Turkish Delight...?

So, a while ago, I tried a week of shaving with an ARKO Stick, from Turkey. I am a stick fan (Just wait till you see what I've got in my fridge...!!) and when I got this one for free with an order from Giovanni at Razor and Brush, I reckoned I had to try it. Now, in the fullness of time, I think I'm ready to give my opinion.

(image from Razor and Brush).

ARKO sticks are fairly polarizing. There are those (like Giovanni) that love them--they say the lather is thick, luxurious and plentiful, far outperforming the measly $2 price tag. There are those that hate the stuff --the primary complaint is the scent...

My reaction? They're both right.

The stick is plain jane, wrapped in paper and with no plastic base/holder like is found on the others I have tried. The graphics are kind of nice in a kitschy way. I felt like my shave was blessed by J.R. "Bob" Dobbs.


But even before I saw the stick, the first thing I noticed was the scent. In fact, the entire package I ordered smelled like this stuff...The stick's detractors, and there are many, say that this soap smells like a urinal puck. I don't think that's quite right. I think it smells like ten urinal pucks. This is a potent aroma...I was afraid to leave it in my bathroom, that it might turn the place into the John at a cheap bar. But luckily, with a day or two of air the stick calms down and the smell loses part of its penetrating edge.

So, then, the important part? Well...my first shave with this was a bit disappointing. Make no mistake, it lathered like a monster. My Omega brought forth MOUNDS of creamy lather in no time. But the shave wasn't that great. It was draggy and left my skin feeling dry and slightly razor burnt.

My second shave was similar. Then I realized, the lather was coming too easily--I wasn't adding enough water, seeing the big mounds of foam made me stop too soon. The reaction to the brush was deceptive. This soap needs quite a bit of water to get a good lather, even though it'll whip up a dry one with no trouble at all. Once I found the right water ratio, I got some pretty good shaves.

Pretty good. Not great. After 5 shaves, the bottom line was that I wanted to use something else. This was not true of the Valobra Stick or MWF...with those, I have to make myself stop, to give some other product a chance. With ARKO, I gave it a shot, thought "OK, that's not bad" and moved on.

Now, this is not a bad product. I can definitely see the appeal--it's cheap, it's easy to whip up a good lather, and it's cheap. But given the overpowering scent, and the lack of a really outstanding shave (not as good as VDH Deluxe, for instance), I can't see this one being a re-purchase. I am glad I tried it though, and I will probably give it another chance in a while, when the smell has faded from my mind's nose...