Lathers better than soaps over 20x the cost. Scent is inoffensive, classic european laundry soap. Can be drying, but if you use a decent aftershave that won't matter.
Its a good inexpensive soap, some dont like the scent though. To me, it has a nice, lemony scent too it but Ive heard some describe it as smelling like urinal cakes.
It smells like Ivory soap. It's a smell like Williams just a little stronger. Clayton Sent from my LG-K450 using Tapatalk
I'm talking about the stick here, I've never tied the tub version. It's very cheap, it's adequate, and it travels well. Conk and VDH both lather easier. Williams is slicker, and in my city at least, is cheaper. Unless you spend a lot of time in men's rooms, almost any soap smells better. Just my opinion.
I have both the Stick and the Tub. I also have both the Stick and the Tub for the Derby Shave Soap. I like the tubs for daily home use for shaving. The sticks are great for travel. However, the soap in the sticks are the exact same soap in the tubs. So I'm loading up on the sticks to press into the tub as needed to refill. I also use the sticks to face lather before bed for a good face wash. I know, weird, but for some reason having a freshly washed face helps me sleep better. I lather up, rinse, repeat, until there is no more soap in the brush. Just a note, I put the Derby Puck from the tub into a tin. I do the same with that that I do with the Arko Tub. When that one is done and the Derby sticks are done I'm probably walking away from the Derby Soap and sticking with Arko. Nothing against the Derby Stick, but the Arko products are just a bit easier to find. For those that haven't tried it, bowl lathering with Arko/Derby is a great way to go to really control the amount of water and quality of lather you can produce. If you just have the stick wet it down like you normally would and rub it in a bowl until a desired amount of soap is in the bowl. Then take a wet brush to it. You can add a ton of water to it and it just gets creamier and thicker as you work it in the bowl, not to mention the slickness skyrockets and the drying post shave feel diminishes.
I'm pretty willing to try nearly any soap, though what will stop me is ingredients. I'm very allergic to EDTA, and unfortunately it's in ARKO. Fortunately there's a lot of other shaving soaps out there.
Arko is one of my three go to soaps, I grate and press a stick into a bowl and puck lather it. This soap is exceptional when it comes to speed to get a lather, slickness, non-drying, hydrating, and easy to rinse. In all a fantastic lather. I find the aroma is of a lemony citrus scent. And the price is minimal, especially when you buy box of 12.