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Comment by jessaustin | Hacker News Reader

It's cool what they're doing with vertical integration, but this whole product category seems silly to me. I can see why a 15yo who has never shaved before would buy these. Once one has shaved for some time, however, what's the problem with the good old-fashioned safety razor? I'm currently on a box of 100 blades (conveniently subpackaged into packets of 5), and it cost me $10 on Amazon. How do Gillette and the rest sell these overpriced things?

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I have long pondered using old fashioned blades - but the ones I used in my time were all very much inferior to Gillette or Harrys which is what I am using right now ( they are cheaper, are good quality and last far longer than Gillette btw.).

If you don't mind answering - what blades/razor combo you're using and are there any downsides (ex. easy to cut yourself, shave quality etc.) that you choose to live with?

Take a look at http://reddit.com/r/wickededge

Many believe that shaving technology reached its peak quite some time ago.

http://www.reddit.com/r/wicked_edge Fixed it for you.

Check out https://getbevel.com, another modern startup with a polished brand and service that focuses on double-edge razors instead.

The article mentioned that the German factory bought by Harry's also manufactured the blades for Bevel. It doesn't say how the takeover affects this, though.

I guess it would make sense to not continue building a competitor's product, but on the other hand there might have been contracts in place before the takeover. I found it confusing that this rather interesting point wasn't invetigated. Perhaps I missed it?

Much more has been invested in purchasing this factory than had been in the rest of the company. This would be the wrong place to impose a strategy tax.

These are the ones I use:

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QY8QXM

They are quite well-reviewed, so I'm not the only person who likes them. I have a no-name butterfly-style handle, for which I think I also paid about $10. I splurge a little to get the gel-style rather than the white-foam shaving cream, although I always get store brand so I don't splurge too much. b^)

I've tried probably a dozen brands. Counter-intuitively, I found that the sharpest were the ones least likely to cut, because you apply so little pressure (and maybe because they notch the hair immediately, instead of sliding down to the skin). Feathers are easily the best at least in my experience, beating even the "premium" offerings from Gillette and Wilkinson and making it easily worth the (rather large) premium; not only are they sharp but they stay sharp almost forever - I've occasionally had several weeks' use on a single Feather.

I cut myself all the time with the cheap no-name Israeli blades (rebranded Personna?), so called it a false economy. Not impressed with Astra either. YMMV - softer hair doesn't require as much cutting.

> Counter-intuitively, I found that the sharpest were the ones least likely to cut...

This is actually a pretty common phenomenon among pretty much any kind of blade. The logic is that (supposedly) the majority of knife accidents are caused by losing control of the knife through applied pressure. When something unexpected happens, the knife has a lot of force behind it and travels quickly to places it isn't supposed to be, like inside you. A well-sharpened kitchen knife will cut through vegetables with barely more pressure than the weight of the blade, so unexpected forceful interactions are very rare.

The razor industry is a primarily marketing driven market... And it's a tremendous one. One of my favorite acquisition headlines: "P&G to buy Gilette for $57B" [0]. I think Harry's strategy plays well into both what you're describing, though targeting the profitable, high-end sector of the market (as opposed to the ultra-cheap commodity razor market).

They recognized that the existing players on the high end were reaping above-average profits from their brand + distribution, but without strong product differentiation. If they could (and it seems they are) launch a strong brand with good quality products at substantially lower prices, they could earn a sizable chunk of the market. Cutting out retail margins and owning their factory should let them keep pretty strong margins even on the reduced price. Pretty epic.

[0] http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/28/news/fortune500/pg_gillette/

One of the biggest issues for me, with the safety razors, is just how easy it is to nick yourself. However, there are other parts of one's body, that are impossible to shave with a safety razor.

I shave those areas with a safety razor! (I'm a dude)

I suggest using hair conditioner as a lather to prevent nicks.

I'll try the hair conditioner as lather, but there is no way in hell I'm trying the safety razor on my junk (I'm a dude). I'll stick to the Dorco blades (Dollar Shave club) for that.

dude here, no problem shaving everything with a safety razor.

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