What Jared said, plus you get one of the top performing soaps available. If you have hard water, it's even more of a winner. In truth, there are a lot of truly excellent soaps available today, with more coming each year. But IMO, Sterling stands out in terms of performance. And Rod seems to know what he's doing mixing the various essential and fragrance oils. He's never had to reformulate his base recipes because of wide-spread irritation. Which is not the case with some artisan soaps.
Here are my recommendations: Mitchell's Wool Fat Clean, soapy scent https://tinyurl.com/ya5ubsyu https://tinyurl.com/yabt2wq5 Institut Karite Clean, soapy scent https://tinyurl.com/y7r7ty2a https://tinyurl.com/ya7njpwv Tabac Powdery scent https://tinyurl.com/ycaspcq2 https://tinyurl.com/yc48qvv3 If you like more strongly scented soaps: Stirling https://tinyurl.com/yas3pdem
Several online shops offer samples. I was getting bored with Proraso so I tried a dozen of various makes and scents. Ultimately, I didn't find any I liked as well as Proraso (Sandlewood, Menthol). But, if you're looking for a scent with punch, I recall Tiki Bar's "The Captain" was pretty powerful.
RazorRock p.160 is worth a try. I really wanted to like sadly the almond based soaps did not agree with my skin.. for $6 its quite a deal.
Am I the only one who likes the scent of rose? Rose, you know, is the scent of kings. I have TOBS Rose, Cold River Soap Works: Summer Rose, Barrister & Mann: Le Grand Chypre which has a beautiful rose scent, Wickam Soap Co. 1912 English Rose (needs bit of air) strong, DR Harris & Co. Twenty Nine (nice), and Martin De Candre Rose. I can honestly say there not one of these that I do not like. Rose is my favorite scent. fwiw. Each day when it comes to shaving, I have a most difficult time deciding which soap to use. Life is good.
You are not alone. Catie's Bubbles La Rose du Mechant is on the short list of soaps that I've polished off. The 8oz tub, mind you. At the moment I also have Wickham's, and Le Pere Lucien Rose de Pushkar.
Both of my recommendations are in my top tier of soaps. For a mild scent, try Haslinger Schafmilch. For a wonderful almond sent, try Cella. Both lather easily, give great protection, & have outstanding post shave face feel!
I’m surprised and mildly disappointed that DR Harris Marlborough didn’t make this list. Don’t let the name fool you no tobacco scent at all it’s an awesome combination of Cedar wood and Sandalwood. The two scents balance each other out quite well. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
if You like sandlewood and want something new, try Vetiver-Fine Fresh Vetiver is good. Stirling also makes a great vetiver.
I'm a big fan of Havana by Moon. I use it at least once a week. 6oz for $17 is not too bad a price either.
Getting a tub of a new artisan soap, CBL Soaps. It’s getting very high reviews on a few other forums. I’m getting Club CBL, which is supposed to be an exact match scent-wise of the original Clubman.
You can't go wrong with any of the suggestions made in this thread. I would do a little reading in the Shaving Soap threads as well so you can read people's descriptions of the different scents and performance. You want a good combination of slickness, cushion, post shave feel and scent, but one that matches your own leanings. Everyone's scent glands are different and what makes one person smile can make another person want to vomit. Samples are probably your best bet so you don't buy a bunch of tubs of soap that you will never use more than once or twice. And don't forget that your likes and dislikes scent-wise will probably change over time as well. Don't look at this as your final decision as to what scents you prefer. More like the beginning of a journey that is ever-changing. And a heck of a lot of fun. For me it is what keeps shaving fresh and far from boring. I may have settled on my hardware (razors, blades, brushes) but I am constantly searching for my next favorite scent. Enjoy the ride.
