Stirling Soap AMA, March 18th, 2017

Hi Rod, I love your products and I'm enjoying this AMA.  I also like the measured way you've built and expanded your business.  Taking it slow increases the odds that you're going to be here for the long haul.  That will be good for everybody.

My question is regarding your Pharaoh's Dreamsicle shave soap.  The performance is the usual Stirling awesome and the scent is incredible but there is something in it that irritates my skin - slight burning.  Do you know what that might be?  Its really too bad because I love the scent.  The only other soap thats caused this reaction in me was a Barrister and Mann soap - Winter Spice, I couldn't use that one either.

I'm also quite pleased that you've increased your product line being offered by Canadian Blade Co. - that makes your products much more affordable from a shipping cost perspective.  He's just a couple hundred miles down the road from me so shipping is very reasonable.  
Thanks,
Marko

Hi Marko, and thank you very much!

The musk in the dreamsicle is synthetic, so that is always a possibility. There are so many different fragrance components that make up synthetic fragrance oil blends that it can be difficult to pin down exactly what in them could be causing an individual irritation. If none of our other soaps irritate you, then it would be a safe bet. The only other scenting agents in that soap are orange 5-fold essential oil, blood orange essential oil, and vanilla.

As for Canadian Blade, he's been a great addition to us. International shipping costs, even to Canada, are stupidly high. We just don't do enough international business to get the rates that customers can get from other webstores. That inevitably leads to angry emails wanting to know why we charge so much for shipping, when the truth is we are only charging what the post office charges us. It's a win, win, win situation. We have less emails and hassle, Jon at Canadian Blade has a growing business, and Canadian customers can get products without being hit with high shipping charges or duties, and they can also get our aftershaves.

Thanks for the information - would you know if that reaction is something a person can build a tolerance for? As I said, the Pharaoho's Dreamsicle is a nice scent and if I knew that I could get used to it I'd persevere. I've had no other issues with your soaps - I'm on a Baker Street kick right now, we're renovating the master bathroom so everything is packed up and I pulled out a few soaps, razors, aftershaves to get me through and Baker Street is one of them. Really nice, and there is some value in using the same set up for a few consecutive days. You get to figure things out a little better than when you change everything up every day.
Thanks,
Marko

I've had customers who had issues with the Sandalwood and Sharp Dressed Man report previously sticking it out and getting over any sensitivity, but I certainly don't recommend that. If your skin is burning or irritated, you should listen to that. There are so many soaps, and so many good soapmakers these days that using a single soap when it causes irritation doesn't seem prudent to me. I loved the scent on our our original Pumpkin Spice 3 years ago. It lit me up though. Turned my face beet red from all the cinnamon. Stopped using it after two attempts.

Hi Rod, I love your products and I'm enjoying this AMA. I also like the measured way you've built and expanded your business. Taking it slow increases the odds that you're going to be here for the long haul. That will be good for everybody.

My question is regarding your Pharaoh's Dreamsicle shave soap. The performance is the usual Stirling awesome and the scent is incredible but there is something in it that irritates my skin - slight burning. Do you know what that might be? Its really too bad because I love the scent. The only other soap thats caused this reaction in me was a Barrister and Mann soap - Winter Spice, I couldn't use that one either.

I'm also quite pleased that you've increased your product line being offered by Canadian Blade Co. - that makes your products much more affordable from a shipping cost perspective. He's just a couple hundred miles down the road from me so shipping is very reasonable.
Thanks,
Marko

Hi Marko, and thank you very much!

The musk in the dreamsicle is synthetic, so that is always a possibility. There are so many different fragrance components that make up synthetic fragrance oil blends that it can be difficult to pin down exactly what in them could be causing an individual irritation. If none of our other soaps irritate you, then it would be a safe bet. The only other scenting agents in that soap are orange 5-fold essential oil, blood orange essential oil, and vanilla.

As for Canadian Blade, he's been a great addition to us. International shipping costs, even to Canada, are stupidly high. We just don't do enough international business to get the rates that customers can get from other webstores. That inevitably leads to angry emails wanting to know why we charge so much for shipping, when the truth is we are only charging what the post office charges us. It's a win, win, win situation. We have less emails and hassle, Jon at Canadian Blade has a growing business, and Canadian customers can get products without being hit with high shipping charges or duties, and they can also get our aftershaves.

Hi again Rod,

I also wanted to all about a soap that irritated me....the Sandalwood.

I was able to get through a shave, buy the soap did cause my skin to itch and burn just a little. Any idea what could cause that? I'm not sure if it has cinnamon or not, and thought that might be.

I'm really bummed because Sandalwood is my current favorite scent and I REALLY liked your take on it.

Thanks again for doing this AMA. You and Mandy really are wonderful people. You have a customer for life right here

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

You aren't alone on Sandalwood. Not just my Sandalwood either. If you scour the annals of the internet wetshaving forums, you'll find plenty of people who have issues with various Sandalwood soaps. It's something that is used to make synthetic sandalwood scents. I don't know the exact ingredient, as I've not looked at the allergen reports for other sandalwoods to see if they have any common ingredients, but it's definitely an issue for a small percentage of customers.

I wish real sandalwood essential oil wasn't so expensive, as it smells better than the synthetic stuff and would probably take care of some of the irritation issues. However, at over 1000 bucks a pound for the real good stuff, I don't see myself being able to use it any time soon.

Thank you for the question and the kind words.

Be back shortly, all. I promise my son a quick game of Super Smash Brothers after lunch. BRB.

Hey Rod, andrewjs18 has always said, when it comes to the site, "Family first" and I couldn't agree more.  I hope you had a blast with your son.

Be back shortly, all. I promise my son a quick game of Super Smash Brothers after lunch. BRB.

Hey Rod, andrewjs18 has always said, when it comes to the site, "Family first" and I couldn't agree more.  I hope you had a blast with your son.

We did! He's unfortunately ridiculously good at video games and loves playing them. He's only 4, but routinely beats games that he shouldn't even know how to play. I'd rather he pick up a musical instrument, but it makes him happy to play and it's something that he and I can have a blast doing together.

Rod,

What made you want to get into making soaps and then shaving items?

We started with bath soaps, just as a way to remove some of the unnecessary chemical fillers in our lives. I don't have particularly sensitive skin, but I'd never cared for the way my skin felt as it dried after taking a shower. I didn't think that having to coat myself in lotion to prevent feeling itchy should be the norm. A bit of further exploration led to me realizing that there was a high probability that what I was experiencing was not only common for a majority of the population, but easily preventable. It's not profitable to sell good soap on a mass scale, so what they do is harvest the glycerin that is a naturally occurring byproduct of the saponification process and sell it to be used in cosmetics and other industries. They add in fillers like sulfates and other detergents and hardeners and sell it to the consumer for a buck a bar or less. Glycerin is a humectant, and removing that from your soap will exacerbate the drying nature of washing yourself with a soap. The sulfates are common skin irritants, and removing them from your shower routine  prevents your skin from being completely stripped of oils.

I've gotten away from the original question here and started ranting. Sorry. Long story short, I wanted something better for my skin. I now have that I would never go back to commercial soap or body wash. A couple of years ago Mandy and I took a trip back to central Texas, and forgot to bring a bar of our soap for the trip. We realized it at the hotel, but figured we'd be okay for a couple of days. Wrong. After using a real soap for years now, going back to the normal detergent bar that's passed off as soap made me itch like I'd been rolling around in an ant hill.

As for the shave soap, we got into that in 2012. I was a wetshaver already, but I thought I could probably make a better soap than the two brands I was currently using. I was right, but that didn't mean I was making a good soap. It took until October of 2013 before we finally hit on a formula that worked. We've been on that same formula since, except for the added tweak of removing clay from the formula in May of 2015. At the same time we cut down on our suppliers of raw materials. Rather than chasing sales on tallow, castor, and essential oils, we standardized our suppliers. We only bought what we considered the best ingredients, regardless of prices or sales. It made the biggest difference in our soaps.  Like the Papa John's commercials say "better ingredients, better pizza."  Well, better ingredients, better soap. Using the same ingredient suppliers also reduced batch to batch variations that can plague handmade soapmakers.

Was that too long?

nah, that wasn't too long.

what are your hobbies aside from anything shaving?

what are your hobbies aside from anything shaving?

We don't have much time for it anymore, but Mandy and I used to love hiking and going to state and national parks. We both whittled and stained our own 6 foot walking sticks and they are covered with Park Medallions from National and State parks from all over the US and a couple from Scotland.

I also love taking the Jeep out and just getting lost in the mountains. I used to get lost in the Huachuca Mountains of southern Arizona when I was stationed there. More than a few times I found myself on the wrong side of the border. There's no fence or markings in most places, and you only realize you've crossed in some places if you happen upon a sign or other marker, and then hightail it back across as I always have my sidearm with me when Jeeping.

Hmmm, baseball, spending time with Mandy and Emerson, poker, music, and once we finally finish the expansion and get caught up with production, running will be added back to the list of hobbies.

I also love to read, but it's hard to find the time right now, and when I do find the time I'd rather spend it on Mandy and Emerson.

what are your hobbies aside from anything shaving?

We don't have much time for it anymore, but Mandy and I used to love hiking and going to state and national parks. We both whittled and stained our own 6 foot walking sticks and they are covered with Park Medallions from National and State parks from all over the US and a couple from Scotland.

I also love taking the Jeep out and just getting lost in the mountains. I used to get lost in the Huachuca Mountains of southern Arizona when I was stationed there. More than a few times I found myself on the wrong side of the border. There's no fence or markings in most places, and you only realize you've crossed in some places if you happen upon a sign or other marker, and then hightail it back across as I always have my sidearm with me when Jeeping.

Hmmm, baseball, spending time with Mandy and Emerson, poker, music, and once we finally finish the expansion and get caught up with production, running will be added back to the list of hobbies.

I also love to read, but it's hard to find the time right now, and when I do find the time I'd rather spend it on Mandy and Emerson.

...and wet shaving continues to grow.

hopefully you find some time in the future to enjoy your hobbies! life is too short to always work!!!

I'll be in and out all evening and tomorrow as well, so please, if anyone comes in and has more questions, please continue to post. If you have something off the wall or more deep than the normal stuff, by all means...

Hey Rod,

Just picked up a Dallas handle so Ill let you know what I think about it when it comes in! Just want to thank you for letting me able to up my shaving gear as a med student on a budget. Shaved with Electric Sheep yesterday (first time using mutton tallow), and I loved the scent and shave! My question for you is: Was there ever a time where you thought you were going to have to hang up the business or not make it? I hope to one day see you in retailers nationwide, and you've got me sold on your products!
Also, as an Atlanta Braves fan, I will forever be salty that the Braves traded Chris Carpenter to the Cardinals early in his career
Hotty Toddy and Chop On,
Hunter