Thread: Tried dry-wet-shaving...

Originally Posted by Haim

I've been shaving with Arko for 2 years now, and it always dries my skin and offers no protection... I find myself adding things to it in order to improve it, and it makes my lathering process very long... It's been good so far, but I now realize I could do better..
Ordered a Cella and a new boar brush... We'll see if there's a real difference :]

I see. Well, I did notice that my skin was drier after shaving with Arko as well. However, for the shaving part it worked just fine. Aftershave balm took care of the dry aftershave feel. Cella is a good choice as well. I really like the smell of Cella and it lathers well. The only minor downside was that because of its texture, it was a bit more challenging, at least to me, for face lathering than some other creams. It has worked very well for bowl lathering though.

Originally Posted by Haim

Funny thing, actually..
when I started wet shaving, I needed a soap to learn how to lather and shave on, and I was on a budget.. and I figured - if a shower soap block lasts 1-2 weeks, the shaving soap will last, what? a month?
So I bought 6.
Six.
I am just now finishing my 4th.....

Haha! Yea, I was surprised how long a puck of shaving soap lasts myself. Takes me about 6 months to go through one. I'm kinda glad I just bought a single puck to try.

Originally Posted by Haim

I've been shaving with Arko for 2 years now, and it always dries my skin and offers no protection... I find myself adding things to it in order to improve it, and it makes my lathering process very long... It's been good so far, but I now realize I could do better..
Ordered a Cella and a new boar brush... We'll see if there's a real difference :]

I have tried ARKO in both the stick and the cup and I have to say that you get much better razor glide if you use the stick and rub it on to your skin. I used arko in a cub just like a shaving soap that you load up a brush with and I had similar problems. Arko used as a stick seems to have much better results. After using ARKO, trying Cella was disappointing. It seemed to have much less razor glide and lathering quality. I'm a TOBS kinda guy though.

Originally Posted by quicksilver

I have tried ARKO in both the stick and the cup and I have to say that you get much better razor glide if you use the stick and rub it on to your skin. I used arko in a cub just like a shaving soap that you load up a brush with and I had similar problems. Arko used as a stick seems to have much better results. After using ARKO, trying Cella was disappointing. It seemed to have much less razor glide and lathering quality. I'm a TOBS kinda guy though.

Tried the Cella yesterday, and it's a different world...
You're right - the amount of lather is lower than the Arco, but it's much more stable and dense.
Also - it does have less glide, I agree, but with SR shaving - it's all about protection, and the Cella offers a LOT of it...
Got to say, though... What, in the name of god, is that smell...? I feel like I'm shaving with marzipan....

Originally Posted by Haim

Tried the Cella yesterday, and it's a different world...
You're right - the amount of lather is lower than the Arco, but it's much more stable and dense.
Also - it does have less glide, I agree, but with SR shaving - it's all about protection, and the Cella offers a LOT of it...
Got to say, though... What, in the name of god, is that smell...? I feel like I'm shaving with marzipan....

Arko can give you a stable and dense lather with a lot of glide even if you have it in a mug. Just try using a dryer brush to start loading with and add a bit of water several times and load more on the brush. Then start lather building on a wet face again adding a bit of water as you build lather. You should be able to get a nice yogurt like lather that is well hydrated, stable and long lasting.

Yea, I gave up on Cella and Vitos Red because of the smell which to me was sour smelling while others have described it as smelling like marzipan. The only shave soap I have tried that has a nice almond scent to it was/is Boellis Panama 1924. The Boellis seems expensive but if you buy it in the 250gr brick format it is really fairly reasonable in cost. It makes a very nice lather.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Arko can give you a stable and dense lather with a lot of glide even if you have it in a mug. Just try using a dryer brush to start loading with and add a bit of water several times and load more on the brush. Then start lather building on a wet face again adding a bit of water as you build lather. You should be able to get a nice yogurt like lather that is well hydrated, stable and long lasting.

Yea, I gave up on Cella and Vitos Red because of the smell which to me was sour smelling while others have described it as smelling like marzipan. The only shave soap I have tried that has a nice almond scent to it was/is Boellis Panama 1924. The Boellis seems expensive but if you buy it in the 250gr brick format it is really fairly reasonable in cost. It makes a very nice lather.

Bob

This was exactly what I was doing :] So I know now I perfected Arco lathering...
It was a nice lather, just felt like normal soap on the skin... Almost no protection.... I was missing some oil, which I got from pre-shave shea butter...

Originally Posted by Haim

This was exactly what I was doing :] So I know now I perfected Arco lathering...
It was a nice lather, just felt like normal soap on the skin... Almost no protection.... I was missing some oil, which I got from pre-shave shea butter...

OK, I see what you meant now. I was thinking protection as from the blade not protection as in moisturizing. A soap drying my skin out has never been a problem as I have oily skin to start with and never use a pre shave oil or post shave balm because it adds oil.

Bob