Arko Shaving Cream Soap Stick (2 pieces) by EVYAP

Incredible product. If you want a great close shave that is affordable, then arko is what you want. Obviously you'll get a slightly better shave if you buy an expensive shave soap or cream, but for a 2 dollar stick, it works wonderfully. Before buying, I had heard you either love or hate the scent. It's a pungent lemony scent that you would find in a public bathroom somewhere. It's not a bad scent at all, I guess some can find it off putting but I don't mind it one bit. Once you smell it, you will definitely recognize the scent from some point in your life. It does produce a pretty heavy odor once you've lathered up and will make the bathroom smell like it for a while, so if you're living with roommates who have sensitive noses, then it might not be for you. This shaving stick will last even a frequent shaver a significant amount of time. It's about 3 1/4 inches long, and you only need about a 16th of it at a time, not even that. Do the math, if you're using a 16th at a time, then 3 1/4 inches will get you 52 shaves. This will last a weekly shaver an entire year. So if you only use arko, you're spending 2 dollars a year on shaving soap. The lather is thick, slick, and goes on the face nicely. With a good razor to accompany it, you'll get a wonderful shave that is enjoyable, and gives incredible results. With all that being said, obviously if you spend more money on a higher quality product then you will get a slightly better shave. But for the price and quality, Arko is as good as it gets.

This is currently the only shaving soap I use. Reading the reviews, the majority either love it or hate it. There is little in between. I happen to be in the "love it" camp. It's not horrible, it just smells like soap. A nice clean and fresh smell. It lathers great and is very creamy. For me, the soap's purpose is to give a smooth shave, which this does. I can get all the smells I want from the aftershave lotion. I find this preferable because I don't want a highly scented soap mixing with the aftershave products. The added bonus is that this soap is inexpensive and a stick lasts a long time, 5 months for the first stick I bought. I ended up buying a box of 12. Some shavers will press this into a bowl, which is not hard to do because it's soft. I prefer to rub the stick on my face as intended. To get a good lather, I use an inexpensive badger brush with the bulk of the water gently shaken out of it. I then slowly start swirling the brush over the whole face until the lather starts to build, then start moving more briskly until it becomes very thick. Check out the 2oz twist-up container at westcoastshaving. It is a perfect container for this. I went a little overboard and even taped the Arko wrapper to the container to give it a finished look. The wrapper is so cheesy, I just enjoy looking at it. If you like simple and effective, this is a great product.

Pleasantly surprised given the affordability of the two pack Arko Shaving Soap. Although it can be rubbed on the moistened wishers, and then lathered on the face with a warm wet brush, I decided to put my stick in a bowl. The soap does not appear to be easy to melt in a double boiler so as to mold it in the interior of the enamel mug, but it is malleable enough to press into place. I allowed a little hot water to sit on the soap to allow it to bloom and soaked my beautifully large Omega Professional Boar Hair brush in hot water as well, as I showered. A few minutes of soaking and blooming and I started the shave. I applied the warm water and soap that had bloomed nicely to my face. The scent is pleasing, albeit a little "soapy" - in the detergent type of smell - but clean and basic, both in a good way. Good slippery feel between the fingers. I worked the brush in the bowl and although it didn't build much lather, with the bristles loaded I proceed to lather on the wet face. Nearly immediately, the soap started building a nice slick lather with enough body for a three pass shave. Indeed, the Arko soap provided great lubrication and protection on the three passes, giving me a close shave using a Merkur Long Handle safety razor and Shark DE Blade. I finished the shave with Thayer's Witch Hazel and a splash of Fine Accouterments American Blend aftershave. Really pleased with the Arko Soap, as it provided a really pleasing and affordable shaving experience. The rating loses one star because of the "detergent-like" scent, that although still pleasing, may not be suited to some. Enjoy :)

Arko shaving sticks work great! Very slick, which makes for smooth, comfortable shaves. Much better than canned gel or foam, and better than many other shaving soaps. It is very affordable, too. It is also good when traveling, especially by air. I find the scent pleasant, although scent is subjective. Cheap and excellent makes it 5 stars for me.

I know everything and I'm never wrong, so here's how I'm going to describe the controversial scent: It's a blend of lemon and bubble gum. There. Case closed. It lathers up as good as the best artisan soaps. It's slick and cushiony like a tallow shave soap should be. Yes, the scent is strong (likely designed to overcome the smell of tallow, which stinks), but it's not overpowering, and it dissipates in short time. If you want to put the soap stick in jar or bowl, just microwave it for 30 seconds and it'll become soft and pliable. Go at it with a boar brush and you will have slick, thick, dense cream all over your face like you've always wanted. Maybe not a daily soap, but it should definitely be in your quiver of DE toys. Update: I just asked my girlfriend what she thought of the scent. She took a big whiff straight from the bowl and it made her gag. She was actually cross with me. So, I guess this shave soap is like durian melon; you either dig it or hate it.

This soap finally did it. Most other shaving soaps and creams are now ruined for me. I get out of the shower and rub the stick of Arko all over my beard growth. Then I start to lather with a pre-soaked brush. In less than a minute I have thick, slick, incredibly cushioning lather. Lather with cushion that is superior to many more-expensive products. Lather that takes minimal effort to produce, which is great on a rushed weekday morning. I've been using Arko for more than 4 months. I've used other products to a lesser extent during that time, but I estimate that a stick will last 3 months of daily use with the way I use it. If you smash a stick of Arko into a bowl and lather directly on top of it, you will use more and it won't last as long. If you don't like the scent, I can say that it does diminish greatly in time once you have a stick of Arko unwrapped. While my whole bathroom smelled like Arko when I first unwrapped it, the scent is now much more gentle and something that I only smell when I am lathering. I find it to be a clean, soapy scent and I actually like it. Arko is worth trying if you use a shaving brush. If you don't, I suggest getting one and getting some Arko. I haven't found anything that comes out of a can to work as well. Given the cost per use and performance of Arko, I am not sure if there is a better shaving soap/cream value out there.

Great quality shave soap for a decent price. I like to break mine apart and shove them into my shave mug - it's malleable enough to mold in your hand if you apply enough pressure. The scent is really clean and soapy, great for a starting base layer to add other scents to with aftershave and cologne.

Okay, I've been trying any and all shaving soaps lately, and I have to say, this one surprised me the best. Of course, when you first 'subscribe' to going back to the old school way of shaving, you inevitably start off with "Williams" and buy the cheesey brush they include. After about two uses you say 'There's got to be a better way'.... After I bought my Mekur Progress, and started using Proraso, musgo, Tailor of Bond Street, Colonel Conk's and a variety of other's, I recently stumbled onto Arko. I love the 'ease' in which you use Arko, you simply wet your face (After the shower, so the whiskers are nice and soft) and then you rub this stick all over your face. Just keep rubbing until you've got a nice coat, then you take your hot badger brush, make sure it's got some water on it, not water logged, but slightly dripping, and then just start whipping up that lather on your face. The Arko whips up a serious amount of lather and it smells great. It reminds me of those old hand soap borax shavers we used to have as a kid, but not 'quite' that bad, something more lemony or citrusy. It's made in Turkey, I believe, and it's just got that 'other world' kind of fragrance to it. I don't wash it off, either, when I'm done, I just wipe my face down with a wash cloth, whereby leaving some of the conditioning agents still on my skin. Makes my face smell great, and it does really give you a good, non irritating shave. You can also buy these roll up empty deodorant cannisters on West Coast Shaving or on Amazon, and apparently it holds the Arko shaving soap stick just perfectly, you push it up like a deodorant stick and then cap it off when you're done. I'm going to have to try that. I have to say, for traveling, this Arko is going to be in my shaving bag. Great stuff.