Stirling Syndicate
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Stirling Soap Company
Yesterday at 12:35 PM ·
A huge thanks to Nico at Barbieri Uniti in Italy. Due to his efforts, the overwhelming majority of shave soaps, aftershaves, and post shave balms made by Stirling are now registered and certified for sale in the European Union and the United Kingdom. Barbieri Uniti will be the sole wholesaler for the EU, as they have borne all the up front costs. We should be able to have Stirling in stores in multiple European countries this Fall.
Dave at Shaving Time will be the sole distributor for the United Kingdom, as he has been a loyal friend and business partner for us for years.
It took far longer than we'd hoped, but we're all excited to finally be able to have our products certified for sale in the EU. I'll post more information as we get closer to Autumn.
I also love the scent of RR XXX, but it dries out my skin. Stirling performs a bit better without the drying effect. The Stirling Piacenza scent is very similar to XXX (both AdP clones), but the soap base scent is more evident to me with Stirling.
Stirling for the win, IMO.
Performance is *much* better.
RR does have some nice scents, but so does Stirling.
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Performance is *much* better.
RR does have some nice scents, but so does Stirling.
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Stirling for me as well. RR works but Stirling just does it better in performance and protection.
Steve56
Ask me about shaving naked!
Sterling.
Slickness and scent goes to Stirling. It’s a winner!
Owen Bawn
Garden party cupcake scented
Razorock Dead Sea and Santa Maria del Fiore are significantly better than anything else in Razorock's stable and I'd guess they're probably better than any Stirling soaps as well. Otherwise, I think the two lines are close. Both offer terrific value. Personally, I really like Italian soft soaps, so I'd be more inclined to purchase from Razorock, but I've never had a bad shave with a Stirling soap.
Mudder Focker is great too, but otherwise I agree with you.
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IMHO, Sterling is a better soap than RazoRock. However, there are still better soaps out there.
At this moment you will need stirling uk for getting it in europe
Shaving Soaps & Creams
The Shaving Time Co provide a wide range of quality shaving soaps and creams that are designed to provide a luxurious and effective shaving experience to suit every pocket. Our collections include a variety of shaving soaps that are hand crafted with premium ingredients to provide a rich and...
future after brexit might generate other eu vendors and Canada might be interesting toooo
Afaik maggards does not sell the stirling 1oz samples.
defintely going to get some fresh blocks of menthol pre shave soap.
To me, it isn't even close, Stirling is much better in terms of performance & price. Also RR soaps often cause irritation for me, which obviously is a "me" issue, but nonetheless factors into my judgment.
Not something I'd agree with. Stirling has a better cushion, better slickness and better post shave than those two IMO.
Not something I'd agree with. Stirling has a better cushion, better slickness and better post shave than those two IMO.
Shavingtime.co.uk sells Stirling in Europe. Their shipping is a little bit expensive and you will also have to pay an extra fee if you want aftershave lotions. Will probably be fine if you grab lots of stuff, but it's not worth to buy just 1 soap.
Yes just ordered 2 soaps from them shipping cost is reasonable about £4
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
You’re going to love Stirling. Enjoy!Yes just ordered 2 soaps from them shipping cost is reasonable about £4
Hello and welcome all to the first thread in my longer than anticipated series I will be working on. If you read my previous thread, you all know that I hope to go through and review shaving soaps from a number of the major companies so that the newer shavers will have an understanding of what to expect!
The first stop is Stirling soaps and boy this one is going to take a while to complete
I only have 4 soaps that I reviewed at this time but I intend to add more as I can. To keep the thread clean and organized I will "spoiler code" the soaps and keep copying the entire page with all the soaps. You'll understand once I start doing it.
Before I begin, I would like to make an unsolicited shout out to the website Trythatsoap. If you haven't heard of it, I strongly encourage giving it a look!
Note: So far I have noticed that these soaps typically pair best with their matching AS or balm. Increasing the scent length by 2-3 times and almost always adding the missing notes. Something to consider.
Stirling says: "This scent has top notes of Orange and Grapefruit, middle notes of Black Pepper and Pelargonium (Geranium), and base notes of Patchouli, Cedar, Vetiver, and Vanilla. It's elegant, grassy, and amazingly provocative".
They also state it is inspired by the fragrance Terre d'Hermes
I have never used this fragrance so I based my review under the described scents.
Overall, Arkadia is a masculine scent that made me look over the profile again and again. I liked it, but I can't say that I can notice all the scents that they were hoping to achieve. Woodsy, Orange, Vanilla, and maybe Peppery. The scent lasted about as long as I would expect but wasn't breaking any records. As noted at the beginning, Stirling soaps lather well, requires a bit of loading but will usually last for 3-4 passes, and leave my face soft without being oily afterward.
I was really excited about this soap, because I LOVE coffee, probably too much haha! Yes, it is a pleasant scent and yes, it lasts a good period of time. The problem is that the scent itself seems to be half of what they advertised. Amber, Musk, and Vetiver really are noticeable but no coffee or leather IMO. The soap still maintains that classic Stirling soap ease and feel previously described.
Tongue-in-cheek for a scent that others call: Lime, Tequilla, and menthol (imagine
)
If Stirling had been any more accurate with this scent I would have been pulled over for a DUI on my way to work! Seriously, this soap has exactly what you would expect when someone is wanting a margarita on the rocks. The menthol is just icing on the cake and keeps going almost the entire day. Again, featuring the classic Stirling Soap shave ease and feel. I haven't identified any differences in the base across all the soaps so far.
Stirling says: "Juniper Berry, a couple of limes, a splash of lemon, and a bit of menthol make this soap the most refreshing soap in the world".
This is a seasonal variety of the Jin and Tonic that has included menthol. While I haven't tried the original I believe it would carry the same scent.
All the parts are there and the scent is very accurate. The only complaint is a balance issue (the lime overwhelms the Juniper) and it's really minor at that. Just like MitA, Stirling did a fantastic job making a scent that seems almost like the real thing. This is a scent that I really enjoyed. (The matching aftershave really makes this pair shine as well!)
The first stop is Stirling soaps and boy this one is going to take a while to complete
I only have 4 soaps that I reviewed at this time but I intend to add more as I can. To keep the thread clean and organized I will "spoiler code" the soaps and keep copying the entire page with all the soaps. You'll understand once I start doing it.Before I begin, I would like to make an unsolicited shout out to the website Trythatsoap. If you haven't heard of it, I strongly encourage giving it a look!
Stirling soaps: A fan favorite to the B&B site
Typically their soaps include Tallow, Lanolin, and Shea butter to make for a nice combination of lather ease and post-shave feel. Stirling is sometimes called 'the best soap for the budget' given you can typically buy soap and matching aftershave for under 30 USD. Another one of their highlights is the huge variety of artisanal scents including the infamous "on the rocks" menthol collections. So far, I would say that Stirlings does a fantastic job and that everyone should give them a try at least once! An additional bonus is they offer sample soaps for every one of their products for a very affordable price!Note: So far I have noticed that these soaps typically pair best with their matching AS or balm. Increasing the scent length by 2-3 times and almost always adding the missing notes. Something to consider.
Arkadia
Stirling says: "This scent has top notes of Orange and Grapefruit, middle notes of Black Pepper and Pelargonium (Geranium), and base notes of Patchouli, Cedar, Vetiver, and Vanilla. It's elegant, grassy, and amazingly provocative".
They also state it is inspired by the fragrance Terre d'Hermes
I have never used this fragrance so I based my review under the described scents.
Scent accuracy: 3/5
Scent Longevity: 3/5
Lather ease: 3/5
Post-shave feel: 4/5
13/20
Overall, Arkadia is a masculine scent that made me look over the profile again and again. I liked it, but I can't say that I can notice all the scents that they were hoping to achieve. Woodsy, Orange, Vanilla, and maybe Peppery. The scent lasted about as long as I would expect but wasn't breaking any records. As noted at the beginning, Stirling soaps lather well, requires a bit of loading but will usually last for 3-4 passes, and leave my face soft without being oily afterward.
Hipster
Stirling says: "He's masculine and perfectly groomed. You can practically feel the softness of his beard, the plaid of his shirt, the strength of his coffee. He is a hipster. This scent boasts of amber, coffee, musk, leather, and wood are rounded out by citrus, floral, and vetiver notes".
Scent accuracy: 2/5
Scent Longevity: 4/5
Lather ease: 3/5
Post-shave feel: 4/5
13/20
I was really excited about this soap, because I LOVE coffee, probably too much haha! Yes, it is a pleasant scent and yes, it lasts a good period of time. The problem is that the scent itself seems to be half of what they advertised. Amber, Musk, and Vetiver really are noticeable but no coffee or leather IMO. The soap still maintains that classic Stirling soap ease and feel previously described.
Margaritas in the Artic
Stirling says: "I can’t taste this Margarita. Probably because I’m drinking it while sitting buck-naked on top of a glacier at the north pole. My skin feels wonderful, though… ".
Tongue-in-cheek for a scent that others call: Lime, Tequilla, and menthol (imagine
)Scent accuracy: 5/5
Scent Longevity: 5/5
Lather ease: 3/5
Post-shave feel: 4/5
17/20
If Stirling had been any more accurate with this scent I would have been pulled over for a DUI on my way to work! Seriously, this soap has exactly what you would expect when someone is wanting a margarita on the rocks. The menthol is just icing on the cake and keeps going almost the entire day. Again, featuring the classic Stirling Soap shave ease and feel. I haven't identified any differences in the base across all the soaps so far.
Jin and Tonic On the Rocks
Stirling says: "Juniper Berry, a couple of limes, a splash of lemon, and a bit of menthol make this soap the most refreshing soap in the world".
This is a seasonal variety of the Jin and Tonic that has included menthol. While I haven't tried the original I believe it would carry the same scent.
Scent accuracy: 4/5
Scent Longevity: 5/5
Lather ease: 3/5
Post-shave feel: 4/5
16/20
All the parts are there and the scent is very accurate. The only complaint is a balance issue (the lime overwhelms the Juniper) and it's really minor at that. Just like MitA, Stirling did a fantastic job making a scent that seems almost like the real thing. This is a scent that I really enjoyed. (The matching aftershave really makes this pair shine as well!)
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I forgot to mention, feel free to comment and chime in if you'd like. I want this to be as informative as possible for newcomers.
Might want to get the text colour changed in the 1st post....
Thanks. I use the forum on dark mode. Didn't even consider what it looks on Regular. Should be fixed.
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Nice review! Time to get some MITA (on my drive home from work)!
