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Shaving with a Social Conscience

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There’s lots of reasons that people go with a monthly shaving plan. Convenience is probably number one but it may be tied with being tired of paying the crazy-high prices that carts and multi-blade razors cost these days. What one guy decided is that he could supply you with quality cartridges and a razor, while helping the needy and homeless at the same time. That guys is Mark Hurson.

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According to the story on his website, he was visiting his wife at a local food bank and was told that there were only a couple of razors for the large amount of people that they helped. Apparently, razors are known as a luxury item and few were ever donated. Cruise the aisles of your local supermarket and check the prices and you can see why! Anyway, Mark decided that he wanted to change that and help people. So he created a company that would get razors to people who needed them. The company is called Good Shave.
Here’s how it works.  His company offers several plans, month to month for $11.99, a three month subscription for $32.37 and six months for $62.14. Each gets you a razor and four blades a month. The social conscience aspect comes in because his company will donate one razor to someone who needs it for every one they sell. Mark says that’s usually to a food bank or homeless shelter. Is it working? While Mark said he couldn’t discuss the financials, he did say that the company launched in November of 2015 and in December, Good Shave donated thousands of razors that month to men’s and women’s homeless shelters and food banks. He said that the company’s goal is to donate one million razors to homeless shelters and food banks in Canada and the United States. That’s an admirable goal and I will say it’s a unique business plan. But will lure of shaving with a social conscience be enough to keep sales climbing? That I don’t know. But what I do know is that without a good product, your chance of repeat business or customers continuing to pay a monthly fee sinks faster than a shot of beer in a boilermaker. So let’s look at the goods!
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First off, the razor is like none I’ve ever seen before. I asked Mark about this and he said that while he couldn’t tell me the name of the manufacturer, he and his team found it when they went overseas to meet some suppliers. When they came across this design, they knew it was the one because there’s nothing like it on the market. He said that besides having a sleek and modern look, it stands out from the competition. That, in my opinion, is the absolute truth. I’ve never seen a razor like this one, so I was excited when Mark said he would send me a sample.
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The top of the razor looks like it’s covered in aluminum while the underside is black plastic. The design is one that when I looked at it, I thought “this is going to feel weird.” But it didn’t. Different, yes, but not radically so. It’s curved on the black side to fit your hand. The word “ergonomics” comes to mind. I don’t know if that’s really it, but this handle fits into your hand in a unique way that’s comfortable.
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I have medium-sized hands, I guess, and this razor wasn’t too small or large. In all, I was impressed with the weight of the razor. It didn’t feel flimsy or cheap like some of the name-brand razors or some of the monthly club razors. It has decent heft and seems well balanced. Now on to the blades.
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This is the first time I’ve ever seen carts in blister packaging. Maybe this is how they do it in Canada? But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. Each cartridge can be separated from the 4-pack so you can carry one with you if you’re doing a short trip traveling. I do like it better than taking a cartridge package with me on a trip when there’s only one left. The blades seem to be of good quality materials. It’s a 4-blade with a moisturizing strip at the top and a little blue roller ball at the bottom. I shaved for a week with one cart and it never started to pull or scrape, even after I waited three days to put it through some heavy early beard. The one feature I wish it had was a razor blade on the backside. I need that to line up the sideburns and to get right under my nose and in the corners near my mouth. Also, I noticed that there was nearly no resistance when I applied the slightest amount of pressure to the cartridge. It flipped back too easily. I thought it was just me, but I compared it to the other cart razors I’ve reviewed and each of them has some resistance when you apply pressure. Not a lot of pressure, but some.
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The blades snap onto the head of the razor with a black button on top and it’s very easy to get each cart off and replaced.
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So, is it worth the money every month? That’s for each guy or gal to decide. Yes, there are cheaper plans out there. Dollar Shave Club’s top of the line is $9 a month, has more blades and the razor on the back. But if while you look in the mirror while you shave and want to know that you’re helping someone in need, there’s no other plan out there. And with the cool-looking razor and decent blades, you can do it knowing that you both are getting a good shave.

Jay Harrell

Jay Harrell

6 thoughts on “Shaving with a Social Conscience”

  1. Jan Martin Petersen

    Instead of using multi bladed razors that costs a small fortune and pollute the enviroment you ought to use DE blades and donate the money saved.

  2. Almost looks exactly like the razors Every Man Jack has. I’ve seen them in Target and online. Check them out for comparison sometime. Nice article!

  3. Nice article. If I shaved with carts I might do this. But I much prefer my DE razor. Nice to know there’s someone out there helping people in need though.

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