Thread: Burts Bees Bay Rum Shave Soap& Van Der Hagen

Has anyone else used this stuff before? I have had a brick of it and using it for the last six months, and have a lukewarm impression of it. The aroma is there, but it is hard to pick up and is not a lasting aroma. Seems like it dries up if I leave it on my face for too long and then it provides little to no lubricity. I get a good shave with it if I dont dilly-dally around and think about what makes the grass grow (Blood! Blood! Blood makes the grass grow!) and just get down to business. No sense in throwing it away if it works well enough, but I cant wait to get back to using my PX brand. Van Der Hagen "Surrey Shave Soap." Comes in the green/white box and is frequently staged immediately next to the Van Der Hagen boar bristle shave brush. Anyone else have opinions on either one of these two soaps?

-Thomas
Sgt/USMC

Hadn't tried the Burt's but I've yet to be disappointed in anything VDH makes. It's an inexpensive classic that works well...

The VDH is a glycerine based soap while the Burt's Bees is tallow. Glycerine soaps melt when hot and tend to be a bit "softer" and easier to load on the brush. Tallow soaps do not melt with heat and feel "harder".

Sometimes you have to work a bit more at loading the brush with the "harder" soaps to get the same amount of lather built up. It could just be me but I find I need a little more water with a tallow soap, of course YMMV

Burts was pretty dissappointing for me... seemed to just foam up, then dissolve on the face. I use it for my shower bar soap now. (it does smell good).

I think the VDH glycerin (orange puck) works great and cost me $2. Hard to beat that combination