Stirling Barbershop shaving soap review

[JayDee]

The only non-mentholated Stirling soap I ever used and I absolutely love it!

Ease of lathering: 9/10--Work that arm and load that brush and the lather will come up nicely!

Longevity of lather: 9/10--Stability is really good. It never dissipates when it's on your beard.

General skincare: 10/10--Very moisturizing and comfortable. Great post-shave feeling.

Scent: 10/10--Ah, that's what gets me. It's so old-school and beautiful. Real old-time barbershop scent.

Price: 10/10--You just can't beat Rod's prices because they're so affordable.

Would I buy again: 10/10--Most definitely I would because I love this soap.

Up until now I've used only the strongly-mentholated Stirling soaps and the off-the-charts intensely mentholated Stirling Glacial ones so I wanted to try something un-mentholated, and one thing I'll say is this Barbershop soap is 100% class as well as top-quality. Even though it does require some extra lathering effort, it's well-worth it and you'll get rich, slick lather with a wonderful, traditional, old-school scent which will remind you of going to an old-time barbershop when you were a kid. Rod is a soap genius as well as a wonderful guy!

[JRTASTER]

Glad you enjoyed this version, notable for its lack of menthol.
Generally, I've stayed away from those "artisan" shave soap makers who seem to be in a foot-race to see who can manage to throw
in ever more menthol, or whatever, to achieve that super-cooling effect. A big turn-off for me.
First, the scent of menthol strikes me as way too medicinal, reminiscent of being slathered with Vick's Vapo Rub when suffering from
a bad cold- not the most pleasant of childhood memories.
And as importantly, for me menthol is often an irritant and it doesn't agree with my face.
I've often wondered what a "classic barbershop scent" truly is.... one of these days I will have to discover one which suits me.
Thanks for your review!

[serwusek]

wow. is it realy so good? in your review are almost only 10's

[Squire]

I remember sitting in the barber chair in a time when cars made in the 1930s were driving down Main Street in front of the shop. I recall many things about those Saturday mornings, most clearly scents. To call it an old time shop would simply be descriptive as the fellow cutting my hair was the son of a man who served during the War of Northern Aggression.

Those scents were spicy, floral, citrus combinations in a bewildering assortment of bottles in a cabinet as tall as a man's head. Various versions of Bay Rum were prominent both in presence and pungency. Truth is there was no one defining scent because there were many, the combined essence of which had permeated the very walls over the years. Not all of them were great though, I still have a distinct dislike for lilac.

So I think of "old time Barbershop" as a style rather than a scent.

[brothers]

I've tried to remember what the old neighborhood barber shop used to smell like, when daddy took us there on Saturday. It might have smelled like hair oil. The cheap red oily stuff. I only remember them cutting hair, never shaving people's faces. I did get some of that hot lather from the noisy lather machine, even as a kid, when Joe Winters the barber used the straight razor to trim around the edges to conclude the haircut. I distinctly remember that the shaving cream he used always smelled just like my current can of Barbasol that still resides under the cabinet for occasional use. I've never resented that smell, to this day it reminds me of the barber shop, and gives me lots of pleasant memories and good feelings.

[mlb549]

I have B & M Seville, Mama B's Ye Olde Barbershop, Maggard's London Barbershop, Strop Shoppe Barbershoppe w/ tallow, and Stirling Barbershop. Stirling is heads above the rest of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Big Swifty]

Hello gents,
I have to say that I am a huge fan of the Stirling soap Co. as they make a wonderful (tallow based) shave soap that excels in all aspects of shaving. Making a thick awesome lather is a definite benchmark of Rod's soaps. The fragrances are really strong on a lot of these soaps but they are quite enjoyable and barbershop is no exception. I really like it but my wife seems to think it is a cross between play-doh and powder. She is really scent sensitive and has always had a strong opinion on my shaving stash! Not all of their scents are menthol based in fact the majority of the line isn't, so those sensitive to menthol would still have plenty of choices of their fine soaps. Some of my faves are Margaritas in the arctic, glacial lavender and Ozark mountains (piney and earthy). If you haven't already checked them out I would say for the price they are worth the gamble simply on performance alone, the hard part is simply picking out a few scents.

[Squire]

That's always the hard part for me.

[eeffoc]

With a reviews score like that I had to go check them out, this just arrived in the mail today

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[Big Swifty]

OOOOh I have been eyeing that coconut lime myself, let me know how she smells after you shave.
I believe you will love these soaps

[eeffoc]

I had to give the Bay Rum a try first, until now I never knew what it smelled like and I have always wanted to know.

Once I try the Coconut Lime I'll let you know what I think

[Big Swifty]

yeah I probably wouldn't mind a bay rum soap either, I mean I love Dominica bay rum and others so a soap probably would not be bad either especially if it were a Stirling soap. What did you think of the lather?

[eeffoc]

OOOOh I have been eyeing that coconut lime myself, let me know how she smells after you shave...

... What did you think of the lather?

I'll start off saying that I don't have a lot of experience lathering soaps because up until now I have primarily been using shaving creams from TOBS and I don't face lather, I use a bowl (actually its a large late coffee mug )

That being said, it didn't take all that much longer to lather up and it was nice thick (unlike the artisan soap from Dirty Girls farm that I've been trying with little success ). The lather lasted for the entire shave. I really like these soaps so far, they seem to be easy to lather and can handle a fair amount of water in the brush.

The Coconut Lime is very subtle, I couldn't make out the coconut smell as much as the lime and the lime smell was really nice, not an artificial smell.

My next soap is Black Cherry and this one isn't subtle, I can smell it from across the room

[preidy]

Barbershope is my second favorite. Number one for me is Sharp Dressed Man. Really like Stiring soap's becasue I lean towards slickness. A plus with Stirling is the low price. The new formula is a keeper although I admit there is a slight learning curve with this soap - it likes more water but it's worth the effort.