Wilkinson sword stick VS Palmolive stick

How is the Wilkinson sword stick compared to the Palmolive?
Better? Worse? Almost the same?
What is the colour of the soap? (Palmolive is pale green)
Also, is the Wilkinson stick the same as the Wilkinson bowl? (smell, ingredients?)

Wilkinson sword soaps in bowls (costs about 2 EUR only)
Are they available in the U.S. ?

The Wilkinson Sword stick is blue. It gives a fine lather. Haven't tried the Palmolive yet, but will.

I haven't seen the Wilkinson soap in a bowl. I had to order mine from the UK.

the wilkinsons bowl is available in tesco (think it was £1.78?).

struggled to make a good lather with it (compared to the palmolive cream i had been using). but as it is my first bowl soap i guess it was to be expected. off to watch the vids again

Wilkinson stick is VERY different from the blue bowl. Tallow based versus Veggie (I think). The stick doesn't have much scent. Works well.

Palmolive stick is nicer IMO: better scent (fresh and green-ish), great lather, shave and skincare. Building a good lather seems easier than with the WS stick, maybe because the Palmolive is a tad softer in consistency.

mastermind said:

Wilkinson sword soaps in bowls (costs about 2 EUR only)
Are they available in the U.S. ?

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Not sure about the US, but Wilkinson (in the past the black one, more recently the blue) soaps in the small plastic tub are available in Canada.

Palmolive Shaving Stick; works for me in emergencies when travelling, but I need to rub the stick against my skin and into the brush to get an acceptable lather.

Rubbing the stick against the skin in my throat area is slightly irritating and for air travel I prefer hard soaps or creams in small tubes (not bigger than 100ml in most countries; not bigger tha 3 oz. in the US).

Palmolive stick rocks!

Far better than the Wilkinson stick.

Where are you guys finding the Palmolive stick?

Smedley said:

Where are you guys finding the Palmolive stick?

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Picked one up in a drugstore when passing through the UK.
Was dirt-cheap, but not really for me.

Taylor of Old Bond St. (TOBS) sandalwood stick worked slightly better, but still not ideal.

I may try the Valobra stick sometime, it was highly recommended and the semi-soft soap works quite well.

never tried ( or seen) the wilkinson sword. The palmolive stick is great.

The Palmolive stick forms a superb lather and is easy to use, but I dont like the smell. The Wilkinson stick is not as great and the blue bowl is mediocre, but has a nice smell. I often use the bowl with unscented cream/soap to enjoy the smell of it.

I liked them both. Thought they seemed kind of similar. I grated them into the same wooden bowl. I'm almost done with the top blue wilkinson layer. I see the green Palmolive layer easily now.

And no....the blue and green didn't make purple lather.

When I started out DE shaving I used to be a huge fan of the Palmolive soap but now since I switched to shaving most of the time with a straight I find the Palmolive stick lacking in terms of the protective properties of the lather. I also find it thins out rather quickly if you feed it too much water.

The wilkinson shave stick on the other hand, provides a much denser lather which is more protective and much in the same way as Tabac you can feed it tons of water before it becomes runny. Obviously, YMMV but for me, the clear winner is the wilkinson shave stick. In Germany it costs roughly 50 cents more than Palmolive but it is still the better bang for the buck. Palmolive will be phased out of my rotation.

I have not tried the wilkinson bowl but from what I have read so far it seems to be another beast entirely. Most people have trouble lathering it so I am staying well clear of it.

Gustav said:

When I started out DE shaving I used to be a huge fan of the Palmolive soap but now since I switched to shaving most of the time with a straight I find the Palmolive stick lacking in terms of the protective properties of the lather. I also find it thins out rather quickly if you feed it too much water.

(snip)

I have not tried the wilkinson bowl but from what I have read so far it seems to be another beast entirely. Most people have trouble lathering it so I am staying well clear of it.

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Yes, yes, yes and good idea

I'll go with the Wilkinson stick, nothing wrong with Palmolive just a personal preference.

I found that if you microwave and pour the blue bowl in to a puck that you can handle, say either by rubbing on the face or into a bigger bowl it gives a far better lather. I do have soft water though but thats what I did instead of throwing away. Worked for me.

Both the Palmolive and WS sticks are excellent, but for me the WS performs at a higher level: a denser, richer, more protective, and more moisturizing lather. Connaught is a good source for both sticks.

mastermind said:

How is the Wilkinson sword stick compared to the Palmolive?
Better? Worse? Almost the same?
What is the colour of the soap? (Palmolive is pale green)
Also, is the Wilkinson stick the same as the Wilkinson bowl? (smell, ingredients?)

Click to expand...

It has been a while since I used Wilkinson stick and from what I remember it is not as good as Palmolive. Palmolive lather is fantastic and it has a citrusy scent to me, while Wilkinson has a similar lather but a scent I find too artificial. They are both good quality soaps but Palmolive has better value.

Here are both, side-by-side:


Wilkinson Sword Shaving Stick Ingredients List:


Palmolive for Men Classic Shaving Stick Ingredients List:


As far as I know Wilkinson Sword Shaving Stick is very different than Wilkinson Shaving Soap that comes in a bowl. I am sure you can find the Ingredients List for the bowl and make a comparison.

Hope this helps.

The Wilkinson stick's performance is better IMO than the Palmolive stick but only by a slight margin. Both sticks are in my top 5. I prefer the scent of the PS to that of the WS though. The WS has a very fake chemical smell to it. Don't get me wrong, the scent isn't terrible just not great. I've read somewhere that it is comparable to vintage Yardley.

The ingredients and their order (sans lanolin and the fragrance ingredients) on WS look identical to Tabac. Could it be that they use the same soap base?