Roughly 5 weeks ago after being tempted by their clever advertising campaign I broke down and joined Dollar Shave Club. After looking at their options I settled on the $6 a month quadruple blade option, placed my order, and waited for my first shipment.
Arriving a week later I was immediately impressed by the quality of both the packaging and especially the enclosed handle. It felt sturdy, looked nice and seemed to be equal quality to the Gillette and Schick handles I’d used for years. Off to a good start.
Then I unpacked the actual blades.
As someone who’s been shaving for 25 years I’ve used the most expensive and advanced blades that you can buy at the time as well as the cheapest disposable pieces of crap available at gas stations and hotel stores. These appeared to be closer to the bad end of that spectrum.
The next morning was the true test. After approximately 30 seconds of shaving I instantly regretted my purchase. This was literally the same blade found on the disposable Bic razors you can buy a 10 pack of for $5.
Simple math tells you their plan of sending you 4 blades a month should mean each blade lasts a week. As if the first shave wasn’t bad enough, by day 3 it felt like I was scraping a rusty butter knife against my face. Thinking maybe I’d just gotten a bad blade I switched it out for another. Nope. Each blade was just as bad as the others.
Wanting to get my money’s worth I diligently plowed through the 4 pack in less than 2 weeks. I didn’t get a good close shave once. I tried everything. I’d skip a day to see how they’d perform with more stubble; just as terribly as any other time. After finishing the pack I immediately went back to their site and cancelled my membership and all future shipments.
That same day I picked up a pack of 4 Schick Quatro blades at a local Target for $11.99. Yes, twice the cost of Dollar Shave Club, but exponentially better. Considering a single blade can last 3 weeks without becoming even the slightest bit dull, they’re actually cheaper in the long run as well. Oh, and my face had an orgasm the next morning it was so happy.
Bottom line: don’t be fooled by the funny commercials. Dollar Shave Club isn’t worth it at all.