Stirling soaps

Stirling soapsare my favorites for not only the value, but the performance and scent options also.

Stuff is awesome

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Of tallow based soaps, Stirling can compete with any of them. I'm convinced that if Rod wanted to, he could put out a "deluxe line" for twice the price and sell the very same soaps with different names, e.g., "Stirling Steak au Poivre." No one would complain. It's a wonderful company, too. Lately I've been using chiefly vegan soaps--Pre de Provence, Martin de C, Pere Lucien, etc. But today I shaved with Stirling Lemon Chill, I think it's called. Stirling is proof that sometimes you get way more than you pay for. 

I've often thought that I'd love to see Rod do a "April Fools" type of trick. It would be interesting if he came up with a fictitious company name, used his current soap base, and offered  a completely different scent than what he currently offers (maybe even have Chatillon Lux make the scent, just to make it seem even more opulent). He'd have to make them in 4 oz. containers, otherwise the 5.8 oz. would be a giveaway. Then, he could get a few YouTubers to shave with this "brand new soap, from a brand new company" to generate some hype. He'd also have to offer it strictly from someone like WCS or Maggard - no direct shipping (again, the address would be telling). I have a feeling that people would rave about this incredible "new" soap once they got their hands on it. 

There are those of us who know just how great of Stirling is and appreciate the value of their products. However, with traditional wet shavers being such a fickle bunch, we're always looking for the next big thing. I also have a feeling that many folks consider Stirling to be a "beginner's soap" due to the lower cost, and feel that it doesn't stack up to some of the other offerings that are getting all the latest hype. 

I have quite a few soaps that are regarded as top-tier by many people, and yes - they're very good indeed. Stirling sits right up there with the best of 'em.

Today's shave.  I also used the matching aftershave splash, Stirling's Kong synthetic brush, and their unscented pre-shave.
Every one of those products, as well as others in their lineup, represents affordable quality.

Absolutely right. Rod should start a new company called something like "Royal Groomsmen" or "Deutsch Seife Ltd." Every soap has to be at least $35. Smaller pucks. Names like "Knickerbocker," "Buckingham," and "Marseille." They'd fly off the shelves. 

Serious Stirling Love expressed here. Is it a case purely of value? Or is it a case of blind fold taste test soap vs. soap excellence in lather and scent?

Serious Stirling Love expressed here. Is it a case purely of value? Or is it a case of blind fold taste test soap vs. soap excellence in lather and scent?

Stirling does what it was intended to do:  provide an excellent shave with scents that people want & like at an economical price. No one else in this niche has done it quite so well. As regards other more expensive artisan soaps being better one must cast off all hope & reason and enter the Twilight Zone of the PSF "Nazis"!!!    

Seriously?!?!


I love SSC.
But I think this comparison is unsustainable.

I don't know. The main thing I've learned from being a shave nerd is that in this hobby, you often get more than you pay for. I love my Martin de C soaps. They're absurdly expensive. They have great scents, good performance, and, as I've said, I love the fact that the ingredient list is short. For me, Wickham, which is also a vegan soap, outperforms Martin de C. And it's about a quarter of the price. No, the puck won't last nearly as long as a Martin de C puck. Still, it's superb. So are my Haslinger soaps, which are not expensive. I suspect that making a great soap isn't really that hard. And shouldn't be that expensive. Sure, if it contains exotic and pricey ingredients the cost will be passed on to the consumer. But what Rod has done is make first-rate soaps with superb scents and he made the business decision to keep the prices modest, to say the least. Which means that his soaps won't enjoy the acclaim that exorbitantly-priced soaps will get; it's just basic psychology to believe, or want to believe, that the $600 Montblanc writes better than the $1.25 Bic or the $4.50 Uniball. When in fact they all use similar refills. So I suspect that Stirling is probably as good as many other soaps with higher price tags but it's almost impossible to take out the subjectivity in this hobby, which is part of what makes it fun: I get a great shave with Arko and I love the scent--it's Ivory Soap meets lemon extract. Others revile it. Of the softer, vegan soaps, is there a soap that puts, say, Catie's to shame? Unlikely. Again, part of the fun is finding out what works for each of us. And, thankfully, even though this can get pricey, it's not like we're collecting antique cars. So I don't think there's an objective answer to be had unless someone funds a study of various artisan shaving soaps. Someone like Barbasol