Stirling Syndicate

[Ivo4u2]

After being seriously impressed by Scots Pine Sheep, I ordered the Haverford soap and splash. Both the soap and splash are just wonderful and the scent is addictive. Unfortunately I'm not able to get all Stirling offerings or samples in the EU, I'm converted!

Try top of the chain Canada
Lots of those samples
A lot of other nice soaps
Nice sticker price
Compared to USA nicer shipping
Still no alcohol based stuff (but balms and witch hazel is no issue)
Now waiting on a shipment to the Netherlands which should land any time.

There are some European dealers but they tend to have a very small assortment.
There is a British one with good assortment but alcohol to the European continent is again impossible or ludicrous expensive.

 

[Benoni]

How strong is the splash? I love the Haverford soap but sometimes their splashes and EDTs are too much for me.

I've only had 2 shaves with the Haverford so perhaps others might be better placed to comment. To me, it has quite good staying power after moderate application. I still notice it hours after the shave which I consider to be a good thing. Scent-wise, I was expecting more of a cloying/gourmand scent but Haverford is oddly refreshing on top of the tobacco and vanilla notes.. couldn't be happier!

 

[Benoni]

Try top of the chain Canada
Lots of those samples
A lot of other nice soaps
Nice sticker price
Compared to USA nicer shipping
Still no alcohol based stuff (but balms and witch hazel is no issue)
Now waiting on a shipment to the Netherlands which should land any time.

There are some European dealers but they tend to have a very small assortment.
There is a British one with good assortment but alcohol to the European continent is again impossible or ludicrous expensive.

Just had a quick look around their website. On top of their Stirling offerings, they also have some other items that I've been looking at for a while and which are not available in the EU. (e.g. Zingari Vegan) Awesome range of brands, thanks for the tip! Might cost me a lot..

 

[Ivo4u2]

Just had a quick look around their website. On top of their Stirling offerings, they also have some other items that I've been looking at for a while and which are not available in the EU. (e.g. Zingari Vegan) Awesome range of brands, thanks for the tip! Might cost me a lot..

Lol calculate the usd to the cad and the lower shipping and it is great value. Depending your country do expect a tax surcharge though in my case 150 cad gave me 7.28 euro tax.
Now waiting on a fresh stirling varen soap and balm (last in my bowl), some paa cubes, wsp lavender. Ow and my shipping was 18cad (us is twice that).

 

[Oliviamaynard]

I am loving all my samples. Still no favorites

 

[godlike]

Baker Street balm and soap today

 

[Timeclo]

Stirling BF Mail Call today

I got:

Lemon Lavender Mint soap & bath bars
Campania sample
Stirling Gentleman sample
Orange Chill WH and Balm

I expected a cleaner scent with the Lemon Lavender Mint but I got an earthy lavender instead. Pleasant but not a love for me.

Campania is alright. Mild cologne scent.. hard to pick up what it is. Stirling Gentlemen is a pleasant musky, sweet, old-fashioned scent for me. Orange Chill anything is delicious

 

[Yuritau]

My tub of varen arrived today, and though I had been planning a Tabac shave, I just had to abandon that and dig into the varen.

I basically blind ordered it based on a review thread over in the soaps forum (probably several of y'all involved, heh), so I didn't really know what to expect from the scent, but I was VERY pleasantly surprised there. I love the clean and fresh scent of this stuff!

And then the lather. Being a long time friend of Tabac, I'm familiar with the luxurious tallow lather, but this was building up so much I was concerned I might have to go get a bowl to hold the excess. Might try loading a little less next time! I think that might be the most lather I've ever built with my Wee Scot all at one time.

The shave was quite excellent as well. Soap provided so much protection that after three passes, I did my touch-ups without bothering to lather up.

I'm thinking that if it continues to perform like this, it might have earned a permanent sir spot in my den on its first foray!

 

[GR5233]

Just got in some more stuff from Stirling

 

[nicked78]

I sampled a large number of Stirling bath soaps recently, and here's my rankings and what I've decided to buy as shave soap or post shave scents. This is just my opinion. Some of their most popular soaps ended up on the bottom of my list! My picks may have been influenced by the onset of winter, although I did pick up a puck of MitA...! Overall I seem to be gravitating towards their cologne dupes, and haven't even ordered that many of their fruit/citrus offerings. I prefer stronger, more complex scents overall, as you will see from my notes. Enjoy!

Winners:
Stirling Gentleman--my favorite of the whole lot. Tobacco, vanilla, amber, and musk. It reminds of Dr. Pepper or some other sweet drink I can't identify. Ordered a puck of shave soap and a sample of the EdT.
Almond Creme--an intoxicating marzipan scent. Very strongly scented, and almost like taking a whiff off of an almond liquor. Ordered a puck of shave soap.
Deton-8--among all the other cologne dupes, this one has a lovely sweet/spicy character, something "extra." Ordered a puck of shave soap.
Margaritas in the Arctic--ordered a refill puck of shave soap and actually refilled an empty tub of this. My first repeat purchase!
Shadow Orchid--floral and powdery and complex.
Ben Franklin--unusual and complex. Piney, floral, root beer.

Honorary Mention:
Ramblin Man, Mountain Man, Duke--all very nice but not quite as interesting as Gentleman or Deton-8.
Pig Trail (same as Ozark Mountain)--powerful pine . . . maybe too powerful!
Hipster--spicier than Ramblin and Mountain Man . . . I really like this and almost could put it up to the top category.
Barbershop--powdery but not like a dry talc; it's warm and somehow sweet. This is surprisingly complex.
Smoky Grapefruit--the name says it all. I would say 90% grapefruit and 10% smoky.

Third cut:
Baker Street--I get the Juniper note, but it's still a little too subtle overall.
Oro Valley--this just arrived and I need a few more whiffs to decide what I think. Leather plus a sweet/spice note.

Missed the cut:
British Leather--a bit tame. Dryer sheet scent.
Bergamot Lavender--this very popular scent just seems a little off to me somehow.
Boat Drinks--too bubble gummy for me.
Deep Blue Sea--nice, but too subtle.
D-503--a nice, spicy cologne dupe but Deton-8 is better.
Dunshire--more citrusy than Duke but Duke is richer.
Gatlinburg--strong spicy fall scent. Earthy and heavy. I get a generic "cleaning product" vibe from this, unfortunately.
Intrepid Man--again, too reminiscent of dryer sheets.
Stirling Noir--good, but Gentleman and Ramblin Man top it for sure.
Triumph--in the same family as Mountain Man and Campania, both of which I just like better.
Vanilla Sandalwood--all I could pick up was mild vanilla, so this just isn't interesting enough for me.
Faskally--a little generic for my taste.

Again, your sniffer may guide you elsewhere. The Stirling catalogue has been a blast to work through and there's still so much more to explore. What a great company. Long live the Syndicate!

 

[cwright]

Put the Christmas tree up today, price is getting too high but bought one anyway. So why not keep the scent going, used Stirling Evergreen Forrest SS, smells just like the tree we put up, it's great. Has been a year since used, last year was using a bowl, face lather now, what a difference. Perfect lather every time and easy to do.

 

[Contact_vs_Feedback]

I have been a fan of Stirling since this Summer and they are surely great vfm and up to the mark in performance as compared to other artisans.

I'm on a student budget and even then I'm happy to have 4 Stirling soaps.
I refrained from using all of them and slowly but surely using up the Duke, it has lost a lot of its characteristic scents or maybe I have become accustomed to it, but performance-wise it hasn't stepped down a bit, on the contrary with the improvement in my loading skills it has become better.

I can use it with my Feather Artist club razor as well as RazoRock Wunderbar and it provides great protection every time.

 

[Kyle89]

I have been a fan of Stirling since this Summer and they are surely great vfm and up to the mark in performance as compared to other artisans.

I'm on a student budget and even then I'm happy to have 4 Stirling soaps.
I refrained from using all of them and slowly but surely using up the Duke, it has lost a lot of its characteristic scents or maybe I have become accustomed to it, but performance-wise it hasn't stepped down a bit, on the contrary with the improvement in my loading skills it has become better.

I can use it with my Feather Artist club razor as well as RazoRock Wunderbar and it provides great protection every time.

Interesting observation about Duke. My perception of the aftershave has changed over time, and I don't recall that being the case regarding any other scent that I've tried. I thought it was just me. I still enjoy it though.

What are you going to school for? Also went back to school a bit over a year ago.

 

[Contact_vs_Feedback]

Interesting observation about Duke. My perception of the aftershave has changed over time, and I don't recall that being the case regarding any other scent that I've tried. I thought it was just me. I still enjoy it though.

What are you going to school for? Also went back to school a bit over a year ago.

I have the soaps and not the aftershave, so the losing of scent strength may be true in soaps case.

I just finished my degree in Civil Engineering and now I'm preparing for jobs via competitive exam.

It's good to get back to school and finish up or add on, it took me more than the designated time to finish the Degree due to various factors but it felt really good to complete it though.

 

[Billy T.]

Any feedback about Boat Drinks? I've had the chance of sniffing it and it smells fantastic. I definitely want to get me a tub but I am concerned that my skin might react to the fragrance as I recently had a reaction to Stirling's Barbershop. Even Maggard's got a small notice about the soap. Ordering a sample isn't worth when you add up the shipping and customs so should I just avoid this soap as suggested?

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Any feedback about Boat Drinks? I've had the chance of sniffing it and it smells fantastic. I definitely want to get me a tub but I am concerned that my skin might react to the fragrance as I recently had a reaction to Stirling's Barbershop. Even Maggard's got a small notice about the soap. Ordering a sample isn't worth when you add up the shipping and customs so should I just avoid this soap as suggested?

View attachment 1378672

Sounds like avoiding it makes sense.

 

[godlike]

 

[gdawg55]

How strong is the splash? I love the Haverford soap but sometimes their splashes and EDTs are too much for me.

I really like Haverford soap and slash. The splash has a spice in it that I don't get from the soap. I don't find the splash too over the top strength wise. I can still smell it a couple of hours after application but not in a bad way. It smells so good I don't mind catching a whiff every so often.

 

[Oliviamaynard]

Queen of Hearts is my favorite scent of the sample pack. All the scents are great though. I also like witchy Woman. I have been trying to kill the witchy woman sample just to see how long it lasts. It seems like it is going to last a good amount of time. That's impressive.

 

[godlike]

I really like this Smoky Grapefruit. Smells exactly as advertised and this is one of those soaps made with Essential Oils. 3 oz Soap in 4 Oz tub is nice too with appropriate pricing

 

[Leverspro]

View attachment 1380984

I really like this Smoky Grapefruit. Smells exactly as advertised and this is one of those soaps made with Essential Oils. 3 oz Soap in 4 Oz tub is nice too with appropriate pricing

Do you have Nordost (B&M) to compare?