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Stirling Shave Soaps.....

Hello. My shave room is filled with shave soaps from Sterling and I love them all! Their price, ability to develop a lather, let your razor glide and after care are suberb !! One thing I wish was a bit better are the scents. Don't get me wrong, they're great, just don't always hit the mark and last. I do use matching after shave balm.

Have you found a reasonable (around the same price) brand of soap that really delivers when it comes to their scents and last after your shave? If so, please share brand. Thanks in advance!
 
There isn't much for artesan soap at the Sterling price point. Razorock is an obvious choice. $25 is more typical. Which scents do you like the most?
 

gpjoe

Slickness is a sickness
I'm not sure I understand the question.

Is your primary issue with Stirling that you can't find scents you like?...or that the scents don't last long enough after the shave?

Personally, I don't expect the scent of any of my shaving soaps (or even my aftershave) to last. IMO, that is a job for cologne or EDT.

...and the scents of even my most costly soaps are fleeting.
 
I'm not sure I understand the question.

Is your primary issue with Stirling that you can't find scents you like?...or that the scents don't last long enough after the shave?

Personally, I don't expect the scent of any of my shaving soaps (or even my aftershave) to last. IMO, that is a job for cologne or EDT.

...and the scents of even my most costly soaps are fleeting.
It's the scents don't last long. Thank you, that answers my question.
 
Something to think about, if you are a Stirling fan. You could just use an unscented or very mildly scented soap of theirs. For instance, Unscented with Beeswax or Sheep. Then, use an EdT to get a higher quality scent that will endure.

You don't really need a bunch of different flavors of the same soap from the same maker, IMHO. Just pick one (or a couple).
 
Something to think about, if you are a Stirling fan. You could just use an unscented or very mildly scented soap of theirs. For instance, Unscented with Beeswax or Sheep. Then, use an EdT to get a higher quality scent that will endure.

You don't really need a bunch of different flavors of the same soap from the same maker, IMHO. Just pick one (or a couple).
Perfect solution! Thanks
 

gpjoe

Slickness is a sickness
The only two Stirling soaps I have are Varen and Glastonbury and I find they both last well past the shave. Varen particularly has staying power long after the shave for me.

You may have picked two of their strongest scents. 🙂

I have Gastonbury and it's bold...the patchouli note is very prominent and quite persistent...of all my soaps, it lasts the longest. I'm a child of the 70s and love the scent, but only use it occasionally, as it gets close to cloying.
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
You may have picked two of their strongest scents. 🙂

I have Gastonbury and it's bold...the patchouli note is very prominent and quite persistent...of all my soaps, it lasts the longest. I'm a child of the 70s and love the scent, but only use it occasionally, as it gets close to cloying.
Agreed!
I have been using them less frequently. While I like both scents, I don’t need a soap to last for hours, especially ones that are so distinctive. The quality of the soap is excellent and I find myself removing the lid regularly to take in the unique fragrance of Varen. If you want to take it in long after the shave, it might be an interesting choice.
 
I find myself removing the lid regularly to take in the unique fragrance of Varen.

Varen is a fantastic soap: the mutton base is superb and the scent is original. For me, it is definitely more of a winter scent, so I favour it more in the colder months. I don't find the scent lasts too long, but then I always finish with an aftershave so that negates the scent.

OP: the strongest scented soap I have come across is Goodfellas Smile Solo, an excellent dupe of Chanel's Platinum Égöiste. It lasted so long, my wife insisted I PIF the soap as she couldn't handle it. There is a thread on their soaps in this subforum and by most accounts the range is of a similar strength and offers a broad array of scent profiles. As an Italian soap, it is also a great performer.
 
I used christmas ever today. Had a nice shave. Something in the scent irritated my skin a little bit or maybe it was just the lanolin in the soap, who knows. It's a nice winter scent, but after a while, it gets cloying to me. Honestly, I love stirling, but a lot of their scents get cloying to me after a while and I don't know why when other artisans I use don't get cloying to me.
 
I am a huge fan and promoter of Stirling soaps. The quality of the lather, and at that price point? Can't be matched in my book. The scents are definitely different with a lot of their soaps. I tend to prefer the "Iced" soaps, which include menthol. Iced Coffee is an awesome scent, as is the Iced Pineapple.

Of all their soaps my biggest favorite is Sheep. No strong scent to this one but it is made with mutton tallow and lanolin, obviously. With MWF changing their formula and now shutting down there's your replacement, in my opinion. They also have a few other mutton tallow soaps worth checking out.
 
FWIW...at issue is two things as I understand it. Soap construction can devour a scent. While fats, thinking an essential oil, can make a scent last longer, something made with fat, heat etc...and the volume of scent to balance between overpowering and too little can be costly. I've a friend who makes boutique bath soaps and the cost of quality ingredients is nuts. The second thing as I understand/conceptualize it, is when we shave we're constantly diluting with one of nature's best solvents: water. For such little surface area: our mugs; the proportionally small amount of contact time with the product coupled with cleaning it off with water so we're not feeling soapy doesn't tend to favor lingering scent.

A third thing, I know I said two...is olfactory fatigue. We become inured to aroma over time. Wearing something like an essential oil, cologne, after shave, balm on pulse points allows for reactivation during the day. One's wrists and a spot behind the ears are less susceptible to being washed away too quickly. Gentle rubbing, rising body heat, or perspiring can reactivate the scent later on in the day potentially allowing us to get another hit by increasing the volume of the aroma above olfactory fatigue but also allowing others to get a fresh hit.

If you've ever experienced the perfume you like most on your wife in the morning and then get a gentle hit of it late in the day when you're out to dinner, you'll have experienced part of what I've tried to describe.
 
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