Are unscented soaps superior?

[abershaver]

I lean towards lightly fragranced and non-fragranced. I have never cared for strong perfumes or scents - and every soap/cream I have tried with a strong scent has given me irritation to some degree. Cella was the worst followed by TOBS Lemon/Lime. The La Toja stick also really irritated my neck. I really want to try Tabac but have never done so as the scent worries me!

MWF is a good example of what I like. I also think the newest formulation of the Lea stick has a very subtle/minimal scent and is excellent. For creams Erasmic and Proraso Blue work well for me (and I can’t get why some people say the Blue has a disagreeable scent - it just has a slightly sweet soap smell to me!).

 

[musicman1951]

I've only tried both scented and unscented with WK soap and I noticed no difference there. But the scented soap was a different base, so that may be a useless observation.

 

[Jayboz]

Stirlings three unscented offerings are all I use and rotate bw the three. I dont notice a huge difference bw them-all are great. If i do want some scent occasionally, ill put one drop of skin friendly EO on top of soap. Doesnt seem to effect the quality at all.

 

[RenoRichard]

For those into only unscented, I tried a new soap yesterday- Canada Shaving Soap that I saw written about by @ouchyfoot. I'll be using it more over the next month and do a write up, but my first use was truly impressive. It's not inexpensive, the soap cost me $45 US delivered for 6 ounces, but it's as hard a puck as Martin de Candre, which lasts most a long time. Canada has only six ingredients, only one difference in ingredients between Canada and MdC. Canada is aged for months, very hard, a vegan soap, and not super-fatted like many of the newer artisan soaps, which makes it more old-school. If it lasts as well as MdC, it may be worth the price. If you're interested, you can read about it here: Our Story - Canada Shaving Soap - http://canadashavingsoap.com/our-story/

 

[P@tsfan6484]

Well, now I've done it... Samples ordered for Naked and Smooth, Unscented with Beeswax and... Electric Sheep.

I am hoping to hear your thoughts on them as soon as you have a chance to test spin.

 

[Wogus]

I am hoping to hear your thoughts on them as soon as you have a chance to test spin.

Well, here are my thoughts. I guess I should say that every Stirling soap lathers beautifully for me, all three of these included, so just consider it a given the lather was exceptional. What I want, and what I'm working toward is to settle on just two soaps I know I'm 100% satisfied with: one scented soap, and one unscented; that's all I want. My scented soap is Orange Chill.

Electric Sheep: Decided to try this on a whim. The scent is the obvious, polarizing "feature" of this soap with notes of Lemon, Citronella and Eucalyptus (you might want to let that sink in). I didn't love the scent, but I didn't hate it, either. Pretty potent sent, off the puck, at least to my somewhat delicate sniffer, but it mellowed out once I started to lather it up. Shave performance was on par with any other Stirling. Would use again but not a "keeper" as the scent is just not what I'm after, and I'm not all that concerned with the scent profile of my shaving soap, as long as it's not overpowering or flat out offensive.

Unscented with Beeswax: Technically it's unscented but it smells like soap in a big way; like wow it smells like soap. Even my wife remarked about just how strong the soap smell was in the bathroom. Not a bad thing, assuming you don't mind the smell of soap, but I did find this worth mentioning. For whatever reason, this shaving experience did not go particularly well. It wasn't a bad shave, just not as good as what I'm used to getting with a Stirling soap. Some Stirling soaps leave my face feeling particularly good immediately after shaving (e.g. Orange Chill), but this was not one of them. I recently discovered I like a little menthol in my shave soap and this soap is missing that, as well as lanolin. Don't know if that's key here, or not, but either way I'm giving Unscented with Beeswax a hard pass: This is not the unscented shaving soap I'm looking for.

Naked and Smooth: This was a definite Winner for me and has been crowned my new go-to, unscented, soap. While it has a soap aroma, it's nowhere near as potent as what I got from Unscented with Beeswax. Same great post-shave feel as I get from using Orange Chill, which is a huge win in my book. Before using Naked and Smooth, Sheep was my go-to unscented soap and I was liking it a lot... Or so I thought. Having now tried Naked and Smooth, though, I've put Sheep "out to pasture".

 

[P@tsfan6484]

Well, here are my thoughts. I guess I should say that every Stirling soap lathers beautifully for me, all three of these included, so just consider it a given the lather was exceptional. What I want, and what I'm working toward is to settle on just two soaps I know I'm 100% satisfied with: one scented soap, and one unscented; that's all I want. My scented soap is Orange Chill.

Electric Sheep: Decided to try this on a whim. The scent is the obvious, polarizing "feature" of this soap with notes of Lemon, Citronella and Eucalyptus (you might want to let that sink in). I didn't love the scent, but I didn't hate it, either. Pretty potent sent, off the puck, at least to my somewhat delicate sniffer, but it mellowed out once I started to lather it up. Shave performance was on par with any other Stirling. Would use again but not a "keeper" as the scent is just not what I'm after, and I'm not all that concerned with the scent profile of my shaving soap, as long as it's not overpowering or flat out offensive.

Unscented with Beeswax: Technically it's unscented but it smells like soap in a big way; like wow it smells like soap. Even my wife remarked about just how strong the soap smell was in the bathroom. Not a bad thing, assuming you don't mind the smell of soap, but I did find this worth mentioning. For whatever reason, this shaving experience did not go particularly well. It wasn't a bad shave, just not as good as what I'm used to getting with a Stirling soap. Some Stirling soaps leave my face feeling particularly good immediately after shaving (e.g. Orange Chill), but this was not one of them. I recently discovered I like a little menthol in my shave soap and this soap is missing that, as well as lanolin. Don't know if that's key here, or not, but either way I'm giving Unscented with Beeswax a hard pass: This is not the unscented shaving soap I'm looking for.

Naked and Smooth: This was a definite Winner for me and has been crowned my new go-to, unscented, soap. While it has a soap aroma, it's nowhere near as potent as what I got from Unscented with Beeswax. Same great post-shave feel as I get from using Orange Chill, which is a huge win in my book. Before using Naked and Smooth, Sheep was my go-to unscented soap and I was liking it a lot... Or so I thought. Having now tried Naked and Smooth, though, I've put Sheep "out to pasture".

Thanks very much for the info. I will be buying the Naked and Smooth asap.

 

[Billy T.]

Pros: They have no scent

Cons: They have no scent

 

[MaineYooper]

For those into only unscented, I tried a new soap yesterday- Canada Shaving Soap that I saw written about by @ouchyfoot. I'll be using it more over the next month and do a write up, but my first use was truly impressive. It's not inexpensive, the soap cost me $45 US delivered for 6 ounces, but it's as hard a puck as Martin de Candre, which lasts most a long time. Canada has only six ingredients, only one difference in ingredients between Canada and MdC. Canada is aged for months, very hard, a vegan soap, and not super-fatted like many of the newer artisan soaps, which makes it more old-school. If it lasts as well as MdC, it may be worth the price. If you're interested, you can read about it here: Our Story - Canada Shaving Soap - http://canadashavingsoap.com/our-story/

I came across a SOTD post that had this soap pictured, and when I did a site search, your post above was returned. I use unscented products exclusively, as I work in healthcare and my wife has sinus/allergy issues to strong scents, so I am always on the lookout for new to me products. Since mid-March I seem to be "treewhaling" on unscented soaps, after using only 3 for the last year or so (Mike's, Shannon's, and Mystic Water).

I followed the link, liked what I read, and looked at more posts by you and @ouchyfoot. And ordered a tub. Glad you (or whoever) posted a pic that I saw. This sounds like a real winner for a soap!

 

[ouchyfoot]

I came across a SOTD post that had this soap pictured, and when I did a site search, your post above was returned. I use unscented products exclusively, as I work in healthcare and my wife has sinus/allergy issues to strong scents, so I am always on the lookout for new to me products. Since mid-March I seem to be "treewhaling" on unscented soaps, after using only 3 for the last year or so (Mike's, Shannon's, and Mystic Water).

I followed the link, liked what I read, and looked at more posts by you and @ouchyfoot. And ordered a tub. Glad you (or whoever) posted a pic that I saw. This sounds like a real winner for a soap!

You won’t be disappointed.

 

[musicman1951]

A fair percentage of my soaps are unscented, but I can't say I've noticed a difference in performance either way.

 

[RenoRichard]

I came across a SOTD post that had this soap pictured, and when I did a site search, your post above was returned. I use unscented products exclusively, as I work in healthcare and my wife has sinus/allergy issues to strong scents, so I am always on the lookout for new to me products. Since mid-March I seem to be "treewhaling" on unscented soaps, after using only 3 for the last year or so (Mike's, Shannon's, and Mystic Water).

I followed the link, liked what I read, and looked at more posts by you and @ouchyfoot. And ordered a tub. Glad you (or whoever) posted a pic that I saw. This sounds like a real winner for a soap!

I've enjoyed Canada enough to order a second puck which was delivered last month to New York, where I will be for another month or so. It's one of the best hard soaps I've tried. Let us all know how you like it!

 

[MaineYooper]

The Canada Shaving Soap came in yesterday, and today was the first use. I was amazed at how fast it lathered, and how much lather a 30 second (maker's recommended initial load time) load gave! I am very happy. And what a heavy tub, tipping the scales at 175 grams.

Loaded to the tippy top!

 

[SterFry]

The Canada Shaving Soap came in yesterday, and today was the first use. I was amazed at how fast it lathered, and how much lather a 30 second (maker's recommended initial load time) load gave! I am very happy. And what a heavy tub, tipping the scales at 175 grams.

View attachment 1267549
View attachment 1267550
Loaded to the tippy top!
View attachment 1267551

I've been hearing great things about the performance of this soap.

 

[Abz88]

Another point to consider when talking about performance is post shave feel. If the scent comes from essential oils as opposed to synthetic fragrances then it can have a positive effect on post shave compared to unscented. Soaps with tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil being examples that spring to mind.

 

[Tgerfan]

I generally use unscented soaps. My skin is pretty sensitive to addedfragrances/scents as seem to light my face up like the fires of Hades.

Surprisingly, some of the soaps I do use, that seem to irritate most people, are completely fine for me. Almond scents like Cella and citrus I’m totally fine with - my face seems to love it. Yet, any other fragrance soap just burns and burns.

Stirling’s “Naked and Smooth” is my Gold Standard when it comes to unscented. I haven found any that have rivaled it so far.

I will definitely try that one. I love Stirling but many times the fragrance is jaw dropping. I literally have to stash the Glastonbury in a drawer or it will overtake the bathroom, bedroom and parts of the house.