Razors is one of the most contested categories in direct-to-consumer advertising. This directory covers names like Dollar Shave Club, Harry's, Gillette, Billie and Oui the People, plus Flamingo, Estrid and Bevel. Some sell cheap refills by mail, some build shaving around a specific skin or hair type, and some defend decades of shelf presence. Studying their ads shows how a commodity product gets differentiated through price framing, humor, body-positive messaging and subscription offers, and which hooks stay live long enough to signal they work.
Athena Club is a New York-based women's personal care subscription brand founded in 2017 by Maria Chernenko, Allie Griswold, and Charles Desmarais. Starting with a razor subscription, the brand expanded into body wash, dry shampoo, and deodorant, using razor acquisition to build lifetime value across a broader personal care bundle. Also searched as Athena.
Bevel is a San Francisco-founded grooming brand created in 2013 by Tristan Walker to address razor bumps and ingrown hairs common in coarse, curly hair. The brand pioneered culturally authentic grooming advertising for Black men and was acquired by P&G's Walker & Company Brands in 2018.
Billie is a New York-based women's razor and personal care DTC brand founded in 2017 by Georgina Gooley and Jason Bravman. Its Project Body Hair campaign — the first razor ad to show women's body hair — went viral and established the brand as a cultural voice against the pink tax and unrealistic beauty standards.
Dollar Shave Club is a US subscription grooming brand launched in 2011 by Michael Dubin. It sells razors, shave butter and other personal care products delivered on a recurring basis. A humorous launch video in 2012 brought it widespread attention, and Unilever acquired the company in 2016.
Estrid is a Stockholm-based razor subscription brand founded in 2019, known for disrupting the traditional shaving category with inclusive, body-positive messaging, pastel packaging, and a strong DTC subscription model. The brand rapidly expanded across Europe, leveraging viral social content and Meta paid media.
Flamingo is Harry's Labs' women's personal care brand, founded in 2018 and led by Allie Melnick and Brittania Boey. Offering razors, wax kits, and body care with judgment-free body hair messaging, Flamingo is distributed at Target, Walmart, Amazon, and DTC.
Gillette is a global men's grooming brand owned by Procter & Gamble, selling razors, blades, and shaving care products. Founded in 1901, it is one of the best-known names in shaving worldwide and sells through mass retail, drugstores, and its own e-commerce and subscription channels.
Gillette Venus is Procter & Gamble's women's shaving and hair-removal brand, selling razors, blades, and shave care products. It is the women's-focused counterpart to Gillette's razor line and sells through mass retail, drugstores, and online channels.
Harry's is a men's grooming brand selling razors, replacement blades, shave gel, face wash, body wash, hair care and fragrance. Founded in 2013 by Jeff Raider and Andy Katz-Mayfield, it sells direct-to-consumer online, by subscription and through major retailers, positioning itself on quality shaving at fair prices.
Joy is a women's razor brand owned by Procter & Gamble, operating a DTC subscription model at joyshave.com alongside broad retail distribution at Walmart, Target, and Dollar General. The brand features five-blade cartridge razors with pastel branding and positions itself as a stylish, accessible shaving option. Also searched as Joy.
Joy Shave is a women's shaving and body care brand selling razors and skincare products marketed direct-to-consumer online. It positions itself around gentle, skin-friendly shaving designed specifically for women, sold primarily through its own e-commerce site.
Oui the People is a New York-based women's personal care brand founded in 2016 by Karen Young. Its single-blade safety razor challenged both the disposable cartridge model and the body-positive framing of competitors, instead adopting a body-neutral philosophy that removes shaming language from personal care entirely. Also searched as Oui.
Procter & Gamble launched PGShop.com during the COVID pandemic to sell Tide, Gillette, Pampers, and other household brands directly to consumers. The initiative built P&G's first-party data infrastructure and reduced dependency on mass retail, complementing brand-level DTC efforts like Gillette on Demand and Tide subscription. Also searched as Procter.
Wilkinson Sword is one of Britain's oldest brands, with roots tracing to 1772. Owned by Edgewell Personal Care, the brand has re-entered DTC subscription to challenge Gillette and digital-native disruptors like Harry's and Estrid, pairing 250 years of shaving heritage with a modern letterbox delivery model. Also searched as Wilkinson.
A razor is a low-involvement purchase that repeats every few weeks, so most ads sell the relationship rather than the blade. Subscription brands like Dollar Shave Club and Harry's frame the offer around convenience and fair pricing: stop overpaying at the pharmacy, get refills at your door. Humor and a direct tone do a lot of work here, because the product itself looks similar across brands. The second big angle is identity. Billie and Flamingo speak to women who were tired of shame-based shaving marketing, and Oui the People pitches a premium safety razor as the alternative to disposable cartridges. Bevel built its message around razor bumps and coarse hair, a specific problem with a specific audience. Creative formats tend to be short demo videos, close-up shave footage, starter kit unboxings and founder-led storytelling. Static ads usually show the kit, the handle design and the offer in one frame. Legacy names such as Gillette lean on brand familiarity and retail availability rather than an introductory deal.
Start by sorting ads by the problem they name. Is the hook price, comfort, skin irritation, design, or values? Brands that run the same hook for months are usually telling you something about what converts. Compare how a legacy brand like Gillette or Gillette Venus talks against how a challenger like Estrid or Athena Club does, and note what each leaves unsaid. Look closely at the offer structure. Starter kits, trial bundles and subscription discounts are the usual levers, and the landing page promise should match the ad promise. Check how often creative changes: a steady rotation of new hooks points to active testing, while one long-running video suggests a proven winner. Also watch the audience split. Men's and women's razors are advertised very differently, and some brands, like Harry's, now spread across personal care beyond shaving. Cross-category creative can show where a razor brand plans to grow its customer base next.
Most lean on short demo videos, starter-kit offers and subscription messaging. Dollar Shave Club and Harry's push convenience and fair pricing, while Billie and Flamingo use body-positive creative. Static ads usually show the razor handle, the blade pack and a clear introductory offer. Filter by platform and date in the directory to see which of these ads have stayed live longest, since long runs often point to a proven hook.
Billie, Flamingo, Estrid, Athena Club, Oui the People, Joy Razor and Gillette Venus all focus on women. Their ads differ: some emphasize body-positive values, others price and style, and Oui the People pitches a reusable safety razor. Compare their creative side by side to see how each one handles body hair, price and design, and which of those messages the brand repeats most often.
Common angles are skipping the pharmacy trip, avoiding overpriced cartridges, and getting refills on a schedule. Brands also stress skin comfort, design and values. Subscription flexibility, such as pausing or skipping a shipment, often appears in the copy to lower purchase risk. Check the landing pages these ads link to, because the starter kit, trial terms and shipping promise usually matter as much as the ad itself does.
Challengers include Dollar Shave Club, Harry's, Bevel and Wilkinson Sword DTC. They typically position against Gillette on price, convenience or a niche need such as razor bumps, while Gillette relies on its long-established name and wide retail availability. Reading both sides of that rivalry together shows how a challenger frames the incumbent without naming it, and how the incumbent responds.
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