Shave Sticks Review Project

Trace72 said:

You convinced me to order 4 Wilki sticks off ebay today. Recently ordered the Palmolive stick and I absolutely love it, so I am curious to see how these sticks compare. Speick and Tabac are two of my faves, so something that tops them seems almost unbelievable.

As for hard water, there are few places in the world that have harder water than where I live, we get mineral deposits on our faucet's and shower heads like no place else I've ever been (and I spent 6 years in Montreal). I've never really had a hard time lathering la Toja and it gives me good cushion and glide but it just seems to dessicate my skin. No matter what ASB I use after a la Toja shave I end up with lizard skin. It is shame, love everything else about it (scent, performance, price, packaging) but my skin just does not get along with it.

Really curious to see how you rank Palmolive. The performance for me is about 95% of Tabac, but I seem to prefer the Palmolive scent day-to-day. I like Tabac sometimes, just not everyday.

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Well, Palmolive is closing in on the "next stick" list. Stay tuned. And thank you for your comment. I think that Wilkinson is really a top contender but you will be the judge of that.

Palmolive is truly an elite soap. On my list, I'd place it 2nd behind Valobra. I think it's the best value for price/performance in the shaving world. Sure, it's more expensive than Arko, but it's light years better.

I haven't tried the WS stick yet. It's next on my list.

The lather from the wilkinson shave stick is fabulous. Nevertheless, I find it to be less protective than the Tabac shave stick. I have not used the palmolive stick for a while but my gut feeling is that it will probably be no match for either Tabac or wilkinson shave sticks.

Oh, are we playing YMMV with sticks?

For me Tabac is often a little too drying, even after adding quite a bit of water. With Arko I can add enough water to avoid drying out my skin, and it tolerates hard water well. My stash of Arko sticks averaged under $1 each and are probably good for 90 shaves, so that is my best soap if I look at the balance between quality and value.

With soft water (ca. 60-ppm) I find Palmolive performs just enough better to edge out Arko, even though it does not as work well with hard water (ca. 240-ppm). It is almost as good of a value for me, and since I usually lather with soft water it tops Arko. The Wilkinson-Sword stick is a little better overall: nicer scent and better shaves. But it is a bit pricey per shave. Valobra performs much like vintage Williams and might edge out Palmolive, but not Wilkinson-Sword. Valobra is also expensive. If possible I prefer vintage Colgate sticks to any of those, and happily I was able to find some at reasonable prices.

Just as well we like different things: variety is good.

Definately YMMV. Nothing seems to take care of my skin as well as Tabac, at least in stick form. The Stirling unscented and RazoRock Zi Peppino (can't get used to the smell) are both close seconds, but neither are sticks. My skin just feels so nice after a Tabac shave, I use it whenever my skin is to dry. Palmolive is close, really close but just not quite there. Otherwise I might be able to pair down my collection to just one stick.

I ordered a La Toja and Wilkinson stick with my last WCS order.

WOW, La Toja has a strong old school scent. I could see this being as polarizing a scent as Tabac if it were a little stronger. Great shave though.

Wilkinson lathered even better and I prefer the scent.


Out of the three sticks I've tried (also Arko), it's hard to really place them. I've had great results with all three as far as lathering and shaving goes, so it's really more of a scent ranking for me.

Scent-wise
1. Wilkinson
2. Arko
3. La Toja


I could see La Toja's scent winning me over after a few shaves. It seems like it might be one of those scents that grows on you even if you are lukewarm on it at first (like some with Tabac).

Got my Wilki sticks last night and tried one out this morning, wow is that a great stick. Beautiful, slick lather and lots off it. I also like the barely there scent, it is a lot nicer for everyday than Tabac. I am going to have to live with it for a couple weeks and see how it works out, but for the moment it seems like a real winner.

Coryforsenate, scents are entirely personal but I too like La Toja. It isn't over whelming, just kind of light and pleasant. Still need to try Arko, I think that and Razorock XXX are the only two soaps I have a real burning desire to try at this point.

I have been traveling for the past two weeks and have been alternating between LaToja and Wilkinson staying in three different hotels and a private home. I have found that LaToja does best in soft water producing a very slick lather. Wilkinson seems to be less picky and seems to work everywhere.

Can't wait to get back home and compare them there.

SWMBO threw a stick of Speick in with her last Amazon order. I tried it out this morning. Very easy to lather, great glide and cushion, and great post-shave face feel. What's not to like? The scent is nice, too. Reminds me a lot of the Palmolive stick (another favorite of mine). Now, I need to get some of the aftershave.

bryan1980 said:

SWMBO threw a stick of Speick in with her last Amazon order. I tried it out this morning. Very easy to lather, great glide and cushion, and great post-shave face feel. What's not to like? The scent is nice, too. Reminds me a lot of the Palmolive stick (another favorite of mine). Now, I need to get some of the aftershave.

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Speick is great - all that you said it is, you should definitely give the A/S a try, if you like the soap you'll really like the splash. Also, being the enabler that I am - check out the bath soap, since I got my first bar it's all I ever use now.

-s

A bit of reading on the LEA stick before the review: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/373967-LEA-Shave-Stick

I should be able to post one this week-end as I'm closing in the 30 shaves. It took a while but I now know where to place it with the current ranking.

All right, the review is up here: http://badgerandblade.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=43006 and I ranked the stick in post 1. Here's an updated picture (30 shaves) for Lea.

I will reveal the next stick tomorrow.

JamesBlades said:

Palmolive is truly an elite soap. On my list, I'd place it 2nd behind Valobra. I think it's the best value for price/performance in the shaving world. Sure, it's more expensive than Arko, but it's light years better.

I haven't tried the WS stick yet. It's next on my list.

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agree with you. im using palmolive now and have tried arko. arko gives a fantastic lather but irritates my skin. palmolive has a much better smell and no post shave irritation. i think the palm oil it contains agrees with my skin. it does not come anywhere close to lathering as well as arko does. for that matter, nothing ive tried lathers like arko, its in a world of its own in that regard.

I've been holding on this one for a while now and it's now time to review it. I must say that I saw this thread in the last few days (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/395246-La-toja-vs-Palmolive-Shave-Sticks) and it made me wonder if it was a good stick.

I mean, I used the Australian version of Palmolive (non-tallow), the Australian version vintage (with tallow) and the one from Fiji. The tallow versions are in a different league than the non-tallow. Knowing that the modern version of Palmolive made in Germany contains tallow, I am then expecting a lot out of it.

My first impression after 1 shave. The lather was okay but no more. It was good, I had worse than that but it wasn't a "wow" moment. I need to do the 30 shaves to review this one properly but this is the start of the journey!

Bushhippi said:

I am very interested in following this one ..........I have already bought 5 of these based on others reviews and thoughts. Silly I know.......but got them for $ 1.99 each..........I think I we'll be using one up with ya starting this morning....you go 30 days right? This would be a first for me....
don't know if I could go that long, but worth a try.

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It's a bit more than 30 days as I rank it against the sticks that I already tested. But it's around 30 shaves. Usually, within 5 shaves, I can find the right ratio product/water. Over time, that's where you really see if a product is worth it or not IMO.

I have not shaved with the euro palmolive stick in a while but I shall take this opportunity to do so in order to see if your observations correlate with mine. If I remember correctly it is a decent soap with, IMO, a bit of an iffy scent. It lathers up well but the lather lacks the protective qualities I crave for really comfortable straight razor shaves. In Germany it costs 0.95 €. Wilkinson shave sticks cost 1.45 €. Those extra 50 cents are really worth it because it computes into a helluva difference. For me the best bang for the "euro" is the wilkinson shave stick.

Only just saw this thread and predominantly shave with Soap Sticks for a while now. Have been using Arko for some months but today tried Palmolive (EU) and got a great shave. Lather was easy to work up - bit easier than Arko and has a nice fresh soapy smell.

I have some Boots' shave sticks which aren't included I observed. They have a lemoney smell - slightly artificial but work well.

Bushhippi said:

​ Im looking for a new boar brush to use exclusively for face lathering with sticks..........can you help me out?

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I use a boar when I travel as I paid less than $10 for it and if I loose it, it's not a big deal. The one I have is this one: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Omega_10077_Shaving_Brush

I understand it might not be the brush in the world but it works for what I want to do. I know that Semogue has really good stuff also. Depending on who you are talking to, you will get many opinions...

I think the fan shape works best for face lathering, that's where I would start. Something that has 20-24mm knot.