First off, thank you for submitting your review. As an African-American DE shaver, your review caught my attention immediately since the Bevel targets my demographic. Unfortunately, my limited budget makes purchasing the Bevel system prohibitive, so I have to resort to reading reviews about it's performance instead of finding out for myself.
The first thing that's puzzled me about the Bevel is why it's targeted almost exclusively to African-Americans. Ethnicity is not really discussed in shaving forums. While the subject creeps into all manner of online discussions, I find it ironic that the one forum where the discussion of race may be useful it's never brought up. I decided through watching a Caucasian man shave in a YouTube video that the grade of my facial hair may require a few more passes than 3. Up until then I unquestionably accepted that 3 was the magic shaving number.
(Stop laughing. We can't ALL be geniuses...)
Other then that, I generally assume razors, with minor distinctions, generally perform the same way. What makes the Bevel so unique that a Black man would prefer it over...say...the Merkur FUTUR which I currently own? Is the Bevel system a question of functionality or marketing?
I sought the answer to that question in your review. I enjoyed reading it and found it highly informative, but I didn't find the answer I was looking for. Perhaps I'll have to wait for a review written by an experienced African-American DE shaver.
In any case, good job.
Tristan Walker, the entrepreneur behind the Bevel System, came to his epiphany as a black man shopping for shaving supplies in a store. He felt like nothing in the store was offered for sale with him in mind. From there, he put some pieces together. Black men have ethnicity-specific problems with inflamed ingrowns known as shaving bumps. The problems have been made all the worse in the past few decades with the way that multi-blade cartridges cut the whisker and leave it springing back deep into the follicle. Traditional DE or straights are supposed to be a far better solution.
All that in mind, he then proceeded to do something beautiful in its intent and presentation but ugly and exploitative in its implementation. He came up with the package as seen here, with at least something of a customer support structure behind the program, but wrapped it in a subscription service that costs at least $1.00 per shave plus join-up costs. Some critics have cited that it is especially difficult to cancel the service. You have to call in and talk to a live operator. Usually you sit on hold forever and reach no one. If you do reach someone, they will jerk you around in every way they can, attempting to talk you out of cancelling. If you finally get a verbal agreement to cancel then the bills still come in. There was at least one poster within this forum who had been trying to cancel for months. It smacks of the treatment people got during the exodus from America Online after entry to Internet became easier without AOL and the previously prospering company was in trouble. AOL customer service agents plain would not accept "no" for an answer. People compared AOL to the Hotel California. You could check in anytime you like, but can never leave.