

How Harry's Bought a German Razor Factory - throughnothing
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-harrys-bought-a-german-factory-2015-6?a=2

======
nostromo
Pro tip: just get an old fashioned safety razor.

[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003LW4L2W/](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.

~~~
baby
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...](http://www.amazon.com/Derby-Extra-Double-Razor-
Blades/dp/B004SGKMA0/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1434349811&sr=8-10&keywords=safety+razor+blade)

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

~~~
furyg3
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. :)

------
vnchr
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
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...](http://www.businessinsider.com/sc/value-proposition-for-customer-
loyalty-2015-6)

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
This is called a "submarine" piece.

------
juliangregorian
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
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
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?

~~~
blinkingled
I have long pondered using old fashioned blades - but the ones I used in my
time were all very much inferior to Gillette or Harrys which is what I am
using right now ( they are cheaper, are good quality and last far longer than
Gillette btw.).

If you don't mind answering - what blades/razor combo you're using and are
there any downsides (ex. easy to cut yourself, shave quality etc.) that you
choose to live with?

~~~
crdb
I've tried probably a dozen brands. Counter-intuitively, I found that the
sharpest were the ones least likely to cut, because you apply so little
pressure (and maybe because they notch the hair immediately, instead of
sliding down to the skin). Feathers are easily the best at least in my
experience, beating even the "premium" offerings from Gillette and Wilkinson
and making it easily worth the (rather large) premium; not only are they sharp
but they stay sharp almost forever - I've occasionally had several weeks' use
on a single Feather.

I cut myself all the time with the cheap no-name Israeli blades (rebranded
Personna?), so called it a false economy. Not impressed with Astra either.
YMMV - softer hair doesn't require as much cutting.

~~~
jdmichal
> Counter-intuitively, I found that the sharpest were the ones least likely to
> cut...

This is actually a pretty common phenomenon among pretty much _any_ kind of
blade. The logic is that (supposedly) the majority of knife accidents are
caused by losing control of the knife through applied pressure. When something
unexpected happens, the knife has a lot of force behind it and travels quickly
to places it isn't supposed to be, like inside you. A well-sharpened kitchen
knife will cut through vegetables with barely more pressure than the weight of
the blade, so unexpected forceful interactions are very rare.

------
discardorama
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
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
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](http://baus.net/shave-kit)

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

Disposable razors just don't shave well.

------
rdlecler1
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
WP?

~~~
underwater
Warby Parker.

------
tomcam
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
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
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
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
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
tried it but found Gillette to be much better.

