Excellent additions, guys!
April - Shave Stick Month
- Thread starter markb
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #62
Well, every day is a shave stick day for me since I bought that case of Arko off Amazon.com. Whether I just use straight Arko(most days) or I use it and VDH DeLuxe soap together in my superlather mix.
The only real difference for me is razor, blade, aftershave.
Gillette Techs, SS, Slim and Super Adjustables, Gem 1912 travel, Gem Micromatic Bullet Tip, Schick Injector E types, Pal adjustable injector,
unknown brand brown Bakelite DE razor, Shaving Factory DE razor, and occasionally my early 1980s Gillette Atra.
Shark, Derby, Bic, Personna DE blades.
ASR injector blades.
Treet SE blades.
ASR made Atra carts.
Vi-John Ivy Club Spice
Master Bay Rum. 15 oz bottle for just under 8 bucks at Sally Beauty Supply.
P&G Old Spice
1980s vintage Shulton Old Spice given to me by my dad.
Pinaud VI Bay Rum
Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Ogallala Bay Rum
Aramis
50/50 mix of Master and Pinaud Bay Rum with extra glycerin added.
Witch hazel
I kinda like bay rum, could you tell.
I use aftershave, but not cologne, unless my wife and I are going out.
The only real difference for me is razor, blade, aftershave.
Gillette Techs, SS, Slim and Super Adjustables, Gem 1912 travel, Gem Micromatic Bullet Tip, Schick Injector E types, Pal adjustable injector,
unknown brand brown Bakelite DE razor, Shaving Factory DE razor, and occasionally my early 1980s Gillette Atra.
Shark, Derby, Bic, Personna DE blades.
ASR injector blades.
Treet SE blades.
ASR made Atra carts.
Vi-John Ivy Club Spice
Master Bay Rum. 15 oz bottle for just under 8 bucks at Sally Beauty Supply.
P&G Old Spice
1980s vintage Shulton Old Spice given to me by my dad.
Pinaud VI Bay Rum
Aqua Velva Ice Blue
Ogallala Bay Rum
Aramis
50/50 mix of Master and Pinaud Bay Rum with extra glycerin added.
Witch hazel
I kinda like bay rum, could you tell.
I use aftershave, but not cologne, unless my wife and I are going out.
- Thread starter
- #64
April 17 - TOBS Sandalwood
April 18 - Tabac
April 18 - Tabac
Vie-Long Horse hair : Merkur Travel OC : La Toja SS : La Toja ASL
Vulfix+TGN : Henckels Friodur 5/8 : Gibbs SS : Myrsol rojo ASL
The brush habe been made by a member of afeitadoclasico.com, a great brush to use with sticks. The same person gave to me the vintage Gibbs stick. Thanks zompo
I have honed the Friodur yesterday, and the razor have performed a great shave.
The brush habe been made by a member of afeitadoclasico.com, a great brush to use with sticks. The same person gave to me the vintage Gibbs stick. Thanks zompo
I have honed the Friodur yesterday, and the razor have performed a great shave.
Speick stick
RV restored Rubberset brush with fan shaped finest set at 42 mm loft
Fatboy
Speick as splash followed by Speick as balm
Pen's Racquets Formula
RV restored Rubberset brush with fan shaped finest set at 42 mm loft
Fatboy
Speick as splash followed by Speick as balm
Pen's Racquets Formula
- Thread starter
- #68
nice pics mark
where did you get your avatar? print ad or possibly graphic novel?
where did you get your avatar? print ad or possibly graphic novel?
- Thread starter
- #70
Thanks!
Avatar came from a print ad.. Plan 59 ( http://www.plan59.com/ ), great vintage adverts archive. Also checkout Shorpy ( http://www.shorpy.com/ ) another great vintage photo archive.
So I tried the two new sticks I picked up for this. Only tried each of them once, but there's my first impressions.
Palmolive
This is an excellent yet inexpensive soap, with good protection and slip and a luxurious lather. The toilety scent is the worst thing about it. I'll be using this again, and think it might find a place in my rotation.
Arko
It's cheap, but that's the best it has to recommend it.
As with most softer soaps, it doesn't seem to be very soluble, so it doesn't work into the beard well, and ends up more fluffy than lubricating and softening. All the soft soaps seem to be like this. Tabac is somewhat in the middle and the baseline, by which I mean it's the worst soap I'd ever want to be stuck with. Arko isn't up to Tabac, so I'm rating it subpar.
I find Arko a bit finicky with water. It lathers easily enough, but the sweet spot is pretty small. Some soaps work well from dry to very wet. Arko seems to work well in a smaller sweet spot. For the record, NYC water is one of the softest in the world with a very low mineral content.
Arko provides some measure of protection, but not as much as better soaps. My face feels just a little scraped. Perhaps I missed the water sweet spot, and that explains the lack of protection.
My face feels really nice after using Arko. The soap seems to clean off easily, with no greasy or slimy feeling afterward, yet it leaves a nice moisturizing layer behind, so my skin feels soft and moist.
The scent isn't to my liking, but like many soaps, it only really smells when first making the lather, so it's a temporary thing. Once it lathers, the smell dissipates, and it isn't disagreeable, so I'll give the scent a pass.
With limited wettability and mediocre protection, Arko isn't suited for the masses. I'm sure some people who can find the lather sweet spot and don't need more protection can make good use of this soap and save some money. For the rest of us, there are better products.
Palmolive
This is an excellent yet inexpensive soap, with good protection and slip and a luxurious lather. The toilety scent is the worst thing about it. I'll be using this again, and think it might find a place in my rotation.
Arko
It's cheap, but that's the best it has to recommend it.
As with most softer soaps, it doesn't seem to be very soluble, so it doesn't work into the beard well, and ends up more fluffy than lubricating and softening. All the soft soaps seem to be like this. Tabac is somewhat in the middle and the baseline, by which I mean it's the worst soap I'd ever want to be stuck with. Arko isn't up to Tabac, so I'm rating it subpar.
I find Arko a bit finicky with water. It lathers easily enough, but the sweet spot is pretty small. Some soaps work well from dry to very wet. Arko seems to work well in a smaller sweet spot. For the record, NYC water is one of the softest in the world with a very low mineral content.
Arko provides some measure of protection, but not as much as better soaps. My face feels just a little scraped. Perhaps I missed the water sweet spot, and that explains the lack of protection.
My face feels really nice after using Arko. The soap seems to clean off easily, with no greasy or slimy feeling afterward, yet it leaves a nice moisturizing layer behind, so my skin feels soft and moist.
The scent isn't to my liking, but like many soaps, it only really smells when first making the lather, so it's a temporary thing. Once it lathers, the smell dissipates, and it isn't disagreeable, so I'll give the scent a pass.
With limited wettability and mediocre protection, Arko isn't suited for the masses. I'm sure some people who can find the lather sweet spot and don't need more protection can make good use of this soap and save some money. For the rest of us, there are better products.
Irisch Moos stick
T+H Rooney 1/1
Schick E2
Ed Jagger Buckthorn balm
Creed Vetiver (1948)
T+H Rooney 1/1
Schick E2
Ed Jagger Buckthorn balm
Creed Vetiver (1948)
- Thread starter
- #73
- Thread starter
- #74
I think your descriptions of Palmolive and Arko are on the money. I also picked up a couple new sticks for this adventure. Taylor's of Old Bond Street, St. James and Valobra - Sapone per Barba Hard Shave Stick. I'm undecided on the TOBS and need a couple more shaves to decide what I think. It didn't really impress me out of the gate. The Valobra reminds me a lot of Palmolive with less lather. Great lubrication and protection with a soapy scent. Works well. I think Valobra is what you would get if you combined Palmolive and Arko.
vintage Williams - smells like rose! (April is "Rose Month" also, if I remember correctly....)
Valobra stick
Simpson T2 with 2-band Super badger
Schick Super II
Trumper's Sandalwood skin food
Floris Sandalwood
Simpson T2 with 2-band Super badger
Schick Super II
Trumper's Sandalwood skin food
Floris Sandalwood
Semogue 1438 : José Monserrat Pou 14 Medallón Taurino, "estocada" : De Vergulde Hand SS : Alt Innsbruck cologne
If someone tells me when I bought this razor (20 euros in a small cutlery) that I was going to get a BBS like today I would not have believed it, but it's an excellent shaver. It was me who did not know how to use it.
In Semogue everything is right, even small brushes, what a joy to use them.
If someone tells me when I bought this razor (20 euros in a small cutlery) that I was going to get a BBS like today I would not have believed it, but it's an excellent shaver. It was me who did not know how to use it.
In Semogue everything is right, even small brushes, what a joy to use them.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #79
Mark, nice SOTD. Where did you get that Old Spice Lime?
