. I can't fault the performance - the lather was excellent, full and moist and didn't dry out. As good as anything, in fact. The scent is where it falls down for me. I have to say straight out that I'm around 90% about scent and 10% about performance in my choice of soaps, which explains why Arko is on the shelf for me. The scent remains one-dimensional lemon, and rather synthetic. Nothing subtle here. The face feel was very good after the shave, but the linger was the same basic lemony scent.
So conclusions are that the performance can't be faulted, and if you're not too concerned with scent this will be more than enough. If you're a scent junkie you'll want something more subtle, which you should find in the artisan soaps. Will I use it again? Out of the quartet of Arko, Cella, Proraso Red and Tabac which were my mass-market beginners purchases only Arko has stayed - the other three got disposed of very fast. I may pull out Arko again just for the performance, which is brilliant, but I suspect that my artisan soaps will push it out of the rotation on the basis of scent alone.
With a MMOC and 2x PTFE blade I had an excellent shave. I can't fault the performance - the lather was excellent, full and moist and didn't dry out. As good as anything, in fact. The scent is where it falls down for me. I have to say straight out that I'm around 90% about scent and 10% about performance in my choice of soaps, which explains why Arko is on the shelf for me. The scent remains one-dimensional lemon, and rather synthetic. Nothing subtle here. The face feel was very good after the shave, but the linger was the same basic lemony scent.
So conclusions are that the performance can't be faulted, and if you're not too concerned with scent this will be more than enough. If you're a scent junkie you'll want something more subtle, which you should find in the artisan soaps. Will I use it again? Out of the quartet of Arko, Cella, Proraso Red and Tabac which were my mass-market beginners purchases only Arko has stayed - the other three got disposed of very fast. I may pull out Arko again just for the performance, which is brilliant, but I suspect that my artisan soaps will push it out of the rotation on the basis of scent alone.
In poor words, you don't want to feel part of the laundry!
What are these cryptic words? Is this boar fighting talk?
Thanks for giving it a go. Admittedly it's also not my absolute favorite soap, but it'll do. BTW, I have only the stick and use it as a stick, I wonder if that is a difference maker.
For some, trepidatiously stepping away from their trusty electrics or cartridge razors, and giving their first shot to using soap with a brush like to old geezers used to have to, a solid performer with a very low price tag could be just the gentle introduction they need.
Indeed, many will come to more traditional wet shaving after being disillusioned by the sky high prices charged for “modern” personal care products. When they see how little of a $2 stick of Arko it takes to get a good shave, and compare that to how much of a $10 can of Gillette gel it takes to get a decent shave, well, the math starts to add up. It’s the same basic math that makes double edged blades suddenly seem so reasonable as compared to cartridges.
Methinks this positions Arko perfectly as an introductory soap for the new wetshaver.
Indeed, many will come to more traditional wet shaving after being disillusioned by the sky high prices charged for “modern” personal care products. When they see how little of a $2 stick of Arko it takes to get a good shave, and compare that to how much of a $10 can of Gillette gel it takes to get a decent shave, well, the math starts to add up. It’s the same basic math that makes double edged blades suddenly seem so reasonable as compared to cartridges.
Methinks this positions Arko perfectly as an introductory soap for the new wetshaver.
No sir! Nothing cryptic! Simply the truth!
My God! Even more cryptic......
Terrific assessment! Performance is important in a soap but if the scent isn’t enjoyable, it’s time to move on! Too many other fish in the sea.
I agree totally so buy tabac, then nothing else will do. YMMV.
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LOL!
Yep, the price of admission to the world of wet shaving was certainly a draw for me. And I can say with 100% certainty that I would never have dumped my electric if I had been told that I would need to spend the big $$$ on premium shave gear to get a good shave. I started with a Merkur, a cheap badger brush and some AOS cream. And my shaves were good. Way better than what I was getting prior. And though I have moved on from all of that gear, I still have it because, as it was so inexpensive, I never felt the need to try to recoup what I spent. I certainly can't say the same for the countless tubs of $20-30 artisan soap that I have bought and sold over the years (including seven or eight of "the best", aka Grooming Dept.)
I am reminded of the time that I took a friend to our local "beer Mecca", Gravity Beerworks (RIP). Gravity offered tons of micro-micro artisan beer makers and obscure stuff from six of the seven continents. As I am a big fan of beer, I used to go there on a pretty regular basis and spend between $50-90 on two or three 750ml bottles that I may have never seen before. Truth be told, almost none of the $30 bottles of beer where that much better than similar beers in the store, but I was a collector of sorts, so I paid the premium for trying something that others may not have the chance to drink.
So, my friend liked beer. But his exposure to the suds was pretty much what one would find at the supermarket or the local tavern. He had no concept of how different hops or yeast might affect a brew. He just like "beer". We went in to Gravity one night, and as I'm chatting with the owner, my friend just happens to pick up the most expensive bottle in the store. If I'm not mistaken, it's like $35 for 12 oz of malty goodness. His eyes got huge and he was almost out the door before I was able to show him an awesome option for less than $10 (a four pack, no less!). Was the bottle that he picked up "better" than what he walked out of the store with? Probably. Would he have been able to appreciate the differences? Probably not. Would he have gone back into Gravity if he thought that he would have to spend $35 to get one good 12 oz. bottle of beer? NO WAY!
My point? Spending top-dollar on "the best" (as if there is such a thing) is a luxury, not a guarantee of quality or results.
Absolutely spot on. I wanted to get away from carts cos I was getting awful shaves from a $5, 5 bladed (unmentionable word/words) and spending about $180 a year on that.
If someone were to tell me that I could only get a great shave if I bought a charcoal goods or timeless razor and $20 soaps I would have walked into the nearest mall and gotten myself an electric razor.
I'm getting awesome shaves from a couple of free arkos, a $10 swamp thang NSC and 10¢ Nacet blades.
How true! But not in all cases. In terms of razors my cheap GEM MMOC, MMCP and 1912 outperform everything else I've ever tried, including a Timeless OC .95 which lasted a week. As for brushes, my 3 Yaqi synths outperformed a Maseto premium silverline badger which also lasted a week.
However, when it comes to soaps, and in my case the scents of the soaps, there's a level of scent quality which has to be reached in order to get into my rotation. Tabac, Cella, Proraso and ??Arko (still a contender of sorts) fall below that line. But above the line, and soaps whose scents I really enjoy, are e.g. MWF and Barbus Classic which are both quite cheap. Where this line is will be different for everyone of course - if you are not really interested in the scent as long as the soap performs then maybe there isn't a line. Tabac as we know from about 1,236 threads on the subject, is a love-hate thing. In my case I fall into the "hate" camp, but that's just me.
Ah that makes more sense. Certain scents drive me insane, I will hold my nose walking around certain parts of a department store.
However, I don't use arko because of the scent, it ain't perfume lol. As a shaving soap, it works and works very well.
Yes, I certainly agree that the a soap having a nice scent is a huge plus. I wouldn't keep a $25+ soap that didn't offer the benefit of a smelling great. That being said, I have purchased dozens (if not hundreds!) of artisan soaps that didn't agree with my nose. From the sounds of it, so have you. It took me years to cull my collection down to my current rotation of soaps. And it's a rotation that no longer includes many of what many folks consider "the best"--I have used but no longer own any Wholly Kaw, Declaration Grooming, Grooming Dept., Bufflehead or Talbot's, along with many other "top-tier" soaps. I can only imagine how much money I lost fine-tuning my collection to get me to the point that I'm at right now (which of course, is still with way too much soap). But going to that extreme was my choice. It was part of the fun of the hobby--the chase for the "perfect" soap (and razor and brush). But I would probably be perfectly happy with my old Merkur and AOS if I hadn't fallen into the rabbit hole.
So yeah, there is just something to be said for the simple utility of Arko (and Tabac, Speick, Proraso, et al). It's inexpensive, it's easy to find, easy to use and it gets the job done. Some folks don't want to deal with the continual process of curating their collection of shave soaps. Some people don't want to spend $30 on the latest-and-greatest artisan soap. Some genuinely enjoy using Arko and Tabac! While I couldn't tell you the last time I used my Arko, I know that it's a very good performer that's almost certainly worth more than the price of admission.
