VDH is a good to great soap for the money. I have had great shaves with it. It was my daily soap for a couple of years. I also love Williams my next daily driver soap.
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Vanderhagen soap. Good, bad, meh?
- Thread starter Dominic
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Where are you finding Proraso for 3 to 5 dollars?
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I've seen and bought Proraso croaps and creams for $3-5 at Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and Burlington Coat Factory. I'm not sure where you're located, but those are the second season department store discounters in my area.
That's odd. Where I am, VDH Luxury remains very cheap, $4 or even less with coupons. Proraso, on the other hand, has increased in price from $5 to $10, though sometimes it can still be found for less. Perhaps you and I should engage in some barter!
I go to the local discount shops and search through the men's grooming goods for shaving goods. It's there that I've found Proraso for $3-5. I've also found Cremo and Nivea shave sticks for $2-5. Aside from that, my local stores, including drug stores and supermarkets, don't really carry shave soaps.
In fact, I can't even find VDH soaps locally; I have to order them online. Just a couple weeks ago, VDH's website listed the Luxury shave soap at $7, though it's now back down to $5. While I like VDH's Luxury shave soap, I'm not sure it's a good value at $5 a puck when I have found other really good shave soaps for less.
I get that VDH is trying to move upmarket, but if it's going to do that with the same line of soaps it sold for $3, that will only upset their original customers who realize they're being taken for a ride. What VDH should do is partner with an artisan soap maker to make a limited release of shave soap that VDH sells as a "Premium" soap. That would allow the brand to move upmarket, while not alienating customers by making them pay substantially more for the same thing they've been buying for years.
I used to find Proraso at the discount stores, but not recently. Cremo I still see from time to time at a big discount. VDH is still quite the bargain, as I said above. I like them all, but I don't think any of them qualify as luxury products, and it would take more than upscale marketing to get me to change my mind. Proraso was my standard for a long time, but at its now higher prices, Tabac and Haslinger don't cost much more and for me perform better. VDH and Cremo are good for travel and I'll still use them. I see no need for the fancy 'artisan' brands, but if all these standards disappear or become pricey, I'll have to rethink that, too.
- Thread starter
- #48
What was the lower price for Proraso. I've only recently bought a tub of the red. It was $10 I think.
I started off pretty much the same way. I recently began trying some artisanal soaps. I highly recommend Captain's Choice soaps and Barrister and Mann's soaps.
Yes, those two brands and a couple of others would be the next step, if I needed to "move up." I've already tried a few of them. But I'm extremely happy with my shaves as it is. What I'd like to find is a better travel / convenience option, though I've tried some good ones.
For travel, you can either use a (commercial) shave stick or make one from Proraso by putting it in an empty deodorant container. Alternatively, you can get Proraso shave cream in the tubes.
Cremo comes in a travel tube size, and they have unscented, which I prefer, though imo Proraso is a better product. Proraso also makes a small plastic bottle of their aftershave balm. VDH, though not quite as good as either, comes in a plastic container with a flip top lid and so is good for travel too. I'm about to hit the road for the first time since March 2020, and I look forward to giving some of these a try.
I bought Cremo travel stick for about $2 or $3 at my local TJ Maxx. It's now in my travel kit. It provides excellent slickness but no cushion. That said, it still gave me some excellent shaves.
Exactly right. But fine for "vacation shaves", which don't have to be as close, for me anyway. The problem with Cremo for me, and it isn't a big one, is that most of its scents are cheap-smelling, imo. They do have unscented, so that takes care of that. There are good artisan unscented soaps, too. I liked WSP Rustic, and I'll buy it again at some point.
The luxty soap (green box) I don't know what it is but no matter brush I use, I can't get a decent thick creamy lather. It takes time to get any lather which ends up thin and bubley What's the secret?
VDH is ok. Williams is way better, though
VDH Deluxe is a pour and melt, so I suspect that VDH Luxury would be a pour and melt as well—I had a half used puck of Deluxe, put it in an Old Spice mug, and microwaved it for a few seconds at a time until it melted and then cooled it in the refrigerator until it set up again. Kept the puck from rattling around in the mug though. I have the luxury that I haven’t tried yet, but once the Williams is gone I’ll use the mug that it’s in.
You can get the van der hagen luxury scented soap 3.5 ounces for $2.99 on sale at bed bath and beyond, you can also use coupons on it.
For that price, it'd still be a good buy.
Just cracked open a ten-year-old puck of VDH Deluxe. For me it easily produced boatload of outstanding lather that was a pleasure to shave with.
