My advice, check out the TSD Shop. The Queen of Blades offers a lot of "fancy" soap samples. Samples cost about $2.50 each...same as an Arko, so no real cost savings. But, I'd rather pay $2.50 for a TOB sample than pay $12 for the whole bowl/tube and end up hating it. PLUS, the Queen of Blades is offering a 15% off promo code [back2school] on all purchases.
Are you sure...I just placed an order a couple days ago and I rocked 15% off my entire order. I bought TSD and Fancy soap/cream samples. Send her a PM to confirm if you're interested http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-shave-den-shop-coupon-new-items.34223/
The more expensive stuff is nice to use every now and then so I would go ahead and get at least one of the TOBs, but in my opinion, the quality of shave isn't that much better. But I admit to being a pretty unsophisticated fellow -- I'm an old guy who shaved exclusively with Williams for years and years. I now enjoy the better soaps, but I also keep the cheaper stuff in my soap rotation.
Well I think there's a couple of ways to look at this. Can you get by on Arko? Definitely. It's a darn good soap and there's nothing wrong with it. I think that maybe the smell leaves a little to be desired, but it performs very well against many other shave soaps out there. So it is worth it to move to something maybe slightly more expensive? From a purely performance perspective, probably not. Now that said, many of the more expensive soap tend to last a bit longer than Arko, so that can defray the cost some. Also keep in mind, on the whole, a soap will typically last you longer than a cream or modern day canned shaving creams and gels. But that still doesn't really answer the question, does it? I mean how are we measuring worth? Is it purely economical? If that's the case, maybe, maybe not. On the lower end with something like TOBS, you might get a similar number of uses because in many cases the soap may be triple milled whereas Arko isn't, but may not always the case (I'll spare you the technicalities, but triple milling basically translates to a harder soap with more soap and less fillers like glycerine, which is a byproduct of the saponification process). If it isn't purely economical? A more expensive soap will often smell better than Arko, and in many cases you can pick a scent you enjoy, which certainly in my mind offers some value. So to answer your question, just go for it. Try at least once. I mean worse case scenario, you don't like it and you go back to Arko, which you know works for you. And you'll be able to sate your curiosity to boot, which let's honest, you're never going to be able to do fully do just reading our replies. If cost is really a huge concern though, I will suggest this. Whatever soap you choose, and this pertains mostly to more commercial offerings, stick to the refill pucks. It'll save you quite a bit of money in most cases.
The cool thing about TSD is that once you go out and buy that certain soap or creme or whatever, and find that you don't like it, you can always pass them on to someone else on the forum to try. I do want to mention that I find the Old Spice Lime creme in a tube from India is great stuff as well as AoS Lemon. I am sure that TSD store has lots of great things also. In fact, I'm going to head there now and pick up some things. Been meaning to do that for months...
If Arko is your benchmark for soap cost then you're in trouble. There really isn't anything cheaper, so if you have to justify the extra cost over Arko then you won't be using anything else (except maybe Van Der Hagen soaps or William's Mug Soap purchased locally). The more costly soaps have many edges over Arko. Some are MUCH more moisturizing, some lather easier, some are slicker, and almost all of them smell far better than Arko. The only way to decide what is worth it is to try a few out and see which ones you like. Here's a link to Garry's Sample Shop: http://sampleshop.blogspot.com/
Arko really is great stuff at a great price but here's how I think about whether a soap is worth it. I got a tub of Cella a couple months ago and have been using it often - probably 4-5 times per week. I've still got about 1/2 of the tub left so I figure using it every day you'd probably get about 3 months out of the tub. I paid $9 for it and I don't think $3 per month is all that decadent. An Arko stick lasts me about 6 weeks (I'm not stingy with it though), so I could probably spend a buck or two less per month using Arko. A more expensive soap or cream may be tougher. A tub of TOBS will probably last you at least a couple months so it could put you closer to the $10 per month range. You'll have to decide if it's worth it to you. The way I see it $10 per month for something you really enjoy is a bargain.
I don't think anyone would say there is a direct correlation between cost and quality. I'm not an Arko fan, it bothers my face. You just have to find out what works for you.
just ordered from shave den shop...my first order! i have been curious about the preshave balm for sometime.
Oh yes, Cella is good stuff. Actually, come to think of it, I should probably order some more. Ran out a while back. Thanks for the reminder!
I'm one of those who enjoys a luxurious shave. A $40 British soap will last pretty much an entire year, and works out to almost .11 cents a day. I like the cheaper soaps as well, like Mitchell's Wool Fat. as far as creams go, The Body Shop's Maca Root Shave Cream and the Real Shaving Co.'s 2X concentrated shave cream are wonderful performers as well. All of the above are English soap and creams in the under $15 category. They lather as well as their more expensive brethren, but don't smell quite as nice.
There are many triple milled soaps in the $12-15 range that will last 3 times as long as most drug store soaps and for me are a real click up in performance (Tabac, Mithcels Wool fat, Cade, DR Harris, etc). I would put TSD in this class as well. I found an equivalent up click from Arko is Palmolive Stick. At under $4 it is not a long reach.
1 - just about 2 - no, but when you base the quality of the lather to the cost of the soap, you're getting BIG bang for your buck In my opinion, the only difference in the two soaps is triple milled will last longer. Lather quality and what they do for the shave and my face, for me, is close enough to be called equal. And if you think about it, pay 3x the price but have it last 3x as long, it all works out to being the same CPS - cost per shave
Triple milled means that the soap is put through a milling process to remove liquid three times. This does create a denser, longer lasting soap with a longer shelf life, but each individual soap will differ as to the exact length of usability. It all depends on the quality of the soap and the aggressiveness of the latherer.