Since I am not a regular user of liquid body soaps and my wife (who also gave the Stirling Liquid Body Soap a wash) has very particular requirements in her bath products, I hesitate to call this a formal review of the new Stirling liquid body soap. What follows is more "impression" than review...
First my wife's impressions:
The bottle is nice and she was impressed with the labeling and how aloe and vitamin E were part of the formula.
The Piacenza scent was nice, not a strong scent and not weak. She disagreed with my "fruit loops" assessment but agreed the scent was fruity and floral and could be considered uni-sex if needed but also that it wasn't NOT a manly scent.
She did not hate the performance but felt the post rinse was still too tacky or sticky for her taste, she likes to feel super slick once the soap is rinsed off. She did say the Stirling Liquid Body Soap did not dry her skin, it just didn't feel slick after rinsing like she likes. Given her hardline requirements for a liquid soap and how she described how she felt about the soap I would say she give Stirling Liquid Body Soap 2 out 3 thumbs up.
My impressions:
I like the bottle size and the way it functions, I have had no problems using it in the shower and controlling how much product I am using.
The scent strength is ok, it might stand to be a little stronger but really its not bad as it is.
Texture of the liquid- the gel like texture is perfect for dispensing and smearing all over. some gel soaps are so dense the soap flies of my hand rather than being spread over my body.
Sudsy- I don't use a puff thing but i am getting some suds with just my scrubby hands. compared to the bar soaps I get less suds than i am used to and would actually like to see more, perhaps a wash cloth or puffy thing would do the trick.
post rinse- when i fist used the soap I got the impression the post rinse was almost tacky (like a castor oil heavy soap would be) but that was only the first time i used it, each time i've used it since I have not had that impression. This leaves me wondering if perhaps the soap needed to be shaken before use and both my wife and I got a different first impression (which means my wifes impresion is ill informed). Generally speaking the wash and rinse are in line with a mild soap.
As a shampoo? I avoid comercial shampoo because it causes me all sorts of scalp problems. I have been using Stirling shampoo bars lately (great stuff) so I decided to use the liquid body soap as a shampoo (and the shampoo bar as a body soap) so i could compare and contrast the two. The liquid body soap works quite well as a shampoo, cleans and rinses well. It is very mild but might be a touch less mild than the shampoo bar...although only slightly so and nothing that a conditioner wouldn't compensate for. I can definitely see myself using this as a shampoo or 'everything' soap.
My final impressions- the liquid body soap is a wonderful mild soap that seems able to be used head to toe. The post rinse feel is appropriate, not slick (that's just gross) and not overly dry or sticky/tacky), you feel clean without feeling funky. The scent is enjoyable but not so powerful it dominates the event or leaves the bathroom scented post shower. I don't have a point of reference (because I do not use or buy other liquid soaps) but the size of the container and the amount of soap used each shower make the purchase price appear very reasonable.
I have no reason not to give this product 3 out 3 thumbs up.
good job @Joe Hackett
First my wife's impressions:
The bottle is nice and she was impressed with the labeling and how aloe and vitamin E were part of the formula.
The Piacenza scent was nice, not a strong scent and not weak. She disagreed with my "fruit loops" assessment but agreed the scent was fruity and floral and could be considered uni-sex if needed but also that it wasn't NOT a manly scent.
She did not hate the performance but felt the post rinse was still too tacky or sticky for her taste, she likes to feel super slick once the soap is rinsed off. She did say the Stirling Liquid Body Soap did not dry her skin, it just didn't feel slick after rinsing like she likes. Given her hardline requirements for a liquid soap and how she described how she felt about the soap I would say she give Stirling Liquid Body Soap 2 out 3 thumbs up.
My impressions:
I like the bottle size and the way it functions, I have had no problems using it in the shower and controlling how much product I am using.
The scent strength is ok, it might stand to be a little stronger but really its not bad as it is.
Texture of the liquid- the gel like texture is perfect for dispensing and smearing all over. some gel soaps are so dense the soap flies of my hand rather than being spread over my body.
Sudsy- I don't use a puff thing but i am getting some suds with just my scrubby hands. compared to the bar soaps I get less suds than i am used to and would actually like to see more, perhaps a wash cloth or puffy thing would do the trick.
post rinse- when i fist used the soap I got the impression the post rinse was almost tacky (like a castor oil heavy soap would be) but that was only the first time i used it, each time i've used it since I have not had that impression. This leaves me wondering if perhaps the soap needed to be shaken before use and both my wife and I got a different first impression (which means my wifes impresion is ill informed). Generally speaking the wash and rinse are in line with a mild soap.
As a shampoo? I avoid comercial shampoo because it causes me all sorts of scalp problems. I have been using Stirling shampoo bars lately (great stuff) so I decided to use the liquid body soap as a shampoo (and the shampoo bar as a body soap) so i could compare and contrast the two. The liquid body soap works quite well as a shampoo, cleans and rinses well. It is very mild but might be a touch less mild than the shampoo bar...although only slightly so and nothing that a conditioner wouldn't compensate for. I can definitely see myself using this as a shampoo or 'everything' soap.
My final impressions- the liquid body soap is a wonderful mild soap that seems able to be used head to toe. The post rinse feel is appropriate, not slick (that's just gross) and not overly dry or sticky/tacky), you feel clean without feeling funky. The scent is enjoyable but not so powerful it dominates the event or leaves the bathroom scented post shower. I don't have a point of reference (because I do not use or buy other liquid soaps) but the size of the container and the amount of soap used each shower make the purchase price appear very reasonable.
I have no reason not to give this product 3 out 3 thumbs up.
good job @Joe Hackett
