Is the Dollar Shave Club worth it? In short: it depends.
AUGUST 2020 UPDATE: Since coming out with a strongly anti-police statement, I’d highly advise against Dollar Shave Club. Vote with your dollars and shave elsewhere.
Can I admit something embarrassing?
I was super nervous about my husband having to go clean-shaven for the academy.
I mean, I’d never, ever seen him completely without facial hair. Ever. I was kind of worried I wouldn’t like it. I was also worried he’d be upset if I didn’t like it.
So I waited outside the bathroom with bated breath while he shaved. The suspense.
Luckily, I thought he was just as handsome as ever. Phew.
But the experience was a great reminder in why he didn’t shave before. It’s not just because he prefers to have some facial hair: it’s because he has coarse hair and super sensitive skin, so shaving is pretty unpleasant.
And because of those two factors, blades aren’t something we could skimp on. If we did, he’d definitely feel it.
Poor guy.
But because of that, we had to spend a lot of money on razors. Phew, they’re super expensive. So when we heard of the Dollar Shave Club, we figured it was worth a shot.
Is the Dollar Shave Club Worth It?
Cost
First of all, your first box is only $1 (with free shipping). That includes one handle and 4-5 cartridges (4 for the 4x or Executive blades, 5 for the Humble Twin), so if you for whatever reason decide it’s not for you, you’re only out $1 for giving it a shot.
When we ordered our first box, we ordered an extra handle with it since we were planning to share the subscription anyway, so the total cost of our first box was $7.
After that, each box is $1, $6, or $9, depending on the type of blades you choose.
Because my husband shaves frequently and has such sensitive skin, we tried the Executive blades first. Even the $9 box was still a great bargain, considering the comparable Gilette blades we had been buying ran for about $12-15 for four blade refills.
Quality
Unfortunately, the Executive blades weren’t my husband’s favorite. He only got one good shave out of them before it was too dull and got clogged up with hair.
Based on a few reviews that recommended the 4x for sensitive skin, we decided to give that one a try. Thus far, they’ve done the trick – and it doesn’t hurt that they’re even cheaper.
He uses the razors in conjunction with Art of Shaving products, which are a big reason he doesn’t have crazy issues with razor burn anymore – but these razors don’t seem to aggravate his skin, which is great.
But if you have sensitive skin, too, definitely give the 4x a try instead of the Executive.
As for me, I don’t have super sensitive skin and don’t shave my legs daily – so I’ve really never had an issue with the blades. And I can go 2-3 weeks without changing it out. So I could probably deal with the Humble Twin and be fine – but it’s not worth getting a separate box right now since I go so long between changes 🙂
Convenience
My favorite thing about the Dollar Shave Club is how easy it is to manage your account. If you want to change your plan, get blades more frequently (especially if you share a box like we do), add any products or postpone shipments, you can do so painlessly in their Membership Settings area.
That means you can change or cancel your subscription without having to call and go through automated systems, then talk to an associate that tries to persuade you to stay.
None of that. Which is a huge selling point in my book. I hate having to deal with customer support even on a good day.
They also send a reminder email prior to shipping each box, so if you want to postpone that box or add anything to it, you’ll be reminded about it in time. That’s great for me, because I don’t want one more thing to remember on my own. I have enough of that 😉
So the answer to the original question: is the Dollar Shave Club worth it?
In my opinion, absolutely – especially if your husband shaves frequently, whether that’s for law enforcement, firefighting, or even working at an office. It’s the most cost-effective way to get a good quality shave.
However – skip the extra cost for the Executive blade for now. The 4X does a much better job 🙂
Even if you don’t change your blades every week as they suggest (I sure don’t!), you can get the first box, then postpone shipment until you need blades again, without any sort of hassle with customer service.
If you want to give it a shot, you can get your first box for only $1 here!
Have you tried the Dollar Shave Club?
It was worth it up until the point they started “donating” to BLM then it’s trash and they support domestic terrorist that hate the police doesn’t matter if it’s black or white police.
Holy crap, I didn’t realize they were doing this! This post is actually from a few years ago, and I’ve since switched to a different company anyway – but… it sounds like it’s time to update this post. Thank you!