You know, I'm so glad these folks are in business in mainstream stores... The quality of the product, the price point, the availability are just some of their good points... If you ever have any contact with the family run operation over emails, etc. they are friendly, fast to respond and really seem appreciative that you emailed them about their product. I shaved this morning with their Glycerin labeled soap and had a fantastic shave. I've tried all three shave soaps (Deluxe, Glycerin and Select) and while the scent is the same, they each shave a bit different because of different ingredients. I've yet to have a bad shave out of any of them... The only gripe I can come up with is the QC of some of their boar brushes. I've got 2 of the Deluxe (tan handle) and one of the standard (green handle) brushes and both Deluxe brushes shed a lot of hair to begin with. They've now settled down after a few months of daily use and don't shed at all. They've also gotten very soft and work well for both soaps and creams. The badger brush they make (only available if you contact them) is a very nice and fairly large brush with a wooden handle. I picked mine up from my buddy, olafurson, on here and he said that the Co. will send you the brush first along with a bill for it. You can apparently check it out well before you decide to buy it or send it back. Not many people would do that nowadays... Keeping with their tradition, it is also fairly inexpensive (think tweezerman price) but works great. I would not be where I'm at today without being able to find VDH locally when I started this whole obsession. Do I still use them everyday? Nah...too many other options out there to try...but I do keep a couple of each soap on hand to come back to when the mood hits. I wish them the best of luck with their company. EW
I have a standard green handle boar brush and it works great in my inexperienced opinion. I have not seen the deluxe one but will buy it if i do. I've tried the deluxe soap and like it a lot. GREAT Price Thanks for the info on the badger. Any idea on the hair grade?
Agreed: I like variety too much for VDH soaps to be my only choice (or even close to it...); but, and I mean this sincerely, it could be. VDH soaps are very solid performers on their own merits, with a price that makes them a giant in the value category. As an added benefit, they're versatile. VDH works well in just about any format. Firstly, you can easily melt them into a homemade shaving stick for easy travel. (That reminds me, my last puck is in a shaving stick...time to buy more!) Secondly, superlathering VDH with just about anything (try KMF) produces a really fine lather. Finally, making a SCream from VDH and anything (again, try KMF) makes an equally fine product. It's a winner.
I purchased a puck of the VDH deluxe soap about a year ago and have been meaning to try it. I have so many soaps that I like and use and I've just started trying creams that I kept putting off using it. It seems to get mixed reviews. However, after reading this thread I thought it was ridiculous that I bought it but have never used it. That's about to change. It's on my bathroom sink for use with tomorrow morning's shave. If I like it as much EW, K, and Bryan it can be added to the rotation with the incredible benefit of being able to pick up a puck when I travel in case I forget my Pre de Provence. (The aluminum tin PdP comes in makes it a perfect travel soap.)
It is one of the best values going and it's a really decent soap as well. I prefer the Deluxe and never fail to get a good, if not great, shave using it. Used it 3 days running last week and will again in the near future. I believe if you put any of the VDH soaps in a fancy container and gave it a European sounding name, it would get rave reviews and be in high demand. It's just that good. I also did not know they had badger brushes. Anybody have info on them, i.e. type of badger used, knot & loft size, etc?? I would like to know more.
Hey guys, I don't know how to measure knots or figure out grade of hair but here's a pic I had of it in a The Haul thread awhile back.
I tried the VDH today and got the worst shave in my DE experience. The soap was worse than Caswell-Massey, which gets consistently poor reviews, by a long way. The lather was almost non-existent, I got a nick (something I am definitely not prone to), and my face was mildly irritated when I got done with my shave. Obviously, this soap works for you gentlemen. For me, however, I am afraid it is :sick002
How much water did you use? There is a knack to getting great lather from VDH, just like Williams. I have trouble getting great lather from their Glycerin Soap, but never the Deluxe. The Select is so-so, but I get better lather from it than the glycerin.
I had to get a prescription filled yesterday at my Walgreen's, so I took a look, and they had two pucks of the Deluxe left. I bought one to try. Not bad, actually. I got a decent lather out of it with my Rooney 1/2 super. The scent was very mild - having used quite a bit of shea butter hand cream from L'Occitane, this soap smells like the shea butter that is in it. Which suggests that they might use a decent amount of shea butter for me to be able to smell it. This was confirmed by the fact that my face actually felt pretty moisturized afterwards - almost so that I didn't think I needed an aftershave (but why not?). I ended up using my L'Occitane Cade, going with the shea butter theme. Overall, a pretty decent soap. Is it a rockstar? No. Does it stand out in a crowd? Nope. But for a drugstore brand soap, this was surprisingly good, and gave me a better shave than I have been able to manage with Williams. I might have to go buy the other puck and keep them in reserve. Should've tried it sooner.
I tried varying amounts of water and nothing seemed to work. I was using my Shavemac 177 brush which gives me a great lather on the soaps in my regular rotation (Roger & Gallet l'Homme, Pre de Provence, Provence Sante, l'Occitane Cade, an old puck of Old Spice that I bought on e-bay, and Tabac) and the one cream I have tried so far, WARS. At the time I purchased the VDH Deluxe I also got a puck of Williams, which I have not tried. I may eventually give it a try but if, as you hint at, there is as much trouble getting a decent lather from it then I may not bother. Then again, my curiosity may just get the better of me. With so many outstanding soaps in my rotation why should I struggle with, what is for me, an inferior product?
VDH Deluxe is one of my absolute favorites. I like it just about as much as Mama Bear soaps. I have never really had any difficulty making a great lather. Even better and more reliably than C&E, Harris, MWF soaps, as well as Trumper and The Real Shave Company creams. Hard to beat, especially for the price!!! Dave :bounce:bounce:bounce
Like all glycerin soaps this one produced a wonderfully rich lather for me that also smelled pretty decent....and then it shaved very average. I've come to understand that it may well be the very hard water here in AZ causing the problem. I'm going to revisit some glycerin soaps once I move out of here. As to the whole VDH issue, there seems to be a movement afoot whereby they will no longer be available at local drug stores. Maybe they are going to a mail order only business model. Anyway for those of you who love this stuff you might also try Col. Conk or Pirates Cove. Both are comparable to VDH in price and performance.
I went to Wal Mart this morning. They had just gotten in about 20 boxes of Deluxe. Maybe they're buying it all?
Local WalMart here has plenty of VDH Deluxe and the VDH shave sets on the shelf yet. I got a puck of VDH for my first DE shave and use it now and then yet. Used alone or supered with KMF, it works for me.
How much is this at Wally World? If you don't mind buying in bulk, this looks pretty cheap. It comes out to $1.81/puck shipped, or you can add something else to the order to get the total to $25 for the free 'Super Saver Shipping'.
Very true. I like it, but I've been using it and whatever else I could get locally since I started wetshaving about 16 years ago (went DE about a year ago), so I really don't have anything to compare it to. Same goes for brushes, I've only owned three in the last 16 years and all of those have been locally acquired cheap boar brushes (mostly because I didn't know anyting else even existed until last year) but they work for me so I'm happy. It's all a matter of what works for each of us and what kind of money we can or will spend on our shaving and enjoying the process in the way each sees fit.
Yeah, Walgreens is an astronomical $1.99! :happy102 Longs used to carry it for $1.59 also, but they are being taken over by CVS, and according to their website, they only carry Williams.
Began DE career with VDH deluxe and boar brush. Wonderful starter kit to test wet shaving. The deluxe provides good lather and a nice shave. The brush creates lather quickly. The brush does shed some hair in the beginning and softens. However when one uses a higher priced brush you realize the VDH does not hold lather well and much soap is wasted. For a few dollars more an omega professional boar is much better investment than a VDH.
I've got a puck of the VDH Select soap in my rotation. Went to the store looking for Williams but could only find this VDH soap. So as cheap as it was I bought it. Not the best soap I have but it does the job well. Don't know that I would buy it again since I like creams better, but then I don't use it that often and it will last me a long time.
