The Gillette Shave Club

or, More Shaving Insanity

Insanity, because Gillette would have us believe that $4.50 a month to shave one's face 3 - 4 (their number as flashed light-speed in fine print in their commercials) times a week is a bargain, especially in comparison to other shave clubs.

Insanity because they would have us believe that subscribing to razor blades like one subscribes to magazines is logical, economical and convenient.

Wow.  A pack of blades is such a burden to lug home from Walmart.

A look at the numbers reveals all, o Gentle Reader.  So does nearly 60 years of personal shaving experience.  One can subscribe to Gillette's shave club for $4.50 or so per month, one can buy blades as needed when shopping and pay at least that much per blade, or one can find an alternative.

My alternative is to spend the $12 or so to buy an ordinary retro double edged razor from on-line vendors like Amazon.  It will come with 10 blades.  Each blade, in my personal experience, provides very close and comfortable shaves for an entire month, assuming Gillette's 3 - 4 shaves per week.  If one were to buy a new razor and its blades when one runs out in ten months, one would have spent an average of $1.20 per month for those shaves.  A quarter of the Gillette Shave Club's advertised price.

But wait!  Yes, you savvy shoppers reading this will say there is no need to buy another razor, only blades.  And you are correct.  Thirty seconds of on-line shopping for 'double edge razor blades' will reveal that one can get 100 stainless blades for less than $10.  A math genius will immediately see that 100 blades equals 100 months (8 years) of great shaves, all for less than $10 total.  Or, put another way, $0.10 per month.  

Any home economics student in public school will quickly conclude that spending $0.10 per month on personal  grooming is smarter than spending $4.50 per month for that same grooming.

Your Ostrich Killer is walking this talk.  He laughs out loud each time that Gillette Shave Club commercial runs on TV.  Ladies, that same razor worked fine for generations of females too.  So do a comparison someday.  Get one of those double edge razors and give it a try.  It worked for your mother and her mother, right?

It's early yet, and I've had no coffee.  Out here.