Stirling Soap - 2 out 3 aint bad

In the words of the Immortal Meat Loaf - "two out of three aint bad"....

I ordered some Stirling soap, based on the reviews here - Anise / Menthol, Orange Chill, and the Coniferous. I ordered these three because the website specifically said they were essential oils, not fragrance oils.

When I opened the mail box, I could smell the soaps through the packaging, especially the Coniferous. Opening the box was real hit to the senses - the anise/menthol/pine were HUGE.

Over the next three days I shaved with all three:

Anise is very nice and very cooling - bit of a learning curve for lathering but its a keeper
I really like the Orange Chill (in fact I used it again today)
Coniferous..... a total miss for me.

The soap unfortunately smells like fragrance oil - kind of a pine air freshener thing going on. When I unwrapped it to squish it into a bowl, the pine scent lingered on my hands for hours.... first warning sign for me. I decided to give it a shot anyway.

I whipped up a lather two days later - liked the lather, and the scent was OK, much better in a lather than in the bowl - but it was very long lasting on my face. I was smelling the soap hours later. Its not a nice lingering smell - kind of an odd-faux pine smell.

The big problem for me: after a week, my razor wiping sponge and my newish Semogue 1800 brush STILL smell of the soap. I have never experienced an essential oil with that kind of longevity. I washed my brush with dish soap today, hoping to get rid of the scent, and threw the sponge away - the soap followed immediately after.

The longevity of the scent suggests fragrance oil to me, which was not as advertised. Not a big deal, I guess, but I don't like a scent to hang around that long. Some may like it, but its not for me.

Two keepers and one for the dumpster - good price on the soap, so I am not concerned. Overall, a good soap, not perfect, but good.

Barry

Good to know. I'm thinking of buying some. Thanks for this.

I just ordered - Sandalwood, Barbershop, Clubman and Dressed Man one ! They were highly recommend and cheap enough !

I actually enjoyed my puck of Coniferous from Stirling. It reminds me of growing up in the Pacific Northwest. But, to each his own...or in the case of wet-shavers everywhere- YMMV ;)

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Originally Posted by rweb82

I actually enjoyed my puck of Coniferous from Stirling. It reminds me of growing up in the Pacific Northwest. But, to each his own...or in the case of wet-shavers everywhere- YMMV ;)

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Real nice !Attachment 159709

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rweb82

I actually enjoyed my puck of Coniferous from Stirling. It reminds me of growing up in the Pacific Northwest. But, to each his own...or in the case of wet-shavers everywhere- YMMV ;)

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Love tallow soaps !

I ordered four sample sized portions, Bonaparte, clubman, almond creme, and bay rum. Very nice sized portions for 2 dollars a piece. I love the way they lather. Very soft soaps which is also a preference of mine. Not a fan of the Bay rum scent. I know it may sound blasphemous but it is just not my thing. Overall never happy with the soap and very economical.

I've been using Stirling Margarita in the Arctic for about a month. Very nice and crisp over three passes. The smell does not linger but is refreshing.

Barbershop is my favorite so far !

I'm grinding through a sample of Stirling Rose right now - love it! The lather is amazing, and the scent has grown on me. Plus, this sample has given me at least 20 shaves - and I throw a lot of lather away each time. My favorite soap brand!

Try the ozark mountain , it's really nice and it's counterpart pig trail is the body soap. , all of rods products are great and if it's a scent you don't like just tell him ,, he's great to deal with. And thanks to our good friend Lince I am digging the margaritas in the arctic!! And now I have 3 more samples to try Rod threw in. Tc. I use MDC every other day , but the other days I rotate Stirling!

Just got some Ben Franklin and Named and Smooth in. Great soaps! I feel like it livricates my face my better than other soaps I have used such as Green Mountain or Haslinger.

I have yet to try these soaps. It's been on my list but I haven't gotten to it yet. I've been preoccupied with Barrister and Mann as of late. They are also a small production vendor that happen to make two soaps that I absolute love. When I make room in my rotation for these, they are next on my list.

I don't know why I'm so drawn to this brand, but I think I have around a dozen of them, and about /3rds of them smell and lather superbly. However Rod the owner has said himself that some of his early batches (from which I have a few) didn't cure long enough so they don't lather as well. I have left some out unopened to fix it per his suggestion, and it worked. Everything I've ordered since has been awesome. "Arctic tundra", "stirling spice" and "Ben Franklin" are my favorites. I probably use these soaps 3 or 4 days a week now!

Really good soaps, especially for the money. I rotate a couple Stirling soaps with my MdC, PdP, and Harris, and don't miss a beat.

I pulled out my Stirling Bay Rum today. I had not used it in a while and forgot how "dead on" the scent it. As usual, I got a good thick, slick lather and a great shave. Rod's Bay Rum is a perfect match for Krampert's Bay Rum!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...psd7021784.jpg

I got a sample puck of Stirling/rose back in April at the Asheville meet up; opened it up this week - three shaves so far. Scent is subdued, lather easy to make, moisture and glide are excellent. Tallow scent is obvious but inoffensive in this soap.

I have two samples that give such great lather I ordered 3 pucks and two more samples.

This tallow based soap is great for glide and cushion.