I was one of the three lucky recipients of a $50 credit for shopping at the Captain's Choice store - thanks Scott aka @Captain Pre-Capsize! I decided to use this to get samples of his soaps and creams to see how well both types work for me and also to be able to see what each of the 8 scents smell like. I received the samples yesterday:
Just so you know, they are 1/4oz and are tiny clamshells, but he has jam packed them. I am hoping they have about 7 or so uses each.
Some background on my soap history - when I first started last October I tried some el cheapo soaps from Amazon and they were crap. I read a lot about Stirling soaps so I tried them and had great results so I bought many samples and some full tubs and essentially use only that. I was looking at branching out to others to try soon, TOBS and Geo F Trumper and such, but since I won this PIF, I figured why not sample these first. So, my comparisons to other soaps will be against Stirling, but I will mostly be comparing between the Cap's selections.
I have 3 brushes (I know, pitiful by a number of member standards!), a Shavemac with 24mm G5C (fan) synth knot, a Razor Rock Barber 24mm (bulb) synth, and Zenith 24mm (fan) boar.
I face lather, and that is how my testing will go.
I get great lather results with both of the synths. Not so much with the boar. It is broken in, but I just haven't been able to dial in the lathering with it yet (which annoys me to no end). I am hoping to see if the Cap soaps/creams give me better results with this one.
My original plan is to try one soap/scent for 3 shaves, using each of the brushes, then the same scent in the cream for 3 shaves. After that I will switch to a new scent pair.
The first thing I noticed when opening up the clamshell of the soap is that it seemed extremely soft. Now, Stirling soap is malleable soft but can maintain firmness. This was sticky soft. I thought that maybe it was cream put in there by accident, so I opened up the cream and that was even softer (as it was cream). I checked the other soaps and they were the same. Perhaps the soap softened up in the heat during the shipping? I took the soap and put it in the fridge for a bit. It was firmer after taking it out, but once it got up to room temperature it was just as soft as it was originally. So, this is a very creamy croap.
Since I was going to face lather, I needed to take it out of the clamshell and put it into something that can take a brush, so I scooped all of it out and put it into a small aluminum tin. You can see about how much came with it based on this pic, as well as the size of the sample container:
My first test was today with Lime. It's summer (unless you are in the southern hemisphere), so might as well go with some fruity citrus.
Now for the scent. The description indicates a "cheerful, refreshing lime scent" and "an invigorating, citrusy scent". I will say that I can smell lime in it. But I wouldn't classify it as OMG THIS IS LIME! It's there, but I would lean more towards a lime-forward citrusy scent. It is pleasing but in an average way. The scent was not overpowering or weak.
I used the Shavemac Synth. This is a rather firm brush. When loading I made sure not to use much pressure since the soap is so soft and yet it ended up pushing the soap out to the edges of the tin. I did my usual load and face lathered. This is where things were very different between the Cap and Stirling. Stirling is thirsty as hell, and you can keep adding water until the cows come home. This soap, not so much. I am not sure if perhaps I didn't load enough (due to it pushing the soap out of the way in the tin) or that it just needs a greater loading, but the lather that formed wasn't as dense or thick and rich. It also started dissipating rather quickly and had to add more during each pass. That is something I haven't had with Stirling. However, it seemed to be slick enough and I decided to go ahead and shave.
The shave today was the second shave of a Treet Dura Sharp blade in my Progress. I was able to get my 3 passes in and the shave was DFS+, but I could tell that I wasn't getting the typical comfort of shave I was used to. I did experience facial irritation throughout the day - not red razor burn, just an irritation. I am not sure if it was due to the thinner lather not providing enough "cushion", or even perhaps it is the citrus (I don't know if it is essential oil or just fragrance). While I did have to scrub harder to lather it up, I can usually scrub with this brush for quite a while without it bothering me.
I can see if the next brush, which is softer, can do better tomorrow. Perhaps it can pick up more soap without pushing it all away? We'll see.
Just so you know, they are 1/4oz and are tiny clamshells, but he has jam packed them. I am hoping they have about 7 or so uses each.
Some background on my soap history - when I first started last October I tried some el cheapo soaps from Amazon and they were crap. I read a lot about Stirling soaps so I tried them and had great results so I bought many samples and some full tubs and essentially use only that. I was looking at branching out to others to try soon, TOBS and Geo F Trumper and such, but since I won this PIF, I figured why not sample these first. So, my comparisons to other soaps will be against Stirling, but I will mostly be comparing between the Cap's selections.
I have 3 brushes (I know, pitiful by a number of member standards!), a Shavemac with 24mm G5C (fan) synth knot, a Razor Rock Barber 24mm (bulb) synth, and Zenith 24mm (fan) boar.
I face lather, and that is how my testing will go.
I get great lather results with both of the synths. Not so much with the boar. It is broken in, but I just haven't been able to dial in the lathering with it yet (which annoys me to no end). I am hoping to see if the Cap soaps/creams give me better results with this one.
My original plan is to try one soap/scent for 3 shaves, using each of the brushes, then the same scent in the cream for 3 shaves. After that I will switch to a new scent pair.
The first thing I noticed when opening up the clamshell of the soap is that it seemed extremely soft. Now, Stirling soap is malleable soft but can maintain firmness. This was sticky soft. I thought that maybe it was cream put in there by accident, so I opened up the cream and that was even softer (as it was cream). I checked the other soaps and they were the same. Perhaps the soap softened up in the heat during the shipping? I took the soap and put it in the fridge for a bit. It was firmer after taking it out, but once it got up to room temperature it was just as soft as it was originally. So, this is a very creamy croap.
Since I was going to face lather, I needed to take it out of the clamshell and put it into something that can take a brush, so I scooped all of it out and put it into a small aluminum tin. You can see about how much came with it based on this pic, as well as the size of the sample container:
My first test was today with Lime. It's summer (unless you are in the southern hemisphere), so might as well go with some fruity citrus.
Now for the scent. The description indicates a "cheerful, refreshing lime scent" and "an invigorating, citrusy scent". I will say that I can smell lime in it. But I wouldn't classify it as OMG THIS IS LIME! It's there, but I would lean more towards a lime-forward citrusy scent. It is pleasing but in an average way. The scent was not overpowering or weak.
I used the Shavemac Synth. This is a rather firm brush. When loading I made sure not to use much pressure since the soap is so soft and yet it ended up pushing the soap out to the edges of the tin. I did my usual load and face lathered. This is where things were very different between the Cap and Stirling. Stirling is thirsty as hell, and you can keep adding water until the cows come home. This soap, not so much. I am not sure if perhaps I didn't load enough (due to it pushing the soap out of the way in the tin) or that it just needs a greater loading, but the lather that formed wasn't as dense or thick and rich. It also started dissipating rather quickly and had to add more during each pass. That is something I haven't had with Stirling. However, it seemed to be slick enough and I decided to go ahead and shave.
The shave today was the second shave of a Treet Dura Sharp blade in my Progress. I was able to get my 3 passes in and the shave was DFS+, but I could tell that I wasn't getting the typical comfort of shave I was used to. I did experience facial irritation throughout the day - not red razor burn, just an irritation. I am not sure if it was due to the thinner lather not providing enough "cushion", or even perhaps it is the citrus (I don't know if it is essential oil or just fragrance). While I did have to scrub harder to lather it up, I can usually scrub with this brush for quite a while without it bothering me.
I can see if the next brush, which is softer, can do better tomorrow. Perhaps it can pick up more soap without pushing it all away? We'll see.
, you made great choice.
Enjoy!
