Well gentlemen, my wife bamboozled me! She always has multiple bath soaps open at any given time and I normally use two. I just finished a Stirling Blu bar though and only had one bar of Triumph on my dish. Since she's trying a few of the new female scents she put her White Linen bar on my dish...you can guess what Billy badboy firefighter accidentally showered with today. With my body chemistry it smelled different, but I must admit to you fellas, boy O boy did I ever smell clean. (I won't tell her that! Lol)

Now I am on the record for not liking most unisex scents. Unlike a certain moderator though, I would never question any man's security either way! Like everything else in our lovely hobby it comes down to preferences and we are blessed enough to have choices here. (I read on Stirling's website that a man loves Sunflower Fields, that's great) I don't think that I could use it on the regular, but I do hope that White Linen makes the candle list. Here's to hoping that every single one of you has whatever makes you happy!!!

Do any of you use alum? I just read an article that said to rinse after 30 seconds or so. I had never heard that. Ideas?

One of my veteran friends just told me on Friday that he uses a DE, but his dad taught him to use bar soap. I gave him a Stirling card and his fiance quizzed me for a while. The were planning on ordering this weekend. Great people, I hope they both find scents that they love, we all know how the performance will go.

I've tried alum a couple of times but didn't like the way it made my face feel. Bravo in giving your friend a gift certificate!

I always use AS after the alum. It can be drying.

I'm sorry for not being more clear, it was a business card. His fiance works at the VA clinic so I bought several bath soaps for all the ladies and some shaving samples for the guys to try out. Maybe in a month or so there will be a few more Stoylin fans. You give me a good idea though, just passing out Stirling gift certificates could be nice.

I use alum after every shave. My routine is to mostly dry my face after shaving and then I apply Stirling unscented witch hazel. I then apply the alum while my face is still wet with WH. If you've cut yourself, or even if the shave caused irritation, the alum will let you know. I've done both leaving it on and washing it off, doesn't really make a difference to me. The aftershave typically goes on over the top. If the alum really burns I'll apply a dab of Stirling unscented balm after the aftershave, really helps with irritation. Kudos for introducing new people to the hobby. This is the alum I use, best I've found

I use it if I get a little cut or want feedback on my shaves, then rinse it off. I found it felt better later in the day opposed to leaving it on.

I use the same alum, but I rinse post shave and when still wet with water, I alum. Then I rinse off the alum with distilled which hazel and leave the wh on.

Well, I knew someone said it. Sorry, Perry.

Here is a photo of labels from the 3. AS splash is in the middle. If menthol is listed, it is because it was ordered that way.

The other guys did well on particular uses.

Mosty I use the aftershave splash. I am selective on the menthol levels I order. I prefer to leave it out of most of the Max Headroom Glorious Stanks, but always get Glacial on the citrus scents.

Workin' on Meeter already, I see .

Okay, now I need to ask another question. You guys are really helpful and willing to help with questions. What a group!

When buying some Stirling products, you have the option of adding Menthol for $ and you also have the option of adding Glacial Menthol for $. My question is, if you chose to add Glacial Menthol, to the product you are ordering, does that make that product, into the same as regular products, that are marked Glacial on the site? Or are they, not truly, the same as products listed as Glacial?

You order Glacial, you get Glacial.

If you look at Margaritas in the Arctic you will see that it comes as standard menthol add. It can be bumped up to Glacial menthol level, but not purchased without it.

Glacial Lemon is only available at Glacial level. If you got Orange Chill (which is standard menthol) and had it bumped to Glacial level you could probably mix it with some ratio of Glacial Lemon and wind up with the same thing as the Glacial Lemony Orange you see around here occasionally.

Hope that helps.

Haven't had a chance yet to post my 1st shavette shave.

Noxema, hot shower, hot water, Stirling unscented Sheep, Omega boar, Focus R21 in camouflage, Gillette Silver Blue, Stirling Deep Blue Sea (a scent I keep liking more & more).

The Focus R21 plastic doodad blade holder firmly secures the blade position and covers the corners nicely. Other materials are stainless and enamel steels. It has a nice weight.

Found a little more delicate touch than with straights was all that'sneeded.

Nice comfortable results.

Be well

First time out with the new Dovo 'en vogue'. I was attracted to this razor for; stainless steel, micarta scales, reputation for edge duration, weight, and overall appearance.

I was made even more enthusiastic by comments from some of the straight fans here.

So here we go....

Shower, small dab of Proraso menthol pre-shave, 20/40 strop - linen/leather, Stirling badger,Stirling Blu SS, alum, rinse, dab of Proraso Menthol A/S balm, Stirling Blu A/S, 20/40 on the strop before storage.

First thing I noticed was the heft of this razor seems to make stropping easier. It is the only razor I have, that I don't feel like it could fly right out of my fingers. Nice.

Much quieter on the strop and shaving than anything but my half hollow. (note: half is my thickest)

Did my normal 3 pass above the jaw, and 4 pass below. The razor felt very sure in my hand andvery smooth. Like I said above,relatively quiet. Jarrod's reputation for honing is rock solid.

I can't say I've ever gotten a 'better' straight shave. It felt wonderful. So much so, that I think I was enjoying so much that I must have been careless with the 'splash-on'.



One of the fellows at workcommented that I smelled like a female employee of a FrenchHouse of ill-repute. My first response was to say somethingabout my aftershave. In retrospect, I should have inquired how heknew what these people smell like.

You Dark Sliders don't think Darth Vader.........? Nah fuggettaboutit!

But, I bet he's wearing thathelmet/mask/breathing getup because he's got that Stirling Blu thing going on underneath. Yeah man. Great shave.


Be well!

Thank all of you for the input on the alum. Looks like I was in the dark. I have been rinsing like all of you smarter fellas this week. I received my Stoylin order yesterday and couldn't use the full size of Hipster fast enough. The only problem was that my EdT sample doesn't spray but Rod and Mandy were awesome enough to give me a refund on my shipping when I had to place a second order to add to the original. (The very best customer service as always! )

Well Mr. Headroom, both of your new blades are very nice looking. I've been pondering about a shavette but always wondered how my skin would handle it. You know, I think a straight shaving barber at the front of Stirling's new storefront would be great. They could also charge the person a rent fee and require that they use Stirling SS.

As for your coworker, I have never heard anyone not like Stirling Blu. I love it so much that I put a little on at bedtime sometimes as aroma therapy before falling asleep. Blu will always be in my rotation. Happy shaving all!

Thank you.

My skin is less irritated with an open blade. Without the safety mechanisms of whatever more modern razor you use, I think you'd cut yourself overdoing it. The Focus R21 is Max Headroom recommended because it has corner guards (there are others) to help avoid a corner gouge. 15-20 bucks.

I went straights before trying a shavette. I think a shavette first is do-able but a more difficult learning curve. A few guys in the 30DC have done it, if you can keep up with that thread.

I believe I read or heard somewhere that Rod is a straight razor user.

Anyone know if there is a Stirling Rep on the forum? I have a gazillion questions.

The owner Rod posts here when he has a chance. But fire away with your questions there may be some we can answer.

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