I suspect you did not work the stuff enough. When you think it is ready, it is not ready. It builds lather and volume fairly quickly, but you have to keep working it a bit and adding water. It then changes to its slick phase. Truly amazingly slick. At least for me. If you watch the minimalisto videos on youtube about this you will see what I mean. Takes a bit of getting used to. Cella gets slick faster for me. But I do love Stirling for the slickness.
Stirling Syndicate
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I suspect you did not work the stuff enough. When you think it is ready, it is not ready. It builds lather and volume fairly quickly, but you have to keep working it a bit and adding water. It then changes to its slick phase. Truly amazingly slick. At least for me. If you watch the minimalisto videos on youtube about this you will see what I mean. Takes a bit of getting used to. Cella gets slick faster for me. But I do love Stirling for the slickness.
+1. Lots of product, lots of water, and a little extra time working it gets you slickness that rivals the best. It seems to be popular with straight shavers for that very quality.
Having tried many different cheap soaps, and a go at some high tier triple milled soaps from the UK. I can say that every Stirling product I have tried... quite a few by now; I enjoy hands down over soap that costs 3x or more. I'm currently waiting for my sharp dressed man to come in, but my list of favorites from most to least. Electric Sheep, Beer, Cool, Forest, and a few others that I have tried as well. They all have a pleasant smell but that Electric Sheep is really nice.
I find the slickness to be UNREAL, Scent satisfying but not overpowering, Rich Peaks on the Lather. I don't think I'm going to use a different vendor for some time.
I find the slickness to be UNREAL, Scent satisfying but not overpowering, Rich Peaks on the Lather. I don't think I'm going to use a different vendor for some time.
Thank you for the review. I have a sample of it that is waiting for a first try.
Nice review. I like all the Stirlings I have tried. For me, lather easily, are slick, and leave my face feeling great.
Stirling does take a little more attention to use correctly than, say, Razorock or Tabac. But it's worth it.
I believe so. It always makes my skin feel nice and soft, but I have oily skin in the first place.
My skin has very "thin" oils. Plain hot water destroys my oils easily and will dry even more my face. I am not specifically searching for something moisturizing, instead I want a soap that will not touch my skin oils (or at least be very gentle with them), cause as soon as natural oils are gone the lather itself will replace them and my face will react to anything is in there(fragrances in general).
Hate to break it to you, but if "plain hot water" destroys the oils in your skin, I doubt you're going to find ANY soap that won't have an effect on them. MHO, and I wish you all the luck in the world.
Do you use pre-shave oils? I suggest giving them a try. There are some pre-shave cremes out there like proraso. I'd stay away from proraso (green) since it gives a very dry, stripped-clean feeling on my hands but my face feels normal.
In my experiences with Stirling shave soaps, none have dried or stripped the oils from my face.
I agree, tho is not immediate, and water has to be hot not warm.
I am pretty much fine with mikes natural soaps tho I am searching for other options for diversity and safety.
I tried plain almond oil, argan oil, olive oil and jojoba oil and combinations between them. The thing is that if the shaving soap is too drying will affect my face when I reach the second pass, and if I want to reapply the oils I have to wait for them to get into the skin so that it doesn't feel like the blade sticks to my face. And I am not willing to spend money on something expensive that has to be reapplied for every single pass. I am sorry but I rather find a soap that is gentle instead of investing in something that will anyway be affected by the second or third pass lather. Maybe I don't understand something here and/or there are options that would work in my case, but I still feel better not having to pay extra for preshave oils unless they really do their job. If there is something I am missing from my description please feel free to give me ideas, any advice is appreciated.
I think so. It really conditions the skin for me. Main thing is that it takes time to build the slickness of the soap. Longer than you think. Watch the minimalisto videos on youtube about how to lather the stuff. Once you get the slickness, it is fantastic. I believe he makes one without scent, so that should work well.
Oh no is glacial lemon discontinued? Please someone say no.....Jesus
I have sensitive skin and I'm a longtime eczema sufferer and I've had tremendous luck with almost all the Stirling soaps. Stirling is renown for outstanding slickness, providing great protection while shaving. You might consider trying a sample of Stirling Naked & Smooth. There are no fragrance or essential oils and it has a great reputation for being hypoallergenic.
Stirling just released another croap similar to the limited run Mogadishu Hope. The name is Return from Elba and they say it is a jasmine/Bonaparte scent. It's 5 dollars in a tin with a label.
Mine!
Did the thread where someone brought up the fraudulent custom scent request issue that Rod posted on FB get deleted? I'm not really one for gossip, but I am curious to know if anyone ever figured out who was behind them. I know there are some folks who posted that they thought it was a certain person/business, but has there been any proof? I would certainly like to avoid whichever business it was (provided it was a business, and not just some hack) and make sure they never see another dollar of mine...
It got locked and sent to The Barber Shop. FYI, on a forum that permits discussion on this topic, it appears that Stirling came out with Padre Island--a "customer" requested scent--very shortly after you-know-who came out with their Beach scent, whereupon you-know-who ranted at Stirling for trying to glom on to their success. No proof (I suspect that Rod has it but won't let it out), but a mighty amazing coincidence.
As far as "you-know-who", that consists of two people I believe. I actually did see the tweet (or FB post maybe?) where a certain vendor said something to the effect of "the greatest form of compliment is imitation", which was when Padre Island was released. That post/tweet was from our friend up north, but another "moustachioed" gentleman in the southwest was also tagged/copied. I would be really unhappy if either one of those two had anything to do with it; I'm a fan and customer of both.
I guess it does make sense though, when you consider Stirling's Autumn releases as well. I don't want to play detective, and I have no interest in creating drama or slinging mud at the party (or parties) responsible. I would simply like to know who it was (or they were), for sure, so that I can respond silently with my wallet. If I do find out, anytime I catch myself contemplating making a purchase from those responsible (provided it was even an artisan/vendor), I will instead make a purchase from Stirling.
