Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set (2.5 oz. Soap, Bowl, Brush)

This is a really value, I looked around at brushes and ended up going for this due to the reviews and price. There are a few other boar brushes for around $10 but I figured for a few more bucks the soap and bowl might be nice. The soap works just fine, it's nothing fancy and doesn't have much scent but it gets the job done. I ended up buying some Proraso green which smells amazing and lathers very well but for the price it was nice to just order this and have everything I needed for cheap before I decided if I really liked shaving with a safety razor. Now I'm kind of addicted to wetshaving and can't stop buying new products to try! If you're on the fence if it's right for you and just want a good value intro set this is a great choice. The handle of the brush feels like ceramic which is nice, I assumed it was gonna be plastic but it feels pretty good quality. I've never used a shaving brush before this so I have nothing to compare it to but it works great and feels like it will last. I may upgrade to a fancier badger brush later on but for now this boar brush is great for me. The bristles are a bit stiff at first which is common for boar brushes until they break in but I used a tip I read and let it sit over night soaking in hair conditioner and that softened it a bit. Some people also said to let it sit overnight with your shaving soap lather to help break it in a bit also, so I've done that one night as well. I've only used it maybe 5 times but it's already breaking in nicely. It builds a great lather, if you have any issues just watch some tutorials on YouTube it really helped me get the technique down. In some videos I saw brushes that were quite large and I may get a larger one next but they get pricey, for a beginner this is just fine and I have no complaints. The first couple times expect to lose a few hairs, this is normal and it stopped for me after a couple uses. The bowl is just a simple ceramic bowl but it looks nice on my counter and matches the brush well. Something about having your shaving stuff set up nicely just feels classy. I will say though the bowl is a bit small, it works okay but when whipping up the lather I tend to hit the sides with the brush handle so if you are trying to whip it up vigorously it can get annoying hearing it clank against the side over and over. No big deal, I mainly bought this for the brush so I treat the bowl as just a little bonus. I may end up using a larger bowl and retiring this one as a snack bowl or something. At the end of the day a bowl is a bowl, it doesn't have to be a "shaving bowl" hah. I am intrigued by the "scuttles" that have a reservoir for hot water to warm your lather and may get one of those at some point. The soap as mentioned works just fine, it's just a basic shaving soap with a mild pleasant smell. You're gonna want to use some witch hazel and/or an aftershave to moisturize afterwards as soaps in general tend to dry out the skin. All in all it works well but after trying Proraso I will be sticking to "fancier" soaps. You really barely use any soap per shave so spending a bit more isn't that big of a deal as it lasts so long. This stuff is just fine and super cheap so I'd still rate it a 5 star value for what it is, but the Proraso stuff is just amazing. I may try some smaller "artisan" shaving soap companies as well, it's just fun to try different stuff and I'm a big fan of interesting smelling stuff. Little tip also, the soap comes in a little plastic container but it's just basically a disposable cover and though it will work fine to reseal it I ended up transferring mine into a ceramic container with a lid. All you have to do is pop it out of the plastic and put it in the container of your choice, then microwave it 15 seconds at a time until it's melted down. Now just let it cool and solidify again and you have a nice dish of soap! The larger surface area of the dish I used also helps load the brush quicker, and just looks nicer on the counter than the cheap plastic it comes in. Also if you want to try out the Proraso Green and don't want to wait for shipping, the Bigelow shaving cream at Bath and Bodyworks is just relabled Proraso green. You can see the tube in my pictures, it smells soooo good and feels more moisturizing . Much more hydrating than the more basic VDH soap. Overall this is a great way to get started for cheap to see if you like wetshaving, then if you end up liking it you can branch out and try new products. I view it as I just bought the brush and the soap and bowl was a free bonus, I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't want to spend a bunch of money but still wants a good quality brush to get started.

This is a great little set for the price tag. None of the three items is anything spectacular, but all three are a great value. The scuttle is a simple round bottomed ceramic bowl. What makes it special is what it is NOT. It is not too big, too small, or square bottomed. I only wish it had a lid. I found that the puck could be pretty effectively stuck to the bottom of the bowl by simply wetting it once the first time it was unwrapped and letting it dry in the bowl. Since using up the soap that came with this set, I've switched to a smaller ceramic cup I had lying around to hold my puck more securely. This bowl still gets used as part of my daily shaving routine, however. I fill it with hot water to soak my brush and razor while I wet my face and apply pre-shave. Then I empty the hot water, fill my brush with soap, and lather in the bowl while it is still warm. Makes the first pass of shaving cream extra nice. The soap is basic shave soap. Smell is decent, lather is decent. It is a good starting point, but most men will want to seek out something a bit more distinctive. Different or more/less scent, different ingredients, whatever your preference. It doesn't seem to last as long as some other pucks out there, so no worries about being stuck with it. It only lasted me a couple months. The brush is probably the best part of this set. It takes a fair amount of use before it really starts to perform, so don't be disappointed by the first use. It didn't really break in until after the soap that came with this set was long gone. After a few months of steady use it is soft, but not too soft. It holds a substantial amount of lather, and both scrubs and applies lather well. For an inexpensive brush, the knot size is quite large. It still sheds the occasional hair, but it is a cheap brush and I'm not picky. I have a few brushes in my collection now. This is probably the cheapest one, but still sees regular rotation. For best results, let it soak in warm water for little while.

ブラシとボウルは見た目は微妙な感じですが、使った感じでは良い印象です。 ソープをこのままボウルに入れてブラシでホイップすると、ソープが遊んで落ち着かないので少し手を加えてから使います。 電子レンジで２０秒くらい加熱して、ソープを溶かしてから冷やし固めると、ソープがボウルの中で遊ばず使いやすくなります。 このソープ、かなり良い感じです。もっちりとした泡立ちでひりつくことなく剃りあがりもしっとり。敏感肌のおいらでも快適に使用できます。 このシェービングソープが大変気に入ってしまいましたが、こちらでは入手不可のようで残念です。 ソープ単体での取扱いを強く希望いたします。

This is a great shave set. The bowl looks great and it's thick. The brush works up a great lather and so far is holding its hair. The soap is ok but prefer Williams.

Brush is rough and preparation with conditioner on receipt, plus 6 uses now, and is just starting to break in a little. The soap and brush combo is difficult to get a slick, and protective lather. Reloading is required between passes. I don't know how the soap would do with a different brush. Nice light smell.

Excelente calidad. Mejor de lo que esperaba.

El jabón es muy bueno, fácil de espumar y amable con la piel, el bowl es de tamaño adecuado (y se puede usar en el microondas para calentar agua), la brocha cumple su función; pero el precio es inmejorable