I doubt there’s an old school wet shaver in the U.S. that hasn’t at least heard the name Van Der Hagen. VDH shaving soap can be found at almost any grocery or drug store. Now they want to take that idea and apply it to glycerin facial soap.

VDH sent Sharpologist a “sneak peek” of the line, with soaps in three scents: Fruity, Floral, and Fresh; plus hypo-allergenic Free with no scent. The scents are a little on the strong side out of the container but soften pleasantly when lathered up.



Fruity smells like a combination of tropical fruits. I think there’s a bit of an “artificial” quality to this scent but Sharpologist co-founder Andy Tarnoff calls the scent “delicious.”

Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, frangrance, tetrasodium EDTA, FD&C yellow # 5, FD&C red #40.

Floral is just that, smelling like a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers. Again, the scent is on the strong side out of the container but dropped off to an acceptable level for me when lathered (some of the women Andy gave samples to disagree with me and say it’s still too strong).

Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, frangrance, tetrasodium EDTA, D&C red #33

Fresh is an herbal scent that should agree with anyone (Andy thinks it’s a little on the masculine side of unisex). It is probably the mildest scent of the three.

Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, frangrance, tetrasodium EDTA, FD&C Yellow #5, FD&C blue #1, FD&C green #3

Free is just that: no scent (though Andy thinks there’s just a hint of “oatmeal”) or color and it’s hypo-allergenic and non-comedogenic.

Ingredients: propylene glycol, water, sodium stearate, sorbitol, glycerin, sodium laureth sulfate, sodium myristate, soldium cocolyl isethionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate & lauryl glucoside & sodeium glutamate & sodium laury glucose caroxylate, sodium laurate, triethanolamine, tetrasodium EDTA

But How Do They Perform?

Like VDH’s shave soaps, these glycerin soaps do what they are supposed to do without drama or fanfare. Lather, clean, rinse, done.

I asked Marty Van Der Hagen what he has in mind for this line:

“Our distribution plans are to sell our Glycerin Soaps worldwide and intergalactic. Realistically, we are showing the soaps to all major grocery, drug and mass retail outlets as well as major online sites. We are just pitching the product this fall for spring 2014 distribution. The price point will be $2.99 (most accounts) – $3.99. It will probably take a year or two to get as much distribution as our shave soaps.”

So while you may not see these soaps on the shelves right away, count on them being everywhere within a couple years!

