Stirling soap

[Deleted member 1881]

Banana scented soap. So offputting. Amazing tub design though.
Ozark Mountain is a great ''not dupe'' scent. Crazy fresh and clean. Like a white sheet drying in the wind, washed with a really good detergent.
Margaritas is also really cool. Quite cold (as are all of their mentholated soaps). Great for summer months.
Their Barbershop is quite off the standard barbershop's scent, really unique, however, it has lots of spices, so those more sensitive might feel the burn.
Glastonbury is my least favorite Stirling soap. Smells of wet dirt/grass, dunno. I also do not like Varen - a very green scent.

I totally agree with you @G_man ; it's a really really good soap, nothings missing. Post-shave of a soap to me is rather unimportant, that's why I use post-shave products. The only important thing for the post-shave of soap is that it doesn't suck - like tightens the skin or overdry. Which Stirling does not.

In terms of slickness, it might be 10% ''worse'' than the new/premium bases. Or not even that much so, our minds are poisoned with marketing. And what's best about it, it's super easy to lather. I mean really, you can add a teaspoon of water or a heap - it'll most likely be alright. And it has the best price on the market.

Wow thanks for this, your analysis reminds me a friend who's name starts with R.

Indeed the Barbershop has many spices and it irritates on the second pass. But in the last shave, nothing happened. Excellent shave and the lather density was even better than king Icarus and the scent of course. Idk I'm starting dislike the Icarus TBH and thinking of getting some more Stirling soaps when COVID stops, I mean when sun rise from West.

 

[bagman]

I had my first shave of the year with my favourite Stirling soap, Gin & Tonic on the Rocks, yesterday. Lovely scent and a moderate menthol kick. I bought a replacement and the aftershave last month and now can’t find where I’ve stashed it!

 

[Randomangle]

What's the diameter of the green pots?

 

[pimple8]

What's the diameter of the green pots?

it's a standard parkway tub, 10 cm wide

 

[Randomangle]

it's a standard parkway tub, 10 cm wide

Thanks.

 

[razorhead63]

I like Stirling soaps too. I’ve got a very old puck of the Lavender Sage since discontinued , it still performs just like new.
The rich yogurty lather of Stirling sets it apart from many other soaps. I’ll probably soon get some of the Barbershop. And I like how large their pucks are.

 

[TheChrisC]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I had one of my best shaves with Stirling MITA Glacial the other day. What was different here is I’ve been loading from a bowl and basically bowl lathering with slow additions of water until I get the nice gloopy shiny lather, which I then take to the face and finish off there.

It occurred to me after the first pass that it was MUCH slicker than it had ever been before, which was because I’d really hydrated it super well. It can take tons of water and if you give that to it you’re rewarded with a soap that rivals anything out there. Super impressed.

 

[CobraX]

Sorry to necro this thread, but I had one of my best shaves with Stirling MITA Glacial the other day. What was different here is I’ve been loading from a bowl and basically bowl lathering with slow additions of water until I get the nice gloopy shiny lather, which I then take to the face and finish off there.

It occurred to me after the first pass that it was MUCH slicker than it had ever been before, which was because I’d really hydrated it super well. It can take tons of water and if you give that to it you’re rewarded with a soap that rivals anything out there. Super impressed.

I've been using Stirling a lot lately and today I used Orange Chill because it was so damn hot. I'm also impressed about the residual slickness of Stirling soaps. There's a transparent and super slick layer left on the skin after a pass which lets you buff like crazy if you want to. It's also part of the reason why Stirling made it into my top 3 of favourite artisans. It's so easy and quick to create a usable lather and if you push it even further by adding more water you'll be rewarded with an extremely slick lather too.

I hardly ever bowl lather though, even though it's a bit easier to get the same lather consistency every single time. As for Stirling being thirsty, the same goes for every American artisan soap I've tried so far. I think a lot of people underhydrate their lathers, I see it happen often on YouTube. Stirling is also extremely affordable and you have a ton of scents to choose from.

 

[pimple8]

I just love Stirling and almost everything about it. From price, performance to design, variety. It has everything. People underestimate it cause it's cheap. If it was sold at 30 USD per tub I am sure people would call it elite. Only minus I can give it - 5,8 oz man. I can never spend that much soap.
BUT.... hence the samples.

I find Stirling samples not only the best soaps in the game but the best soap form of all.
I squeeze the sample into an empty soap bowl, it's the same as regular soap in diameter so fits perfectly. I can then use that bowl for loading but also I add water gradually so I build lather in that bowl until a certain point. I finish the lathering on my face. SO it's half bowl half face lather. Always superb results. Also, it gives me the chance to try multiple soaps and enjoy many but not get tired of it.

 

[Deleted member 1881]

I just love Stirling and almost everything about it. From price, performance to design, variety. It has everything. People underestimate it cause it's cheap. If it was sold at 30 USD per tub I am sure people would call it elite. Only minus I can give it - 5,8 oz man. I can never spend that much soap.
BUT.... hence the samples.

I find Stirling samples not only the best soaps in the game but the best soap form of all.
I squeeze the sample into an empty soap bowl, it's the same as regular soap in diameter so fits perfectly. I can then use that bowl for loading but also I add water gradually so I build lather in that bowl until a certain point. I finish the lathering on my face. SO it's half bowl half face lather. Always superb results. Also, it gives me the chance to try multiple soaps and enjoy many but not get tired of it.

It is a damn slick soap. But I wouldn't buy it again. Why? I'm not sure.

 

[TheChrisC]

I just love Stirling and almost everything about it. From price, performance to design, variety. It has everything. People underestimate it cause it's cheap. If it was sold at 30 USD per tub I am sure people would call it elite. Only minus I can give it - 5,8 oz man. I can never spend that much soap.
BUT.... hence the samples.

I find Stirling samples not only the best soaps in the game but the best soap form of all.
I squeeze the sample into an empty soap bowl, it's the same as regular soap in diameter so fits perfectly. I can then use that bowl for loading but also I add water gradually so I build lather in that bowl until a certain point. I finish the lathering on my face. SO it's half bowl half face lather. Always superb results. Also, it gives me the chance to try multiple soaps and enjoy many but not get tired of it.

To be honest I’m at the point where I think when my other stuff around it runs out I’ll probably just use Stirling almost all the time, apart from a dip into Wickham or P&B here and there. Their base is excellent for the price, you get lots of soap and, honestly, the only let down if you care about this sort of thing is post-shave. I use CeraVe moisturiser so it doesn’t bother me.

My recent shave with it proved that if you give it plenty of water the slickness is fantastic, and really that and good protection during a shave is all you need.

 

[Ventastic]

From a performance point of view, Stirling is very good. Of the scents I have tried, executive man is the only one I will be using going forward. The other scents have all had a note to them that just turns me off (lavender, Varen, Scots pine sheep, bay rum has too much clover in it). Too strong, too daring....too synthetic.

Don't get me wrong, if I only had Stirling around, I would happily use it. But I have many soaps I prefer for scent.

 

[CobraX]

I just love Stirling and almost everything about it. From price, performance to design, variety. It has everything. People underestimate it cause it's cheap. If it was sold at 30 USD per tub I am sure people would call it elite. Only minus I can give it - 5,8 oz man. I can never spend that much soap.
BUT.... hence the samples.

I find Stirling samples not only the best soaps in the game but the best soap form of all.
I squeeze the sample into an empty soap bowl, it's the same as regular soap in diameter so fits perfectly. I can then use that bowl for loading but also I add water gradually so I build lather in that bowl until a certain point. I finish the lathering on my face. SO it's half bowl half face lather. Always superb results. Also, it gives me the chance to try multiple soaps and enjoy many but not get tired of it.

I was once part of the group that didn't believe it was an elite soap base. But now that I've used it a lot more, I find it extremely slick and it's the easiest soap to use in my den. Scents are a hit-and-miss, I LOVE Iced Pineapple and Orange Chill for example, but I'm not a fan of Executive Man (DG Sellout, another Creed Aventus dupe, smells waaaay better) or Dunshire to name a few. The only thing that I don't like about Stirling is that they use green jars. The only reason for that is that I don't like the colour green. But hey, I can live with it.

Also, while his soap samples are great, they are not the same size as his regular pucks though. Here's a picture I took a few minutes ago to show that.

To be honest I’m at the point where I think when my other stuff around it runs out I’ll probably just use Stirling almost all the time, apart from a dip into Wickham or P&B here and there. Their base is excellent for the price, you get lots of soap and, honestly, the only let down if you care about this sort of thing is post-shave. I use CeraVe moisturiser so it doesn’t bother me.

My recent shave with it proved that if you give it plenty of water the slickness is fantastic, and really that and good protection during a shave is all you need.

If every single artisan I love would go away, I would be sad for a while, but I wouldn't see it as a punishment to shave with Stirling for the rest of my life. Awesome performance, at least a few awesome scents (have only tried 9 scents so far), incredibly easy to use and so damn cheap compared to most soaps out there. As for post-shave feel, I think it's still very good and I could easily skip an aftershave product, but to be honest my skin isn't too problematic in that regard, so I'm probably not the best guy to judge the post-shave feel (oily skin).

From a performance point of view, Stirling is very good. Of the scents I have tried, executive man is the only one I will be using going forward. The other scents have all had a note to them that just turns me off (lavender, Varen, Scots pine sheep, bay rum has too much clover in it). Too strong, too daring....too synthetic.

Don't get me wrong, if I only had Stirling around, I would happily use it. But I have many soaps I prefer for scent.

If you don't like fragrance oils and want a more "natural" scent, Stirling has plenty of soaps which only use essential oils. Here's the list.

 

[pimple8]

Also, while his soap samples are great, they are not the same size as his regular pucks though. Here's a picture I took a few minutes ago to show that.

Ok, it's not the same as the tub, it's actually same as their refill puck. You can push it a bit with your fingers to be exactly like a tub.
A sample is always better when the surface is bigger. No other sample for me is as good as Stirling.
Also, I love their green. It's different, it stands out.

Oh, and yes, I don't like their Executive Man. It's like their worst soap for me.
Interestingly, it's their most sold soap. In terms of Aventus clones, it's one of the worst. Or I got a bad batch.

For those more interested in Stirling, CDB did an interview with them

 

[Deleted member 1881]

I was once part of the group that didn't believe it was an elite soap base. But now that I've used it a lot more, I find it extremely slick and it's the easiest soap to use in my den. Scents are a hit-and-miss, I LOVE Iced Pineapple and Orange Chill for example, but I'm not a fan of Executive Man (DG Sellout, another Creed Aventus dupe, smells waaaay better) or Dunshire to name a few. The only thing that I don't like about Stirling is that they use green jars. The only reason for that is that I don't like the colour green. But hey, I can live with it.

Also, while his soap samples are great, they are not the same size as his regular pucks though. Here's a picture I took a few minutes ago to show that.

If every single artisan I love would go away, I would be sad for a while, but I wouldn't see it as a punishment to shave with Stirling for the rest of my life. Awesome performance, at least a few awesome scents (have only tried 9 scents so far), incredibly easy to use and so damn cheap compared to most soaps out there. As for post-shave feel, I think it's still very good and I could easily skip an aftershave product, but to be honest my skin isn't too problematic in that regard, so I'm probably not the best guy to judge the post-shave feel (oily skin).

If you don't like fragrance oils and want a more "natural" scent, Stirling has plenty of soaps which only use essential oils. Here's the list.

I agree for the green tubs. I don't like them. I don't like either the graphics on the lid, except Barbershop which is fantastic. The rest, not so much.

Stirling needs overloading for me to work. Great lather quality too.

The only problem is that I could pay easily a bit more for Seville.

Stirling was the very first US artisan that I brought from Maggards after your help in Reddit.

Much appreciated king Cobra Kai. Strike first, strike hard, no mercy.