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Vanderhagen soap. Good, bad, meh?

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
I stay away from soaps that employ the use of SLS and SLES as a sudsing agent. No need for that chemical on my face, sorry, it's a no go.

Look at the top ten ingredients ... Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Sorbitol Stearic Acid, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Water Glycerin, Myristic Acid, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethanol, Aminomethyl Propanol, Coconut Acid, Ethoxylated Alcohol ...

That doesn't remotely look like the list for my true saponified shave soaps!
 
VDH Unscented is great if you use enough water and not great if you don’t. Williams is on my to-try list because hordes of the people from Excalibur group use it, but it’s initial citronella scent is stronger than ARKO!’s, so it scared me away for now.

😲

More Arko than Arko? Well now I guess I have to try it. I'm at my son's baseball right now and the mosquitos are eating me alive. A big dose of citronella is exactly what I'm looking for to finish out the season.
 
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thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
Pyrethrum > citronella. If you remember Billy the Exterminator before his relapse, pyrethrum pwns mosquitos and wasps alike whereas citronella often attracts wasps.

Use Williams for its slickness. Burn a mosquito in your palm like an absolute Chad to prevent insect-borne pathogens.
 
I picked up a puck of Van Der Hagen a few weeks ago for the first time, and I found it to be exceptionally adequate. It won't top many "must buy" lists, but it the lather is quite respectable. It's like the Bic pen of shaving soaps. A good value for a triple milled puck too. I'd guess it'd run for a least 150 shaves depending on how heavy you load.
 
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I picked up a puck of Van Der Hagen a few weeks ago for the first time, and I found it to be exceptionally adequate. It won't top many "must buy" lists, but it the lather is quite respectable. It's like the Bic pen of shaving soaps. A good value for a triple milled puck too. I'd guess it'd run for a least 150 shaves depending on how heavy you load.

I don't believe it's triple-milled, I think it's melt-and-pour, but someone else will probably be able to confirm what it is.
 
I was at the supermarket this morning & bought one of my inexpensive mild creams I use occasionally, VDH Shave Butter. Since the soap was also on sale & have never used soaps only creams & cans I figured for the price It would be good place to start. Also like the fact in comes in a plastic container.
 
I was at the supermarket this morning & bought one of my inexpensive mild creams I use occasionally, VDH Shave Butter. Since the soap was also on sale & have never used soaps only creams & cans I figured for the price It would be good place to start. Also like the fact in comes in a plastic container.
Let us know what you think of it.
 
I stay away from soaps that employ the use of SLS and SLES as a sudsing agent. No need for that chemical on my face, sorry, it's a no go.

Look at the top ten ingredients ... Ingredients: Propylene Glycol, Sorbitol Stearic Acid, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Water Glycerin, Myristic Acid, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Hydroxide, Ethanol, Aminomethyl Propanol, Coconut Acid, Ethoxylated Alcohol ...

That doesn't remotely look like the list for my true saponified shave soaps!
That’s because it’s not a soap. :001_smile
 
Williams and Vanderhagen are the two shaving soaps that are sold in my local grocery store. If I could not order online, those are the only two I would ever use. I've tried Williams but not VDH. What do you think of it?
VDH is fine for the money. I like the "Luxury" variety for its mild, mango-coconut tropical scent (to my nose, anyway). I wouldn't call it a luxury product in terms of scent or performance, but it works.
 
Try the VDH Luxury soap. It seems better that the other one they have. The ingredient list has things like propylene glycol, triethanolamine, sodium laureth sulfate (detergent) and other synthetic ingredients, so not a fan of that aspect. It does work fairly well as a shaving soap, though.

Williams is a more traditional soap.
+1 to this.

VDH Deluxe - meh
VDH Luxury - pretty good
Williams - outstanding
 
I haven't tried the VDH Luxury soap yet since I'm in the middle of trying different blades & to get consistent results I'm using the same razor & cream for all shaves. But I hope to try it next week. But considering I paid less than $3.00 even If I hate it I can use it to practice making lather from soap. I have only used cream & cans.
 
VDH is fine for the money. I like the "Luxury" variety for its mild, mango-coconut tropical scent (to my nose, anyway). I wouldn't call it a luxury product in terms of scent or performance, but it works.
To my nose the scented Luxury soap is a clone of Grey Flannel. Grey Flannel is about as divisive as Arko's scent; it's very much love it or hate it. I happen to love it. In fact, I bought a bottle because of how much I liked the scent of the VDH scented Luxury soap.

That said, with VDH raising the price of the Luxury soap, it's no longer a good value, IMO. I'd much rather buy Proraso croaps/creams for $3-5 and then apply some Grey Flannel after I finish shaving.
 
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