Stirling Soap Company

[filobiblic]

It will be a PCTB3 inclusion then - don't worry about temptation!

Wow! Mighty kind offer!
Hmmmm, just some thoughts on the next Travelling Box: Perhaps we ought to have two boxes moving in different directions...?
One box could simply be a try only and pass on. The other could be a standard (try, take one and give one). I know that after the last Box it was very, very full! So this may be one way to keep it from overflowing.
Just some thoughts...

 

[borked]

It will be a PCTB3 inclusion then - don't worry about temptation!

Yeah, don't worry about temptation, until you've tried it that is

 

[filobiblic]

Yeah, don't worry about temptation, until you've tried it that is

By the time the group buy gets through the tougher standards and French postal system it will be 2016 (Home free!) [emoji12]

 

[borked]

By the time the group buy gets through the tougher standards and French postal system it will be 2016 (Home free!) [emoji12]

Wishful thinking ?
Appears to be a common theme with those upon said sabbatical.
See kids, withdrawal makes quitting futil, stop resisting the force and join us

 

[Nick the Knife]

See kids, withdrawal makes quitting futil, stop resisting the force and join us

This is giving me the following mental image. Suffice to say Borked is on the left.....Filo is on the right looking kinda precarious!!!

 

[filobiblic]

This is giving me the following mental image. Suffice to say Borked is on the left.....Filo is on the right looking kinda precarious!!!

Ahh! We're going to be overrun with SW this year. Just wait until the marketing Death Star powers up...

 

[Nick the Knife]

Well getting back on-topic (which I realise for this thread is ironically now offtopic! ) I bit the bullet and went with an order from Stirling. The clincher for me was that @alfredus was very handy via PM and like me he's a big fan/owner of several Mike's Natural Soap products. He was able to compare/contrast the products to Mike's an so this was good enough for me.

The obstacle always was that I just didn't need anymore soap (And the skeptics amongst you might say why would that be a factor now as that hasn't stopped me the past few years!!!). However I was able to find a way to justify the purchase (amazing how if you look hard enough one can often/always be found!) - essentially due to the soon to expire shipping credit the real cost of these soaps would be quite reasonable.

Anyway it was one of those odd situations where unless I spent a lot of money I felt I'd feel very bad losing a small amount of money......western consumer logic!

So I tried to avoid the very polarising scents (going with ones I feel I'll like due to familiarity etc) ended up ordering:

• 1 x Sharp Dressed Man - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Barbershop - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Bay Rum - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Frozen Tundra - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Bonaparte - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Lemongrass & Cajeput - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Glastonbury - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Cocoa Forest - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)

And to save you googling Cajeput is another name for Tea-Tree Oil. Anyway here's hoping that the mail forwarders didn't slip something past me but am confident I'll like everything ordered.

I had strongly considered Shannons but decided against them as I felt that 3.5oz of actual soap in each of their items is a tad miserly (Stirlings is nearly 50% more at 4.7oz fully cured! And Shanons is a very soft soap/croap).

Also had shortlisted Soap Commander but quite a few people advised they'd had skin reactions to these and they were considerably more expensive at $USD15 per soap. So bang for buck Stirling came out considerably ahead of the few I'd felt viable options, so we'll see.

 

[filobiblic]

Rod's a top bloke and will throw in some sample pucks for you. Let's hope you don't get Anise and Black Cherry! *LOL*
(I'm guessing a few sample picks of Stirling will make it into the next Travelling Boxes.)

 

[filobiblic]

Well getting back on-topic (which I realise for this thread is ironically now offtopic! ) I bit the bullet and went with an order from Stirling.

Did you also get some of their Aloe & Witch Hazel AS balms? Even if you get the samples. They are very, very good. (And they are alcohol free and so can be easily shipped to us.)

 

[Nonick]

Dude, no shallow end for you!

Nick the Knife is commander in chief of the anti sabbatical liberation forces [emoji12][emoji106]

This is the software equivalent of the huge blade deliveries we sometimes see.

 

[filobiblic]

Dude, no shallow end for you!

Nick the Knife is commander in chief of the anti sabbatical liberation forces [emoji12][emoji106]

This is the software equivalent of the huge blade deliveries we sometimes see.

Hahaha! So true!

I think that's 2-3 kg of shaving soap (CRSW and Stirling) in as many months. I think Customs will be checking your "soap" parcels very, very carefully...

(You're not the only one either mate... [emoji11])

 

[borked]

Which shipping credit are folks referring to ?

 

[Nick the Knife]

Yes, I tend to order big or not at all.....my first blade order EVER was the 3,000 Gillette Maltesers - so that kinda set the tone. Though I can see the logic I've never ordered samples of anything! I do research my buys VERY thoroughly first but then jump in and hope for the best. Honestly can't say I've ever had this work against me so far...well unless you call an order of 300 Shark SS blades for $20 delivered a bust.

I had given significant thought to ordering a few of their balms as the price and ingredients make sense but I needed to keep the package as small as possible and figured I can get post-shave products that do the job from the supermarket etc (I'm a pretty spartan post-shave individual, alum + moisturiser etc) whereas great soaps are harder to find (well not including the 20 or so already languishing in my cabinet).

So whilst it is 8 soaps they're pretty cheap ones, averaged out at around $USD7 each (excluding dom. US & Intl postage) - like I could have bought two 4oz tubs of B&M fougure and paid about the same or a bit more - not including postage.

Ah my order is small, small pennies compared to Bork's 2.5k of vintage Pols, Monsta's monthly efforts to corner the global vintage blade market or Mark's constantly expanding 'Australian Museum of Gillette Razors'.

 

[Nick the Knife]

Which shipping credit are folks referring to ?

I had a $USD30 credit at Boxhop - it is expiring around the end of JAN. So based on relatively generous estimates through their shipping cost calculator that should completely cover the cost of mailing these soaps. Whereas through the one on Stirling's site (they now are able to cost INLT post rather than having to email them) it was around $USD40 extra!

Hence the order I didn't need became the order I HAD to make.

 

[Mark1966]

...

So I tried to avoid the very polarising scents (going with ones I feel I'll like due to familiarity etc) ended up ordering:

• 1 x Sharp Dressed Man - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Barbershop - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Bay Rum - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Frozen Tundra - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Bonaparte - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Lemongrass & Cajeput - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Glastonbury - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)
• 1 x Cocoa Forest - Shave
  (Size: Full Puck)

....

Did you have to get approval from @Monsta_AU ? This is a group buy isn't it?

Nice selection mate - enjoy !

 

[alfredus]

Great selection!

 

[Nick the Knife]

Great selection!

Thanks Sensei, grasshopper was inspired by our words of wisdom.

Bay Rum: One of my fave scents - and you said it was different to Mike's and from someone's excellent posts that quoted the maker at B&M said there are 3 main variants of BR so safe choice.

Barbershop: I think this had the most reviews and 5 star ones on their site, so who am I to argue. Again pretty safe

Sharp Dressed Man: like yourself I prefer to avoid fragrance oil scented soaps but I was mistaken and this was the soap with the most reviews etc, not barbershop, which was 2nd. Classic tweed-Don Draperstyle, right in my wheelhouse.

Frozen Tundra: loads of essential oils and menthol, without being one of their glacial ones, which seem over the top to me. I'm an NFL fan to boot so I even empathised with the references in their pitch.

Cocoa Forest: a slight risk but reviews read as masculine and not overly sweet etc which would have turned me off.Apparently is Gen.6 formula and goes very well.

Lemongrass &cajeput: on special, whilst I wasn't a huge fan of Mike's LG +Eucalyptus I felt Tea Tree could be better. I noted a few folks on other forums were really huge fans of this and stalked the site when it went out of production.

Glastonberry: I am wary about the Patchouli being too dominant but otherwise I liked the sound of this right from when I first read it. The only thing that slightly put me off, and I found this with a lot of Stirling's descriptions is that they spend too much of the listing being jokey/fun etc and don't give enough detail and specifics on the scent. I think they could do both easily and it would assist buyers.

Bonaparte: Again I just liked the essential oils used and I know thisis a BIG scent. I did with all choices try and go for prominent scents as well thats a significant part of the rationale in buying from Stirling, so seemed silly to choose something subtle.

 

[stillshunter]

Nick the Knife is commander in chief of the anti sabbatical liberation forces [emoji12][emoji106]

Good to know my enemy. As Sun Tzu says:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

 

[Adam]

I recieved my 7 samples in the mail. I'm not sure if I should comment on the scents. I went out fishing on the boat today and got sea sick for the first time in my life, and I still feel nauseous. So this may reflect on my thoughts but all 7 soaps are really sickly cheap smelling scents. Like a lynx body spray in a soap.... Hmm

 

[filobiblic]

I recieved my 7 samples in the mail. I'm not sure if I should comment on the scents. I went out fishing on the boat today and got sea sick for the first time in my life, and I still feel nauseous. So this may reflect on my thoughts but all 7 soaps are really sickly cheap smelling scents. Like a lynx body spray in a soap.... Hmm

Separate them into individual sealed containers. The scents are strong and over powering. The plastic they are wrapped in is a bio-degradable plastic that is already breaking down.