The Arko Chronicles

So,

I got my first 6 sticks of Arko (thanks Maxi) and I've been playing. Here's what I've found so far.

Scent: Very soapy, definitely a "man's" scent. I can take it or leave it.

Lathering: Completely different than what I'm used to. My first attempt was with rubbing it on my face and face lathering. Less than stellar results. Next, I heated it up, mashed it into a container, picked some up with a wet brush and made my lather in my "scuttle". Much better results. Still not perfect, but shows a lot of promise. I think I need to refine my water to soap ratio.

I did notice a few things about it though.

1. It drinks up water (just like you said Maxi) at least 4-5 times faster and more than my Proraso.

2. The lather seems to dry out faster than the Proraso, so I have to re-wet my brush before lathering for my second pass, and if I'm slow in shaving, I actually have to re-wet the half of my face that is still not shaved.

3. Lubrication is fine, but seems to be a bit less than the Proraso. Maybe its just that I have not gotten the water soap ratio just right yet.

Overall, the Arko will stay in my soap rotation, but it won't be a "go to" choice. There's no denying that at $2 a stick it gives great value, but given the miniscule cost of soap in the grand scheme of shaving, I'd rather pay the additional 5 cents per shave and get that wonderful menthol eucalyptus smell and feel of the Proraso.

I'll update as I get more experience with the Arko, but if any of you want to give any advice, tips or feedback, bring it on.

I love Arko, it's a lovely honest clean scent and lathers up a treat even with hard water. Never had a problem getting a great lather out of it but it is thirsty! At first I found it dried a bit quick but once you get that water ratio down it's happy shaves in my opinion. Great stuff for next to no money, it really is hard to top this one for price vs the punch it packs. Keep us posted on how you get on with it...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by joebehar

So,

3. Lubrication is fine, but seems to be a bit less than the Proraso. Maybe its just that I have not gotten the water soap ratio just right yet.

---

Exactly. I find that arko glides and lubricates better than Proraso, but you will need to get that water/soap ratio correct first to avoid it being too thin, too thick, or drying too quickly.

I just got my first stick last week. Thanks Maxi. And I already know my first stick won't be my last. I like it. It smells like the animal shaped bath soaps I had as a small child.

First try with it wasn't so great, but I think it was that the brush I had in rotation that day was a really scratchy one, horsehair, I think. (Also I didn't really use enough water) Next day was much better as I was using my favourite big Omega Boar brush. Tried it on my face and still didn't get a really good lather. Tried hand lathering and watched it explode! There is no list of ingredients on the stick, but I'm sure they've used a double dose of Amazium in it!

The next day I used a [Barb, don't read this part!]cheese grater[/Barb, don't read this part!] to shave off about a third of the stick into an old pottery soap dish (my various shaving mugs were still half full of other stuff). Just enough to make a lump in the middle of the dish. It works great as a 'puck' soap. Also the shallow, wide soap dish is great as a shaving mug since the brush handle never rattles against the sides/rim.

Well,

After a week of shaving and quite a number of just plain lather making experiments, I've decided that Arko just simply is not for me. So this thread is not exactly going to turn into chronicles :)

I got a decent lather out of it, but it still dries too quickly, takes too long, falls shy of the glide I get out of my Proraso and finally, I miss that menthol eucalyptus scent and feel. The way I figure, life's too short to not get exactly what you enjoy out of a shaving soap.

I know there are a lot of you guys out there that love it, so more power to you. I'm on to the next experiment, which is part of the nice thing about this whole wet shaving thing.

Sounds like you're not loading your brush enough. Try loading for at least 30 seconds and have a go again.

I have a whole case of Arko sticks in my closet, I love the stuff. It's not the best soap in the world but it's up there and works wonders..

Like said, load the brush for 30 seconds (1 mississipp...2 miss, etc) and then lather it on your wet face. I think that works better than just rubbing the stick on your face...Ymmv.

Thanks guys,

As I said, I'm getting a decent lather out of the Arko, but its just does not feel as nice on my face as the Proraso. I did the pump & grind thing with my brush in a bowl for at least 60 seconds, adding water and more soap as needed. There's no doubt that it lathers well with a bit of effort, but overall I think I'm going to move on.

I have 5 unused sticks, so if anyone has anything they are not happy with, I'd be happy to do a trade.

I have had the same issue with arko, with what seems like a good lather only being so-so. The trick, for me, was to make a quick lather, then reload the brush and add that to what I already had. If I do that, it gives me a better lather than my poraso (although it does lack poraso's menthol kick, obviously).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sargon

(although it does lack poraso's menthol kick, obviously).

---

Which might be a good thing
(I'm no big fan of menthol. Possibly from Dad's smoking menthol cigarettes and making the house smell like a cough drop factory.)

Wow, my expierience with this soap is completely different. Rub stick on wet face and take a badger brush to it and it pretty much lathers itself. Great glide and cushion to boot. Oh well as with everything shaving, YMMV.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Str8nSharp

Wow, my expierience with this soap is completely different. Rub stick on wet face and take a badger brush to it and it pretty much lathers itself. Great glide and cushion to boot. Oh well as with everything shaving, YMMV.

---

+1 to all of this, minus the part about a badger. My Omega just destroys this soap! I love it! My stick was gifted to me, but I WILL be buying more when it runs out.

Face lather+Arko shave stick+Omega boar rush=awesome!