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Howdy Mr. Van Der Hagen, mind showing me around?

This post will be about my first impressions with the Van Der Hagen Deluxe Shave set. Set comes with brush, bowl, stand, and soap. Now, the first time I used this set, as well as properly wet shaved in general, was about two days ago. That time was a three pass shave with a Schick Type I injector with Chick blade. My lathering technique and method of preparing the soap needs serious work, as my face had about three weepers and felt like it was on fire after all was said and done. I put the puck into the bowl and starting lathering right off the puck in the bowl. Pretty freakin close shave vs the canned foam I've used up until that point.

Today I did a warm face wash and instead of putting the puck directly into the bowl, I put it back into its plastic container and stirred the lather from the paste I gathered in my damp boar brush. The lather was a bit better than last time after I figured out one needs to do the stirring sans puck in the shave bowl until bubbles in the lather disappear and gets somewhat creamy. I'm still new to mixing the lather, its basically to me a science. Anyways, the WTG pass was excellent, no faults there, had to be a bit careful here, but nothing I couldn't handle.
Next was ATG, this was where I had some issues with possible glide problems as the whiskers would sometimes tug and irritation started to creep up. My blade has only been through 1 shave before this one, so its still good. XTG was the third and last pass, mostly under my neck. Now, I think I may have used most of the little lather I had worked up and so the neck became irritated as I shaved. A weeper crept up on this pass, but nothing like last time. I re-lathered and used new lather once I realized there might not be enough lather in my bowl and brush. XTG finished the shave with minor irritation and one weeper, all with near BBS, which shocked me as I never could get near BBS with my shave foams.

So, the final verdict is, Van Der Hagen is ok so far, but my lathering needs some serious work. I can say this though, I've gotten better results with a bowl and brush than canned foam. We don't need more blades, we need more brushes and bowls!!!
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
Welcome to wetshaving world and congrats on getting a few good traditional shaves under your belt. I think you’ll find that VDH is a fantastic introduction to hard soap and many guys who prefer to source their supplies locally use it happily for years. If you are willing to shop on Al Gore’s Amazing Internet, you will find a bewildering array of excellent shave soaps from long-standing European brands and innovative domestic and international artisans. But first, I would recommend that you spend $10 or so on an Omega or Semogue boar brush, or slightly more for a decent synthetic, and bin the VDH brush. A good brush will improve your lathering and general enjoyment of wetshaving immeasurably. Happy shaving!
 
VDH Deluxe is one of the easiest to get the lather right for me compared to other soaps I have tried. Keep working on it.!
 
Welcome to wetshaving world and congrats on getting a few good traditional shaves under your belt. I think you’ll find that VDH is a fantastic introduction to hard soap and many guys who prefer to source their supplies locally use it happily for years. If you are willing to shop on Al Gore’s Amazing Internet, you will find a bewildering array of excellent shave soaps from long-standing European brands and innovative domestic and international artisans. But first, I would recommend that you spend $10 or so on an Omega or Semogue boar brush, or slightly more for a decent synthetic, and bin the VDH brush. A good brush will improve your lathering and general enjoyment of wetshaving immeasurably. Happy shaving!

I'm gonna stick with the brush for now until its utterly close to falling apart, but if what I'm seeing is any indication, then it won't be long, maybe a month or so before it falls apart. I'm on a seriously tight budget right now until I can get a descent job as I'm looking to graduate in December and then maybe another few weeks before an actual job as an accountant. And still, that VDH brush is LEAGUES above what I was doing before what with the basic canned goo and for about three months prior premium canned goo (canned shave gel). I swear I get a damn closer shave with that brush and soap than the crap I used before, almost BBS for being slightly half-assed due to being inexperienced in this stuff, vs being an expert on slapping Barbasol and its cousins for years.

My next soap will probably be proraso red or green. I'm going to stay away from the likes of Col. Conk as I have heard nothing but bad reviews on that soap here. Thanks for the reply.
 
I'm gonna stick with the brush for now until its utterly close to falling apart, but if what I'm seeing is any indication, then it won't be long, maybe a month or so before it falls apart. I'm on a seriously tight budget right now until I can get a descent job as I'm looking to graduate in December and then maybe another few weeks before an actual job as an accountant. And still, that VDH brush is LEAGUES above what I was doing before what with the basic canned goo and for about three months prior premium canned goo (canned shave gel). I swear I get a damn closer shave with that brush and soap than the crap I used before, almost BBS for being slightly half-assed due to being inexperienced in this stuff, vs being an expert on slapping Barbasol and its cousins for years.

My next soap will probably be proraso red or green. I'm going to stay away from the likes of Col. Conk as I have heard nothing but bad reviews on that soap here. Thanks for the reply.
I have a gently used Omega boar you can have. Lemme know if you want it.
 
My friend, you just turned down a nice offer. (A brush cleaned with Dawn is a clean brush.)

Of course, you might go to a barber who only uses new combs, and eat at restaurants that only use new plates and forks.

Enjoy your shaves.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
I understand tight budgets. Fortunately, shaving brushes make GREAT stocking stuffers, if you have anyone stuffing your stocking this Christmas (or whichever holidays you might be celebrating this winter). The Omega 10066 is a good place to start. Best of luck to you.
 
I started out with that same kit years ago. Still have the bowl, and it's currently sitting on my counter with a puck in it.

You are right in that the cheapie boar brush didn't last long. I maybe got six months out of it until the bristle loss wasn't acceptable anymore, and replaced it with a nice best-badger brush which has served me much better.

As for the soap - I found the deluxe soap is good, but if you see VDH's luxury soap on the same shelves where you got that shaving kit, consider giving it a chance. It's a very smooth melt-and-pour style that I found gives me just as good of service as products costing far more.
 
Yep... VDH Luxury is good as well as the Deluxe IMO. Along with Col. Conk all three do the job of cushion & protection for me.
 
My friend, you just turned down a nice offer. (A brush cleaned with Dawn is a clean brush.)

Of course, you might go to a barber who only uses new combs, and eat at restaurants that only use new plates and forks.

Enjoy your shaves.

+1! But totally up to you! The main thing is to ENJOY YOUR SHAVES!!
 
I like VDH soap, and brush. I had the ivory colored handle that lasted from around 1998 through last year. It is a fine set, IMO, if one could restrain themselves, that’s all you’d ever need. Happy shaves to you!!!
 
VDH soap is easy to get a great lather. I melt a puck right into my bowl, let harden in the fridge. I lather right on the soap by first soaking my either the boar or badger brush in warm water, give it a light shake and begin lathering right on the soap, adding a few drops of water as needed. I get a great long lasting slick lather.
 
I'm gonna stick with the brush for now until its utterly close to falling apart, but if what I'm seeing is any indication, then it won't be long, maybe a month or so before it falls apart. I'm on a seriously tight budget right now until I can get a descent job as I'm looking to graduate in December and then maybe another few weeks before an actual job as an accountant. And still, that VDH brush is LEAGUES above what I was doing before what with the basic canned goo and for about three months prior premium canned goo (canned shave gel). I swear I get a damn closer shave with that brush and soap than the crap I used before, almost BBS for being slightly half-assed due to being inexperienced in this stuff, vs being an expert on slapping Barbasol and its cousins for years.

My next soap will probably be proraso red or green. I'm going to stay away from the likes of Col. Conk as I have heard nothing but bad reviews on that soap here. Thanks for the reply.

Also FYI, C.O. Bigelow is just a rebranded product that is identical to the Proraso green cream. If you have a Bath & Body Works store near you they sell it there in small (48g) or large (147g) tubes for $5 or $10 respectively. They have sales on the brand pretty often (like right now) and usually what I've seen is buy 2 get 1 free. Make sure you like it first, but if you do it's hard to beat 3 tubes of cream for $20.

The other C.O Bigelow products they have are actually pretty nice and they have a number of offerings if you don't want that much shave cream at once -I took advantage of that sale last week but one tube at a time is fine with me so the other two items were lip balm and some lemon scented lotion.

Premium Shave Cream By Proraso for C.O. Bigelow - C.O. Bigelow | Bath & Body Works
 
The glycerin version Van Der Haven is my favorite. The lather is a little different than the others but the stuff is SLICK. You have to really have bad form to end up with irritation when using it.
 
The glycerin version Van Der Haven is my favorite. The lather is a little different than the others but the stuff is SLICK. You have to really have bad form to end up with irritation when using it.
Well, I am new to this lathering routine. And also in the event its not me, but my water, then yeah, my tap water may also not be shaving soap friendly. I've heard that can be an issue.
 
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