To say it’s been an amazing seven years for Dollar Shave Club is a massive understatement. The company started in 2010 after a conversation at holiday party and it grew thanks to clever marketing like their videos. That one 1:30 second commercial, which was released in 2012, has been viewed nearly 25 million times. As the company’s membership continued to grow, so did their product line. By 2014, they offered skin care products, hair style stuff, shower gel and soaps, in addition to their three types of razors. By mid-July of 2016, the company boasted 3.2 million subscribers…and a week later was sold to Unilever for a cool one BILLION dollars. In cash. Not bad for a company who’s known for boasting their blades are “f***ing great.”
Dollar Shave Club “Software”
Anyone who shaves knows that the blade or the razor is just part of the equation to have a great shave. What you put on your face before you start scraping matters a lot, and that’s where Dollar Shave Club has two products (see Shave by Dr Carver’s at Dollar Shave Club!).
Dollar Shave Club Dr. Carver’s Easy Shave Butter
The first is their Easy Shave Butter. They’ve branded all their shaving supplies under the “Dr. Carver” brand. On their website, they say that their butter is transparent because “seeing better is shaving better.”
I used this product several times and it comes out looking like hand cream but does end up clear on the skin. I shaved with the six-blade Executive from Dollar Shave Club and several times with my Slim Adjustable with an Astra Platinum blade. It has very good slickness and cushions the face very well. I didn’t get any razor burn and it left my face a little tingly. It has a nice minty-citrus smell that doesn’t compete with aftershave. The only downside to this type of product is that you have to reapply with your hands for every pass. That’s why I have a scuttle, brushes, creams and soaps. But for a quickie shave, it’s just about perfect. The competition that comes to mind is Cremo Cream, a similar product. Their 6 oz. tube goes for $6 to $8, depending on where you buy, while Dollar Shave Club’s Shave Butter costs $8 for 6 oz. I think that if you’re a member of www.dollarshaveclub.com getting their blades, and shipping is free above a certain dollar amount, then throwing in a tube of their Shave Butter makes sense. I know that I’ll reach for it when I’ve got do a quick one-pass scrape but probably nothing more. It’s good to have in reserve. For a multi-pass shave I reach for shave soap or cream.
(Shave butter ingredients: Water, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Cyclopentasiloxane, Behentrimonium Methosulfate, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Grape Seed Oil, Oat Kernel Extract, Willow Bark Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Algae Extract, Papaya Fruit Extract, Pineapple Fruit Extract, Camelia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Panax Ginsing Root Extract, Propanediol, Cyclohexasiloxane, Dimethicone, Phospholipids, Retinyl Palmitate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate, Hydrolyzed Barley Protein, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Orange Peel Extract, Rosemary Leaf Oil, Lavender Oil, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Dimethiconol, Potassium Sorbate, Hydroxypropyl Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Disodium EDTA, Ethylhexyglycerin, Phenoxyethanol.)
Dollar Shave Club Dr. Carver’s Pillowy Shave Lather
That’s where Dr. Carver’s Pillowy Shave Lather should come in. The website shows a shaving brush sitting on a pile of lather next to a tube. It boasts it’s for a “rich and dreamy shave.” This is definitely a product I wanted to try. The instructions say to “dispense a strawberry-sized dollop into wet hand (or center of shaving brush.) This, they say, will produce rich, fluffy lather. What it did create was a slick layer of white cream on my hands. It wasn’t lather like I’m used to from traditional creams and soaps but it did provide really good slickness and protection. I was shower shaving with the Executive and got two decent passes out of the amount of product used. It did provide a good cushion and slickness, plus it had a nice peppermint smell and left a nice tingle to my face when I was done. I decided to try it as a regular cream, using my scuttle and brush.
I put about the same-sized dollop in my scuttle, used my Semogue Owner’s Club brush to try and whip up some lather. Here’s the result:
No lather at all. More of a thin film of product on the scuttle and the brush.
I found that the best way to apply this is work it with your hands and then apply to your face. I also upped the amount and got a very decent layer of product.
The 4.5 oz. tube of Shave Lather runs $8 on Dollar Shave Club’s site, which is the same price as the Shave Butter, which is 6 oz. While both lent itself to a decent shave, I would choose the Shave Lather. I liked the mint smell and tingle, even though you’re getting less product. I’m still more comfortable with something I can actually see on my face as I shave, as opposed to a clear product.
(Shave lather ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Myristic Acid, Stearic Acid, Lauric Acid, Palmitic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Glycerin, Lauramidopropyl Betaine, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Tapioca Starch, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Macadamia Ternifolia Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Extract, Mentha Peperita (Peppermint) Oil, Algae Extract, Ananas Sativus (Papaya) Fruit Extract, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract, Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Boerhavia Diffusa Root Extract, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, 1, 2-Hexanediol, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Coco-Glucoside, Disodium EDTA, Glyceryl Oleate, Polyquaterinum-7, Tropolone, Menthol, Menthyl Lactate, Fragrance (Parfum), Limonene, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool, Butyphenyl Methylpropional)
Yes, Dollar Shave Club is growing, successful company. That’s happened because two men were fed up with paying high prices for multi-blade razors and they’ve been successful with that part of the business. For these two products, I’d say they’re marketed for the cartridge shaving crowd that’s already on their site. While each is good for the cart crowd, I think the wet shaving folks will find them a bit wanting.
Related Content:
Dollar Shave Club’s Dr. Carver’s Magnanimous Post Shave
Does Dollar Shave Club Give You What You Pay For?
Before making the switch to a double edge safety razor a few years ago, I gave dollar shave club and their shave butter a try. The butter worked very well but I just did not like the greasy feeling.
I am going to save everyone a ton of money stop wasting your time on all the artisan soap and cream. Go to a local health food store and pickup a bottle of Kiss My Face cream. You will get weeks of greats shaves not to mention the money and time you will save from searching forums from the next best thing.
Ed, while I agree that KSM is a great cream, sometimes the journey is as enjoyable as the destination.
A superlather of VDH luxury scented and a squirt of KMF unscented make for an outstanding shave. Shave butter? Nah!
I’ve tried both of these shave products and both were disappointing for me. I experienced razor burn with each product, and even used a preshave oil on a second attempt, but still no love. While the razors do a descent job, the shave products fall short.
Maybe a bad thing that it was bought out. One of the big blade company’s you know can order from them like a subscription service or I guess as a replenishment service.
For that you can order blades with groceries and have it delivered. Or you can order it thru Amazon.
Needs to be more competitors not less.
To keep cost down to consumers but also for innovation.
When cartridge razors came out they cost a bit more.
They promised to lift the hair for a closer shave. Less nicks.
They where more convient and saved time over sharpening.
The prices I think got out of hand even from say the 80’s to today.
Consolidated market is what led big blade company’s to charge so much.
Think the high cost of the cartridge blades helped sales for straight razors, safety razors and shavettes.
You are totally correct, IMHO. I believe more became wet shavers not because of the goo in a can, but the ripped off feeling whenever they went to buy more carts.
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