Hairy Italian here. I not only have the hair of a gorilla, it grows in every direction. I am more of a four pass shaver if I am chasing the baby. I go through a fair amount every day.
I do three passes with some touch up as needed. I could easily just do two for a socially acceptable shave. Since I have the time and I enjoy the process why not do three?
Came home from work today to my package of Stirling! I haven't used them yet, but the Almond Creme is mouth watering. Seriously, took some control not to want to taste it, lol. I'm really anticipating my shave with the Naked and Smooth as well. You just can't go wrong with Stirling.
Stirling Barbershop today. I lathered in the vein of the video that @PickledNorthern has posted throughout TSD. I soaked the soap (I won't say 'bloom' as some have objections to that term ) and then started loading with a dry synthetic brush. The faucet is running on a low stream and you run the brush under briefly and then return to loading. I probably run the brush under four or five times. It made some slick, beautiful, shiny lather. Stirling is great stuff. The Barbershop splash will last all day. It's a sweeter scent....some vanilla or caramel notes in there. Very different than many other barbershop scents.
Hi Perry-as you may recall, I had the B-shop AS but I couldn't enjoy it much, I used it in the summertime. Silly me-I guess I forgot that when I used Clubman once in the summer, same feeling-too warm for the hot season. You have it at the right time.
Paul, you are right. It has a warm feel to it when you apply. I would get it with added menthol if I were to buy this scent again. But there are other scents that I'm more interested in and probably wouldn't buy this one again.
Probably 50 % of my shaves lately have been either Stirling Barbershop or one of my three Bay Rum soaps (Stirling being one of those). I love both of the scents. By the way I "bloom" all my soaps.
Today was the first day I think I really dialed in my water-to-soap ratio. I came out with the most dense, slick, and protective lather I've ever had. And the face feel afterwards is amazing - my face has never been this smooth and hydrated. I felt like I didn't even need to use an aftershave. I used the "Naked and Smooth" soap as a homemade shave stick and it is one the best wet shaving decisions I've ever made. These soaps are perfection. I know tallow soaps can tend to degrade if not properly stored - Cella being a big culprit with the yellowing and funk that can occur. Does Stirling do similar things or does it hold up better over time?
I have one or two Stirling soaps that have to be pushing three years old, and don't have any troubles. These were also stored in tins until recently, so not like they were sealed airtight either.
I picked up a tub of both Sandpiper and Dunshire shave soaps on a BST forum earlier today. They'll be mailed out to me on Tuesday. The Dunshire is particularly intriguing because Acqua Di Gio is a favorite cologne scent of mine.
Is airtime a problem for tallow soaps? I was just about to pull the trigger on some 8oz low profile cobalt jars.
Well I suppose eventually, but I have never had a problem in the few years that some of my soaps have been around. Triple milled soaps last virtually forever, if maybe lose a little scent. Other than a few stories about Croapy soaps like Cella, I have never heard of issues.
I don't want to start sounding obsessed, but my God...Stirling honestly has the best post-shave face feel I've ever had. I'm going on 12 hours since I've shaved and my face is still silky smooth. I've never had such a wonderfully soft post shaving experience. Even during the shave yesterday, I was simply amazed by how slick and protective it was throughout the entire process. I've been faceturbating all day, haha. I made mine into a shave stick and I believe it allowed me to get the perfect amount of soap onto my face. Wow, what a great soap.
Another question for @ezlovan Why the limited scent selection on the witch hazel? My (and my wife's) top 4 favorite scents all come from you. Sadly, none of them are available in witch hazel. I have some of the splashes, but I can only use them once every 2 or 3 days or my skin starts to object. I use witch hazel all the other times. I prefer scented witch hazel, but unfortunately, I'm not crazy about any of the scents you currently carry. I would love to see you offer witch hazel in more of your cologne scents (Sharp Dressed Man, Executive Man, Mountain Man, Dunshire, Sandpiper, Barbershop). Any chance that happens once your expansion is complete?
