I've only tried a couple of these, Lea and Palmolive. I must say I like them both but am curious about getting some more different ones to try out. Oh, I know that Tabac makes one but I can not stand the scent of Tabac so let's get some info out there on others please. Inquiring minds want to know and thanks in advance
I like Arko. It use to be extremely cheap. Now some people hate the smell, some people are ok with it. But to be honest I like vintage sticks.
I've used Tabac, Arko, La Toja, Palmolive and Mike's Natural Soap shave sticks. All perform very good. On other occasions, I've rubbed soap pucks on my face as if they were shave sticks. That works good also. I once grated MWF and pressed it into a stick. It actually worked much better for me that way.
My favourite stick out of several is the Palmolive stick you referenced. Love the lather it produces. Sadly, the rumours of its discontinuation appear to now be true. PS- the Tabac stick produced a nice lather, but like you I am not a fan of the scent.
I have many Palmolive sticks in storage that I don't use, I don't remember how I got them. If I could buy more Tweex and/or Irisch Moos sticks, I would buy several cases.
I like using sticks. In fact, I will use pucks like a stick. I just rub them all over my face and then build the lather right on the face. I do like the Arko stick though.
i have arko,derby,wilkinson sword blue stick,palmolive,boots,and a vintage lavender stick that came in my 1940s travel kit.rockin the arko at present..
Mike's Naturals La Toja Speick Tabac Mike's is the best performing but also costs more and is sometimes out of stock. Still one of the best soaps around with amazing post shave. Low structure. La Toja is inexpensive and also provided an excellent post shave that was kind of unique... maybe it's the salt? La Toja also is one of those soaps that's very forgiving of imperfect lathering technique and performs well over a wide hydration band. Not a picky soap. Speick tallow is also excellent. Dense and heavy lather. Fairly decent post. Has a fantastic peppery lavender-ish scent. Vegan formulation I haven't tried. Tabac tallow- Classic soap pretty much universally recognized for it's phenomenal mechanical performance. Can go toe to toe with artisans. Forgiving and very easy to lather, but has a strong, floral scent that is highly polarizing, dated and borderline feminine that reminds many of an old woman's purse. Mediocre post by today's standards. Haven't tried the vegan version.
Wilkinson Sword is probably my favorite but I haven't seen it around in a bit. It may have been discontinued but I'm not positive. Arko performs well but is a little drying and makes my face itch to the point where a balm isn't enough to fix it so I don't use it. Tallow Speick and Palmolive seemed very similar in performance to me but I haven't tried the new Speick vegan reformulation. DR Harris makes shave sticks but they're a little pricey. It's a good soap but I'd rather buy their refill pucks. You could always grate any soap you like into a stick container. If you search for "deodorant stick container" you'll find plenty of options that work well for making your own shave sticks. La Toja has been on my list to try for a long time but I just haven't got around to ordering some. So many soaps. So little time.
To me it's a close call between D.R. Harris Lavender and the TOBS Sandalwood and St. James. The DR Harris and TOBS sticks are very different with the TOBS sticks having a lot of glycerin in them making them much softer and easier to apply.
De Vergulde Hand Pros: one of the oldest shave brands in existence. Cons: It's a pretty basic soap stick.
Speick stick is # 1 for me, triple milled and has a nice mild spicy scent with some of the best lather qualities you will enjoy.
I use Arko the most But as mentioned Speick provides a better post shave. Going to shave with Derby this morning, as it’s been a while. Have La Toja and Palmolive sticks that I’m looking forward to trying next.
I finally got around to trying La Toja and have used it the past 2 days. It's not bad so far but I'm not sure it's going to unseat Wilkinson Sword as my favorite. It's good. Completely acceptable shaves. Maybe after I get it really dialed in? Today's lather was a little better than yesterdays so I'm definitely going to give it a few more days before I make any definite conclusions.
