Thanks Luc.......I appresheate you thread and all the other good information I have learned from your posts since I started wet shaving.....
Shave Sticks Review Project
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The Omega 40033 and 10290 are wonderful face lathering machines.
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- #485
I completed shave 15 this morning with the Palmolive stick. I took a picture to show how quickly (or slowly) the stick is melting. I'm guessing at this stage that I will be able to get around 75 shaves with this product. So far, it's working well but I'm not very impressed by the lather. After reading the good press that it gets over the years, I was expecting more out of this one. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad but it's not awesome either.
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Luc, where do you see Palmolive relative to Arko?
I am curious because of some of the earlier discussion about water hardness. For me Palmolive works better than Arko in the 60-ppm soft water at home. But when I tried both sticks with 240-ppm hard water, I preferred Arko.
I am curious because of some of the earlier discussion about water hardness. For me Palmolive works better than Arko in the 60-ppm soft water at home. But when I tried both sticks with 240-ppm hard water, I preferred Arko.
I agree on Palmolive performing better in soft water. Luc, do you think you're getting enough product loaded? I find this stick pretty hard and ended up grating mine into a twist up shave stick container. Has worked a lot better for me.
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- #488
It's been a while since I touched Arko but I would say Arko is above Palmolive at this stage. I could get on Arko next to be sure. Scent-wise, it's Palmolive for sure.
I usually load the product on my beard and I get a white-greenish cover over my whiskers. I'm pretty sure there's enough but is the soap soft enough, that's another question. I was going to try to soak the tip of stick in water (like LaToja) which would soften Palmolive quite a bit.
i have a palmolive stick, its great but its more work to produce lather, but i sometimes dont even use a brush, i just apply the soap and shave it off. its very thick coating of soap i can get without a brush.
About a week ago, I received an order of 3 sticks that I had never tried before - Speick, Wilkinson Sword and LEA.
Because of this thread, I was most excited about trying the Wilki. My first shave went really well. I found it to produce a great lather produced adequate thickness and lubricity. However, it did not agree well with my skin post-shave. I found that it dried my skin probably more than any other soap I had ever tried and even produced a minor break out in a couple areas. Not wanting to use it again, I reached for Speick the next morning.
I loved Speick so much that I used it for the next 5 shaves and it is now neck and neck with Strop Shoppe SE as my favorite soap and slightly ahead of Valobra as my favorite stick. I love everything about Speick. I find its lather very similar to that of Tabac. I loved Tabac's lather when I first tried it but was never a fan of the scent. However, Speick smells great and leaves my skin feeling great. I'm very thankful to have purchased it as I believe I have found a lifelong product in it.
I tried the Wilki again 2 days ago to see if there was a difference in the shave and was met with the same circumstances. Pretty good shave with awful post shave results. It was very harsh on my skin to the point that I felt like I had shaved with laundry detergent. After my face gets back to normal, I'll try the LEA. I won't be using the Wilki again and will plan on PIF'ing it in the near future.
Because of this thread, I was most excited about trying the Wilki. My first shave went really well. I found it to produce a great lather produced adequate thickness and lubricity. However, it did not agree well with my skin post-shave. I found that it dried my skin probably more than any other soap I had ever tried and even produced a minor break out in a couple areas. Not wanting to use it again, I reached for Speick the next morning.
I loved Speick so much that I used it for the next 5 shaves and it is now neck and neck with Strop Shoppe SE as my favorite soap and slightly ahead of Valobra as my favorite stick. I love everything about Speick. I find its lather very similar to that of Tabac. I loved Tabac's lather when I first tried it but was never a fan of the scent. However, Speick smells great and leaves my skin feeling great. I'm very thankful to have purchased it as I believe I have found a lifelong product in it.
I tried the Wilki again 2 days ago to see if there was a difference in the shave and was met with the same circumstances. Pretty good shave with awful post shave results. It was very harsh on my skin to the point that I felt like I had shaved with laundry detergent. After my face gets back to normal, I'll try the LEA. I won't be using the Wilki again and will plan on PIF'ing it in the near future.
Here here. Arko loads very easily and gives a thick lather, slick shave with a great cushion. Palmolive does take a little longer to load but the lather and cushion is the same as Arko, slickness is a small step down (IMO),but still an overall great shave.
If you're a scent guy go with the Palmolive, although I really dont mind the Arko scent personally.
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- #492
That's a bummer but we are all different. What I would suggest would be to compare the ingredients that the Wilkinson Sword Stick has with soaps that work well for you. You should be able to find the odd ingredient that doesn't help. Sometimes it's lanolin, sometimes, it's something else.
How is the Palmolive stick coming along? I have now re-shaved with it for the first time since a while back and realized that I have moved on to better things (Tabac, Wilkinson and Speick) to the extent that I will phase this one out especially since I suspect it gives me a mild rash. Do not get me wrong, it is a decent sort of soap but IMO for very little more money you can get a teh wilkinson shave stick which outperforms Palmolive in every respect: better lather, better glide, better protection and better scent. I also find that the Palmolive lather seems more sensititve to the amount of water you can feed into it before it becomes runny. Perhaps this is a phenomenon that only occurs in hard water. Anyway, I look forward to your observations.
Palmolive does get runny quickly and I am in a hard water area. Wilky shave stick is far more expensive for me than the Palmolive (50p). Arko is a better performer and same price with regards to ratio.
These results mirror mine with palmolive. Useable and cheap soap, but behind arko in performance (cheaper over here, and I assume about the same price in the EU?) and not NEARLY worth the amount of praise I've seen others heap upon it. One of those soaps that's definitely lower-tier among decent soaps, yet still gets heralded as excellent by many.
For the sake of comparison and to clarify my earlier post, in Bavaria the going rate for the palmolive stick is 0.95 €, the wilko stick is just above it at 1.45 € and much better value. A Speick stick is just about double that amount at around 3€ and a Tabac stick which is double the size is roughly the same, a refill costs about 6.5 €.
Furthermore, I think how I rate this soap is dependent on what I shave with. In the beginning I shaved with a DE and was not too concerned with the lack of protective properties or the thinning out issue. Now that I shave mostly with straights those two deficits are much more of an issue.
Furthermore, I think how I rate this soap is dependent on what I shave with. In the beginning I shaved with a DE and was not too concerned with the lack of protective properties or the thinning out issue. Now that I shave mostly with straights those two deficits are much more of an issue.
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- #497
It's crazy how cheap those are at your end! But 1.45€ is a steal for the Wilkinson Stick!
The tests are almost done. I'm compiling my notes at the moment. I completed shave 28 so I have 2 shaves left before I move to the next stick. It's funny that I did not have much problems to rank this stick (I know exactly where it goes) compared to Lea. Maybe it's because I tried most of the sticks for Lea so I knew where to put the Palmolive.
What I can share right now, I am coming to the same conclusion as you. Palmolive is not a bad product but there's so many threads and praise for the product (less today a bit) that I was expecting it to be in the top 3 sticks. And it's not...
Thanks for all the great info LUC. I don't know why I haven't been following this thread closer, but I will from now on. the reviews you have done on the sticks that I have tried seem identical to my opinions.
Based on my reading I am going to try and get a Wilkinson stick and a Speick stick the next time I need to order soaps......which will be in the year 2021 based on how long sticks last.
Keep up the great work Luc!!!
Based on my reading I am going to try and get a Wilkinson stick and a Speick stick the next time I need to order soaps......which will be in the year 2021 based on how long sticks last.
Keep up the great work Luc!!!
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- #499
The Palmolive stick is done but you will need to wait a bit as I did not have the camera and everything to snap the pictures of the stick. When I get everything, I will post it with the review and move the Palmolive stick where it belongs in post 1. The next stick is ready to roll and will be revealed after the Palmolive pictures. 
I've heard great things about the Wilkinson Sword stick also, but have yet to try it. I have, and use, Palmolive, LEA, La Toja, Arko, and Speick shave sticks. While I like them all, I think Speick might be one of the best soaps I have ever used, period. I'll admit, it took a while for the scent to grow on me, but the performance is fantastic. I have even grated a Speick stick and pressed it into an Arko puck container, as I always prefer to use a puck if I can - I take that puck container and a Speick stick with me when I travel. As far as shave sticks go, I've yet to have a bad shave with any of the ones that I've tried. They're all good in their own respect; easy to lather, perform very well, and not one of the ones I have cost more than $7 or $8 I think. That said, I think Speick is head and shoulders above them all.
