Arko & Turkish Men's Grooming: Shave Creams & Kolonya Explained

Arko is Evyap's classic Turkish shaving brand, launched in 1957 and best known for its red-wrapped shave stick. Rub it on wet stubble, build lather with a brush, shave, then finish with a splash of lemon kolonya, the same routine Turkish barbers have used for decades.

Walk into almost any Turkish bathroom and you'll find the same three things: a red-wrapped Arko stick, a block of olive-oil soap, and a bottle of lemon kolonya. This guide covers what each one does, why wet-shaving forums treat a humble Turkish soap stick like a cult classic, and how to put the whole routine together in the US. It's part of our Turkish home & personal care guide, and it starts where most Turkish mornings do: with lather.

Key Takeaways

• Arko is the shaving brand of Evyap, an Istanbul soap maker founded in 1927; the brand itself launched in 1957.
• Stick, cream, and puck soap all build the same lather by different routes. Cream is the easiest place to start; the stick is the icon.
• Kolonya, Turkey's lemon cologne, doubles as the traditional aftershave splash at every barbershop.
• Dalan (Izmir, 1941) and Eyüp Sabri Tuncer (Ankara, 1923) round out the cabinet with olive-oil soap and cologne.
• A full Turkish grooming kit in the US comes down to four items on one shelf.

What Is Arko?

Arko is the men's grooming brand of Evyap, an Istanbul soap maker in business since 1927. The brand arrived in 1957 with one product: a cylinder of hard white shaving soap wrapped in red-and-white paper. It got its own Istanbul factory in 1958, added a tube of shaving cream in 1960, and spread from Turkish barbershops across the Middle East over the following two decades. The stick itself has stayed stubbornly old-school ever since.

The scent is the first thing anyone mentions. Clean, soapy, a little sharp, like a barbershop that just mopped its floor. In Turkey it reads as pure nostalgia: the smell of a father shaving before work with the bathroom door half open.

If you buy a stick, do this first: unwrap it completely and press it into a mug, or stand it in a small cup. It dries harder between shaves and lasts noticeably longer that way.

Why Do Wet-Shavers Around the World Use Arko?

Type "Arko" into any wet-shaving forum and look at the thread count. Badger & Blade, the largest English-language shaving community, has years-old discussions picking apart the brand's history and its lather. A Turkish corner-store staple became a global wet-shaving fixture, and it happened through word of mouth, not advertising.

Three reasons come up again and again. The lather builds fast, even in hard water that defeats fussier soaps. One stick shaves for months. And the routine forgives error: load too much or too little and it still slicks the razor along.

The honest caveat is that scent. Some shavers find it bracing and won't use anything else. Others retire the stick to the guest bathroom after a week. There is no middle camp, which is exactly why the forum threads never die.

Arko Cream vs. Stick vs. Soap: What's the Difference?

Same soap chemistry, three different routes to a lather. Pick by temperament.

The stick

Rub it directly across wet stubble, then work a damp brush over your face until the lather peaks. No bowl, no counter space, nothing to spill in a suitcase. This is the format that made the brand, and it's the fastest once you've done it a few times.

The cream

Soft, scoopable, and forgiving. Load a little onto a wet brush, or work it in with your fingers when you're rushed. Cream tolerates sloppy water ratios far better than hard soap, which makes it the right first buy for anyone new to brush lathering.

The puck or bowl soap

Swirl a damp brush over the puck, then build the lather in a bowl. Slowest of the three and the most pleasant, the shaving equivalent of brewing coffee in a cezve (long-handled Turkish coffee pot) instead of a machine.

Start with cream if you're new. Move to the stick when you want the classic.

Ready to lather up? Our shaving collection carries Arko sticks and creams alongside brushes and blades. Pick one format and give it two weeks; that's long enough to know which camp you're in.

What Happens at a Turkish Barbershop (Berber)?

A proper berber (Turkish barber) shave runs close to half an hour, and none of it is rushed. A hot towel softens the stubble. Lather gets built directly on your face. Then the straight-razor pass, slow and quiet, followed by the flourishes berbers are famous for: a lit taper waved past the ears to singe stray hairs, a brisk face and shoulder massage, and the finale, kolonya splashed into the palms and clapped onto your cheeks and neck. The alcohol evaporates in seconds and carries the heat of the shave off with it.

Skip the flame at home. Everything else travels: hot towel from the tap, face lathering, a careful razor, and the cold lemon splash at the end. That last step is the one most American shavers have never tried, and it's the one they remember.

Why Do Turks Use Kolonya as Aftershave?

Kolonya is Turkish cologne: a high-proof, ethanol-based splash scented with citrus oils, most classically limon (lemon). It's less a fragrance than a gesture of welcome. Hosts offer it to guests at the door, intercity bus attendants pour it into cupped hands mid-journey, and every berber keeps a bottle within reach for the end of a shave.

On freshly shaved skin it behaves like a classic aftershave splash: a one-second sting, a wave of cold as the alcohol lifts off, then a clean lemon-peel scent that fades within the hour. Nothing lingers into your morning meeting.

The name to know is Eyüp Sabri Tuncer, the cologne house founded in Ankara in 1923, the same year as the Turkish Republic. A century later its bottles export to more than 70 countries, and the lemon kolonya remains the benchmark. You'll find it in our Eyüp Sabri Tuncer collection, and if you want the full story of scents and serving customs, our kolonya lemon cologne guide goes deep.

What Other Turkish Grooming Staples Belong in Your Cabinet?

Turkish grooming keeps its ingredient lists short and its brands old.

Dalan. Hamdi Dalan started making pure olive-oil soap in a workshop in Izmir in 1941, and the family firm still leads that category. The plain green-tinted blocks lather modestly, rinse clean, and work from scalp to feet. Browse the Dalan collection for the classic bars and the softer D'Olive line.

Traditional bar soaps. Beyond Dalan sits a whole tradition of simple Turkish bars: olive-oil soaps for daily washing and defne (laurel) soaps in the style of the Antakya region, with their dry, herbal scent. Our bar soap collection gathers them in one place.

Eyüp Sabri Tuncer beyond kolonya. The 1923 cologne house now makes shampoos, liquid soaps, and body care built on Anatolian botanicals, including a vegan-certified range. If the lemon kolonya wins you over, the olive-oil liquid soap is the natural second bottle.

One habit ties all of these together: buy fewer things, use them daily, replace them for decades. That's the Turkish cabinet in a sentence.

How Do You Build a Turkish Grooming Kit in the US?

Four items cover the whole routine. Here's the order to buy them in.

1. Arko cream or stick. Cream if you're new to wet shaving, stick if you want the original 1957 experience.
2. A shave brush. An inexpensive boar brush breaks in within a dozen shaves and suits Arko's firm lather well.
3. Lemon kolonya. One bottle serves as aftershave, hand refresher, and the thing you offer guests who ask about it.
4. An olive-oil bar soap. Dalan or another traditional bar, for everything the razor doesn't touch.

That's the kit: four items, one shelf, no subscriptions. We've been sourcing Turkish pantry and personal care goods for US customers since 2003, and this is the same starter set we point family members to.

Build it in one order. The personal care collection holds everything above, from the red-wrapped stick to the last bar of soap.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Arko a soap or a cream?

Both, depending on the product. The famous red-wrapped stick is a hard shaving soap in cylinder form; Arko also makes a softer shaving cream in tubes and tubs. The stick came first in 1957, and the cream followed in 1960.

How do you use an Arko shave stick?

Wet your stubble with warm water, rub the stick directly over the whole shaving area, then work a damp shave brush in circles across your face until a dense lather forms. Shave as usual and rinse cold. The stick needs no bowl, which is why travelers like it.

What does kolonya do after a shave?

Splashed on freshly shaved skin, kolonya works like a traditional aftershave splash: the high-proof alcohol evaporates quickly, cooling the skin, and leaves a short-lived lemon scent. Turkish barbers finish nearly every shave with it.

Can you use Arko without a shaving brush?

Yes, though a brush gives the best lather. With the cream, you can work it into wet stubble by hand. The stick can be rubbed on and lathered with your fingers in a pinch, but a brush lifts the stubble and builds a thicker cushion.

What's the difference between kolonya and regular aftershave?

Kolonya is an all-purpose Turkish cologne rather than a dedicated shaving product. It's offered to guests, used to freshen hands, and splashed on after haircuts and shaves. Most Western aftershave splashes are made only for post-shave use; kolonya covers that job and several others, with a lighter, shorter-lived citrus scent.

Where can I buy Arko and kolonya in the US?

Turkish grocery stores are the traditional source. TG Gourmet stocks Arko shaving products, Eyüp Sabri Tuncer kolonya, and Turkish bar soaps online, shipped within the US, so you can put the whole kit together in a single order.