New Member

[Benzadmiral]

So Arko smells like Turkey's barbershops? What is that scent like? I've never tried Arko.

 

[meliahog]

Welcome to B&B, Gaz.

 

[Dave in KY]

Welcome to the Club !!

 

[Gaznix]

So Arko smells like Turkey's barbershops? What is that scent like? I've never tried Arko.

Sorry only just seen this! A year later.... yeah, arko smell is every barbers over there. I’m off again next Thursday for 2 weeks. I get a hair cut and shave for about £5 it’s great. I use straights now so will have a few shaves over there, I might pick up on a few tips on shaving my face.

 

[Macfrommichigan]

So Arko smells like Turkey's barbershops? What is that scent like? I've never tried Arko.

Arko detractors are always quick to suggest it smells like a urinal puck, or maybe an institutional cleaning product. Others maintain it just smells "clean" or "like soap", lathers well, and is very inexpensive.

 

[mawashi]

Hi all!

I’m Gaz from Staffordshire, England and have been visiting your pages for advice since February when I took the plunge into safety razor shaving. I’ve been meaning to get into safety razor shaving for 2 years but kept putting it off after buying a huge multi-pack of Fusion blades and handle a good while back. I was getting around 3-4 weeks from a blade shaving 3-4 times in 10 days as I work a 10 day work cycle. I’ve always asked friends etc what they shave with because I’ve always hated shaving and wanted to find something that worked for me! Although I hated shaving I am required to be clean shaven for work. I spoke to my wife’s cousin about it in Jan 2015 and he explained the DE safety razor world to me and I promised him I’d get involved when I finally ran out of blades. So having butchered my face for the past 19 years or so I finally bought a kit, I bought the Edwin Jagger DE89 (including 5 Feather blades) Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandlewood soap, synthetic brush £10 and a stand/bowl. I was sold after shave one and have become slightly obsessed with shaving now! The days of despising shaving are gone! As I’ve said I’ve been frantically researching technique and products getting Used to what works for me, shaving is a very personal thing I’ve found. The feathers provided a great shave but I do have sensitive skin, especially through the British winter so after my trial 5 Feathers were used up I bought 100 Gillette 7 o’clock super stainless (Russian) as I much prefer a smooth shave. I bought 12 Arko sticks (I love the smell as I’ve been to Turkey on holiday almost every year of my life and reminds me of being in the barber shops there!) as mentioned have Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood soap and finally a Razorock XXX soap puck. I have just used for the first time Proraso Green pre-shave which I also used post shave, wow! Love it! Pernaud Clubman aftershave and Nivea sensitive aftershave 0% balm which is also great. I also use a generic £1.50 alum which I bought from EBay, great for little bleeders and feedback. I have since upgraded my brush to a Semouge boar brush which isn’t yet fully broken in having only had it for 2 weeks. I can’t believe I’m only just discovering DE shaving now, I’ve got my dad into it and a mate from work who also loves it. It’s been great reading reviews from here and also YouTube where I’ve found Nick Shaves videos very insightful. Here in the UK we struggle for the variety of soaps that the US market seems to have unfortunately, I visited Chicago in November prior to my DE discovery which I now see as a missed opportunity to stock up. I’m going to Turkey in June and know they have some artisan products available for me to try. I look forward to reading further reviews and advice and will also offer my knowledge where possible! Look forward to speaking to you all.

Gaz

Fantastastic to have you here Gaz,

Great journey so far, there are tons of info available from the great guys here and so much stuff put there to get lol.

Vintage razors, super soaps and great blades.

I'm sure you'll find what works for you but my favourite so far are BIC and Nacets, feathers may be too hash for you. A New Short Comb vintage gillette, arko/proraso and TFS soaps. For brushes, I do love the Omegas and would gladly recommend the 1000 series as the 24/55 mm knot seems to be the sweet spot for shaving. I'll be getting a 11226 myself.
I love getting stuff from connaughtshaving.com and Yaqi via aliexpress especially during their sales. 2 badgers a syn for USD $38 including shipping.

Happy shaves,

Mawashi