Shave stick. what to try first?

Hello all. I'm a bowl lathering fan and normally use creams. Seeing some youtube videos recently on face lathering with shave sticks, I'm thinking about trying one. Can you please recommend a good quality shave stick to try first? I want a safe scent that is not off-putting and something that's a lather champ. I'm fairly sensitive to strong synthetic smells if that matters.

Thanks in advance for the recommendations.

La Toja and Speick both are excellent performers with what I feel is a fairly safe innocuous, inoffensive scent. You may not be the right candidate for Arko, no matter it's appealing price point.

Dubber said:

La Toja and Speick both are excellent performers with what I feel is a fairly safe innocuous, inoffensive scent. You may not be the right candidate for Arko, no matter it's appealing price point.

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Speick makes a shave stick? Oh dang... that's my favorite cream thus far. Does the stick smell like the cream? I purchased a sample of La Toja cream from Maggards and it smells okay. I much prefer the Speick smell, however.

I've had good luck with Ogalalla's Bay Rum stick. It lathers great, but it's scent is pretty strong. I am pretty sensitive to many scents but Ogalalla doesn't irritate my skin if that helps.

axledobe said:

Speick makes a shave stick? Oh dang... that's my favorite cream thus far. Does the stick smell like the cream? I purchased a sample of La Toja cream from Maggards and it smells okay. I much prefer the Speick smell, however.

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Speick makes it. Maggard sells it. To me they smell identical to the creme. That same Alpine wildflower Speick. But I'm not the best nose in the world. I can put up with Arko, I actually like the Lemon Pledgyness, and it's so damned cheap.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/product/speick-shaving-soap-stick-1-75oz/

Dubber said:

Speick makes it. Maggard sells it. To me they smell identical to the creme. That same Alpine wildflower Speick. But I'm not the best nose in the world. I can put up with Arko, I actually like the Lemon Pledgyness, and it's so damned cheap.

http://www.maggardrazors.com/product/speick-shaving-soap-stick-1-75oz/

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Thank you so much. I just recently tried Speick cream and adore it. Sounds like I'll have to try the stick. I've ordered a couple times from Maggards. Fantastic experience with them so far.

I like the smell of Palmolive.

JimL911 said:

I like the smell of Palmolive.

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Me too. You can't go wrong with Palmolive, Speick, or La Toja.

Speick is better performing than Palmolive, IMO. And if you mix it with Old Spice AS, at least from my experience, I got a nice cedar humidor note all day. Was nice!

I'm a huge fan of Palmolive, for scent and creamy performance. It can also be found for cheap on eBay and some overseas sellers, because they're only £0.50-£1.00 in the UK (and $4 in the US).

Palmolive.

WARHAWK

La Toja, Valobra and Palmolive are my top 3 sticks. All three deliver an outstanding lather for a superior shave.

If I had to pay US prices, I do not know if I would pay Palmolive. What US shave sticks are at the same price point as the Palmolive stick in Europe?

Eeyore said:

If I had to pay US prices, I do not know if I would pay Palmolive. What US shave sticks are at the same price point as the Palmolive stick in Europe?

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There really aren't any I know of. In fact I've never seen any store carry any shave stick unless it's a specialty store and those sticks are all from Europe.

Marco said:

La Toja, Valobra and Palmolive are my top 3 sticks. All three deliver an outstanding lather for a superior shave.

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Agreed on all counts, and I would add Wilkinson's Sword stick to the list.

Even at U.S. prices, ~$3.50-$5.00, Palmolive is an excellent value, it builds into a slick lather, has a good soap scent, and is above average in the moisturizing department.

mftoms59 said:

Even at U.S. prices, ~$3.50-$5.00, Palmolive is an excellent value, it builds into a slick lather, has a good soap scent, and is above average in the moisturizing department.

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It's less than €1 in most European countries.

Aren't there manufacturers like VDH who produce good shave sticks?

There are many good shave sticks out there. Some of my current favorites in no particular order are:

• Tabac: a great performer
• Willkisnon: lathers easily
• Valobra: another easy one to use
• De Vergulde Hand Shaving Soap Stick
• ​Speick

Eeyore said:

It's less than €1 in most European countries.

Aren't there manufacturers like VDH who produce good shave sticks?

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There are not. VDH doesn't make a stick. They, shave sticks that is, are a subset, of a subset of an already tiny, and constantly diminishing product market. VDH and Williams have trouble keeping the 18 inches (45 cm) of retail shelf space they now have in most pharmacies as Gillette and Schick keep putting the squeeze on the retailers.

The Web is really the only reliable source for shave sticks, and to make it worthwhile to vend and ship Palmolive, you are looking at roughly $7+ with postage. Makes if seem like less of a value, when La Toja is about $9 shipped. The good news, Arko on Amazon, in bulk, like $15 for 12 sticks. The bad news, it's a lifetime supply of Arko

Eeyore said:

It's less than €1 in most European countries.

Aren't there manufacturers like VDH who produce good shave sticks?

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Not really. Ogallala is an American company that makes a shave stick. WCS has it for $4.75, which is $1 more than Palmolive, which has to come from Europe. Palmolive is FAR superior soap to Ogallala (just my opinion). The more expensive sticks, La Toja, Speick, De Vergulde Hand, Valobra are only a few dollars more (ranging from $6 to $12) and are all worth the extra expense.