In praise of Stirling Soaps...

I have always felt that unless you have a Baseline, ie: what is the comparison too, then the ratings have little meaning
Basically if you don't know my experience level then my 1-10 rating has little meaning because you don't know if I am comparing to Williams or MdC

Anyway going OT but yes I like the soap

 

Watch this... if I were to rate the Stirling vs Van Der Hagen stuff it would be like this:

Ease of Lather
Stirling Glacial Obsidian (G.O.) 8/10
VDH 5/10

Quality of Lather
Stirling G.O. 9/10
VDH 6/10

How long lather lasts
Stirling G.O. 7/10
VDH 6/10

Skin conditioning
Stirling G.O. 10/10
VDH 7.7/10

Slickness/Protection
Stirling G.O. 9.5/10
VDH 8/10

Scent
Stirling G.O. 8.5/10
VDH 5/10

 

Excellent!

 

Bingo !!!! see now that gives me an idea of where you are coming from because I have used the VDH

 

@Razor Blade X I really like that added base line (and may steal that idea to use myself in the future).
As long as it's a soap the person who reads the review have used I think the ratings now makes more 'sense'.

 

For example the VDH didn't change the rating cause let's say Barristet and Mann just plain scores higher... I wouldn't grade it on a curve. The Stirling would get the same rating but the B&M would just out score it. For example I would rate Colonel Conk underneath all the Stirlings I've tried by like 3-4 pts each category, but I'd rate it like 1-2 steps below the VDH ratings in each category.

 

I used the Glacial Obsidian soap this morning and it lathered quite easily. I have to admit that I get richer lather faster from my Glacial Wintergreen soap but the Obsidian is still a great performer.

 

Having a reference (bench marks) is always helpful when displaying scores/evaluations.

 

I just tried the Rose - Beeswax formula. I will only buy Stirling Elite soaps now.

ROSE -STIRLING SOAPS ELITE
Ease of Lather: 15/10 - I got hard water. Easy lathering... it was as easy as lathering my proraso green!
Quality of Lather: 15/10 can you say marshmallow cream? No lather anywhere is better!
How long Lather lasts: 10/10 - stability is fast superior to other stirling soaps and many non spelling soaps!
Slickness/Protection: 7/10 - it's slickness is good but not as slick as the Stirling clay formulations.
Skin Conditioning: 9/10 - Skin was soft, moisturized, and conditioned
Scent: 7.6/10 - this is its weak point. What smell that was coming out the puck want want wasn't strong enough. Not enough to call it an Elite soap I'm afraid. However it was a pleasant afterscent that I would be ready to use anyday! Definately great to use it as a daily shave soap! The lather and protection from this was enough to finish my 4 pass shave! Astounding!

 

Tomorrow it's Glacial Wintergreen for me. It's going to be a warm for this time of year kind of day, so the more intense menthol will be most appreciated.

 

Upon my second shave with the Stirling Elite Line with Beeswax... I stand behind my statement of it being the best performing Stirling soap in production!

 

Stirling Elite refers to soaps that are more expensive because they use particularly expensive essential oils for the scent, not a different formula otherwise. The beeswax formula he recently introduced for scents that are particularly light-- apparently beeswax gets in the way of the scent less than clay. Rose and Jasmine Sambac are both Elite and beeswax; Port au Prince is Elite but his regular formulation.

 

Maybe so, but the formulation lathers better, faster, thicker, creamier, and more stable. It's not as slick yes, but it's very-very good stuff. Much better performing than the clay formula none the less. You'd have to try it vs his current formula to know what I mean though.

 

Guess what I'll be using tomorrow - yeah, Glacial Lemon Chill because it's going to be another very warm day here again. I LOVE that soap.

 

It's a wonderful soap!

 

It's indeed wonderful - one of my top-favourites!

 

I have many of Rod's soaps and PSO and A/S .
His Customer service is above and beyond.

 

And gauging from the list of products I've seen that you own, it must be a real keeper.

 

I am using the GO soap again tonight. I really do enjoy both the fragrance of this soap AND the bitingly-cold chill of the menthol—a great combination.
A finishing splash of Fine's Snake Bite and my face is comfortably numb....—and I'm not usually the biggest Menth-head, but I do find this combo very refreshing.