Review: Van Der Hagen Luxury Shave Set

If you are looking for a unique gift this holiday season for the man in your life, yet looking for something more on the personal side, look no further than the Van Der Hagen Shave Set.

A reminder of yesteryear and simpler times, the Van Der Hagen Luxury Shave Set contains a shaving soap, badger brush, a stand for the brush, and a ceramic shave bowl. Perhaps you remember your father or grandfather shaving this way, using the soap and slowly rubbing brush all over his whiskers. Or maybe you're just looking for a way to slow down in the mornings.

I - or rather my husband - was lucky enough to receive this set for review. He's not new to the world of traditional shaving; in fact, he was already using a wonderful double edge metal razor that he loves. It's funny - both my daddy and his daddy have always had full beards, so sitting back and watching them shave the old way is not really something either of us remember. When DH took this set out of the box, he said he was amazed at how nice it is - it brings back the past while still keeping it very modern. There is no doubt that it is a manly gift either, and he really liked that everything was black. ;) He truly appreciated the stand for the brush, because he was worried that without it, the brush wouldn't dry properly and would start to get mildewy here in our Washington weather. The soap lathered up just as nicely as any other one he's tried so far, and of course, he likes that it's a more environmentally way to shave. With a set like this and the old style manual razor, he's not adding tons of plastic and metal to the landfills. (He also wants me to point out that he will still be able to shave safely during the zombie apocalypse, as it uses no electricity of course, and he can simply sharpen the razor with his knife sharpener. LOL)

While the brush is 100% badger hair, the soap bar is vegetable based and not tested on animals, made here in the USA in the company's Texas based facility. Keep in mind that if you are purchasing this set for a gift, that it does NOT come with a razor, so if you'd like to complete the set, you'll need to purchase that separately. You can use this with any disposable or refillable razor, however if the man in your life would like.

The Van Der Hagen Luxury Shave Set is available online from retailers like Drugstore.com and Amazon. It has a suggested retail price of $20.00. You can also purchase refill soaps from the same company, as well as other pieces in the shaving line. Prices vary on those.

This item is part of my Holiday Gift Idea Guide. To find more gift ideas, just click on the link.

I received the item shown above in order to try it out and share my thoughts on it. All opinions are my own.