I happened to order from him right when he had a few test brushes to give away a couple months ago. Got a plastic-handled badger, if I recall 24mm which is a bit larger than what he is selling now. It's really a nice brush, it's become one of my go-to's. Wish the handle was a little heavier and honestly for my face the smaller knot might actually work a little better. For the price he's selling them at, it's a great value.
Never tried the orange chill, but the glacial is freezing. If you build your lather and let it sit for a few minutes, it will get even colder.
I still stand by my previous review. It performs as well as Cella (with a bit more loading time). But I noticed it is difficult to wash off. Cella and Proraso leave a residue but it is easily washed off. But Stirling- think of covering your face with oil and trying to wash it off with a weak soap such as Dove. I realize it takes care of the PSO but it gets annoying after awhile.
? This has certainly not been my experience with any of the Stirling soaps. Another YMMV experience I guess. With all my shaves with Stirling soaps, it rinses off easily leaving my skin feeling great and well conditioned.
Same for me. Maybe I've just always over rinsed or maybe I just haven't used enough soaps but VDH, Mystic Waters and Stirling seem to all be the same in terms of rinsing off. I guess I can kind of see it though. Between passes when I rinse with basically wet hands it is very slick and oily, but not when I actually rinse.
Hmm I cant recall any left over residue when shaving, will carefully rinse today and check. Though I do like a bit of a moisturized feeling left over which would be nice with the sandalwood vanilla bath soap.
I used the Rose scent the other day. First, I rubbed the puck all over my face like a stick, then I loaded my brush like I normally would off the puck. So, I'm starting out with a lot of soap. I start face lathering and adding water to my brush as I go and I ended up with a Santa face. I got the best lather ever. I could have shaved the 5th Army with all the lather I had. LOL!! This is some great soap.
Did you notice? Maybe I got a bad batch because it is easily harder to rinse off than any other I've used. Also how do you rinse (asking in general)? I notice some people pretty much just wipe the lather off with a wet towel in their videos. I always splash water on my face until it is gone.
I used my Stirling Clubman this morning. I just splash cold water on my face and then use a wet wash cloth to finish up. My face feels smooth and conditioned with no residue. I have no idea what is going on?
I just splash water on my face and then dab it with a hand towel. Once my face is dry I throw on the aftershave. Gave one the Stirling cologne scents a whirl Saturday and didnt notice any residue left that I can recall. Maybe you have a one of puck, do all your stirling pucks act the same?
Stirling is so moisturizing that for some skin types it's too much. Maybe that's what's going on? Do you generally have oily skin?
First I thought it was a placebo effect but I switched some A/S' around...and found that Stirling's A/S splash (I use the Coniferous) actually really helps with my sensitive and rosacea redness prone face. It basically contains Aloe Vera and Witch Hazel and no alcohol so I guess it's very, very mild. Will order again (but I think the Coniferous is oos right now)
I don't believe my face to be particularly oily- probably about medium. I guess it's another case of YMMV because I asked Razorburn123 who has my old puck of Stirling:
Yeah, looks to be oos. Would love to try the spearmint, but I can't justify buying every type of WHAS that Rod puts on clearance. I'm already stocked up for like 6 months or better.
I've read through this thread several times since it was created. After reading all the positive experiences people seem to have using this soap compelled me to place a Stirling order—which I received and began using last December. After using several of the pucks for morning shaves for the past 2.5 months, I'm beginning to feel like the guy who reads all the glowing reviews of Mitchell's Wool Fat, and then struggles to replicate the glorious mounds of rich, dense lather so described in the MWF threads. I have used a variety of techniques and brushes with the Stirling soap. I have also bowl-lathered, scuttle-lathered and face-lathered. I have also reviewed the 'how-to' video by Rod of Stirling to see if I was missing something in my approach. Bottom line is, I enjoy the scent(s) of the soap(s), the menthol tingle of the black ice, frozen tundra & margaritas in the arctic. Even the whimsical fragrance of the 'beer' soap I find appealing. But I am not all that happy with the consistency of the lather I generate with this soap. I find the lather on most mornings to be rather thin, foamy, and short-lived on the face. Now I am a big soap user (90% of the time vs cream) and rotate the brands fairly regularly—Tabac, MWF, MdC, L'Occitane Cade, Cella, DRHarris, plus others— and I realize some soaps do require additional effort on the users's part to yield good lather. But the Stirling has me stumped. Our soft water out here in Nor Cal usually is quite forgiving and getting good lather normally isn't a challenge (even the stubborn MWF does quite well). Perhaps it IS operator error—but what comes to mind is something Steve is fond of saying about MWF,"...There are too many other good soaps out there that I don't fight with to get a good lather." But before you say, "Send them to me; I love it!"—the battle continues as I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel just yet on this soap.
Sounds like you need to load more soap onto the brush. Have you already smashed it into a bowl or container?
I agree with Cyanide metal. I find it as easy to lather as any but I have to load it a lot. So i suggest you load it until you think it its overkill. And avoid the floppy badger for now- use a boar.
I found a lot of water helps. These were some of the first soaps I tried and I was still working out my technique. I put a trickle of water on the puck and soak my brush while I shower, pour the water on the puck into my bowl and barely shake the brush. About a minute or so of loading the brush and wiping the later into the bowl and I whip for a couple if minutes. I've never had an issue but then again, I really don't have a lot to compare to. Side note, my primary brush is a boar but I have used badger with the same results.
