VAn Der Hagen Delux Shave Soap

I started using Van Der Hagen about 6 to 8 months ago, maybe a little longer, and really like the soap. I stumbled across it at my local grocery store and gave it a try. Am on my second cake. As mentioned it is readily available in my home town and is inexpensive.

I lather in a mug and can get a great super lather going with this soap. It lasts a long time on the face and is plenty slick providing for a great shave. :001_rolle

What can I say? This can't be beat for the price and I reliably manage close, smooth, comfortable shaves with no difficulty in lathering. Used every day, generously loading the brush, I get 6 weeks to a puck.

The packaging is cheap--you're clearly not paying for elaborate scrollwork or froo-froo here--but that's what you'd expect at this price point.

The scent is very mild. Not something that you're going to find yourself longing for, but low-key, sweet and tolerable. Essentially gone after the last rinse if you don't like it.

The lather seems very tolerant of variable water content. It gets a little thicker when drier and thinner and more slippery with more water, but doesn't dry out while on the face. Stays nice and slick.

My skin feels very soft and happy after I've used this product, without a hint of dryness.

I like it enough that I bought a pack of a dozen pucks from Amazon for an even cheaper price. It's readily melted and poured, so I'm making shave sticks of it as well.

This stuff really impressed me all around. My results using Mantic's method yielded the exact same effect as his demonstration. Quick lather, great moisturizing, fine scent and a great shave. I used my RSC cream with this and it made an insane superlather! Highly recommended!

I've been wetshaving for more than 30 years now, almost exclusively with creams: C&E Sweet Almond, and lately TOBS Almond Oil. I picked this puck of soap up at WalMart for the ridiculous price of $1.57. I am reviewing the pink version of the VDH line.

As I indicated in my ratings, this soap performs very well, especially given its price and availability here in the states. I took the puck out and melted it (in my microwave) into an old TOBS cream bowl that I had lying around, which worked very well for building the lather. As with any soap, it takes a bit of working compared to a cream to generate a rich lather, but once you've got the right consistency, it's a winner - slick and fairly protective.

The scent is mild and inoffensive, but nothing to write home about. As an experiment, I tried re-melting this after I added a few drops of glycerin and some Master and Pinaud Bay Rum into it, and I've now got a pretty great Bay Rum scented soap that's non-irritating and slicker and more protective than the right-out-of-the-box-version. I expect that you could add a splash of your favorite aftershave or cologne without any problems, but as always, YMMV. The good news is that even if it doesn't work for you, you're out all of $1.60... Cheap and effective, give it a try!

This is one of the only soaps I've used. It's dirt cheap, I love the smell, and even though I totally suck at lathering, I get a darn good shave with it.

This soap has just about everything going for it. The soap is cheap and widely available at Wal*mart, CVS, Walgreens, etc, for about $1.60 a puck. It's a relatively soft soap that loads on the brush well. It lathers up easily and is nice and slick. It also does not leave a residue on my razor and in my sink like some of my other soaps do (i.e. Tabac).

The only downside is the smell. :frown:

It isn't the foulest thing I've ever smelled, but it is hands down the worst smelling grooming product I've ever used.

Price: $1.49 at Wally-World. Can't beat the price!

Quality: A superb product that I love to use!

Scent: Scent is very gentle, but very pleasing!

Lather: Bursts into mounds of rich, sweet smelling, moisturizing lather with a very minimal amount of effort.

Efficacy: The lather lasts for a good long time, and the shave is slick, and has a nice amount of cushion. What more can we ask for?

Moisturizing: Leaves my face feeling refreshed every time!

In Summary VDH performs well above it's price point, and will always deserve a spot in my rotation. I simply love it!! This is a wonderful product, and fortunately for all of us, available at super reasonable prices.

A great soap for newbies looking to "test the waters", as the price can't be beat!

Price:
Hard to beat

Quality:
On par with many much more expensive glycerin based soaps

Scent:
Mild and soapy, very discreet

Lather:
Good, for a glycerin based soap

Efficacy:
A puck will lase some time

Moisturizing:
Not the strongest point of this soap, bot still rather good

Regards.

Jakob

I can't believe I bought this at Wal-Mart for $1.54! It is so much better than Williams. It lathers very well, and doesn't dry on my face. It smells very good in my opinion with a rose smell. It is an all around great soap. The only thing that I would complain about is that it doesn't last that long, but at the price, if you used a puck a week it is still a deal. Try some if you haven't you will not be disappointed.

price is right

price is great. melted it in a container. whipped up a lather, but i dislike the smell so much that I couldn't bring myself to shave with this stuff. So i can't really comment on any other aspects.

For being $1.54 @ Wally World this stuff is very good stuff. It performs as well as my Tabac, Taylor's of Old Bond Street, and Proraso. I love the fact you can nuke it in the microwave and mold it to any bowl or mug you want to use. It has a great scent and is very moisturizing -- and my face is extremely sensitive. Great soap. 10x better than Williams soap, that stuff is pretty worthless. I will keep this in my rotation of soaps and try it, especially if you are on a tight budget, you will be surprised.

Pretty darned good soap for the price. A buck-fiddy at Wally World buys you this puck of pink stuff that smells like soap and lathers quite well. Provides a nice cushion and reasonable glide.

Doesn't take that much work to whip it into a good lather.

Best of all, this stuff superlathers wonderfully with any variety of high-end creams. The way I see it, I can stretch my expensive creams to twice the life span using a little VDH Deluxe at the same time.

Give it a try, if you haven't already. You don't have much to lose!

As a rookie wetshaver, I have to say that VDH has been impressive. Chalk this up to lack of experience with other "premium" creams and soaps, but I enjoy this soap. I can't say much more than others have already said, its close at hand, dirt cheap, and provides a DFS everytime. The scent is the only downfall to me, but it isn't unbearable, just a bit "Grey Flannel". I first got this puck with the brush and bowl set at WM and after breaking in the VDH brush, this soap has only gotten better along with my technique. It beats the crap out of Col.Conk in performance, it just doesn't have the appeal or smell of that brand.

joeljkp;1166569 said:
I'm completely new to the brush-and-soap method, so I'm having some trouble with this soap. I bought it as part of VDH's complete kit, with a boar bristle brush, a puck of the pink soap, and a lather bowl.

How do I build lather on the thing? The past couple times I've tried wetting the brush, putting the soap puck in the bowl, and swirling the brush around on top for a while (that's what the box says to do), but I'm getting a pretty meager lather. Is it supposed to be heaps of mounding lather, or just kind of a thin film?

Anyway, how is it supposed to be done? If you don't put the soap in the bowl, where do you put it? How do you build lather with the brush?

Thanks for the tips!

Go to youtube, search for mantic59, watch his lathering tutorial videos, you should be set after that.

One tip though, your brush and soap a nowhere near as fancy as his :tongue_sm

Expect to use a LOT more soap (like, a full minute of swirling, as opposed to his 4 flicks of the wrist) and take a lot longer to get a proper lather. You probably won't get any lather worth the name the first few times you try, but it gets easier pretty quickly.

I'm completely new to the brush-and-soap method, so I'm having some trouble with this soap. I bought it as part of VDH's complete kit, with a boar bristle brush, a puck of the pink soap, and a lather bowl.

How do I build lather on the thing? The past couple times I've tried wetting the brush, putting the soap puck in the bowl, and swirling the brush around on top for a while (that's what the box says to do), but I'm getting a pretty meager lather. Is it supposed to be heaps of mounding lather, or just kind of a thin film?

Anyway, how is it supposed to be done? If you don't put the soap in the bowl, where do you put it? How do you build lather with the brush?

Thanks for the tips!

I picked this soap up in a discount pack along with the vdH green shave bowl. I honestly expected it to be a harsh, dry-out affair, so I put it in the cabinet and used Bigelow/Proraso cream instead. One evening I decided to give the soap a try, seeing as I had the next day off and had nothing to lose.

The soap lathered up alright, nothing special or especially great. It took a little extra water to get a decent lather going in the bowl, but eventually a fair bit came together. It did take a fair amount of stirring to get it from raw goop into lather.

But where the soap really shined was on the face-- the lubricity is excellent. It actually felt quite a bit smoother and slicker than the Proraso Cream (at less than 1/3 the price).

My only complaint would be that you get a little bit less lather than you think when you load your brush up. Well, that and it was a little slow to lather up in the bowl. But as for the effect on the face and the lubricity with the razor-- good stuff.

It has a basic soap smell- no real fragrance. I'm fine with that.

As a big plus, you can probably find it locally for cheap-- no worries there. So, my recommendation is to try this stuff- the price is low and there's not much to lose if you don't like it. Like me, you might be pleasantly surprised.

VDH soap smells allot like Noxema, which is not very appealing to me. The puck is small and I often fumble while rubbing the puck iwith a brush in the plastic container. Often, I look at the soap, in its container, and think "what a bland looking object". In fact, the only thing that this soap does for me is to provide the best shaves that I have. I don't use a pre or post shaving substance with this soap as it simply provides a smooth, close and comfortable shave. This soap evokes a memory of the old slant six Chrysler engine. It was not pretty looking but, in its simplicity and functionality was the best engine that I ever had. This is a soap with no frills, no fuss. No modern gimmicks here. It seems, for me, to talk to my razor and guide it along.

John

BurkDarkpatches;380007 said:
Love this soap... now. Initially, using the same lather techniques as my shaving creams (bringing the wet, hot brush to the dry soap to charge it), it was disappointing. I could get a decent lather for the first pass, but the second pass was useless; especially when keeping my lather bowl in a bowl of hot water between passes. I gave up on it and felt guilty that I included it in a shaving brush kit present I gave to a friend.

Then, after recently browsing in the forums, I started using the technique of pouring hot water over the soap for a bit, then pouring it out, before making lather. Doing this, the lather I make lasts through three passes and is thick and incredible each pass! I couldn't believe it at first. I've found that it takes really hot water (I use a hot pot). Hot water from the tap did a better job than my lousy previous technique, but the super hot water brings this soap to life.

One guy mentioned he can get it for $.90. Must be in the military like me. $.90 with no tax at the PX/BX. Cant' beat that! So, I get it for the same price as Williams, which has resisted any attempt by me to turn it into a decent lather. Like many before me, the Williams ended up in the shower.

The scent? I love it, for the same reason I love Palmolive (rest in peace). It's just a clean, soapy, all-American smell. Very pleasing going on the face.

Moisturizing? Doesn't dry me out like the Williams, but I definitely need a ASB afterwards.

Hardly leaves a film on the razor. Not incredibly important, but it's nice to have a shiny razor throughout the week.

I had started using VDH and liked the results but wanted a bit more lather. I found that the technique of pouring some hot water over the soap and waiting a bit then pouring most of it off has worked wonders. I get a rich lather that will give enough quantity for 3 passes if needed. It also lathers quicker. I find that pouring off the water and then just wetting the brush provides enough moisture.

Good cheap soap. Scent is its only downfall. And it doesn't last as long as 'premium' soaps.

Search

VAn Der Hagen Delux Shave Soap

Show only: