Well, I have now used each of my 10 Stirling samples twice, and here are a few of my thoughts thus far: - Executive Man is a phenomenal scent, and my favourite of the bunch (though Mountain Man, Sharp Dressed Man, Gentleman, and Sandpiper are all very close!) - the unscented Sheep soap may just be the ultimate soap for recovering from a bad shave the day prior. This stuff is super slick and luxurious, and the post shave left my face feeling like a million bucks. I get minor irritation from a number of scent oils, so the unscented version is perfect for recovery shaves! Unscented with Beeswax was a very close second in this category. - Stirling Spice doesn't smell as much like the modern P&G Old Spice cologne as I'd hoped it would. I know it is modeled off of the old Shulton formula, but I had hoped that it would be more similar to what I know as Old Spice. - out of the ten samples that I ordered, only two irritated me (Barbershop and Stirling Spice). This leads me to suspect that I may have an allergy to eugenol. Both reactions were minor enough that I could likely get away with using both soaps as part of a larger rotation. - the lather from Stirling is among the easiest and slickest I've used, and the post shave is among the best as well (especially with the mutton tallow samples) - the samples are going to last quite a long time! Now I've decided to take my favourite scents and use them each for a week straight to more thoroughly test for allergies and sensitivities. My wife has kindly offered to get me a matching set (soap and EDT, as I can't use alcohol splashes) for our upcoming anniversary, and I want to make sure I don't end up with 5.8 ounces of itching and burning! I shall update as my tests continue. Happy shaves!
I'm going to order an unscented Stoylin soap in the fall, as part of "The Most Expensive Order I Have Made Since Becoming a TSD Member". Naked Smooth looks to be good.
If you can't do alcohol splashes, do yourself a favor and try the post shave balm. I am considering getting a few more myself.
I’ve been eyeing the balms as part of a “set”, but my concern is that the scent will compound with the EdT and be too much. Do you find this to be the case at all?
I picked up 6 soaps and their matching AS. On all but one of them (Texas On Fire) they are fine and not too much, IMO. The Texas On Fire I really like but SWMBO has no love for it. I almost bought matching bath soaps for all of them too which would maybe make them over the top, but I'm not sure. Saying this, I think it'll all come down to the individual scents as to whether they will be over the top. If someone's sniffer really likes it, it can get away with a lot more of it. My wife doesn't want to smell ToF for a while still.
July 6th Razor: Rex Ambassador (6.5) Blade: Personna Lab Blue (3) Brush: PAA Green Ray Pre-shave: PAA Rabid Banana Cube Soap: Stirling GLO Stirling Orange Chill witch hazel Stirling Glacial balm AS: Stirling GLO Good morning! Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
SOTD July 6, 2020 Prep: Cold water and PAA Cube pre-shave soap Blade: Schick Proline Razor: RazoRock Hawk Brush: JR #60 synthetic Soap: Stirling Glacial Lemony Orange Post: Witch hazel, Fine L'Orange Noir aftershave
Ahhh...Electric Sheep on a warm, muggy late afternoon. I hope it works like a Citronella candle...outdoor activities planned. I really enjoyed this combo of spring/summer scents and ideas! Two passes and some polishing...Electric Sheep didnt let this beautiful summer day down!
SOTD July 7, 2020 Prep: Cold water and PAA Cube pre-shave soap Blade: vintage Private Club platinum chrome Razor: Schick G5 Brush: JR #142 badger Soap: Stirling Glacial Lemony Orange Post: Witch hazel, Soap Commander Justice aftershave
July 9th Razor: Rocnel Elite 2019LE A Blade: Astra SS (3) Brush: Grizzly Bay Biblical/TnS gelled Shoat boar Pre-shave: PAA Rabid Banana Cube Soap: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Thayers Lavender witch hazel Stirling Glacial balm AS: Stirling Bergamot Lavender Good morning! Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Thursday morning’s Grand Freeze: Stirling Mentholated Pre Shave Soap Razorock Plissoft 26mm Monster Super Speed/Wilkinson day 4 Stirling Glacial Spearmint SS Stirling Glacial Spearmint ASB B&M Arctique AS Splash Any colder than this and my face would have disintegrated - this Glacial Spearmint soap contains enough menthol to freeze a polar bear’s nuts off, the scent is delicious, the lather is super rich with such great slickness, and the skincare is perfect. The matching balm has that same delightful scent with plenty of menthol along with such moisturizing and soothing, while the Arctique is the coldest aftershave on Planet Earth and it smells beautiful. Today’s shave was a cracker! Be safe and healthy! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Jeff, I thought about you during today's shave...supposed to be pretty hot, and I already had the Glacial Lime A.S. ready to finish me off, but for the shave itself I decided on ORIGINAL Gillette Foamy, not the Menthol persuasion.
July 9, 2020 Wolfman WR2-OC w WRH7 SS Wizamet Super Iridium Simpson Trafalgar T3 Synthetic Mike's Natural Soaps Coconut Stirling Soap Co. Island Man Penhaligon Blenheim Bouquet
(Sorry no photo) This morning Lemon Chill was acting neglected so I lathered it up for a very refreshing shave. I don’t have anything that matches exactly, so I went a different direction and used Iced Pineapple AND Executive Man. That turned out to be a great combo. Basically an improved EM. Just thought I’d pass along the idea in case anyone is feeling adventurous.
This evening concluded my week straight of shaving with Stirling Sheep (unscented) soap. I can now say with confidence that Stirling's mutton tallow base can hold an absolute ton of water, and creates one of the densest, richest, and slickest lathers I've ever experienced! The shaves were top notch all week! By the end of the week I did find myself missing my scented soaps though, so tonight I added a drop or two of peppermint essential oil to my bowl prior to lathering and I had a wonderfully minty shave with a refreshing chill. I will say that the essential oil did seem to make lathering a fair bit tougher, but once it was dialed in it shaved just as well as ever. All in all, this is a stellar soap. I don't see myself ordering a full tub, as I would likely find myself bored with the lack of scent, but I plan to order samples of some of the scented sheep soaps in the future, as I truly enjoyed the quality of this soap base (I have Scot's Pine already, so we will see if that scent grows on me). If you haven't tried any of the mutton tallow soaps from Stirling yet, you should strongly consider adding a sample to your next order! - GCC PS - I am pleased to report that I had absolutely zero irritation to this soap base. I was uncertain, as I've never had a mutton tallow soap before, but it was smooth sailing throughout!
