In praise of Stirling Soaps...

Nothing yet. I am still working on a puck of Badger shaving soap I bought last week. I will post a review on that, and then decide what to do next. If the Badger soap works out, then I will use it up before getting more shaving soap. If it does not work out, then I will re-purpose it as a hand soap and then order a puck of Stirling and a puck of Funky Chunks soap. Both are tallow and lanolin soaps, and if both turn out to be keepers they should last me at least a year between the two.

In theory, both tallow and non-tallow soaps can be equally good. What I am starting to realize is that while many artisan soaps are rather iffy, the tallow and lanolin variety seem to work really well. Both Prairie Creations and Mike's Natural are tallow-based soaps with lanolin, and both worked great for me. Perhaps what is true in theory is not borne out in practice, so these two soaps merit investigation.

 

Hey, I'll just tell you this. Whatever you do, order a sample of @ezlovan (Stirlings) Cocoa Forrest! It's amazing! Is a very-ultra hetero chocolate scent! You'll love it and people will ask you all day what are you wearing!

 

For tomorrow, since it'll be Menthol Monday I'll be going with Glacial Obsidian. To this day I can't believe its menthol power.

 

Chocolate scent? Well, I suppose it might appeal to some folks, but I think I would opt for a different scent. I tried to order from the Stirling website, but it requires me to sign up to Paypal to proceed with the order. The same for Funky Chunks. I therefore went and ordered a couple of Kell's Original soaps from Maggard Razors, which does allow Paypal purchase payments without signing up. Stirling does appear to have some fine soaps, at least based on the comments here. I will keep them in mind for a future purchase.

Edit: Stirling's shopping cart now allows the use of Paypal and a credit card without signing up for a Paypal account.

 

I just had to get this thread written. In today's mail arrived my first ever Stirling Soap. I ordered the new Glastonbury. Luckily I hadn't shaved so I went at it. Stirling, oh Stirling, where have you been my whole life? If I knew now what a terrific soap you were, I would have proposed to you sooner. Your slickness is without peer. Your scent is appealing to my olfactory sense. As I pressed you into my container, I was surprised how soft you are. It must be the oodles of Beef Tallow. You exploded your lather onto my face like Old Faithful and kept a cushiony blanket of protection throughout three luxurious passes, leaving my skin wonderfully soft and smooth. No need for the Alum Block. No need for the Witch Hazel. I was able to go directly to my Floïd Vigoroso for a magnificent finish.
I thank you Stirling Soaps and my face thanks you.

 

I've tried four of the scents already and love two of them, the performance is always great though. Such nice people too.

Have a new order coming in today with a full puck of Barbershop and a sample of the Glastonbury. Also the Barbershop AS Balm, and a full sized Barbershop bath soap. SWMBO loves the smell of that one.

 

TL : DR - Stirling gud

I've tried three scents so far and all of them are amazing. Plus, he sent a free sampler!

 

Stirling is the only small artisan maker that I still like to use. Very good product!

His coniferous A/S is still my "go to" when I have a bad shave and need some healing...

 

A year and a half ago was when I received my first two Stirling soaps which are the MITA and Glacial. Well, I can say is that thanks to my dear friend Ryan I am hooked on these soaps. True, I only know these highly-mentholated soaps but in the very near future I plan to buy some of his non-mentholated ones. Rod has whipped up some winners.

 

Master Po, little Grasshopper must correct you and leave the Shao Lin temple. I sent you a Stirling sample a while back and was singing their praises. Try the Barbershop next.

 

Very good soap.
Look out for his special batches and one off. I have a puck of Elba which is a spin off on His Bonaparte. Both are excellent but I find the Elba a bit richer.

 

Barbershop and Sharp Dressed Man are both winners.

 

I went through a lot of samples, liked some more than others, all were high quality. Not for everybody but the Glacial Obsidian with the fennel scent is outrageous.

 

I stand corrected. I should have said, this was my first Stirling Purchase...

 

I'm a Stirling fan a well. Their bath soap is my go to soap, not had a bad one yet. Their shave soap is by far my favorite. I loved the old glacial, not so much the newer glacial wintergreen, I also really like the lime. But the gin and tonic has become my favorite soap of all time. I love the scent and the soap is great, always a great shave.

 

I do enjoy the Stirling scents. I also enjoy the menthol-laden varieties—which are VERY frosty!

I honestly haven't had the best success lathering these soaps or creating lather that lasts.
Not sure why this is an issue for me as everyone else seems to have a different experience with Stirling. Maybe I'm jinxed.
I often wind up mixing my Stirling with other soaps.

 

You? Non menthol?

I will alert the media

 

Load more soap newbie. I have hard water, so I have to load a ton of soap anyway. I also learned with VDH and Williams. Probably why I've never had any issues.

 

Thanks for the tip.
I've loaded enough Stirling soap to shave a woolly mammoth.

I've also lathered with success the oft-difficult MWF and the dreadful Williams.
As I stated, I'm content to mix it with other soaps (such as Cade) and lather away…..

 

They know already!