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Stirling Syndicate

SocalRick

SocalRick

I'm a big Stirling fan! So far, my favorite scents include Bay Rum, Anise, Black Ice, Barbershop ... I could go on and on.

I like the soap. It's very slick. It doesn't lather up with a huge, fluffy lather. It's very, very slick.
 
jnaff811

jnaff811

MidnightMatador said:
These are the soaps that I ordered:
South Padre Island
Sharp Dressed Man
Executive Man
Island Man

These are all just samples, so I will probably be ordering more very soon! I also got their new synthetic brush and will be getting a nice boar brush just in case the synthetic doesn't satisfy me!
Click to expand...
Just last month I placed a big sample order and also grabbed a few splashes.

I picked up all of the scents you mention, Island Man being my favorite of the four. Only complaint - I wish the scents were a bit stronger.

Of the other samples i ordered, my favorite is probably the grapefruit. Paired with the matching splash, it makes for a great early morning summer shave!

$uploadfromtaptalk1437948183292.jpg
 
WVHDRyder

WVHDRyder

MidnightMatador said:
These are the soaps that I ordered:
South Padre Island
Sharp Dressed Man
Executive Man
Island Man

These are all just samples, so I will probably be ordering more very soon! I also got their new synthetic brush and will be getting a nice boar brush just in case the synthetic doesn't satisfy me!
Click to expand...
$indiana_zps850116fb.jpg:lol:Seriously though Stirling is a great soap,I have Ozark Mountain,SDM and EM.All lather easy and perform fantastic,I am sure you will enjoy them:thumbup1:
 
L

laxrappa11

huge stirling fan. they were the first artisan soap company i tried so i have sort of an obsession with them. the soaps perform very well in hard water, but i do use distilled water for shaves these days and the performance only improves. incredibly easy to lather. my favorite scents are glacial lemon chill, sharp dressed man, and margaritas in the arctic. their AS splashes are also great. i highly recommend all of the cologne clones, as well as glacial lemon chill and margaritas in the arctic. if you cant tell, i love menthol :)
 
dfoulk

dfoulk

About Soap Commander – The way Soap Commander does their samples is outstanding. You pay an extremely reasonable $14 and get a sample pack of just about every scent they offer. I think it’s about $6 for shipping so you get several shaves of every scent for $20. I think it includes 9 samples or you can buy samples for $2 each. The samples are .65 ounces and come in wax bags very similar to the ones offered by Reef Point soaps. All are labeled neatly and done very professionally.

The soap comes in very large tubs that say 6 ounces but I wonder if they are more than that. The soap is very similar in consistency to play dough so it’s quite easy to pull off a small piece of the sample and press it into a bowl to lather. A full tub of soap runs $15.
Many vendors don’t want to deal with samples and I totally understand why, I mean it would be a pain and very time consuming. This is why I appreciate how Soap Commander does it even more. There’s nothing better than getting to try every scent a soap vendor offers. That way you know that you’re getting your favorites when you place your follow up order. You don’t get any that you don’t like or wonder what you’re missing out on. In fact this was the inspiration for this sample pass around box. Once I saw the sample pack of every scent and wished I could get the same from every other vendor I knew I wanted to make this happen.

On to the Soap Commander soaps. Darren at Soap Commander is a retired Navy Veteran and a hell of a nice guy. The military references come through in the soap names as well. Names like Courage, Wisdom, and Confidence. I get the theme and it’s cool and all but honestly I have to say that I hate the soap names. For me they might as well be called Clueless, Confused and Baffled which is what I am in trying to figure out what the scent might be from the name. Fortunately, that’s the only thing I don’t like about the soap because it’s really excellent stuff.

Here’s a list of the scents and what they actually smell like for those of you that are clueless like me:
Soap Commander - vendor donation
--------------------------------
Soap Commander - Confidence - (Honey Musk & Patchouli)
Soap Commander - Courage - (Peppercorn Citrus & Cedar)
Soap Commander - Endurance - (Classic Spice)
Soap Commander - Inspiration - (Japanese Grapefruit)
Soap Commander - Love - (True Rose)
Soap Commander - Motivation - (Cucumber & Bamboo)
Soap Commander - Passion - (Teakwood & Cardamon)
Soap Commander - Purpose - (Bay Rum)
Soap Commander - Respect - (Lime Patchouli)
Soap Commander - Vision - (Aqua Amber & Mint)
Soap Commander - Wisdom - (Lavender & Peppermint)
Soap Commander - Gusto - (Raspberries Lemon & Sugar)

My personal favorites are Courage, Confidence and Gusto.

Here are the ingredients for the Gusto soap that I’ll be reviewing today:
Ingredients: Stearic Acid, Distilled Water, Shea Butter, Coconut Oil, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Sodium Hydroxide, Castor Oil, Fragrance, Colorant (Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Tin Oxide.)

For the shave I used the following:
Razor: Above the Tie Kronos R2
Blade: Feather (5)
Brush: Rubberset 400 with TGN HMW knot
Soap: Soap Commander - Gusto (vendor donation)
Aftershave: Neutrogena After Shave Lotion about 2 hours later

So here we go…

In smelling the Soap Commander Gusto soap sample there is a very strong sugar scent and a sweet raspberry smell. This stuff smells like raspberry lemonade. Not just any raspberry lemonade but the kind your mother would make when you were a kid that used about a half of bag of sugar. We’re talking the best lemonade you’ve ever had in your life lemonade. Scent wise it’s like the Fruit Loop soap from Catie’s Bubbles it just nails the scent dead on. I mean perfection here as far as duplicating the scent. I want some Raspberry Lemonade now made with fresh lemons, fresh raspberries and a ton of sugar.
$004.jpg
I pressed a small amount of the soap that I broke from the corner of the sample (about the size of a green pea) into the cheap salsa bowl and smeared it up the sides until I had a thin spread out thin layer of soap. I shook the water from my brush and put it to the soap. This soap needs a bit more water than I’m used to so I added about 6 drops several times. I’d rather add water that start out with a wet mess and have to add soap. Darren warned me that it was a thirsty soap and he was definitely right. No trouble at all to lather as it lathered quite quickly with ease.
$006.jpg

I applied the soap to my face and the smell was excellent, the soap was thick and luxurious. I’d have assumed that this was a tallow soap but these days there are some non tallow soaps that are every bit as good as anything out there and this is one of them.
The first pass was excellent, no cuts, nicks or irritation, just perfect. I rinsed my face and did some touch up between the passes. It was still quite slick and very nice just like the Reef Point soap I tried the day before.

I lathered my face for pass two with the razor and it was just as nice as the first one. I’m really liking this scent and haven’t experienced anything quite like it before. Pass two and pass three were more of the same with some touch up in between. I rinsed and dried my face and waited to see what the after shave feel was like. It was very nice. My face was smooth and felt great. It wasn’t as high in the butters as the Strop Shoppe and Cold River soaps but it was more than sufficient. In fact I’d completely forgotten to apply an aftershave for several hours and I didn’t miss it at all.

Overall, I love the scent of this soap and will be buying a tub for myself (even though I certainly don’t need any more soap). I’d shave with this sample again but I already know that I want this one and don’t want to use up the sample and take the experience from one of you.

There are matching aftershave balms available on the Soap Commander site if you’re interested in those as well. There are also Body lotions, bath bars and lots of other things you can purchase in the various scents. I might have to pick up a bar of the bath soap or some lotion for my wife as well after she gave me her mmm, I like that approval.

Other thoughts - I’ve tried a lot of soaps in my quest to find the very best and have my shave den down to only the really outstanding soaps I’ve found. I sometimes don’t know how good I have it until I try a lesser quality soap to realize just how good the soaps I use every day are. The soaps that have been donated by the vendors here are of a very high quality just like the ones I reach for every day in my personal shave den. I just can’t find anything wrong with them. No glaring weaknesses, they just do everything right, so a lot of this for me will come down to a particular scent that I really enjoy.

Thanks again to Darren for the soap samples. I really enjoyed smelling all of them and finding a few that I really like.
 
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Corsair66

Corsair66

Wow, David, very nice reviews. You've really set the bar high. I love the entire concept of this box and I can't wait to dig in and explore the entire range of scents from some of my favorite vendors.
 
dfoulk

dfoulk

Thanks guys I really enjoyed the Soap Commander Gusto and already ordered a tub. Next up is Los Angeles Shaving Co. Bay Rum.
 
repete66219

repete66219

Stirling had long been on my "to try" list, so when I received a coupon for an online retailer that carries Stirling that's the product I chose to buy. I went with the Nag Champa, which is a fantastic scent derived from Indian incense I burn from time to time. Rod really nailed the scent; it smells exactly like the incense. Unfortunately, the scent was discontinued (though he said in response to protests he's making one last batch). So the scent is fantastic and the lather is great.
 
fitzman49

fitzman49

I've been using their Lavender Sage which is nice and clean. I also have Margaritas in the Arctic, Pharaohs Dreamsicle, Electric Sheep, and British leather. Their soaps are by far one of the best values for your money that you'll find.

I ordered 4 bath soaps from them too which I haven't had a chance to use yet.
 
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