- Joined
- Jun 22, 2016
- Location
- Sydney
Stirling Soap Co - Piacenza
This reasonably recent introduction from Stirling Soap Co has been welcomed and embraced by those looking for a high quality, artisan offering on the now classic original scent of Acqua Di Palma without the premium price point. I obtained a 1 oz sample puck some months ago for a few dollars and knew the minute I used the sample over a few weeks that it was a winner and that I would order a full size of this timeless scent.
A Brief History of Acqua Di Palma
While the re-formulated 'Aqua' is still readily itself available, albeit at a fairly premium price wet-shavers have been on the lookout for either the almost unobtainable and prohibitively expensive original 'Acqua' or more often the 'UFO shaped' XXX from Razo Rock, itself long having been discontinued due to the Italian soapmaker not being able to procure the ingredients used in the now famous 'UFO' tubs of XXX.
The current XXX formulation is a pale imitation of Acqua, being both substantially weaker and facing often reported quality issues.Fortunately, Stirling Soap has taken it's time and come up with an artful composition of scents to allow wet-shavers to capture the refreshing, clean, citrus mélange that was Acqua Di Palma at a price point that is substantially more agreeable than the namesake.
Ingredients: Beef Tallow, Stearic Acid, Distilled Water, Castor Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Vegetable Glycerin, Fragrance Oil, Almond Oil, Shea Butter, Coconut Milk, Lanolin, Sodium Hydroxide, Sodium Lactate
Feel
The soap itself is semi-hard, it is not as soft as a cream but has a little more give than say most of the B+M soaps, I suspect in part due to the greater presence of beef tallow and lanolin The soap loads incredibly easily and I say this being a Super Badger and Silvertip brush owner.
Performance
Consistent with the rest of Stirling's soaps, and using the same formulation that has not been varied, revised, revamped or otherwise mucked-around-with this soap performs identically to the rest of the product line with the exception that the Lanolin present in the soap has been obtained from a new source due to some of the reports that surfaced in relation to the 'beef' smell in a few of the older pucks, I never detected it myself however some did so Rod and Mandy changed suppliers for that single ingredient.
Cushion
The cushion in good to great, with a 15 second pre load (around 1 almonds worth) I easily made enough buttery lather for a 3 pass shave. The soap itself is average in relation to requiring moisture, around 1/2 a tablespoon of water was used which is on par for a majority of the semi-soft soaps I own. i.e B+M, Shaver Heaven and so forth.
Glide
The ratio's of beef tallow and lanolin in Stirling soaps are what defines them, there is plenty and it shows when shaving. I have shaved using this soap with both My Progress and my Above the Tie R1 and the Feather blades had superb glide over the skin, the combination of good cushion assisting the glide very well. These two factors along cement the Stirling soaps as superb value for money given the price point of $13 USD for a 5.8 oz tub which is substantially more than most other Artisans on the market.
Scent and Lather
One of the criticisms of Stirling soaps is that they often suffer from being 'mono scented', that is to say a dominance of 1 or 2 key notes and few if any others. It is a fair criticism, however in the case of Piacenza it is not valid with 3 or 4 individual notes detectable to me on the several occasions which I shaved with it. From the tub it's wonderful smelling, even with the tallow and lanolin but it requires the creation of a lather by your chosen means to really be appreciated. I bowl and scuttle lather myself (with rare exception) with either bowl or scuttle being warmed slightly for personal preference.
The lather is thick, sumptuous and thoroughly enjoyable to shave with, given I have a 5.8 oz tub it will last a good year. My 1 oz sample lasted for at least 20 to 30 shaves even with generous, indulgent loading.
On lathering around an almonds worth pre-loaded for 15-20 seconds from the puck I detect the now familiar approximation of the Italian original: The beautiful and timeless base-notes of powdery Musk, the warmth of the well rounded Amber and a discrete woodiness of Rosemary.In the middle top we have the famous and immediately recognizable 'barber shop' mélange of the citrus, specifically a touch of lime, some lemon and just the merest hint of blood orange. The bathroom as is often the case is suffused with the classic scent but I must say Stirlings approximation in this regard is superb, it really stands above the others on the market (in my mind) in comparison to the original scent.
Overall
I love Piacenza and it will be a mainstay in high rotation all year round. The matching Post Shave Balm carries the same scent if a little dilute to the soap but this is made up for by the splash which understandably is much stronger than the soap itself. The citrus elements endure for 5 or 6 hours from the splash which is unusual, citrus and rosemary terpenes tend to expire quickly in splashes and EDT. The scent of the soap without either matching Splash or Post Shave Balm also endures for around 1 to 2 hours, an impressive feat too.
The performance was as expected, Stirling makes great soaps for a very reasonable price, perhaps not top-tier but subjectively I don't consider many soaps top tier - even the most popular ones that will in the interests of 'being nice' will go unnamed.
I have around 12 to 15 Stirling soaps and this is another great soap, it has a fantastic scent and good performance. Thank you Stirling.
