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Stirling Syndicate

I had Stirling soaps at the time they had a nasty rancy animal smell, but lathering them up wasn't a problem, shavewise they were great. After I heard that they changed their lanolin distributor, I bought in late 2015 a few more (meanwhile, they also changed to the green tubs I love so much). Shavewiese and latherwise I didn't notice any difference, but thankfully the stink was gone. I can't imagine what you could do better now. So, I am more afraid if there really was a change after 2015.

To my knowledge, the last formula change, if you want to call it that, came with the different tallow around 2015.

I’ve always had the most success with the Marco method from the tub and then face lathering.
 
Stirling did change their formula a couple of times in the past until the got it right - maybe two years ago? Since then it hasn't changed to my knowledge.

That's good Intel, I think my first batch of stirling soaps was summer of '14 so that fits the timeline.

I had Stirling soaps at the time they had a nasty rancy animal smell, but lathering them up wasn't a problem, shavewise they were great. After I heard that they changed their lanolin distributor, I bought in late 2015 a few more (meanwhile, they also changed to the green tubs I love so much). Shavewiese and latherwise I didn't notice any difference, but thankfully the stink was gone. I can't imagine what you could do better now. So, I am more afraid if there really was a change after 2015.

One of the first soaps I got was electric sheep.... DANG did that reek like a wet animal. Only used it a couple times but their soaps having staying power which I Love, but not when it smells like a dead animal

I guess I wouldn't worry about an additional change but for the better. My new stuff in the green tub is a rockstar. I don't recall if I use the Marco method or not, I just load with a damp brush and take it to my wet face. Great results.
 
DANG did that reek like a wet animal
Yeah... One of the difficulties of using animal products in soap is the potential for the funk. A lot of guys can smell the funk, at a level that is offensive to them, when other guys literally can't smell a thing from the exact same tub.

I have a tub of beef tallow that is completely nose neutral to me, but two of my family members says it smells like rotten hamburger patties. Even after very highly scenting the soap I made from it, my daughter can't stand to be in the same room with it due to the beef funk, whereas I can't smell a thing.

Lesson: If you see a post where a guy says he can't stand the animal funk coming from his soap, it doesn't mean that you'll get the same experience. You might/might not. Won't know until you try it.

There are quite a few substances that some people just can't smell, but others are highly sensitive to them. Personally, I *can* smell rotten beef, it's just that i don't smell that in my tallow tub. Such things must drive artisan soap makers absolutely bonkers when they're trying to get a scent that'll appeal to the masses.

Personally, I *love* Stirling soaps. Their scents, their lather, their performance, and their awesome green tubs. Oh, and their customer service is just amazing. I once sent a question to them via email at 4:00 in the morning one day, thinking I'd get a response maybe later that day or the next. I got a completely thorough answer, along with a "Let me know if that answered your question or not, and please don't ever hesitate to get in touch with me" response in five minutes. He and his wife must never sleep.

I am, and will always be, a faithful Stirling customer. Oh, I almost forgot... I love their *prices*, too!
 
Eucalyptus Mint is my second Stirling shave soap. After I had the Orange Chill for 6 months or so, I realized that I REALLY liked it as long as I used enough water. When it's fully hydrated, the Stirling soap formula is slick and protective. I even get "magic lather" from it every now and then if I do it right. I still haven't nailed exactly how to make magic lather every time with any of my soaps, but the Stirling will do it.

I think the Eucalyptus Mint uses the same soap base as my previous Orange Chill; no better no worse. Just really nice performance. The face feel of the soap is pretty remarkable. I might enjoy one of my current soaps just a little more in face feel. Stirling is outstanding in this department. As I said, if you hydrate it enough to make it shiny, it gets a bit thinner, a good bit slicker, and really improves the overall shave. At one time I wouldn't use Stirling for my first shave with a brand new Gillette Silver Blue blade as I didn't think it was protective enough. Now I'll use Stirling for any shave including #1. I did that this morning in fact and got a really, really close shave with no irritation.

What about the scent of this unusual soap? It's pretty nice. I have had several people smell it without telling them what it is. Most of them simply say "mint". Others pick up on the eucalyptus eventually, but it's definitely not way out in front or overpowering at all. I would not have thought this before, but the front notes of mint and eucalyptus are kind of similar and blend together enough to sort of hide each other. The combined scent is kind of like mint with a twist. It's unusual but pleasant. I like smelling it while I'm building the lather and I enjoy the notes I get of it while it's on my face as I'm shaving. A good scent for sure.

The cooling properties of this mint based soap are a bit stronger than I had expected. Now don't misunderstand: The level of cooling is NO WHERE NEAR one of their "chill" soaps. Chill soaps have menthol added to them. This is just natural mint, but it's quite a bit of mint and does cool the face kind of a "medium" amount. It's a good bit colder than my Soap Commander Vision which has mint. But several steps down from Orange Chill. Like I said, it's medium cold.

For some reason I keep forgetting what a high value soap this is. I paid just under $14 for this soap, which is in a nice tub with a waterproof label. It's 5.8 oz of soap which is nearly 150% the size of a typical soap which might cost between $14 and $20 depending on the manufacturer. I think that is VERY good value, especially considering the performance of this soap. Not to mention the premium ingredients like lanolin and shea butter.

Overall highly recommended. This would be one of the top soap brands I would recommend to a new wet shaver. ...and of course to the experienced as well. Good scent too if you like eucalyptus and mint.

Brian.
 
Great review. I just received a shipment from Stirling yesterday but will add this to the Spring/Summer order. It sounds like it would be a nice warm weather soap.
 
I recently bought an older SDM tub off the bazaar and it was a bit harder to lather than the newer tubs. It just takes more effort and water but it's not a huge difference in my case.
 
I have the Proraso Green aftershave and smell pretty much zero eucalyptus from it. I do not have the Proraso Green soap.

A long time ago I had a tube of C.O. Bigelow shaving cream from Bath and Body works. I'm told that it is Proraso cream with a different label. It was very obviously eucalyptus scented with a good bit of menthol. The Stirling Eucalyptus Mint doesn't have quite as much eucalyptus as that tube of cream did. It's more mint forward.

Brian.
 
Thanks for the great review. I was just looking at that today on their website. I got a tub of Stirling Barbershop yesterday. I've only used it once but noticed that it does need quite a bit of water. I'm going to put Eucalyptus Mint on my list to get on my next order.
 
ditto the above. I could not later their soaps so gave up around 4-5 years ago, heard of a reformulation several years ago and tried again. Great performers now. I had not heard of a reformulation since the last
 
That's good Intel, I think my first batch of stirling soaps was summer of '14 so that fits the timeline.



One of the first soaps I got was electric sheep.... DANG did that reek like a wet animal. Only used it a couple times but their soaps having staying power which I Love, but not when it smells like a dead animal

I guess I wouldn't worry about an additional change but for the better. My new stuff in the green tub is a rockstar. I don't recall if I use the Marco method or not, I just load with a damp brush and take it to my wet face. Great results.
I'm just guessing here but I'm sure what you experienced was the soap you used back then is the same as it is now and the difference in formula was its made with Mutton Tallow instead of Beef Tallow which is in the regular line. The Mutton Tallow is used in the Sheep line that consists of Sheep, Electric Sheep, and Pines Scot Sheep. I have tried the Electric Sheep and the scent was just too much for me to endure and it was PIF'd to someone else. Way too much citronella and very overwhelming to say the least!! I have never heard or nor had any problems lathering it though but then again I received mine in Jan 2016 though...
 
Never tried the Fine Citrus but have used the Piacenza and thought it was a very fresh clean crisp citrus scent. It will be added down the line one day as I just have too many Stirling scents right now and am trying to thin the herd!!
 
I'm just guessing here but I'm sure what you experienced was the soap you used back then is the same as it is now and the difference in formula was its made with Mutton Tallow instead of Beef Tallow which is in the regular line. The Mutton Tallow is used in the Sheep line that consists of Sheep, Electric Sheep, and Pines Scot Sheep. I have tried the Electric Sheep and the scent was just too much for me to endure and it was PIF'd to someone else. Way too much citronella and very overwhelming to say the least!! I have never heard or nor had any problems lathering it though but then again I received mine in Jan 2016 though...
Yeah the wet dog smell was too much. I didn't mind the citronella but I couldn't get passed the animal smell.

To be clear, I only had trouble lathering until I figured it out and then it was muscle memory. But this new stuff I got takes zero effort, lathers as easily as anything else I've ever tried, even Tabac.
 
I've had Stirling soaps & samples since 2016. There were scents I didn't like or reorder, but overall, I find it to be a great soap. It lathers well with my well water and doesn't irritate my face. I love Tabac, but, unlike Stirling, Tabac irritates my face.
 
Yeah the wet dog smell was too much. I didn't mind the citronella but I couldn't get passed the animal smell.

To be clear, I only had trouble lathering until I figured it out and then it was muscle memory. But this new stuff I got takes zero effort, lathers as easily as anything else I've ever tried, even Tabac.
I thought of this when I read back what I posted earlier but I'm sure you're not using the same brush you were using back then either so that may be the main difference right there.
 
Hey all,

I got a variety of Stirling soaps a few years ago and recall having trouble getting them to lather at first. So much so that I recall there being a bunch of YouTube videos showing how to do it.

Fast forward to this week when I got a new tub of gentleman and it lathered easily and wonderfully, nothing like the stuff I got before. The only difference phisically is that my previous soaps were just the refills, but this time I got it in the tub.

Any of you know if they’ve made fundamental changes at all?

Thanks.
 
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