Van Der Hagen Badger Brush

This was the first badger brush I owned. First impressions are not great as the "badger funk" was strong with this one. Even after the typical treatment with washing and shampooing, it still smelled for several uses afterwards. Something that concerned me at first but didn't after a while was how much it shed. The first dozen or so times I used it at least five to eight hairs would fall out. After the smell had finally subsided the knot separated from the handle! *** brush, and one I would not waste money on.

This was my first badger brush and I bought it from an eBay store before discovering B&B and some of the "better" badgers.

It has a nice face feel but I prefer to use it with creams while bowl lathering. IMO it is not stiff enough for face lathering but my preference is boars for that. It's also not that densely packed but the quality of the hairs is good. And after at least a dozen lathers it has shed fewer than 10 bristles and retains its' shape quite well.

In summary I think this is an excellent "starter badger" and for the cost you can't go wrong here.

a brilliant brush that does its' job perfectly with minimum effort. I've used this brush with Van Der Hagen luxury soap, and with Williams Mug Soap and have gotten consistent, well body lathers. a must form beginners in the Van Der Hagen starter kit with brush, stand, mug, and soap for only $20.

for the price I guess you cant go wrong for a badger, I would still spend and extra 10 and get a better quality badger, but if this one came in a starter kit, I highly recommend it.

Purchased this to replace an aging and falling apart VDH Boar brush.
The brush came with the typical "bad" badger smell, but I nixed it with some soap.

The brush itself is very soft and luxurious feeling, but the tips are too soft and don't have the "oomph" to get a good lather going from the soap puck immediately, it takes some working. The brush has a problem of "flopping" to one side when it's wet.

This brush also shows the same shedding problems that other VDH brushes have - multiple hairs come out everytime you shave with it, although it's not as bad as the VDH boar brush.

Overall, I think it's a decent beginners badger brush.

A perfect starter brush, cheap enough to not overwhelm a new wet shaver, and good enough to stick with for a long while!

The brush sheds a few hairs the first few uses, but stops shedding for the most part after a week of use.

Though I found it a bit floppy, it's still decent for face lathering as well as bowl..
It's brush despite being floppy it was a little skritchy but broke in nicely in short order.

I like that it holds water quite well which is nice for palm or face lathering lathering.

I found this a little on the floppy side for face lathering, as the brush tends to flare rather than lathering, and the tips are a little scritchy (but would likely improve as it gets broken in), but overall quality is quite good. Shed 10+ hairs on first use, a little disappointing, but hopefully that's it. The handle is great, comfortable in the hand and solid. The trim ring is a nice touch. If I bowl lathered, this would probably be a daily use brush and I'd hope that the tips would soften up over time, but as a face latherer, it just doesn't have the backbone to get the job done and will probably end up a gift or PIF down the road.

I have been using the VDH Premium Badger Brush for nearly every shave for about a month now. It's a good quality brush for it's price point, and would make a great first brush for a newbie.

It's pure badger, so it is a little scratchy (especially if you were going to face lather; I exclusively bowl lather), and it does tend to shed more than my other brushes (two custom jobs with TGN Knots, Omega Boar, Vie Long Boar), losing one-two hairs at each usage.

I wouldn't say this brush is overly floppy; I have used it to lather both soaps, and creams and it performs quite well at both tasks.

Overall a solid entry level brush.

Any comments on backbone? I have Parker Deluxe Pure that's super soft and great for creams but on the edge of floppy. I'm curious if this would be a good soap brush instead of the Shaving Factory XS Boar I currently use. I want to buy the set for the mug and I'm curious if I should keep the brush or pass it along.

Van Der Hagen has made a nice brush here. The solid black, acrylic handle is well designed, and makes for a nice tool to hold onto. There is no seam in the handle (I assume it's been lathe-turned) and it sports a high gloss shine complete with their new windmill logo. Also, at the base of the knot, VDH has added a metal ring surrounding the base of the hairs... a nice touch.

The badger hair is of good quality, and in my opinion is somewhere between a 'Pure' and a 'Best', if there is such a thing. It generated lather from the VDH Luxury Scented Soap in no time, and held onto the lather quite well. After 12 test lathers now, it has only shed one hair. The badger hair felt soft against my face, and coated my beard well, with just the right amount of stiffness with no uncomfortableness. At first I thought it felt a bit droopy, but wasn't so when making and applying the lather.

The cost is quite reasonable for this nice of a brush (about $25.00). It's refreshing to see Van Der Hagen upscale their line, and this brush (along with the new Luxury soaps, razor and brush stand, and the apothecary shave mug) is just the ticket to get them into the running with higher-end products.