Stirling Glacial Satsuma is a seasonal summer scent and it is mouth wateringly good. Satsumas are the northern most growing citrus like an orange or tangerine. Originating from China and Japan, they have famously been grown in Alabama, Florida, and California. They are like a cross between an orange and a tangerine and are sometimes sold as tangerines. You can tell if the fruit inside is loose from the outside skin. They will sometimes rattle around a little. They taste as good as you might expect and smell so good it sets your mouth to watering. It is a fresh, clean, orange-tangerine smell. This soap smells like that and when lathering your mouth will water, guaranteed. The fragrance will completely fill the bathroom and lasts on my skin for at least four hours.
There was a regular Satsuma soap without menthol. It is also a seasonal summer offering. The one being reviewed is the Glacial and that is a good description. If you have ever used Stirling Glacial soaps, you know they have so much menthol they can be a little painful until you get used to them. They are so cold it is like soaking your face in a bucket of ice, and in this case, a tub of iced satsuma juice. For some, this might be too much menthol and the regular Satsuma would be the way to go.
I used a Thiers Issard straight razor (above) freshly touched up on diamond pasted balsa. It was very sharp. I found the soap to be easily up to straight razor use. It was slick and protective. I could touch up without re-lathering. The shea butter and lanolin left my face soft and hydrated. Nice. In fact, it feels like you can't wash the soap off, but that remaining slickness isn't soap, it is the oils from the shea butter and lanolin, plus the natural oils of the skin.
Overall, this is a pleasant soap to use. It performs well and smells great. (My personal take is that Stirling has upped their game on some recent soaps and they perform better than they used to do.) I am glad I took a chance and bought this soap.
