Bevel Razors: Everything old is new again?

I heard a little blurb on NPR (National Public Radio) about some fellow who has started a company marketing a "new" razor called Bevel, and so checked it out on the I-net. Very interesting, to say the least. I think he's marketing primarily to African-Americans who have curly beards and he claims that using multi-blade razors cut so close they actually cause ingrown hairs and resultant skin irritation. The solution for beards with curly hairs (presumably no matter your race) is a double edge blade and, of course, correct shaving.

There is a website (which I thought is very informative) on both how to correctly use a double edge razor as well as a little bit of history on how Gillette dominated the category for so many years and so wouldn't allow competitors to get into the business—which led to the invention of multi-blade/throwaway razors.

If you're interested: https://getbevel.com/how-to-shave

Newbs to DE shaving might find it interesting.

See also http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...-shaving-kit-geared-towards-African-Americans!

Thats a pretty well done site as well as video and great looking product line. Hope its as solid as it looks and isnt light weight hollow or plastic.

global_dev said:

Thats a pretty well done site as well as video and great looking product line. Hope its as solid as it looks and isnt light weight hollow or plastic.

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Exactly what I was thinking. Extremely well designed logo and the razor/brush are very pretty, in a modern way. The price seems right, too, with no shipping charge (at least on the pre-order). Of course, as you note, the proof is ultimately in performance. But on the surface, I'm pretty impressed (if also skeptical, as usual).

But I could not find the discussion of the history of shaving and Gillette as noted in the OP. Anyone have a link to that page?

EDIT: I have to amend my comment about the price being right. I didn't realize there was a recurring $30 monthly charge. That seems a bit out of line, IMO. The entire kit at $60 seems reasonable enough, though, if you aren't contractually locked in to the monthly thing. I'm not big on entire systems from one product line. They might work for some, but I typically get better results finding the best (for me) from various lines.

Did the other Bevel thread just disappear? And I am not referring to the thread mentioned in the second posting.

The Dean said:

But I could not find the discussion of the history of shaving and Gillette as noted in the OP. Anyone have a link to that page?

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Here's their blurb on DE shaving history. (https://getbevel.com/get-advice/basics/are-single-blade-razors-better-than-multiple-blade-razors)

I didn't catch that this was a monthly service deal. Ouch! Seems that a good pack of blades and a good 2nd hand Gillette Fat Boy or some upscale brand would do as well.

But there's still some good info there, no matter.

Bob

Oh look, recurring monthly subscriptions unless you cancel... that's a legitimate business practice that has never been used by people trying to make money off suckers.

$30 plus shipping for a tube of shaving goo, four tablespoons of oil, 20 DE blades and a bit of aftershave with no established reputation is completely reasonable... that's totally not worth less than $10, making this marketer a ludicrous profit.

Marketing it as a solution to ingrown hairs for black men and acne for teenagers is completely original and not at all exploitation.

Where do I sign up?

SliceOfLife said:

Where do I sign up?

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Here: https://getbevel.com/orders/new

SliceOfLife said:

$30 plus shipping for a tube of shaving goo, four tablespoons of oil, 20 DE blades and a bit of aftershave with no established reputation is completely reasonable... that's totally not worth less than $10, making this marketer a ludicrous profit.

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I thought "goo" was a derogatory term used for aerosols. This overpriced subscription system has you use a brush and make lather.

Canned goo is foam.

global_dev said:

Thats a pretty well done site as well as video and great looking product line. Hope its as solid as it looks and isnt light weight hollow or plastic.

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Hi jon! No plastic at all. Our handle is made of all brass (chrome plated, matte and shiny) and our head made of high quality zinc! Very solid frame. Hope this helps?

The Dean said:

Exactly what I was thinking. Extremely well designed logo and the razor/brush are very pretty, in a modern way. The price seems right, too, with no shipping charge (at least on the pre-order). Of course, as you note, the proof is ultimately in performance. But on the surface, I'm pretty impressed (if also skeptical, as usual).

But I could not find the discussion of the history of shaving and Gillette as noted in the OP. Anyone have a link to that page?

EDIT: I have to amend my comment about the price being right. I didn't realize there was a recurring $30 monthly charge. That seems a bit out of line, IMO. The entire kit at $60 seems reasonable enough, though, if you aren't contractually locked in to the monthly thing. I'm not big on entire systems from one product line. They might work for some, but I typically get better results finding the best (for me) from various lines.

Click to expand...

Thanks a ton for the candid feedback. Keep it coming! I mentioned in a previous post (http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showth...ards-African-Americans!?p=5913605#post5913605) that we will help customers pause shipments whenever they need for as long as they need. Some customers will shave every day and others will not. Getting automatic shipments when you dont need them sucks for everyone, absolutely! We dont want our customers to be victims of this type of subscription. We think offering the pause option and being proactive about asking customers if theyll need us to pause on their behalf will be a welcome addition (and difference relative to other subscription services out there).

yes but can you simply cancel and when you do do you then have to ship the initial razor back? or are you only ever allowed to "pause" shipments and never to simply cancel? this is a very important question i do not see the answer to. i see you can send it back for a refund but what if you decide to cancel after that? are you then still required to send the razor back? there imo should be a much more clear explanation of all that. otherwise its a really nice looking razor.

I just saw this on another website and decided to dig on B&B for any info i could find. The razor has a certain style that i enjoy, but I cannot find any actual info on it, other than on the website and in the OP it appears that they are marketing this for african americans (african europeans? probably doesn't matter WHERE they live right?) This is one of the things that piqued my interest as one of my close friends has a couple brothers who are constantly talking about how much it sucks for them to shave and always get ingrown hairs.

It makes me curious if this system is any better at avoiding these than just using general DE shaving products. I would at least recommend them this website, but it seems very iffy, and vague. I would really appreciate if anyone had some first hand experience with this

Has anyone tried it...???

FWIW --

It took me a while to navigate the Bevel website.

The brush and razor are "free", I think. But you have to get a 3-month "replenishment pack" to get them.

If I understand it right, roughly $100 gets you a _3-month_ "replenishment pack", which includes 60 blades and preshave oil / shaving cream / balm. All the individual items are proprietary -- we don't know who makes the blades, cream, etc.

That's $1 per day -- well over what you'd pay what you'd pay "over the counter" (or through the mail), for equivalent stuff, if you get several shaves out of a DE blade (which I do).

If the "soft products" (oils / cream/ balm) and blades are good, it's not a crazy way to get into DE shaving. And I'd _hope_ the razor will work with standard DE blades.

We'll know more when someone with prior experience with DE shaving gets one, and reports back.

. Charles