Stirling Soaps

Ozwhisker said:
For face lathering Stirling soap, see this video by Mark at Friendship Shaving at 4.10, where he said "I think it is the slickest soap I have used".
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I followed Mark's method this morning and definitely slicker with meringue like peaks and cushioning protection. If I shaved with a straight, or when I return to the R41 and JAWS this level of protection would be useful but not necessary for the GC 84P this morning. My current method works for me YMMV and the extra water on my face from not toweling after the shower seems to be enough to create a slick lather.
StratMan said:
I thought this soap was rubbish, had a face lather tonight and wow I was shocked at how wrong I was, slickness and cushion in abundance
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Good to hear! I tried the bowl for a few weeks but returned to face lathering. IMHO the bowl requires a lot more product loaded for the same effect
 
I am so glad Artisan Arcade are distributing Stirling Products in Australia.

Stirling shave soaps are top tier in my books. Top 3 to be precise.(YMMV)

Very slick, easy to lather. Synthetic brushes make lathering so easy these days. I enjoy the tallow based formulas for their slickiness. Never needed a preshave.
They have a fabulous range of scents, with both menthylated and non menthylated soaps.

A quick 30-40 second load up of a damp synthetic brush gives me enough lather for 5 passes if required. . It uses approx 1/2 the soap gr per gr compared to a TOBS cream for the same shaving mileage.(YMMV)

So 164gr of stirling soap vs 150gr TOBS cream, The stirling should last you almost twice as long.(YMMV)

Pricing is very good for 164gr(5.8oz) of soap. Most of the other artisan soaps cost more and give you less.

Definately for those who are thinking about trying Stirling soaps out, you can purchase the sample 1oz size of the larger pucks. These are also perfect for travel.
 
Thanks very much, rhodes96. I became the importer because I believed in the product and I was frustrated that it was not available locally and the fragrances were not available at all in Australia. BTW, for forum members who think they have a problem with SWMBO whenever they buy another shaving product, it's nothing compared to buying $xx,xxx worth. :rolleyes:
 
Ozwhisker said:
I became the importer because I believed in the product and I was frustrated that it was not available locally and the fragrances were not available at all in Australia
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Congratulations on your new(ish) business. I hope it prospers. Its nice to see someone who values an overseas product put their money on the line and import the stuff so that the rest of us have easier access to it. I hope that it goes well for you!

Question. I have never seen Stirling Soaps in the flesh. Are they a hard "puck" like say Tabac or are they more of a soft cream like say TOBS?

And if they are a hard puck how do you use the samples (which i presume are like shavings in a ziplock bag?) as i would have thought that it would be hard to work up a lather from small shavings?
 
AT, thanks for the good wishes. Stirling soaps are not a soft cream like TOBS, nor are they as hard as Tabac. Really more like a soft soap so if you press your finger into the puck you will make an impression. To use the sample either place it in a container of your choice (for example) and attach the label (which is removable) to the lid, or place it in a shaving bowl. The two examples below are Glacial Lemon Chill and Mountain Man (lost count of MM, but I have had 18-20 shaves with this sample)
Soap-Samples.jpg
 
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Review of Stirling Black Cherry.



Let me say this is my all time favourite scent from Stirling. (so far out 25 different Stirling soaps)
It has a very strong scent release and increases as the shave goes on. This I would classify as a 9/10 for scent strength.

Does it smell like cherries. It sure does. The smell is sweet cherry candy. It is so good, that I actually was tempted to try and eat it. :)

The shave, as per standard Stirling tallow based formula is excellent. Easy to lather, I have bowl and face lathered on two seperate shaves. 1st shave was DE razor face lather, and todays was a straight razor with a bowl lather. The bowl lather produced super volumes of glossy yogurt like clouds. 20-30 sec loading from a damp synthetic brush was able to produce enough lather for more than a three pass and touch up shave.



Very slick and very cushiony. I found the bowl lather of this soap excetional on the cushion factor. Very easy soap to lather. 10/10

Post Shave feels great as always with Stirling soaps. 8.5/10

My pairing of aftershave scent to match this soap is Joop. Joop matches perfectly with the scent of sweet cheeries. (finally found a use for Joop :) )

I normally test out new soaps for myself by first face lathering and using a DE razor. If I am happy with that shave, my next shave will be with a straight razor. I never use pre shave prepartions. If the soap I am using cannot produce a good shave on it's own merits, then it's not up to the task.

Overall this a great soap, and one I had total confidence in using a straight razer. For those into fruit based scents, this one is strong in a good way. I rate this soap top 3 all time out of over 170 soaps and creams I have.


Next soap review will be Stirling Iced Pineapple.
 
Ozwhisker said:
Stirling soaps are not a soft cream like TOBS, nor are they as hard as Tabac. Really more like a soft soap so if you press your finger into the puck you will make an impression. To use the sample either place it in a container of your choice (for example) and attach the label (which is removable) to the lid, or place it in a shaving bowl.
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Thanks for the explanation. Out of curiosity about Stirling Soaps and a desire to support Aussie businesses i ordered a bunch of Stirling soap samples from Artisan Arcade recently. I have to say that the shave soap samples are impressive to say the least. Compared to the tiny little samples of TOBS and Dr Harris shave soaps these are huge! They seem to be a generous sized, respectably thick complete slice of the actual puck rather than the tiny little blob of soap in a miniature container that most shave soap samples seem to be. And the speed of service, customer focus and thorough follow up from Artisans Arcade is second to none. I hope they do super well and get the support from teh Aussie shave community that they deserve.

Now if only we could convince them to stock the full Myrsol Range :)

rhodes96 said:
I rate this soap top 3 all time out of over 170 soaps and creams I have.
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lol .... Now i have a goal!

But seriously, I would love to know what your "top 10" are (and why) It would make a great post and an interesting read, esp from someone who has tried so many different shave soaps.
 
Ozwhisker said:
o use the sample either place it in a container of your choice (for example) and attach the label (which is removable) to the lid, or place it in a shaving bowl.
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I was so impressed with the samples - and the fact that the samples came with the same full color label as the full sized product - that i ordered a bunch of beautiful deep cobalt blue low profile plastic containers with black screw lids that are almost the exact same diameter of the pucks. When they arrive i will load the pucks into them and attach the labels onto the lid. I think that they are going to look awesome!

@Ozwhisker ... Is this just an "introductory" promotional thing or did i just get lucky with an early bird order or does Stirling Soaps always supply a full color replica label with each of their samples? I think that's quite amazing really
 
Arghhh...I just failed the sabbatical. After reading all this about Stirling soaps I just ordered Bay Rum, and Black Cherry soaps.
I was low on soaps and using the dregs of Proraso Blue cream.
So I failed at not buying anymore shaving stuff...but it was a glorious failure.
Looking forward to some awesome scents now.
 
AussieTanker said:
@Ozwhisker ... Is this just an "introductory" promotional thing or did i just get lucky with an early bird order or does Stirling Soaps always supply a full color replica label with each of their samples? I think that's quite amazing really
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The removable stickers are standard and are also used on the refill pucks which we hope to stock as soon as the CFO gives the green light.
 
G'day @Ozwhisker may I asked when are you stocking up on this new Stirling soap see below, I would LOVED to grab a tub.

boat-drinks-shave-soap-stirling_740x.jpg


Scent Description

What's more satisfying than a tropical drink on a warm, breezy summer day cruising around the Carribean?! Nothing! At least that's what we're telling ourselves right now, as we all really need a getaway.
This scent is a delicious blend of Banana, Coconut, Rum, Frangipani, and Tangerine.
 
Speedy, the only reason we don't have it is it was out of stock at the time of our last order and has remained so because of supply chain issues (yes, covid-19). One or more necessary ingredients could not be obtained. Don't worry, Rod is very keen to make it again - it is his daily driver and he is nearly out himself! I will be ordering some as soon as available. Meanwhile, if you need something to go on with you might like Weekend in Malibu. It reminds me of holidays on the Qld coast.
 
AussieTanker said:
Thanks for the explanation. Out of curiosity about Stirling Soaps and a desire to support Aussie businesses i ordered a bunch of Stirling soap samples from Artisan Arcade recently. I have to say that the shave soap samples are impressive to say the least. Compared to the tiny little samples of TOBS and Dr Harris shave soaps these are huge! They seem to be a generous sized, respectably thick complete slice of the actual puck rather than the tiny little blob of soap in a miniature container that most shave soap samples seem to be. And the speed of service, customer focus and thorough follow up from Artisans Arcade is second to none. I hope they do super well and get the support from teh Aussie shave community that they deserve.

Now if only we could convince them to stock the full Myrsol Range :)



lol .... Now i have a goal!

But seriously, I would love to know what your "top 10" are (and why) It would make a great post and an interesting read, esp from someone who has tried so many different shave soaps.
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Sure I will make separate post in a different thread.
 
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