Van der Hagen Safety Razor Review – Best Safety Razor For Beginners?

In this Van der Hagen safety razor review we’re going to delve into this modern razor brand with a traditional taste that we believe is among the best safety razor for beginners.

A Quality Safety Razor Or Chinese Imitation?

Headquartered in Texas, Van Der Hagen company has some very popular razors, shaving soaps and brushes on the market and is well known for offering excellent products at low prices.

At Artisan Shaving we recently awarded their shaving soap our best budget pick as an excellent shave soap at a low price.

However, what should we make of a razor company like Van der Hagen unless we can vouch for their Van der Hagen razors? Indeed most top razor brands like Merkur and Seki are so focused on finely engineered steel that they don’t go beyond razors and blades.

We cannot help but distrust so-called “grooming brands” that are first and foremost about soaps and creams when they try to cross into hardware.

Normally these are items white-labelled from factories in China, using the brand’s label to mark up the price which is never going to sit well in a Van der Hagen razor review.

But this is of course biased and an excellent brand will commit the expertise and research necessary when selecting a factory so that these cheap challengers may indeed be comparable with German stalwarts like Merkur.

Van der Hagen Safety Razor Review

As for the Van der Hagen safety razor it’s definitely a good entry-level razor, which is exactly what it is supposed to be.

Anyone discovering a Van der Hagen safety razor is unlikely to be looking at a Merkur Futur (Review) or Feather AS-D2 if they’ve never used a safety razor before.

These are some of the best safety razors going with a price to match and no one should jump in at the deep end with any new activity – especially not shaving.

Instead the Van der Hagen safety razor is cheap and effective. The orange box is very appealing in a way that shows the old world dignity of the vintage safety razor with the kind of graphics that look good on Amazon or alongside sports-inspired men’s aftershaves.

The Van der Hagen razor has a good weight to it which helps in feeling the amount of pressure needed on each pass of the blade.

Van der Hagen Safety Razor Blades

The Van der Hagen safety razor also comes with five Van der Hagen razor blades included although these are obviously sub-par blades. However the fact the razor comes with Van der Hagen blades means beginners can jump right in to discovering shaving with a safety razor. It’s a perfect safety razor starter kit!

If you do like Van der Hagen razor blades you can buy safety razor blades bulk from them here.

In addition to reading this Van der Hagen razor review we would recommend reading our reviews of the best safety razor blades and perhaps order a sample pack of different brands of safety razor blade to really come to grips with safety razor shaving.

The Handle

The Van der Hagen razor handle is quite short which is merely a matter of preference but at only three inches long some people will struggle. That said it has a good grip with a textured handle so you’re less likely to drop it with wet and soapy hands – something we cannot say for the Merkur Futur despite its premium reputation!

The Shave

In terms of the shave the design is such that it is one of the best safety razors for beginners as it gives not too close a shave and so you’re unlikely to nick yourself too easily. If you do nick yourself then do be sure to check how to stop bleeding from shaving cuts.

The comfortable shave is a frustration for experienced shavers who like an aggressive shave from something like a Feather safety razor but again offers a comfortable introduction for any newcomers.