In praise of Stirling Soaps...

It was between Sharp Dressed Man and Executive. I read some incredible feedback about the Executive so my mind was made up.
I will make my opinion known to my fellow shavers in the Den.

 

I'm a newb to Stirling shave soaps.
I recently got some samples, and my first to open was the Orange Chill.
It's nothing short of amazing. If you like citrus at all, you'll like this one.
Not overly sweet, it's just like cutting open a fresh ripe orange.
Also, there is (to me) a moderate amount of menthol.
The combination of these two things, and the choice of their proportions is spot on.
I admit that I was a bit surprised at first concerning the amount of water necessary
to get the soap to load well. I'm a devoted fan of the boar brush, and I'm used to soaking
and then shaking out most of the water when using other soaps. That doesn't work with
this soap. It takes much more water than I'm used to using. That's ok though. Just one or
two test lathers and you'll be onto the water thing. All in, the Orange Chill is a delight.
It's very slick and protective, the smell is excellent, and it finishes with a nice bit of menthol chill.
I found that a goodly splash of Osage Rub for an after shave treatment worked well with this soap.
I could smell just a hint of the orange through the menthol after an hour or two. It was very nice.


The second soap I've tried is Barbershop. Like the Orange Chill, the scent is not at all over done.
It's particularly clean, and the name suits it very well. It brings to mind an after shave my dad used
to use, but I can't name it. I can see this soap becoming a regular for me.
It's smooth and very protective, and I can easily use my sharper blades and more aggressive razors
with it. I just completed a 2 pass shave, and I'm about as close to BBS as I ever get.
My face feels really nice, and my after shave treatment was just a very small amount of
Florida water. I think I'll order a couple of full size pucks soon.

 

I am always intrigued by "Barbershop" scents. Mystic Water is great and Catie's Bubbles Tonsorial Parlour too. Can you describe and/or compare the Stirling scent to any other product?

 

I don't think so.
This is my first official barbershop scent.
I like it, and there is something about it that seems vaguely familiar,
but it can't recall for sure just what it is at the moment.....

 

Thanks for bringing up the water issue. I, too, find it takes more water than some other soaps I.e. Arko..

 

I used the Glacial Lemon Chill soap this morning and it gave me an awesome, delightful, and ungodly-cold shave. The lather built so easily - in fact with my large horsehair brush I was able to whip up meringue-like lather in around 25 seconds. I first soaked the brush and shook off some of the water and then I went to town on the puck. I don't know yet how the new Glacials are, but it's true that the older versions are thirsty. I had to add a bit of water when I re-lathered for my 2nd pass.

 

Wanting to make sure I give Stirling a fair shot, I have been working with it all weekend. I have found that I get better results face lathering. I used Barbershop, SDM and a graprefruit sample puck. Barbershop provided the best shave, with SDM close. SDM of course is the best scent to me. Grapefruit leaves some to be desired both in shave quality and scent. Still not the best for me, and I know that Rod recommends it being a bowl latherer, but for me YMMV. For those of you who have been having trouble with it like I have, give face lathering a shot.

 

I just received my puck of Executive Man and a sample puck of Blu. I wasted no time trying out the Executive in a palm lather. Performance is everything that I have come to expect from Stirling soaps, so that needs no further elaboration. The scent of Executive Man top-shelf; something you might expect from, Givenchy, or YSL, or Paco Rabanne. For my untrained nose, I get citrus and rose over tones, not earthy at all. A true bouquet. High-class, you know Tom Ford.
Enjoy the lather shot.

 

Yeah, okay, so you all got me to jump on the Stirling bandwagon
Another fan of the executive man line to boot.
Just wait...they're rolling out the line of NagChampa this week. Wait till you get a whiff of this!

 

Orange Chill followed up with a goodly splash of Florida Water.

 

SDM vs Executive Man? Fight!

 

The Stirling lathered as expected. Some shavers seem to have issues, I don't. Nice and creamy. I have been lathering using a very wet M6 (TSN LE) and covering the puck with water. It's messy, but once the protolather washes over the edge of the container, I can feel a braking of the bristles as friction builds. 30sec load from this point onward.
The scent of executive man is upper crust. A poster mentioned Creed Aventus, maybe that will mean something to some. Not to me.
Executive Man has a high note of sweet orange, maybe lavender, (I am untrained at this). Not an earthy scent, but heady, slim, delicate, colorful scent.
Bridge, not Poker;
Polo, not Football.
You see where I am going.
I did like it so much that I ordered a bottle of the splash.
Post shave with Stirling is really great. I finished with a splash of Thayer's Witch Hazel and a few sprays of C.O. Bigelow No. 1585.

 

I went with the Glacial Lemon Chill soap again today and I'm so happy I did. That scent drives me nuts - it gives you a perfect combination of fresh, tangy lemon and thirty below zero-feeling menthol. When I was lathering up, the freezing sensation hit me so hard that I thought I was going to feel light-headed. When I started to do my second pass, the sensation felt almost painful. (I LOVE that feeling!)

 

Love that Florida Water too, think that'll be on the agenda for tonight's shave; if I ever get outta work

 

I have three Stirling soaps now. Bay Rum, Coniferous and Margaritas in the Arctic. There is not a lot left to say that hasn't already been said multiple times. I find them all to be excellent soaps that provide a dense and slick lather. The post-shave feel is remarkable, leaving me feeling moisturized, soft, and smooth.

The Bay Rum is, to me, a dead ringer for Captain's Choice. The Coniferous is a blast of piney, woody, goodness. The Margaritas in the Arctic hits me with the notes of fresh squeezed lime. The cooling effect of the menthol is perfect, it stops just short of making my eyes water. All good stuff that easily competes with the likes of Tabac and MWF.

 

I pulled my Eskimo Tuxedo out today after hiding through the winter weather. It sounds like Executive Man will be on my next order since I have used up/given away most of my Stirling product samples from Christmas time.

 

I have used the following Stirling Soaps: Black Cherry, Ben Franklin, Curve Ball, Aqua DGO and they are all great. Great value and very nice people.

 

Executive Man video review! Pass it on... buy more and use it like water! It's that good!

Executive Man -https://youtu.be/99V2WNqIIVo

 

Bravo @ezlovan
The Executive Man is the best stuff!

 

You should be a Stirling salesman. Haha

Like the video. Keep them coming.