Razor: Ever Ready 1912
Blade: GEM SS
Lather: Stirling sandalwood
Brush: HIS Synthethic
post-shave: Pinaud Clubman, Target-brand hand lotion
First time with the Stirling. My first impressions were that this sandalwood smells nothing like the sandalwood from the Proraso red. This one actually smells real. Not slighting Proraso it is a very nice and luxurious smell- just a lot different. However it did remind me of my (long dead) hamster's bedding. Loading took longer than Arko. But then again I don't think theres anything out there that is as easy as Arko. I did not lather directly on the bowl. I have seen the video where Rod recommends this but I did not want to do this as I thought it unfair to the soaps out there who lather well enough that this is not necessary. After all, the notorious Williams can only really be acceptable while lathering on the puck directly. Even bowl lathering Stirling it produced a lather as good enough as any. I live in Chicago- your water hardness may vary...
Upon lathering it on my face I realized- its super manly! Pure testosterone embodied in a soap puck. I took a pass and rinsed my face. Hmm harder to take off than Arko and even Proraso. It appears there was a layer of oil (probably the Castor oil) underneath the lather. Thats good IMO. Going in for the second pass and it appears my face is on fire. I know it is not uncommon for people to have reactions to sandalwood so I do not fault the Stirling for this. Other than the feeling there seems to be no averse reaction on my skin. Still, I might have to trade this... It could be a temporary thing as I noticed I had the same burning when using a camwood bath soap which later went away completely. Wood ingredients tend to do that to people. Remains to be seen. Anyways, I continued the shave despite the burning sensation. Lather was stable and my skin didn't feel stripped of its oils afterwards. Smell remains after use for a while.
Quite honestly, being an "artisan" soap my expectations were pretty low. Being a suspicious person I thought hmm maybe theres a bunch of shills pushing this stuff. I was dead wrong. I now see why this soap is so highly praised on this forum. It is protective, moisturizing, slick, stable, American-made, and a great value considering its very high quality. I fully intend to order some more scents and I can already see its potential to displace my use of Arko and Proraso.
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