Success with a shave stick?

[SirArthur]

My thanks to all of you for your sound advice and opinions.

I am interested in trying shave sticks. I tried Speick but got mediocre results. Can anyone recommend a stick they have had greath results with?

I am looking for a stick that produces lather easily...we got lots of 'hard water' here.

[David in Boston]

I don't have a hard water problem here but you may want to consider Arko.

Also, get your shave stick and put it into a bowl.

That may help you get better lather.

[media]

I get better lather after milling the sticks into a bowl and using them that way. I dont want to rely on my beard picking up the soap I am using to shave with, I would rather let the brush do that.

BTW: Go with the Palmolive stick. If you cant lather that, you have more serious problems.

[Go West Young Man]

If you can't lather with Speick, you can't lather with anything!
How does your water react to soap pucks? If you can make a puck work, use the same product and water ratios, just adding the soap to your face instead of to your brush first.

[drewmac]

I would agree...try Arko. I find it a bit easier of a lather than Speick.

[mdevine]

Although it is dirt cheap, Arko works at least as well for me as products that I've spent $50 on.

[djh]

I have had great shaves with Arko, Palmolive, Wilkinson Sword and several other sticks. I really believe that a stick is an easier way to lather than a puck of soap, but perhaps not quite so much fun.

[jlk819]

I get great results from face lathering Speick. Make sure you're rubbing enough on your face to start with and that you've got enough water on the stick and your beard to help the soap glide along. This goes for any stick.

You can also do a few swipes with your brush to load a bit of soap right from the stick. Good luck.

[professorchaos]

Shave sticks, including Speick, are great. Try it again and use more product. Other good ones are Valbora, Palmolive, Irisch Moos and Tabac.

[Luc]

I didn't have any problems with Speick, did you apply enough product?

Other than Speick, Latoja, Palmolive (euro with tallow), Wilkinson Sword blue (stick has tallow, not the shaving bowl), Mama bear has great shaving stick too!

[chrismikehead]

I face lathered Palmolive in the shower the other night - probably the best lather I have ever created. I did try to use plenty of soap, more than I did the first couple of times I tried the stick.

[Austin]

Wet the stick with every pass otherwise the stick dries too soon.

[BladeDE40]

Don't go light on the product when rubbing it on your face...make sure you get a good film on your skin before lathering. The Euro Palmolive stick is great!

[BurkDarkpatches]

Arko has been mentioned, but I'll expand upon its virtures. I've used it in cities all over the US and never had a problem with it. Where I live, I have hard water out of the tap as well as Reverse Osmosis on tap as well. Arko works fine with both.

One benefit of Arko is that its scent is mild (and not particularly notable). If you face lather and put the Arko on your face, you can add a dab of any other soap you do like to your brush and that scent will dominate the shave. I like to do that with Williams and I've been stretching out some American Palmolive with it this week. The Williams combo is quite enjoyable and you don't even have to worry about the stars aligning to get it to work. Palmolive is a great cream on its own, so the two combined is some kind of uberlather.

Steve

Steve

[Augustiner]

Arko has been mentioned, but I'll expand upon its virtures. I've used it in cities all over the US and never had a problem with it. Where I live, I have hard water out of the tap as well as Reverse Osmosis on tap as well. Arko works fine with both.

One benefit of Arko is that its scent is mild (and not particularly notable). If you face lather and put the Arko on your face, you can add a dab of any other soap you do like to your brush and that scent will dominate the shave. I like to do that with Williams and I've been stretching out some American Palmolive with it this week. The Williams combo is quite enjoyable and you don't even have to worry about the stars aligning to get it to work. Palmolive is a great cream on its own, so the two combined is some kind of uberlather.

Steve

Steve

Wow, I thought you were joking at first when I read that line, but I don't think you are. I never thought I would see the words Arko, mild scent and not notable in the same sentence!

To the OP...I have found that Arko is the easiest lathering soap I have ever used. I prefer Palmolive lather to Arko lather but if you are looking for ease, Arko is a little easier to make. The stuff is just waiting to make lather...lots and lots of lather, even with just a little amount of water.

[BurkDarkpatches]

Wow, I thought you were joking at first when I read that line, but I don't think you are. I never thought I would see the words Arko, mild scent and not notable in the same sentence! <snip>

Well, that's interesting. I noticed another post this week implying that Arko had a bad, strong scent. To me it's mild and hardly noticeable. I do smell the soapiness and I'm that impressed by it, not like I am by the Palmolive's soapiness.

In all other regards, my olfactory senses seem to work fine, so I'm not sure what's going on here. All I can say is that Arko is a great shaving soap, it doesn't have a strong scent for me and that that scent is easily overpowered by anything I add to it. Maybe I got a pleasantly defective stick. ;-)

Steve

[Augustiner]

Well, that's interesting. I noticed another post this week implying that Arko had a bad, strong scent. To me it's mild and hardly noticeable. I do smell the soapiness and I'm that impressed by it, not like I am by the Palmolive's soapiness.

In all other regards, my olfactory senses seem to work fine, so I'm not sure what's going on here. All I can say is that Arko is a great shaving soap, it doesn't have a strong scent for me and that that scent is easily overpowered by anything I add to it. Maybe I got a pleasantly defective stick. ;-)

Steve

I think it's just a case of YMMV. It was just funny to read because all you ever hear about is how bad Arko smells. This was the first time I had ever heard it called a mild scent. I agree Palmolive smells soapy but it is of far less potency than Arko.

I think Arko is very strongly scented but I like the scent a lot. It just smells like a lemon laundry soap...nice and clean.

[Topgumby]

Professorchaos lists some great sticks. I'd add La Toja to that fine list.

Luc and others say "use more product" and that's great advice. When using a stick, I'll use the more stubbly areas of my face to pile on the soap, and then spread it around with the brush, if that makes any sense.

Austin is spot on in advocating more, rather than less, water. I'll add water to the stick or my face if I feel the need to add more product. If I've got lots of soap in the brush but it's feeling dry, then I the tip of the brush gets a little dunk in the sink.

I used to think of shave sticks only as travel items. Now I wonder why they haven't replaced the puck entirely.

[Marco]

Wet the stick with every pass otherwise the stick dries too soon.

+1
Also keep your face as wet as possible when using the stick. Take your time and be careful in rubbing the stick ATG.

[RayH]

In that case your best bet would be Irisch Moos. Which is comparable to Tabac but with an Irish Spring type scent. There are a couple of vendors who sell it, can't remember who though. Or you could go custom made from vendors like Mama Bear or Suzie Bubbles and Sue from Saint Charles Shave.