Sterling samples are generous. I get about 18-20 shaves out of a sample puck.
Stirling Syndicate
- Thread starter pipskicks
- Start date
Sterling fruit line isn't very true to the real smell always. The once I was completely lost out on me were. Iced pineapple : it smelled like an over ripening fruit, not a tangy pineapple fresh fruit one would expect.
Black Cherry was very strong out of the wrapper but all I got was smell of cough syrup and nothing else.
Peach was another one to my nose that missed the bus. It indeed was peachy but in a Peach Ice tea way. I got lot of oily smell from the peach and apricot kernel oil that borders on nearly being bitter.
Apple was beyond words in a bad way.
Black Cherry was very strong out of the wrapper but all I got was smell of cough syrup and nothing else.
Peach was another one to my nose that missed the bus. It indeed was peachy but in a Peach Ice tea way. I got lot of oily smell from the peach and apricot kernel oil that borders on nearly being bitter.
Apple was beyond words in a bad way.
I think I mentioned it in another thread but I just got an email from Stirling today and they have a 33% sales going on for some of their products. I ended up ordering a full size container of Nag Champa shaving soap.
I'm going to have to go to the gym more now to make sure I live long enough to use all the Stirling soap that I now have.
I'm going to have to go to the gym more now to make sure I live long enough to use all the Stirling soap that I now have.
This illustrates YMMV in a big way. I love the Peach soap. To me it smells almost exactly like a fresh peach. I also have the lime aftershave and I enjoy the scent of that, as well. I don't like cherry smells and I have never smelled the Iced Pineapple, but one of my friends from another forum says the Iced Pineapple is his all-time favorite soap scent.
Sniffers are funny things. I know for a fact that people smell the same scent very differently. An example was an early scent from Barrister and Mann, called Heather, Vetiver, and Clary Sage. I had a sample of it. To me it smelled like a campfire. I asked my wife to smell it and tell me what she smelled. She said, "I don't know exactly what it is, but it smells kind of sweet and floral." I then asked, "You don't smell smoke?" She sniffed again. "Smells floral," is all she said. So I took it to one of my sons and asked him what he smelled. He said, "it smells like flowers." So I smelled it again. To me it smelled like smoke, with a bit of floral stuff added on top.
You know how they say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder"? I would add "Scent is in the nose of the sniffer."
Yes indeed a very much YMMV thing.
I didn't mention but Orange chill and Lime get lot of love in my den. I was really hoping the pineapple to work but honestly if it was any fresh and tangy smelling I would have no problems ordering a full puck. It smelled so close to MITA that pineapple sample puck was tossed in with MITA and I got the same scent still.
Update:
I ordered a case that showed up today and great news...its a winner so far. The Stirling bar fits easily and the only con I have is that it will leak if you have excess water in the case when you store the soap in it and close it. It does have a thin sponge in the bottom that I would assume is there to absorb any excess water to an extent though and I'm sure that is why the mfg'r put it in there. Here are some pics...
I ended up tossing the Black Cherry. I kept the container but threw away the contents. As long as I kept it, I felt compelled to use it every now and then and I just never enjoyed using it due to the overpowering smell.
Now at least I really like all of the scents that I do have.
Now at least I really like all of the scents that I do have.
I ordered 27 samples from Stirling. Got rid of mostly fruit scents asap and now the den management have better clarity which scents will see proper action and will earn full puck orders.
Anyone tried Deep Blue Sea yet, if so what your thoughts on the scent?
I snagged Deep Blue Sea on their Black Friday sale. If you love Bleu De Chanel, get it, it is very close that that scent, which I love, as one of my favorites. If you haven't tried it and you love that scent, I highly recommend it.
I love all of the Stirling soaps that I have, you can't go wrong, and for the money, it is the best bang for the buck!!
I wish someone would capture the scent of the coast with the scent of the salt, seaweed, just that distinct smell that you get when you first arrive at the beach.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I try to purchase from Stirling directly to help their margins and their success. But I don’t fault you for going the free shipping route as well. I’m guilty of it.
A nice bonus to ordering from them is the sample body soap they always throw in. And much to my surprise this last order I discovered I had enough loyalty points built up for $10 off. It was pretty unexpected and a nice gesture by them to have a loyalty program.
Yeah, I've ordered twice from them just this last month, paying full shipping both times. If one of those items was available at West Coast Shaving I would have bought that there.
Once I bought "Christmas Eve" from Maggard's because it was in July and Stirling only carries it seasonally. It's good to have choices but I like to help keep them in business as well as they are a really good company.
I don't know if a soap that does it, but if you want a cologne that really captures that scent , pick up some Kenzo Pour Homme. It's the only aquatic that really smells like the sea, in my opinion.
I lived 32 yrs in California and to me it smelled better at the dump than any of the beaches I went to from Tiajuana to San Francisco!! The last thing I could ever want in anything shaving wise would be the beach, just a horrendous smell...
I'm a scuba diver. I guess I have a different take on ocean smells. It's true that it's not a perfume-like smell but I've never thought of it as "horrendous". If that were commonly the case, no one would go to the beach.
Maybe horrendous was a little much but to me and a few folks I know it just wasn't pleasant at all. I would much rather have something that smells like the mountains than the ocean for sure though and I'm not all that crazy about pine scents.
Can't say I've never smelt some dead fishy odor at low tide, but I'm with you, love that salty ocean air smell. Nothing quite like plopping down with a drink in hand and enjoying that sea breeze after a day of diving.
I recently got a tub of Tiki Salty Air and need to try it.
