What's new

VAn Der Hagen Delux Shave Soap

For the price you get, this soap might be one of the best bang for your buck buys out there. The lather you get is easy to make, stays for a few passes, leaves the face feeling ok. The only drawback for me is the smell. I am not crazy about the smell.
In my country, Mexico, there are no shaving soaps. At least, it is ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to find something traditional for shaving. But I live in a border city so I can go to the US either walking or by car. I just picked many of these at an US Walmart. Mexican Walmarts don't carry this soap.

Ok, let's get to the point.

Price: Under $2USD. That's a bargain.

Quality: Maybe not the best soap ever made, but it's still very decent.

Scent: Very acceptable. It smells like a body lotion or something like that. Something natural. Don't worry, it's not bad.

Lather: I have a "mistery-hair" brush, that I found at a department store with a stand and a little bowl. Look the picture. These items were imported to Mexico, but it's pretty rare to find something like this here. When I purchased it, it has not box already and no razor; soap neither. But it in a surprising 70%OFF!!! I paid about $300 mexican pesos for this. About $24USD. So it was a true bargain, the original price was about $125USD. So I consider my mistery-hair brush a cheap one, so it doesn't look like a a true badger brush. Maybe it's boar I don't know. It has no trademark anywhere. But let's get back to the lather.

With my mistery-hair brush is makes a very good lather. Maybe not too thick lather, but it's thick and rich enough. Look the pictures.

View attachment 91288

View attachment 91289

Efficacy: For my skin it's very easy to get cut, but since I started used this soap I've had nick-free shaves. Really great, slicky, cushion.

Moisturizing: It provides a great moisturization. Period. It's so moisturizing that I prefer to use an alcohol-based aftershave. Very good for dry skin.

The bottom line: I you don't want to pay an eye and get a very good soap, you must try this one.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
i have used creams as well but this soap is worth every cent. it is so good and moisturizes my skin. i recommend it to any newbie lol:thumbup1:
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
For a dollar or so, this might be the best value shaving soap money can buy. I rated scent n/a because I honestly can't smell anything besides a mild soapy scent. Although the lather and shave were great and about as good as any other glycerin soap I have tried. I would spend the extra money and grab a Tabac or MWF though.
I have to throw one more out there for someone considering this soap. It's GREAT! Good soap for the newbie to learn on. It lathers easy. It's cheap so you can experiment with it and the lather is very moist and lubricates the face really well. Seriously, try this soap. it does as good a job or better than any I've tried so far and I will always have some in my rotation. The fragrance is mild and simply smells...clean. This cheap soap is really surprising.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
First, start with I'm coming from Col. Conk's Lime glycerin soap and hard water.

I used Col. Conk's by itself and it was OK enough. Mixed with a blob of Poraso made things better, so that's what I ended up using for over a month with my DE.

Then I discovered SE shaving and got a Gem Jr. Somebody on B&B said get some Gem Personna stainless SE blades at Wallgreens...I was using carbon steel Treets..., so when I was there buying blades, I saw Van Der Hagen Delux for sale cheap, under $2. 10 Personnas cost $5.95, so it didn't make sense to not try it at the cost.

Loaded the Gem with a new Treet...wanted a direct comparison test...and worked up a lather right off the puck and then on my face, no bowl.. The lather took about the same time to build...1/2-1 min, but the lather was better than Col. Conk's. There's no question I could use VDH alone from what my face produced.

Then I blobbed on a little Porasso, and the rich, slick lather I got from both was way better than from Col. Conk's and Porasso.

The shave was BBS, so I guess I found a better way. VDH doesn't leave any smell, and my skin feels smoother, more buttery...must be the ingredients. Combine the cost, the availability, and the result, it's hard to beat.

I gave VDH 9's accross the board. I don't believe in 10's and 1's. It's my highest accolade
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
4.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
This is the first soap I started wetshaving with and you won't go far wrong. Lather is a steep learning curve with this soap as too much water and it's bubblefest, too little and you can't pick up much soap from the puck. The cost one member mentioned at the BX/PX (military department store) as .90 is off, it's a buck 30 in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area (if you can get on a military installation). Otherwise it's generally available at Wal-Mart supercenters for under 2$.

Scent is very neutral, just like others have mentioned, just plain soap.

One of the best methods I've found to get thick lather with this soap is to pour a scant teaspoon of hot water on the puck, leave it sit for a minute, pour that weak soap solution into your mug, then load your brush on the puck. After the brush starts to drag, put the brush into your mug and wait another minute. The lather will set up stiff and creamy - I had a devil of a time getting the balance of water and soap right, but the 'rest' between loading your brush and building lather seems to do the trick.
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
1.00 star(s)
Lather
3.00 star(s)
Quality
2.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
2.00 star(s)
I found this soap to be very moisturizing. Don't care a ton for the scent. But for the price, it does a great job. This is quite the go to shave.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
I guess I just had bad luck with this soap. I tried it after I got my Col. Conks so, I may have just ruined my perception right there.

I found that the lather wasn't as rich and full as the Conks and had this "perfume" smell too it which also irritated my face. It seemed like it was more conditioner in solid form than anything to me.

It took just as long to build a lather as it did on my Conks puck.

I can't put my finger on it but, something about this soap just didn't sit right with me. I would say I would use this as a travel soap but, at $3 a puck for Conks, I just threw this puck in the trash and never looked back.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
0.00 star(s)
Lather
2.00 star(s)
Quality
3.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
2.00 star(s)
This is not a bad soap at the price point. One of my students gave me a package with the soap, bowl and mug for Christmas and I gave it a try for a for days. The brush I reviewed elsewhere- now in my travel kit. The soap however, is a bit better quality and at the price is usable if not at all that exciting. I prefer the nicer creams, but I did get more than a passable shave from this stuff.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
3.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
Williams - 1

Van Der Hagen Delux - 5

Tabac - 10
Like so many out there, this was the second soap I tried after Williams. It goes almost without saying that it was a huge improvement. It took time for me to learn to master the boar hair brush that came with the soap and I was off to the races making better lather each morning.

Also like so many others I discovered the other types of soaps and have spent much time and coin looking for something that will perform better than my VDH. I've discovered some excellent soaps but nothing that can blow away the VDH like the reputations and prices suggest tha they should.

It's cheap and it works well. That's pretty good in my book.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
While some may disagree this is probably one of my favorite soaps. It forms a rich lather rather easily. Merely add some warm/hot water to the surface and run your shaving brush across it. You can easily build a nice strong lather on your face. The lather also seems to be great at moisturizing without feeling oily and I love the subdued scent. It reminds me of cotton and vanilla.

-CCM
Price
4.00 star(s)
Scent
5.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
This stuff quietly sits on the shelf as one of the only widely-available American shaving soaps. It doesn't get much attention. It's just about scentless. And it's loaded with shea butter, yet it doesn't have a French name on it.

And oh yeah -- it's a great performer too.

Thick, protective, moist lather; extremely mild and non-irritating; slick as anything aside from Tabac. Cheap too. What else do you want from a shaving soap? The only negative is that it goes quickly but is that really a problem when the product costs less than $2?

Overall a surprisingly good product.
The skinny:
It cost $2 here, it works about the same as Williams (if you lather Williams right), the one I got smelled like roses (ugh), it's slightly moisturizing, and the lather's decent but not great. Seems to last only a few shaves.


The fat:
I've tried Williams and VDH that came with my started kit.

At this point, I would say they're about the same. I've almost used the entire cake of VDH after only 4 shaves though...... And the Williams is maybe 1/4th gone after twice as many shaves.

I can get it to lather only slightly better than Williams (and I don't have a lot of trouble with Williams). I'm using the soak in hot water, drain, use damp/mostly drained brush. I've found that the best way is to work it almost to a perfect lather, and then to whip it like meringue by barely touching the top of the soap.

The one I got smelled of roses (not a smell I enjoyed in my shave soap, but I love roses). I noticed the VDH select white cake sold at the store (for normal beards it says) smells like Williams, only weaker.

It is slightly more moisturizing than Williams, and didn't dry out on me much (a tiny dip of water restored any drying lather).
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
1.00 star(s)
Lather
2.00 star(s)
Quality
3.00 star(s)
Efficacy
2.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
3.00 star(s)
JohnD;278683 said:
I bought my self three 2.5 oz. pucks of the Select brand (white) for a total of $6.00. I formed them in a bowl and proceeded to shave. What I got was a fantastic under-rated performer. Lubricity, moisterizing comfort was all there. There is absolutely no reason to pay more for any shaving soap unless the reason is the scent. I like the extremely clean, almost non existing scent. It rinses clean from the razor. The brand is labeled hypoallergenic, and I believe it is from my experience. I will always buy it. If this soap was made in a foreign country, had a fancy name and had to be bought over the internet, there would be more fanfare.
I agree with you 100%. Why spend as much on s/h as what the soap costs. It's something that you buy on an ongoing basis and it's much easier and cheaper to get it at a local drug store.
I bought some at Wal-Mart for under 2 dollars to try makeing some super lather that I saw Mantic make on a video. I used it with some plain Kiss My Face shave cream and it worked great. I know it sounds crazy but it was one of the best shave's I've had. I don't know how good it would go with one of my better cream's but I might give it a try. It might even work good in my pre shave prep.
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
3.00 star(s)
Lather
4.00 star(s)
Quality
4.00 star(s)
Efficacy
4.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
4.00 star(s)
I was traveling, ran out of soap and picked up some VDH because it was cheap and I was desparate. Was I in for a surprise! No, not in the same league as first tier products like Tabac, MWF, Irisch Moos, Cade, PdP and others, but this is a FINE product at a ridiculously low price.

Not really part of my regular rotation only because others are better and life is short. Still: Recommended
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
1.00 star(s)
Lather
3.00 star(s)
Quality
3.00 star(s)
Efficacy
3.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
2.00 star(s)
Once I tried VDH I never looked back. Kudos to the Van Der Hagen family buisness for putting out a quality product that the regular working guy can afford that works as good as any other soap I have tried and better than many much more expensive. Warm up a brush in in hot water, let it sit on the soap for 30 sec, pour off the excess water and wip up enough lather for 3 passes of the most luxurant of lathers.
I put NA for scent, but to be honest, the heavy beard version that I like the most, has just a faint smell, kind of clean and not obnoxious. If I am in the mood for scent, I squirt in a couple pumps of liquid glycerin that I scented with essential oil. More and more I don't even bother with the glycerin, which is a left over habbit of when I used lesser soaps.
Kudos to the Van Der Hagen family, good honest folks giving us a good honest product.
Mike
Price
5.00 star(s)
Scent
1.00 star(s)
Lather
5.00 star(s)
Quality
5.00 star(s)
Efficacy
5.00 star(s)
Moisturizing
5.00 star(s)
Just tried some, I agree, this is a great soap for the price. I have fair skin and it feels great after a shave, could even go without my usual A.S.balm. Thanks for the heads up.
Top Bottom