Got some Stirling soap in the mail and decided to compare them with some I had on the shelf in my own, personal little 'Scent-Off competition'.... The contenders; Naked & Smooth Tea Tree Ben Franklin Sharp Dressed Man Bay Rum Rose Sandalwood Lemongrass & Cajeput I will rate these soaps using the CUHPR system (Completely Unscientific and Highly Personal Ratings) purely on...how they smell. I am also truly terrible at describing scents so this should be highly informative and something you really should base future purchase decisions on. Naked & Smooth This is the Stirling soap for sensitive skin and I actually use the soap bar version for my face and like it a lot. Scent-wise it's a tad unfair to include it in the competition (since it's...you know...unscented) but it's also very much in line with CUHPR to do so...so I do. The scent is very faint. I pick up some soap. It's pleasant but not exciting. It's like a nice smelling grandma. In a good way. CUHPR: 4/10 Tea Tree I'm getting a freshly cut lawn. A lawn that someone sprinkled some spice over. Not sure what spice but I like it. It's not overwhelming at all and doesn't offend my nose in any way. It's pleasant. CUHPR: 6/10 Ben Franklin This soap is officially described as "smells like an older gentleman’s pantaloons at the end of a hot July day in Philadelphia, drafting important documents with no air conditioner. " Now, I haven't been blessed with the opportunity to be around - or sniff - pantaloons of the nature described here but what I can tell you is that, based on this soap, I wouldn't mind. The scent is fairly faint, to the point that I wish it would punch me a bit harder with that sweaty pantaloon smell. Supposedly it has clove and nutmeg in it...but I can't detect that. CUHPR: 5/10 Sharp Dressed Man Now, this is one seriously dangerous soap. First time I picked it up and gave it courtesy smell I was like "Ok, smells nice but hardly anything there". Then I put it down. Came back to it. Put it down...and came back to it realizing I may have developed a crush on a soap. I even have the soap bar of this "S.D.M" and even though you may think the scent is faint...it quickly fills up the shower area with that fantastic, impossible to pin-point scent. I absolutely, hands-down, love this scent. It is fantastic. Now, if it could only make me look like Cary Grant as well - not only smell as he did - I'd be drinking and bathing in this stuff. This may be one of the best scents ever invented. Did I mention I really like it? Because I really do. CUHPR: 9/10 Bay Rum I have confession to make. I had never smelled Bay Rum before I received this soap. I had of course heard a lot of people raving about this elusive scent and I really wanted to try it out - and like it. Turns out I think I may hate Bay Rum. While Sharp Dressed Man has a scent I want to fall asleep to - Bay Rum has a scent I want to get away from me. It's very strong...and very spicy. It smells like Christmas to me for some reason. A very spicy drunken Christmas drink. I actually think it may hurt my nostrils. No idea if the Stirling version of Bay Rum is 'authentic' or if represents Bay Rum well - all I can say is that I am reluctant to shave with it. CUHPR: 2/10 Rose Now this soap came to me a 'surprise sample' from Rod at Stirling soaps. Not sure I would had ordered it on my own. I mean it's a floral rose scent. What am I? A girl? So I picked it up ready to just 'sniff it and dismiss it' - but wow. this is a very 'delicate' (like a rose?) scent. It's faint..yet has a presence. It's actually very close to S.D.M in how it pulls you in and makes you like it. It feels very refined...and..as if I want to be a better man because of this soap. I really like it. It's also one of the 'exclusive' soaps of Stirling's carrying a premium price and it's is the only soap currently sold out. So hah, I have one..and you don't...and I'll use it...oh yes I will. Not sure it smells like a rose but I don't really sniff many roses so it may be hard for me to tell anyway - all I know is I really like it. CUHPR: 8/10 Sandalwood I was first introduced to Sandalwood through a sample cologne I received from Trumpers. I loved it SO much I mortgaged my house and ordered a bottle from them. A bit later I receive this Sandalwood soap by Stirling. It doesn't quite smell like the cologne. Maybe there are different 'versions' of Sandalwood just like there are a thousand and one versions of Bay Rum. I didn't fall in love with this soap right away. I've gone back to it and sniffed it and I like it...I just don't love it. Yet. It's a fairly faint smell (not like the punch in the nose strength of the Bay Rum) and not offensive at all. I can pick up traces of the Sandalwood scent I had from the Trumpers product but obviously not as strong. I am however looking forward to smell it as I shave with it. CUHPR: 6/10 Lemongrass & Cajeput I think this soap is a sleeper. I don't hear much about it and it is actually one of my favorite scents by Stirling. This scent is fresh! With a capital F (so I guess that would make it Fresh actually and not fresh)! A very clean, fresh and crisp scent. I feel clean just sniffing it. If I run late some morning I may just smell it and skip the shower. That clean and crisp. I have no idea what lemongrass smells like. Don't you eat that as well? But if it smells like this soap then lemongrass is an awesome scent. CUHPR: 9.5/10 And no, you can't have the soaps I didn't like. I'm gonna melt them down and make soap toy soldiers out of them.
I feel yea, some bay rum is just too much for me but luckily their are many different versions which some I enjoy.
I don't care for the Bay Rum either. I have a tester of Stirling Bay Rum AS. It doesn't smell like the soap, more like the smell of old school 'Atomic Fireball' candy. It's actually pretty cool, but my face is sensitive to cinnamon. I like the Black Ice and Lemon Chill WHAS. Ok, so I love the black ice and lemon chill.
If you try the Margaritas in the Arctic, let me know how ya like it. But I highly recommend the Black Ice and Lemon Chill. Freezing. Alas, I bought the Lemon Chill on clearance and Rod said his next batch wouldn't be as cold (less menthol). Of course some m-bomb could help with that.
Actually received a sample of captains choice and razorock from the captain and I have to admit I really enjoy it. This was with a sample of the new aftershave he did with west coast shaving another great item. I will be buying both soon.
I tried the violet cream & coral skin food from Trumper's and fell in love with floral scents. They are fresh and make me want to wear them on nice warm days.
Came back to the Lemongrass and Cajeput this morning and I think it might still be my favorite Stirling soap scent. VERY clean and perfect for the summer
Cool thread, I missed it the first time around! I'm going to build on it when I get my own stirlings in this week!
Black Ice IF you enjoy the smell of anise seed/black licorice. I do. Not everyone, I discovered, enjoys the scent.
CLUBMAN I got a sample of this from a well known member, (thanks Patrick!) and was looking forward to trying it out. The lather was great! It did not dry out too fast ( I'm new at this so I go slow). The scent I could not place except to say I did not care for it. I will have to try a different scent next time.
Continuing Darkbulb's patented CUHPR system.... Black Ice This is an Anise/Licorice scented soap with menthol. The Anise is very strong. The sample I had was shrink wrapped, and then my entire order was shrinkwrapped together, and yet my mailbox smelled like licorice. That's okay, I like Anise. I like strong smells. So much I didn't put on anything afterwards, which is a rarity for me. CUHPR: 8/10
Sandalwood Sandalwood is one of my favorite scents. I always want to try the sandalwood version of something. Smelling the dry puck, I honestly wasn't impressed. While I was lathering, it didn't get any better. As I was shaving I was thinking how glad I was that I didn't buy a puck of it. There was kind of a 'clay' type smell underneath it that I suspect is the soap itself. Now, about 15 minutes after the shave, I get a nice subtle sandalwood scent. It's still not great, but it did improve. CUHPR: 4/10
I have tried the Margaritas in the Arctic. I thought it was very refreshing and cold on the skin. Lots of menthol IMO. It is the first soap I have ever tried so not a whole lot of experience behind my opinion. I did really enjoy the feel and smell of it though! It was a great shave!
Glastonbury #2 This was a fullsize puck they were selling for $2 as it was a test soap. I'd found the description intriguing: Based on a customer request and inspired by a music festival in the UK, this is a spa-like blend of Patchouli, Lavender, Oakmoss, Lichen, Frankincense, and Vetiver. A gloriously earthy scent. For those who don’t mind Patchouli, this soap will put you in the middle of a field with a soft, grassy breeze blowing while Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page engage in an epic guitar battle in the background. For others, it might smell like 100,000 hippies standing in a muddy pit after a week with no showers. Sounded like something I might like, so I took the chance. The soap smells strong, the lather not so much. But as I type this out, the scent is lingering like mad. I feel as if my head is enveloped in a small cloud of this, and I like it. I wish they had this available as a balm or cologne. The only thing it's missing is the smell of 'hemp'... we'll call it 'hemp' for now... CUHPR: 7/10
My First Stirling soaps should arrive this week sometime,, I ordered "Babershop", "Lime". "Glacial Lemon Chill", "Black Cherry" and with a name like "Electric Sheep" well I had to at least get a sample of that LOL !! I hope its not too BAAAAAAAAD ( sorry couldn't resist )
