I have to admit, when I had a beard, I loved it. I am not entirely sure why, but it resonated with me in a very real way. I just enjoyed having it. I think it bore with it an outward expression of an inner coming of age as a man and father. I know beards have become all the rage nowadays, but my time was slightly before this societal phase. I had it because I had it. Period.
The decision to shave my beard was fraught with uncertainty, but in the end the decision became quite simple. My wife did not like kissing my face with hair all over it, so the beard had to go. In the name of maintaining physical contact with my wife, the beard was shorn. At the time that I shaved it, I was living in the mountains of Kentucky, and I had children that were pretty young. When I shaved it was…. uncomfortable. I started with the trimmers that I used to shave my head to mow through the longer stuff, and then switched to a Gillette razor to finish it off. It took nearly 45 minutes to get it back to smooth skin. When I walked out of the bathroom, my 5-year-old daughter and my 4-year-old son screamed in terror and began crying. It took over an hour to get them to calm down and to come to terms with my baby-smooth face.
I now have to shave quite regularly to keep it smooth, and I don’t know if you all know this, but razors are flipping expensive. $20 to $30 a month for razors was getting ridiculous. I started not shaving quite as often but my wife was not a fan of that either. Then I thought maybe I could try to make the razors last longer so I didn’t have to buy them as often. Mistake. Big mistake. The Gillette razors did not seem to have been made for longevity. My face quickly resembled sandpaper. The hairs were being ripped out of my face as opposed to cut. This was not acceptable, highly unattractive, and uncomfortable.
I saw a video advertising Dollar Shave Club online and found it hilarious…. and then the wheels started turning in my mind. This actually sounds like a pretty good deal, but I mean how good could these blades be? I mean the minimum package is $3 a month and $6 a month for the 4 blade, what could I possibly be getting? I decided to give it a shot, and let me tell you, I was shocked.
The blades and handle arrived in a nice box. I opened it up and was pleasantly surprised at the quality feel. The weight of the handle was substantial and the blades looked really nice. I used my normal shaving cream when I shaved that night and was again surprised when I saw how close the shave was. Over the course of the month I used the blades until they had the same tug and pull feel that the Gillette’s would have when I decided to change them. When the month ran out, I still had two blades left. And the month began with 4 in there! These blades were lasting twice as long as my name-brand razors, and for about a third to a fourth of the cost.
That was nearly four years ago, and I have continued using these dollar shave club blades the entire time. I switched my plan to every other month and now find myself spending about 5 bucks a month to shave. I’ve started to use their Dr. Carver’s shave butter instead of normal shaving cream because it’s amazing. I calculated it out, and Dollar Shave Club has saved me a boatload of money. Over the course of those four years I would have spent $1,152 just on razor blades (48 months at $24 a month for the Fusion blades I used). With DSC I’ve spent only $144 in these 4 years. I have been getting an extra pack of blades every once in a while, and we ordered an extra handle (for the 4 blade razor I use) and my wife uses them as well. The amount of money we have saved on this is unreal, and we didn’t have to sacrifice quality.
They have continued to expand their lines and are now offering additional grooming products for gentlemen. I have personally not tried them because, in all honesty, I am not overly concerned about most of what those products are for. I also shave my head, so hair product is a non-essential for me as well. I would imagine the quality is on par on those items as well since everything I have gotten from them was great, including samples of the after shave lotion they put in my boxes a few times.
Quality is great, longevity is unmatched, service has been stellar, and the price is unbeatable. If you are still buying name-brand razors at the store I only have one question for you:
Why?
Click here if you’d like to sign up for Dollar Shave Club, and tell them DUDEronomy sent ya!