Thread: Arko Shave Stick

Gentlemen:

The past couple days I have shaved with Arko shave stick and been surprised with its overall quality. This is an inexpensive shave stick Turkish barbers use. I'm sure you've seen videos of these barbers in action. The lather is quite good. So are the cushion and glide. The clean and refreshing fragrance sings of old time barbershops. Oh, the fragrance is hearty.

Rather than use it as a stick, I sliced it into little medallions, much in the way one would slice a sausage, and stacked it into a shave mug. The soap is no Mitchell's Wool Fat or Provence Sante Verlaine, but it's good for what it is. You certainly can't beat the price for Arko shave stick. Tulumba and Shoebox shave shop have it. I'll give this one a thumbs-up.

Regards,

Obie

Obie,

i too enjoy the arko shave stick.. i load my brush directly on the stick and enjoy a lovely facelather.. i often get overwhelmed with robust scents and arko helps me stay grounded.. another +1 for the arko.

I've never tried Arko (or seen it for that matter), but from the favorable reviews it seems to be one of the "respectable cheap" soaps. BTW one of my favorite cheapies (which doesn't get much press around here anymore) is Speick; why it hasn't joined the ranks of the greats is beyond me.

Great stuff,I run it thru a cheeze grater,pack it into a scuttle.

The "hearty" scent, eau d'urinal cakes, made this one utterly unusable for me. The lather certainly was fine, but such a funk on it.

hahaha.. eau d'urinal cakes! i never really got that.. to me it's just kind of a nice clean scent.. i enjoy it quite a bit.

Originally Posted by Pops!

hahaha.. eau d'urinal cakes! i never really got that.. to me it's just kind of a nice clean scent.. i enjoy it quite a bit.

Yes, yes, Victor, I feel the same about the scent: clean and fresh. Nothing fancy. It's the rustic fragrance that colored the air of all the old time barbershops I had the pleasure to visit through the years. It's a reminder of the warm and quaint culture that has all but disappeared. That's why I'll always keep the soap on the shave den counter next to all the fancy ones. It's good to have reminders of the cultural symbols with heart and soul.

Regards,

Obie

I may have to try an Arko shaving stick now just out of curiousity, thanks

our good friend Obie always manages to say it best...

when i first got serious about wetshaving.. i was all about the heavily scented creams.. i demanded the entire house smell of sweet almonds or a field of lavender..

now i've come to realize and appreciate the more delicate things in life.. before i know it.. i'll be drinking my tea without milk or sugar.

Arko is my got to soap nothing else seems to give as close a shave. I will preference this is my only shave stick and the stick format just might be better for me to get all my whiskers up. (I keep hearing about Speick and will have to give that a try at some point.) As to the scent of Arko to me it just smells how a clean soap should smell nothing over powering just fresh.