Arko Shaving Soap (Bowl)

[longplay]

Plenty of reviews for the stick, none for the bowl, so thought I would add some to make people aware you can buy it other ways if nothing else. My thoughts:

I'm assuming this is the same stuff as the sticks, just in a different format, but I'm not certain as this feels a little firmer.

On the plus side it offers the same great performance and, in case it's important, the same scent. I wouldn't call it a favourite and it leans more towards the urinal cake than lemon for me, but I can live with it. Which you need to do as it's strong.

It was very easy to lather and offered good slickness, though not always the best protection. There was certainly no need to bloom the puck as with some.

Post shave feel wasn't as good as I'd have liked, often leaving my face quite dry (despite adding balm). Not hideous though.

As with a lot of the Arko products I have tried, what you get is a solid, if unspectacular, performer at a good price. You're paying a premium for the plastic bowl as there's not a lot more product than in the paper-clad sticks (90g v 75g), but it does make it easier to handle and load from.

So well worth keeping some around for those days when you just need a dependable soap.

Full review here.

 

[Blademonkey]

Plenty of reviews for the stick, none for the bowl, so thought I would add some to make people aware you can buy it other ways if nothing else. My thoughts:

I'm assuming this is the same stuff as the sticks, just in a different format, but I'm not certain as this feels a little firmer.

On the plus side it offers the same great performance and, in case it's important, the same scent. I wouldn't call it a favourite and it leans more towards the urinal cake than lemon for me, but I can live with it. Which you need to do as it's strong.

It was very easy to lather and offered good slickness, though not always the best protection. There was certainly no need to bloom the puck as with some.

Post shave feel wasn't as good as I'd have liked, often leaving my face quite dry (despite adding balm). Not hideous though.

As with a lot of the Arko products I have tried, what you get is a solid, if unspectacular, performer at a good price. You're paying a premium for the plastic bowl as there's not a lot more product than in the paper-clad sticks (90g v 75g), but it does make it easier to handle and load from.

So well worth keeping some around for those days when you just need a dependable soap.

Full review here.

Good review, a lot of people overlook this stuff because of the price and possibly think its substandard because of this.
It's certainly not my favourite soap but I have it in my soap collection and use it on occasion, I can not comment about the smell because I can not pick up smells very well but I agree it's easy to lather without blooming and performs quite well although I find it's not as slick as others but saying that at its price point (for the stick) it's hard to beat.
I have bought a few sticks and squashed them down into a container for ease of use. A dependable soap indeed.