How Harry's Bought a German Razor Factory

How Harry's Bought a German Razor Factory(businessinsider.com)

48 points by throughnothing 10 years ago | 46 comments

nostromo 10 years ago |

Pro tip: just get an old fashioned safety razor.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003LW4L2W/

It will last longer than you do and gives you a perfect shave. A box of 100 blades will last for years and will cost you almost nothing.

All disposable razors, including Harry's, are overpriced.

kriro 10 years ago | |

I've switched to this setup a couple of years ago. The biggest improvement, even if you stay with disposable razors: get a good brush and whip up your own lather from soap or shaving cream and use a preshave. It's a massive improvement over the standard goo imo. I've experimented with a lot of them and settled on the relatively cheap Proraso shaving cream (green) and pre/postshave. Warning: you can spend tons of time and money tinkering :P

Finding the right blades also takes some time. I've tried some that are highly rated (Feather) but they didn't work for me. I'm using Personna Reds now and am very happy with them. I got a 200 pack and it usually last quite long (2-3 shaves per blade, you could get more but I prefer taking no risk)

tacticus 10 years ago | |

The annoying thing with these is flying :( they are prohibited from carry on.

crdb 10 years ago | | |

As a frequent flyer, here's my 2 cents:

- transport it bladeless, put it at the top of your bag. In Asia and Europe it gets asked about 1 out of 5 times. You can then take it out, and apart in 10 seconds.

- stock up blades at your frequent destinations (in my case, both in-laws and family have 3 packs of Feathers in a closet).

- if all else fails, buy blades locally - a 5-pack is still cheaper ($2-5) than a Gillette ($10) and can be found in most decent sized supermarkets all over the world. Won't be feathers, but enough for a week.

- if you are somewhere with no blades, which is rare, then there's always the throwaway option. In many countries (e.g. Japan) even the cheaper hotels include a throwaway razor. Otherwise you can buy it at the 7/11 with the toothpaste that you also couldn't carry-on. Some prefer the electric option.

- buy soap rather than cream so you can carry-on. E.g. Tabac Original screw soap. One will last you for years.

baby 10 years ago | |

That's what I do, but the bad thing is that they get "rusty", maybe because they stay wet?

Also I use these blades: http://www.amazon.com/Derby-Extra-Double-Razor-Blades/dp/B00...

They are pretty cheap but I feel like they are not well made sometimes. Any tips on what blades to buy?

furyg3 10 years ago | | |

I shaved for at least two weeks each with Timor, Astra, Derby, Feather & Merkur blades. Everybody has a different experience, but I wasn't happy with Timor or Astra. Derby does the job, but I settled on Merkur and Feather (they're much, much better).

They're also a bit more expensive but since I can get so much use out of them and they're so, so much cheaper than the Mach 3's I used to use, I'm cool with that. :)

felixvolny 10 years ago | | |

Yes, you always have to dry your razor after use. Disposable or not, the hour or so it needs to dry is actually enough for razor blades to noticeably loose their edge. This is part of what makes razor blade manufacture hard - you have to use very hard steel that can hold an edge, but the harder the steel the more prone it is to oxidation aka rust.

JesperRavn 10 years ago | |

I'm happy to pay extra for a razor that gives a close shave without cuts or skin irritation, and that doesn't require extensive training to use.

ChrisGranger 10 years ago | | |

If you can use a disposable razor, you can use a double-edged safety razor. You absolutely don't need "extensive training" to shave with one of these.

vnchr 10 years ago |

Harry's right now has their biggest advertising push of the year, leading up to Father's Day. I admit some suspicion of this being an advertorial--as I write this, most comments here are discussing Harry's from a consumption PoV--especially since we are one week from Father's Day. The content doesn't look atypical for the author Maya Kosoff--does anyone know Business Insider's advertorial policy?

morgante 10 years ago | |

Sponsored content is designated as such with a "SPONSORED" message in the top left.

Like so: http://www.businessinsider.com/sc/value-proposition-for-cust...

This Harry's piece isn't an advertorial. Money isn't changing hands. Rather, Harry's is probably doing a big PR push right now and PR makes it easier for writers to create pieces quickly.

ovi256 10 years ago | | |

This is called a "submarine" piece.

juliangregorian 10 years ago |

Since I've got sensitive skin, I've been happily using a beard trimmer to "shave" my face down to a fine stubble for years. Can't see what additional benefit perfectly smooth face skin would buy me. It doesn't even last a full day.

zaroth 10 years ago | |

I'll second this. If you can get away with a bit of stubble this is faster, easier, and way cheaper than shaving. A decent trimmer is cheaper than an 8-pack of the "latest-gen" cartridges. And to JG's point, no blades ever contact your skin.

As a bonus, you don't need to find those silly miniature cans of shaving gel just to get through security with your shaving kit when traveling. It just would be nice if they took power from a USB-C cable though.

Coworkers might not even notice if you miss a day.

jessaustin 10 years ago |

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?

discardorama 10 years ago |

I tried Harry's when they first started. I was excited at the prospect of ditching Gillette. For some reason, I get nicks and cuts when I shave with a safety razor (the last time I tried). I do shave after showering, to keep the hair soft.

But Harry's just didn't cut it (no pun intended). I got many more nicks and cuts with Harry's than I did with Gillette. Plus, their shaving cream gummed up the razor, and cleaning was a pain. So after a few days, I had to go back to Gillette, and Harry's is sitting in the corner somewhere. Maybe it's their 5-blade monster; I don't know.

sliken 10 years ago | |

Yeah, I tried Harry's as well. Seems like they have a couple of serious faults: * head doesn't easily pivot so it follows your face less well. * they back too many blades into too small a space, so it packs up easily. Even strong stream of water doesn't clear it. * their shaving cream stinks to high even, for a long time.

Generally it seems like Harry's requires twice as much cleaning and twice as manys strokes to match the normal gillete or similar brands.

cmbaus 10 years ago |

What kind of blades does the company make? Are they multi-blade?

Harry's is a great idea, but I've been happy with double edge razors for a while now: http://baus.net/shave-kit

tekgo 10 years ago | |

5 blades with a lotion strip similar to other multi-blade razors. They're sold in 4 packs with their main selling point being that they are half the price of gillette razors while being the of similar quality with a much nicer/weightier handle.

venomsnake 10 years ago | | |

It is hard for something to be of lower quality than Gillette.

Disposable razors just don't shave well.

rdlecler1 10 years ago |

The article starts off by making it sound that a couple of random guys just raised $100m. The. You find our it was a cofounder of WP.

reagency 10 years ago | |

WP?

underwater 10 years ago | | |

Warby Parker.

tomcam 10 years ago |

Tried it, and learned to my chagrin that for my purposes the brand with the condescending ads and expensive consumables was still noticeably better, perhaps due to the pivoting head. Binned the Harry's, reluctantly.

Animats 10 years ago |

If you have dark hair and light skin, consider laser hair removal. Do the job once and be done with it. (The process requires contrast, and doesn't work well on blonds or black people.)

douche 10 years ago |

I bought a bunch of single-edge blades for the old fashioned (probably 1940s or 50s) Gillette safety razor that I inherited from a great uncle. Granted, I keep my beard growing and trim it with an electric trimmer, so I will probably never need to buy any more blades the rest of my life...

wink 10 years ago |

What I found most baffling is that they don't sell in Germany when they manufacture here, I would've tried them as I've never been happy with my Gillette razor (using a newer electrical one now again).

mjcohen 10 years ago |

I just use a $40 Remington electric, and buy $20 blades when the current one wears out. Not that great a shave, but it's easy and I can shave my nose and ears with no problem.

halayli 10 years ago |

tried it but found Gillette to be much better.