Newbie needs help figuring out how to acquire Palmolive and/or Arko sticks.

[CuzteR]

So my tube of 150ml Proraso Green is running dangerously low and I need to figure out how to proceed from here.

Reading the forums I've come to the conclusion I should try

1. Tabac (I can get a refill puck for around $12 which I find reasonable)
2. Arko (shaving stick, $5)
3. D.R Harris (Windsor, $17, also roughly in line with international price levels)
4. Palmolive (shaving stick, $5)

Now Arko and Palmolive are supposed to be "low price / good value for money bargains" and easy to use for beginners. However, the price level here in Sweden is approximately 40 SEK ($5). Meanwhile, people in the animated Arko-threads speak about price levels around $0.5. Thats an order of magnitude difference.

I had a similar problem buying blades before I found razorbladesclub.com (paying an order of magnitude more than I was supposed to, ie I paid $7.5 for my first sample pack of 5(!) blades).

I found a potential Arko dealer on Amazon, but the price for a pack of 12 sticks was ~$15 with an additional $21 for shipping. And that vendor doesn't carry the other soaps on my list (no shared shipping).

How and where do you guys buy stuff like Arko and Palmolive? Maybe there is a soap equivalent of razorbladesclub I haven't found yet?

 

[Smooth and Sharp]

12$ for tabac is a better ratio than your Arko Price vs "normal" price so I would definitely go with tabac. Even with all the high end soaps I've tried, Tabac would stay in my rotation if I had to select 5 soaps for the rest of my life.

 

[pwill112]

Maybe expand your list to shipping friendly inexpensive soaps?

 

[SterFry]

$5.00 for an Arko stick is insane! Don't pay a dime more than $2.00 for a single stick. You can get a pack of 12 on Amazon for like $13.00

 

[CuzteR]

Yes, I think I found a way to get Arko sticks for $1.28 / stick inlcuding shipping from Amazon. But that requires a buy of at least 12.

And 12 sticks might be 3 years of shaving. So before I go down that road I decided to try one. And I finfally found a vendor that also offers Tabac and Palmolive. So i put together a sample pack:

SEK 236 ($28,54) for 2 sticks and a Tabac Soap (including shipping to my door) is acceptable I guess.

It's funny though. One of the reasons I decided to try DE-shaving was that it was supposed to be cheaper than my Gillette Fusion solution. A better shave at a fraction of the prize!

However, between the after shave balms ($34,95 for 50ml ***?), soaps and bowls, blades, brushes, razor/brush stand and razor (Merkur 34C), it all amounts to a small fortune. And I just started exploring

This will get ugly, I can feel it!

 

[Multum in parvo]

For Sweden I would go besides amazon and eBay with a couple of vendors that are also highly regarded here on the board.

Connaught UK very reasonable shipping rates

Gifts & Care Spain

Rasoigoodfellas Bergamo Italy

Dambiro Germany for all things Italian incl. Palmolive

If you really want go budget there are a couple of Soap/Cream offerings in the 250-1000ml range for EUR 4.00-13.00

a Fatip piccolo
Omega brush
Omega bowl
100 Astra blades
Proraso cream
Proraso balm/splash
Alum
should be under EUR 50.00

 

[Furex]

Try local.

IME it is very hard to get inexpensive soaps or creams online. These are my last two software purchases:

Palmolive Classic Cream: 0.99 Euros (local) VS 3 GBP (online)
Proraso Cream, Red: <2.5 Euros (local) VS 5+ GBP (online)

Online prices taken from a well-known, UK-based specialist store.

Amazon has often decent pricing for hardware, but software is crazy for the most part. I did get a couple decent deals there, too, but it's a game of wait and see.

 

[CuzteR]

Connaught UK very reasonable shipping rates

Gifts & Care Spain

Rasoigoodfellas Bergamo Italy

Dambiro Germany for all things Italian incl. Palmolive

Thank you very much for the links, you really are Multum in parvo

Seems I can cut the price of my sample pack in half by using Dambiro Germany. And exploring other soaps / stuff it seems they beat my local alternatives by alot.

Much Appreciated! Unfortunately I already placed my order, but I will use your links in the future.

Try local.

IME it is very hard to get inexpensive soaps or creams online. These are my last two software purchases:

Palmolive Classic Cream: 0.99 Euros (local) VS 3 GBP (online)
Proraso Cream, Red: <2.5 Euros (local) VS 5+ GBP (online)

Yes, I see what you mean. However, for the life of me I cant seem to find any local vendors here in Gotheburg Sweden offering Arko or Palmolive. But I will continue exploring local resources

 

[Multum in parvo]

Gotheburg should have some Turkish/Syrian/Indian shops to raid for shaving supplies. Also there should be street markets with the above vendors. I’m pretty sure you will find some Arko or Derby there.

 

[Furex]

Supermarkets sometimes carry traditional wet shaving gear, too. Some big chain, cosmetic&stuff shops have seemingly now jumped on that bandwagon.

Palmolive shaving soaps are made in Italy, so you might be able to find some in an Italian store.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Hak.1963 Hak.1963 - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/members/hak-1963.125328/ found a Turkish Yuma razor at an oriental market in Göteborg so maybe you reach out to him for additional local sources.

 

[Roy]

I'm a late convert to Cella 1k block for £21 in UK. For me it far exceeded my expectations and performs near to many so called top tier soaps. .

 

[Ivo4u2]

You could give the a mail about shipping to you it is 99cent a piece

Arko Scheerzeep - 1 Stuks

Niet alleen ziet de verpakking er ouderwets uit, de scheerzeep is het ook! Maar wel ouderwets goed en ouderwets voordelig. Deze scheerzeep geeft veel schuim,...

www.superdrogist.com

 

[DaveHStone]

So my tube of 150ml Proraso Green is running dangerously low and I need to figure out how to proceed from here.

Reading the forums I've come to the conclusion I should try

1. Tabac (I can get a refill puck for around $12 which I find reasonable)
2. Arko (shaving stick, $5)
3. D.R Harris (Windsor, $17, also roughly in line with international price levels)
4. Palmolive (shaving stick, $5)

Now Arko and Palmolive are supposed to be "low price / good value for money bargains" and easy to use for beginners. However, the price level here in Sweden is approximately 40 SEK ($5). Meanwhile, people in the animated Arko-threads speak about price levels around $0.5. Thats an order of magnitude difference.

I had a similar problem buying blades before I found razorbladesclub.com (paying an order of magnitude more than I was supposed to, ie I paid $7.5 for my first sample pack of 5(!) blades).

I found a potential Arko dealer on Amazon, but the price for a pack of 12 sticks was ~$15 with an additional $21 for shipping. And that vendor doesn't carry the other soaps on my list (no shared shipping).

How and where do you guys buy stuff like Arko and Palmolive? Maybe there is a soap equivalent of razorbladesclub I haven't found yet?

I do understand the price concern, but at the end of the day, this is all "peanuts"... so, instead of cost, I'd be more concerned with scent. Arko and Tabac have an overwhelming scent no one is indifferent about. Folks either love it or hate it. Tabac BTW smells nothing like tobacco (one of the early days mistakes I made when first purchasing it).

DRH is a "classic", although Windsor in particular is one of their newer soaps. Arlington and Marlboro have been around for a longer time. All three have mild scent IME. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those.

I never used a Palmolive stick, so no comment.

 

[CuzteR]

Also there should be street markets with the above vendors. I’m pretty sure you will find some Arko or Derby there.

Yes, this is an excellent idea. Some of the biggest bazar-like markets (like Kvibergs Marknad) is closed due to Corona but usually you can get ANYTHING there. I should've thought of this myself

Will explore some of the smaller ones in the projects and report back to the thread if I find anything (and survive).

 

[aldomarino]

Palmolive is pricey here in North America. Whenever anyone I know is visiting the "United" Kingdom or Germany I ask them to pick up a stick for me and bring it back. There's currently 4 sticks of it in the cupboard.

 

[CuzteR]

I do understand the price concern, but at the end of the day, this is all "peanuts"... so, instead of cost, I'd be more concerned with scent.

This is probably true, and I find that my shaving adventure is more of a hobby than anything else at this point. Compared to my other hobbies (gliders, computers, climbing, CQC/MMA, oil painting, chess) I'd say this is by far the least expensive. But it was not meant to be a hobby!

DRH is a "classic", although Windsor in particular is one of their newer soaps. Arlington and Marlboro have been around for a longer time. All three have mild scent IME. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those.

I was also thinking about Taylor of Old Bond Street (maybe Sandalwood?) Which one would be better for a relative beginner? From what I gather so far they should both be easy to lather.

 

[DaveHStone]

This is probably true, and I find that my shaving adventure is more of a hobby than anything else at this point. Compared to my other hobbies (gliders, computers, climbing, CQC/MMA, oil painting, chess) I'd say this is by far the least expensive. But it was not meant to be a hobby!



I was also thinking about Taylor of Old Bond Street (maybe Sandalwood?) Which one would be better for a relative beginner? From what I gather so far they should both be easy to lather.

DRH for a hard soap, TOBS for cream... at least that is a general consensus. Both will produce very good lather, nonetheless.

That said, I'd rather use T&H 1805 cream, if I had to choose one English old-school boutique firm. As far as soaps go, many better soaps out there than DRH. Just my $0.02...

 

[Ivo4u2]

If it is budget also think about the Italian soaps like cella and Vitos. Some of them (proraso too) are sold in big 500ml or 1kg packages for the pro market at low cost.
tabac is a very nice soap. I have had Palmolive in a cream which was nice.
Dutch vergulde hand (classic or extra fresh) is also nice for the money.
Razorock makes some big 250g jars.

But in the end 100g of soap is easy 100-150 shaves. So it is not expensive anyhow. Most of us hoard/collect soap that makes it a bit more expensive.

 

[bluesman 7]

I don't know about Amazon in Sweden, but in the U.S. you can add a couple of sticks of ARKO to another order as away to get above the minimum to get free shipping. So assuming that you need the original purchase you sort of get the ARKO for free.

ARKO is very easy and inexpensive here in the states, but I would pay $5 for a stick without thinking to much about it if I had to. Here many people buy the twelve stick 'deals' and then end up giving sticks away to anyone who they find that likes it.