Thread: Any experience with these soaps?

Hey, all.

Quite often those who are economically capable get the advantage of ordering hand made soaps and luxury soaps that sometimes run over 10 dollars a round, but those who aren't as blessed are relegated to scraping or trying to find cheaper alternatives and sometimes just getting a less pleasant shaving experience than others due largely to the soap

I've been experimenting with affordable ingredients to come up with an alternative for the less financially blessed while providing some variety. I've been using the cup soaps I can buy at the local beauty stores as a comparison but unfortunately I've found that most of those have a single scent (they must all shop at the same fragrance store) and are little more than glorified glycerin, and can cause problems for sensitive skins.

I've known for quite some time that walgreens carries cup soaps but I hadn't bought any until now. I'm curious, has anyone used the "williams" mug shaving soaps or the "Van Der Hagen" deluxe cup soaps from walgreens? It will be a while before I get to test these so I wonder if anyone has any input on these.

The one thing that impresses me about "Van Der hagen" is the fact that they use aloe and lanolin and claim to have over 40% moisturizers in their bar. The Lanolin is a renewable (albeit animal) product that really helps with sensitive skins. The smell of the Van Der Hagen is similar to the soaps from the beauty supplies but at a $1.59 a round The cost is virtually unbeatable if it's a decent soap.

The Williams soap is not as thick at 1.75 ounces versus 2.5 ounces but both appear to be close to 2.5 inches in diameter. The Williams soap has a scent that I can't quite place, almost citrus but not quite. I'd almost compare it to ginger but again not quite.

The williams soap lists the ingredients and does have tallow, which I don't like. The Van Der Hagen does not list the ingredients but the texture leads me to believe it's another highly glycerin based soap. Most tallow based soaps have a thicker, duller consistency that would flake well into a good laundry detergent. I've seen very few that can fool me into thinking it's a vegetable based or non-tallow based soap.

Anyways, I'm interested in anyone who's had experience with these soaps and what your opinion is of them.

Glen F

Glen,

I've used them both and like them both. The scent of Williams is like a lemon verbena. The Williams will last longer as it is a hard soap, but the Van Der Hagen is my preferred of the two. It won't last as long, but it is much more moisturizing. Many may know the Van Der Hagen soaps as Surrey. For those who like to melt their soaps, Van Der Hagen is the soap to buy. MY local Walgreen stores only carry one of the Van Der Hagen soaps, so I have the others on order now from drugstore.com. As cheap as they are, but them all. If you decide you don't like them, use them as bath soaps.

RT

I used Williams for years before I discovered straight shaving and you guys corrupted me into trying all the fancy stuff. I've probably used williams off and on for 15 or 20 years. It's not the most amazing soap in the world, of course, but it's pretty darn good, gives a good shave with no irritation for me and is worth more than it costs. Not too many products you can say that about nowdays.

Some people don't like the scent but I find it pretty inoffensive... and a round of it lasts forever. If I couldn't afford the trumpers and all the other fancy ones, I wouldn't have a problem at all going back to using it. In fact, I still have a cake of it in the medicine cabinet.

-- Gary F.

I had to pick up a prescription at Walgreen's today anyway, so I couldn't resist checking these out. The Williams is definitely a no-frills package, and has "Use Aqua Velva After Shave" printed all over the inner flaps. The scent reminds me of something, but I can't quite place it. It's either one of those old cone style air fresheners that my Mom made me put in my sock drawer as a kid, or a urinal puck. I can't tell.... It's not unpleasant at all, just intriguing.

Originally Posted by SharkHat

.... or a urinal puck. . .

Great, now when I try it I'm going to have images of dirty urinals dancing in my head

I’ve used them both too. They are good for the money with the advantage going to the Surrey glycerin. I found mixing the two very satisfactory as well.

To mix, I use a pen knife to make some Williams parings which I moisten and then press into the Surrey. Let it dry. This combination results in a lather thicker than the plain Surrey but more lubricating and less drying than the Williams.

What can I say? I was an alchemist in previous life.

Regards &c,
LG Roy

The Surrey IMHO is the soap to beat for the price. Now its not any thing fancy and the fragrance isn't very noticeable, but I really like it's long lasting lather. The Williams soap is better than Colgate and is worth using when nothing else is available. I like many here have ventured to other countries like England and Italy for there soaps. I still like variety and switch soaps almost every day.

Glen

Williams and Van Der Hagen (Surrey) soaps are downright cheap. But when it comes to cheap soaps, it's hard to beat Arko! This stuff rocks!

RT

I just don't know the purpose of going cheap on soaps. They last forever, so whether you spend $10 or $2 on a cake, you'll forget all about it in a couple of months.

Well, If I can get by on soaps for 6 months spending 6 bucks instead of 30 It makes a difference. If I can manufacture a soap that's competitive in quality with some of the more expensive soaps that last long enough to make it more economical and still give me a variety in scents, I'm all for it.

My goal is to get some soap rounds that I can offer for 2 bucks or less that will give a top quality shave. Coming from a poor background I want to be able to offer the quality shaving experience to people like me.