Say hello to those Shave Sticks (All Turkish shave sticks reviewed)

**Marco** · 08-04-2012, 06:11 AM

Wonderful! Thanks so much, Luc!

**Renato1** · 08-04-2012, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by the_edski

The Camelot guy looks pretty shady!

Derby is an excellent stick. (To me) it provides the same lather as Arko, but with a much less polarizing smell!

You and many others have said that. My Derby stick produces significantly better lather than Arko, and with a far more annoying smell.

I keep wondering if something has changed with the Derby stick formulation, as I don't think I can be so out of kilter with everybody else.
Regards,
Renato

**SliceOfLife** · 08-04-2012, 07:43 AM

Ingredients sound like it should kick the crap out of arko and take it's lunch money. Can't wait.

**Luc** · 08-04-2012, 08:18 AM

In order to keep all my information before I user all the packages...

Camelot shave stick is 75 grams - 80mm height by 34mm diameter

GZD is made by GZD Kozmetik: Semerciler Mah. 75 grams - 78mm height by 32mm diameter (not perfectly round)
Ingredients: Potassium Palmkernelate, Potassium Tallowate, Sodium Palmkernlate, Sodium Tallowate, Glycerol, Paraffinum liquidum, Parfum, Titaniumdioksit (CI77891), Deiyonize su(deionized water).

Tweex - Other that it's made in Turkey, I cannot read the rest... 75 grams - 80mm height by 32mm diameter
Ingredients: Potassium Tallowate, Stearic Acid, Potassium cocoate, Aqua, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Parfum, Paraffinum liquidum, Tetrasodium EDTA, Etidronate Disodium Distyrylbiphenyl, Disuffonate, Amly Cinnamal, Citronnelol, Gernanlol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Linalool.

Derby - Got issues with the writting - Azmüsebat (http://www.derby.com.tr/) - 75 grams - 82mm height by 34mm diameter.
Ingredients: Potassium tallowate, potassium cocoate, stearic acid, sodium palm kernelate, aqua disodium distrylbiphenyl disulfonate, CL77891, paraffinum liquidum, parfum, geraniol, benzyl alcohol, linalool, glycerin.

**huntingdan** · 08-04-2012, 08:23 AM

Awesome, only tried the Arko out of the bunch. Until now I never have used a shave stick, but my last order I threw in a Tabac (I figured I wouldn't go wrong since I love the soap), Palmalive, La Toja, Speick, and Valobra.

**SliceOfLife** · 08-04-2012, 08:52 AM

I'm rooting for Camelot in all it's surly suspiciousness.

4 way tie with the rest... cept maybe 3 way and GZD loses (not familiar enough with palm kernalate to know why it would be so prevalent there, but I suspect that's a bit too much of it to be a good thing either way).

**mblakele** · 08-04-2012, 10:25 AM

There is a little prior discussion of Camelot at http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthr...301313-Camelot - mostly pointing to a thread on a Turkish forum. To save you a click:

Originally Posted by mblakele

Not I, but http://www.geltir.com/archive/index....ad-1083-1.html has some discussion. Google struggles with the Turkish language almost as much as I do, but as best I can gather they do not care for its performance. The scent is probably better: they say it is made by a company known for that. The ingredients include coumarin and geraniol, as well as various citrusy stuff like limonene, linalool, and citronellol.

So I do not expect great lather, but I would be happy to be wrong.

**SliceOfLife** · 08-04-2012, 10:29 AM

They said "Good quality box without disturbing image would be better."
Hehe

**Luc** · 08-05-2012, 06:00 AM

Okay, I started according to the plan with Arko. Arko will be the base to compare the other sticks. I will use each shave stick from Sunday (today) to Saturday and then switch to the next one. This should give me an idea on the product and I will post some pictures of the lather on the last day. In the end, I will rank the shave sticks according to the experience that I got from 1 (best) to 5 (bad).

So, yesterday I tested Arko latherability before I used it today. I was unimpressed to be honest. It looked all right but it wasn't near the picture on the stick...

Today, much better lather, the scent doesn't bother me. I lost the scent on my second pass, I did not smell the lemons/citrus/citronella anymore. The lather was thick, I noticed that I have a thirsty product. I had to drip the bristles of the shave brush twice to get the right consistency... Overall, it's a good, cheap, product. If you can forget about the scent, it's nice and easy to use.

I thought the Palmolive Euro and Wilkinson Shave Stick (blue) were easier to use (need less water) but anyways... When the ratio is adjusted, it's easy!

**Brewshooter** · 08-05-2012, 09:19 PM

Great...now I want to buy a few sticks!!!

**beginish** · 08-06-2012, 06:28 AM

I'm betting that shipping cost more than the order...

**Luc** · 08-06-2012, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by beginish

I'm betting that shipping cost more than the order...

In this case, no but close...

I picked airmail since it can take a very long time by boat... I know this wasn't the cheapest deal in the world but anyways. Shipping included, I paid $25 US...

**Luc** · 08-09-2012, 07:13 AM

The lather is starting to be much more consistent in terms of texture and desired result. The scent is very mild in my opinion (to almost none)... Pictures to come soon but not yet...

Camelot is next or I pick a random shave stick?

**mblakele** · 08-09-2012, 07:34 AM

In another thread I saw someone asking about Arko vs Derby. Your take on that would be interesting. But please yourself first.

**Luc** · 08-10-2012, 11:48 AM

Any others, if nothing Derby goes in, if something different, I will do a random pick unless I get more voices for one product...

**JDTTO** · 08-10-2012, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by the_edski

The Camelot guy looks pretty shady!

**bhorsoft** · 08-10-2012, 02:15 PM

I never tried a shave stick until last night - I have an Arko and a GZD. Went with the GZD. Kind of a pain to use it as there is no wrapper around the stick. The soap gets on your hands and makes holding the brush an adventure. Even more of an adventure picking up the straight razor. It had the typical Turkish bathhouse smell that I remember when I lived there as a teen. Brought back a bunch of pleasant memories. As far as the shave, I was pleasantly surprised. A lot of cushion and pretty slick. I'll definitely give if further tries.

**RKG** · 08-10-2012, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by bhorsoft

Went with the GZD. Kind of a pain to use it as there is no wrapper around the stick. The soap gets on your hands and makes holding the brush an adventure.

I wrap a piece of aluminum foil around the bottom half of my GZD stick, flattening the foil on the bottom so that stick will stand on end. Not too elegant, but it works!
I like GZD, but still prefer the scent of Arko.

**Docd** · 08-10-2012, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by DaveNJ74

Yeah, he looks like the guy that drives up to you in mall parking lots and says he has brand new stereo equipment for sale.

That actually happened to me when I first moved to SD, Ca. Like a nieve fool I bought it, but only paid him 1/4 of what he wanted. Pretty shady....

**Klopstick** · 08-10-2012, 07:55 PM

Well, I couldn't wait and broke down and bought a stick of the Camelot to see what it smells like and how it performs. Should be here sometime in the next few weeks. I'm excited :)