Greetings everyone - My first Post here... I am awaiting my Merkur Barber Pole Long HD Classic 38c which sadly will not arrive until after Christmas. Oddly my Shark Blades will be here in just a couple of days. My question to this forum is this. Has anyone besides me tried the deluxe Shave Soap sold by Walmart? It cost $1.75 for a 2.5oz puck. It does have Aloe Vera and Shea Butter listed as the many ingredients. Please don't crucify me as I am new to all this. Last time I used a Safety Razor was in Navy Boot Camp 30+ years ago and than my face would look like something out of a horror picture cause our Company Commander would give us hell if he felt stubble
Don't worry about it, there are plenty of people on here that really like inexpensive products. I'm sure they'll be on to tell you if there is better soap that is just as cheap. You say "Wal Mart" soap... is it really a Wal Mart brand? I haven't heard that they had one. The VDH line of soaps is well thought of and is very inexpensive. Williams soap is very expensive and has a strong following of supports and denouncers - both equally rabid. For $1.75 maybe YOU should pick it up and tell US how it is If you do and don't like it, make sure you try a well known quality soap before becoming discouraged with DE shaving. Oh and also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up a blade sampler pack - blades do make a difference and you may have to try a few different brands before finding the one that suits you best.
Thanks for your reply. The soap in question is not Walmart Made but sold by Walmart and also Target. The Soap is made from a company down in Texas, can't recall the name of the company. I have used the soap now for about 3 weeks using a Quattro Titanium Razor and the post shave feel is really soft, like a babys bottom. I don't know how it would stand up to the more expensive brands, probably not well. I bought because it because it was there and living in a small town has it's disadvantages when it comes to shopping. Perhaps my next purchase should come from online, a lot more to choose from.
First off, Welcome to The Shave Den! A great community of guys and gals that enjoy wet shaving, I hope you enjoy your stay! My guess is the soap sold at Wal-Mart is the Van Der Hagen Deluxe soap, and as said earlier, many people use it with great results. Be sure to sign up for the December Newbie Give-Away for a chance to win some great shave gear! While its not required, how about you hop over to the Newbies Section and give yourself a proper introduction thread, I'm sure you'll receive many warm welcomes from the friendly folks of this community.
I would guess it's VDH deluxe. Not that I know it is made in Texas, but I've seen Wal Mart carry it. It is a good soap. If you wanted to get into something else, I'd suggest Tabac. You may find it cheaper elsewhere, but it is on sale for a good price here: http://www.fragrancex.com/products/_lid_T-am-pid_1248M-am-cid_cologne__products.html Use the code "free" for free shipping. Lots of people will recommend many different products, but tabac has a pretty large following. I myself just received my shipment from fragranceX and really like it. Good luck and welcome (forgot the first time)
I'd guess you're talking about Van Der Hagen Delux. It gets great reviews for such an inexpensive soap. Many also like Williams which you'll find at many grocery and drug stores and is even less than VDH. I personally don't care for the Williams scent so never tried it. I find VDH to perform fairly well and it is great bargain. If it was all about getting a good shave cheap, it would be my choice. Since I take this as more of a hobby now days, I don't mind spend more for a slightly better lather. Just a note about the price. VDH is ~$2 for a 2.5 ounce puck and seems super cheap compared to milled soaps. But, VDH doesn't last nearly as long. I'd buy 3 pucks of VDH to last as long as a typical milled soap, which would cost about $10-$15. So VDH isn't really several times cheaper, but about 1/2 the price per shave compared to soaps like MWF, Trumpers, Harris, T&H, etc.
First off, Welcome to The Shave Den! A great community of guys and gals that enjoy wet shaving, I hope you enjoy your stay! My guess is the soap sold at Wal-Mart is the Van Der Hagen Deluxe soap, and as said earlier, many people use it with great results. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yep, you got the name, I recognized it as soon as I came across it. Target carries the same soap... Thanks for the comments and I will wander over to the newbie site.
Hi dmyers from a fellow newbie. I, too, am trying to learn lathering using a Van Der Hagen soap puck. I bought the VDH "kit" which includes soap, small bowl, and boar hair brush, and am learning to make quality lather with it. There's a youtube video that REALLY helped me in getting good lather with boar brush and VDH soap (even though the soap in the video isn't VDH). The video is titled "Quick Lather with Boar" and was uploaded to youtube by SMFZach. Freshmen like me, with < 5 posts, aren't allowed to include www hyperlinks in their messages, so all I can do for now is give you the title and artist; google will find it for you in three seconds.
Zach's video shows a very aggressive lathering method that works great with certain set-ups including the VDH kit. While not a bad way to start, the brush in the VDH kit isn't very good. A better boar brush will far outperform the VDH brush. Vulfix and Omega boar brushes are much softer, make better lather, and will last much longer. I understand Semogue are also in this category but haven't tried one myself.
Just piling on. I have the VDH set as well, and have had no problems with it. It's great to start with, since you're probably going to want to go at it with your new razor, and don't want to wait on soap. You can always order other soaps/brushes/whatever later on.
Greetings out to dmyers and transisterdude. I have 12 pucks of VDH stashed away just in case it gets discontinued, if that tells you anything. I will often grab two pucks at $1.54 each here at the local Wal Mart whenever I'm in there. Yeah, I really like this soap!
I have a 38c and I like it a lot. It is very heavy, and that took some getting used to. I think it is a great choice to start off. I have said this before, but I would be perfectly content to have and use only VDH Deluxe. That said, I really like the scent of TOBS and TSD soaps and cremes, and they provide an equally good shaves for me. (Someone here recenlty said they were finding Clubman Bay Rum AS in short supply, so I went out and bought another bottle just in case. I would be sad if that were discontinued.)
I agree.. nothing wrong with the VDH kit. I use the brush a good bit with good results. Don't let people talk you out of using it . oh and welcome. Fuzzy
Hello. I'm a fellow noob as well. I don't even have a DE yet as the missus is coming up to speed on them and getting me one as a belated xmas gift since, thanks to my dad southerscribbler, I have become fascinated with TSD and the idea of shaving with a DE. I digress, back to the soap. I threw out my canned goop and mixed up a batch of VDH that I picked up today, in preparation for my big day of shaving with a DE for the first time. I don't care that its less than 2 bucks. I can't keep my hands off of my face! It is a billion times better than canned krud. I don't know if I did my prep that much better than I used to or if the soap was the end all be all of the experience this evening but wow. All I can say is that I'm not interested in any other soap as of yet. I want to use this for a bit based solely on the fact of how luxurious it was in comparison to canned goo. Also, watch Mantic's videos and there was another video showing how to lather up properly, but I can't find it right now. Extremely informative and interesting to boot. I used shave soap for the 5 years I was in college since I was broke but never knew to lather properly. Today was like having an epiphany, seriously. I smiled. Anyway, thats this noob's perspective on VDH shave soap.
I use it and get great shaves. Being on the road, sometimes I can't be picky about what I use. But this is a great product. You just need to learn how to use it. I have $4o soaps and $1 soaps. But I still get great shaves. Just focus on what you are doing, look and listen to the lather. You need to learn the soap to water ratio. St. Croix
Opinions vary of course but for my money it's tough to do better than Van Der Hagen Deluxe, it consistently produces copious quantities of very slick lather and I've never had anything but great luck with VDH Deluxe and as has been said you just can't beat the price.
Oh Pretty!! VDH is so good, that I have reserved one day a week to use it (Wednesday). That day is a reminder to myself that affordable cost shaving is possible with a DE razor, and that using higher end products is a choice, and not essential. Every Wednesday I use very budget minded products: VDH Deluxe (presently resented with some Old Spice AS), a $10 Omega Boar, and a well worn Ball End Tech. I entered into this realm looking for a better, cheaper alternative, to high priced Fusion carts. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately, I have had ton of fun) I quickly become afflicted with multiple ADs.
