This is simply a wonderful shave soap. Very reasonable when it comes to price. It costs very little but it sure delivers. It contains aloe vera and shea butter which really oils up the product nicely. The emollients provide exceptional protection against razor burn and irritation. Excellent for sensitive skin. I find the scent great and it lasts for quite a while. Lathering is not a problem and it lasts right through the shave. My skin feels very moisturized and I have no dry-skin or tight-feeling sensation after completing my shave. In fact, I feel like I did not shave at all. This product is very similar to their other product called Van Der Hagen Glycerine Shave Soap. They are quite similar and provide a wonderful shave. It really makes shaving a joy. There is no doubt that I will be using this shave soap for a long, long time.
Great soap. My favorite of the drugstore brand but I would rather pay an extra buck or 2 for Col Conk and get a better scent. Not that this one smells bad just the Col smells better.
My Standby I love this soap! I used to use classicshaving.com's house brand, and decided to try this out because it was so much cheaper. It works much better than classicshaving.com's brand. The only thing off about it is its scent: it just doesn't have one. That's better than a bad scent, I suppose. Soap scents aren't that important to me, so this is my main soap. I highly recommend it!
As an absolute newbie who needed a quick score to check out my Super Speed this is the soap I found at Wal-Mart on a late night run. I was very surprised at it's reputation as a quality soap for the price, but after using it I could see why.
Honestly, I'm not impressed. After a week with the same soap, I decided to try the Van Der Hagen. I have used it twice. First observance, real finicky. The others have rated a good lather, but I really wasn't able to achieve a good lather as effortlessly as my other soaps. The shave itself felt smooth and lubricated. I was able to make 3 passes, wtg, xtg, atg, without a "Scraped up feeling". I thought this was the first real good shave, but as soon as I rinsed and aftershaved up, I felt itchy on my neck and jaw line. (Something I haven't experienced in the couple of weeks I've been doing the soap, brush, and DE.) Second time, I went back to my control razor. Tried to get the water right for a good lather, but never got it. It was really light, and started to fade before I got going. I washed off, dumped whatever water was in the mug, and tried to brush up again, with the same result. At this point I gave up and went back to my other soap. Try it yourself, take all our advise. I am a newb, there were some other things I tried new in my routine that morning that could have cause the irritation. But from the start, I was not happy with the lathering.
I hate to waste anything, so I tried the Van Der Hagen again today. And got a great, albeit, scentless shave. I used next to no water outside of what was left in my brush, got a good lather, smooth shave, no irritation. I did throw the "Dollar General" brand blade in the trash, that's a start. I will try it again before I change my rating.
Definitely a great soap to keep around. It is very mild (and has a mild scent). I find it easy to lather. It is so cheap (less than 2 bucks at WalMart) and like its glycerin cousin it is easy to mix with other soaps or creams. Part of my regular rotation includes a puck of this and the VDH glycerin melted and mixed together in a ramekin.
VDH DeLuxe is a fine soap and a terrific value. Despite the low price, I think it qualifies as one of life's simple luxuries, and I look forward to shaving with this. EASE OF LATHERING: A mixed bag here, I find it takes too much fuss to get a good lather in a mug despite trying every technique I could think of while whipping up several practice batches. Fortunately, face-lathering is simple and straightforward, and my preferred method of deployment. LIFESPAN OF LATHER: This can fall flat on your face during a leisurely shave, but a couple of drops of water brushed on can easily bring it back to life. MOISTURIZING: Here's where this soap really shines. The shea butter and aloe formulation leaves my skin soft and buttery smooth. LUBRICATION: Pretty slick stuff, it somehow manages not to get in the way of an extremely close shave. Not as good as my favorite creams, but darn good nonetheless. HOW PROTECTIVE?: Provides ample protection against mishaps and irritation. SCENT: Understated and refined, mostly soapy with floral and earthy notes. I quite like it and wish it had a little more oomph. PRICE: A five-star value, I can't think of anything else I'd rather buy if I had to minimize the cost of shaving. WOULD YOU BUY AGAIN?: Absolutely. I enjoy shaving with this, and get great shaves. What's not to like?
Can't beat it for under $2.00 Just tried this soap again yesterday. I was amazed at how well it performed. Loads of rich lather. Skin felt great afterwards. The only downside is the lack of scent. This soap is definitely part of my rotation.
This is the only shaving soap I use, and it's a 10 across the board for me. I gave the scent a zero because there really isn't much of one, which is good since I like to infuse it with essential oils to make my own custom soap for just pennies. Want one of the best and definitely cheapest "super-lathers" out there? Get a puck of this and a tube of Real shaving cream -- booya!
why not for me? I cannot understand why my skin is so sensitive, and has a big reaction when I use this soap. The lather is very good, and stable, so you can do as many passes as you want, and it smells nice, but I found it drying and irritating, and I had to apply a lot of aftershave balm to soothe my face after the shave. The price is quite reasonable, but I doubt that I'd buy it again.
Great price. That's where it ended for me. There's something in this soap that irritates my skin like crazy. It's the only soap I've used besides Tabac which I really like. I may try the other variations of VDH too see if they will work for me.
Great Value and Performance I used this soap two times, and the second time the results were superb. The trick to this, and to using any shaving soap in my opinion, is not to use too much water in the brush. Too much water thins out the soap to the point it can be ineffective. I don't add water to the soap, I wet the brush and shake it out first before loading it. The lather created is very thick, thus providing good lubrication and cushioning. You'll have to find the right amount of water, but just beware that the more you water down the lather, the less cushioning and lubrication you will get. I have really sensitive skin, so I re-apply more lather with every set of strokes. This assures I always get a close and comfortable shave, with no nicks or irritation. I don't care about fragrance, and this soap has really none to speak of. That's why only a 5, indicating a very neutral rating. Vander Hagen has a great product, and a low price ($1.56 at Walmart). I also use Mama Bear, but prefer Vander. I haven't found a better performing product yet, and have used many soaps and creams. This product enables you to get the job done with a close, comfortable, and nick free shave. You'll have to live without the mint or rosemary or lavender, etc. scent as the only real compromise.
Very good soap and you have to love the price. Buy the VDH "Premium Shave Set" and you get a natural boar brush and nice lather bowl to go with it for around $10. I wish the scent was stronger but this also makes it a good soap to add your own EO/FOs to it.
VDH I just tried VDH and have been using it for about a week now. It lathers decent and shaves well, but I also found it irritating, especially around the neck-line. I will be going back to my Old Village Barber, which did everything better, plus had a good scent, without the irritation. VDH is a good choice if it doesn't irritate. :ashamed001
There is no better soap out there. Some are different, especially scents obviously, but they do not work any better than this. This takes less water to lather (and if you use too much water it will ruin it), so once the lather formula is down for you, you will have a long-lasting, rich shave lather. The Best.
I had a heck of a time getting a lather on this soap. Granted, its my first soap. I am suspect of my cheap brush, so I have a new Omega coming. I will tweak my reviews after more experimenting. I like that is easy to find, and has a great scent!
This was my first soap and will probably always have a supply on hand. VERY easy to lather and I find I can do at least a 2 pass and some touch ups with each mix. With a little more effort a full 3 pass is possible. Does a good job moisturizing and lubricating, but is limited in its protective abilities. If you like little to no scent this soap is for you. Price can't be beat! As mentioned, I would definitely buy this soap again.
