Dollar Shave Club Review

As my razors ran out last month I got to thinking about the cost of replacing razors. As it goes, Maggie and need to buy razors at about the same time every other replacement cycle. This adds up, even at wholesale clubs like BJ's. A cost that at times seems too high to accept. When added up we spend about $450 a year.

Enter Dollar Shave Club.  You've probably seen the catchy video that plays to our sense of fun and ease.

At $6 a month for the mid-range razor and auto-shipping it seems like a good deal. After all, it would reduce the razor expense from $450 to $144 annually if we both liked the razors enough to stick with the program. No doubt, a significant savings in a time when our costs are increasing by 25 or 30% in everything from food to utilities. So I took the plunge and put in my order.

The razors arrived about 3 weeks later in all the catchy packaging and fanfare you might expect from the video commercial. I'll spare you the details of the unboxing and marketing experience. Russell Holly at Geek.com does a great job explaining this for you. I decided to give the razors a week long review concluding with my heaviest shave; my weekly head shaving.

Some caveats, I shave with only water and usually in the shower. My weekly head shaving does involve shaving cream since I fancy the top of my head more sensitive than the rest of my face. This water-only shaving drives Maggie crazy but I assure her that it is not as harsh as my step-father's dry shave-Seabreeze astringent routine he used.

What are my impressions?

The design of the mid-range 4 blade razor is good. The handle is reasonably comfortable in my hand and it does compromise my movement or force my hand into odd contortions. The blades pivot and run smoothly along my face and head without much effort or discomfort. I didn't cut or scrape myself with the razor at all, which I usually attribute to poor razor design.

My daily shaves went pretty well. I don't find the shave as close as my Mach 3's but generally speaking that is probably more a habitual feeling vs. actual feeling. Maggie didn't notice a difference in the smoothness of my face.

Saturday morning I changed out the blade, lathered my head and face and went through my weekly head shaving. Again, the handle and blade design was effortless and smooth. This is important to head shaving since the flesh is thin up there, the contours of the head are different than the face, and you're working kind of blind. The shave was not as smooth, again, but hardly noticeable.

All-in-all, this is a good change to both the budget and the grooming routine and something I would recommend to someone looking to give Dollar Shave Club a try (yes, hitting that link will get me a free month but won't cost you extra. It is the least you could do if you want to try them out).

But...

In reading reviews and forums, with a grain of salt, I found a few references to where Dollar Shave Club buys the razors and the ability to directly purchase at a fraction of the cost. The forums indicate that Dorco is the supplier for Dollar Shave Club. This is something I can't confirm but will note that my razor handle and blade cartridge does look familiar to models in the Dorco website.

When I first checked this out Dorco was offering a June Special with about 6 months worth of different razors, cartridges, and replacement blades for about $30. If the Dollar Shave Club/Dorco is true, then it might be worth a look and see how that positively impacts the grooming budget. Heck, it might be worth taking a look when the special pops back on the Dorco website too. That said, it is great to have the razors arrive in the mail, hopefully on time, and keep shaving without forgetting to pick up new blades. 

Bottom line

Dollar Shave Club is worth the try, no obligation, and easy backing out (from what they advertise) if you change your mind. If you're on the fence about Dollar Shave Club give them a try and see how you like the razors. I'd be curious about your review too.