Gillette Introduces Brand-New Razor, Same Old Blades

Facial hair, begone! Procter and Gamble will soon release its new Gillette ProGlide FlexBall razor.

If you’re trying to figure out how a ball and shaving go together, we’re on the same page. All I can envision is a Dyson Ball vacuum.

But, according to marketing documents acquired by The Wall Street Journal, the razor features “a swiveling ball-hinge that allows the blade to pivot.” This “revolutionary” razor also comes with a hefty price tag – $11.49 for a manual and $12.59 for a battery-powered version, which includes one cartridge, the Journal said.

The ProGlide FlexBall razor, which should hit shelves in June, is truly innovative for one big reason, Bloomberg Businessweek said:

Gillette’s new razor will use P&G’s current blades, a total departure from the notorious razors-and-blades model that has characterized the segment since Civil War beards went out of style the first time. The razor has typically been just a cheap vehicle to sell expensive blades, locking customers into a proprietary platform.

Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson talked about the high cost of razor blades and ways to save on shaving in this video.

Later he switched from pricey Gillette blades to an online company to save big bucks. He wasn’t the only one. Gillette saw some of its profits trimmed by e-commerce startups like the Dollar Shave Club and Harry’s, Bloomberg said.

So, what’s so neat about this new Gillette razor? The Journal said:

The FlexBall’s marketing material boasts that P&G spent years working on the handle to make sure that the razor head has “optimized stiffness” and “damping” so that just the right amount of force gets it to swivel and stop. Doing so, the company claims, means the blades miss 20 percent fewer hairs with each pass and that it can cut each whisker 23 microns shorter — about a quarter of the width of a strand of human hair.

I think this sounds pretty complicated (and expensive) for a razor, but for men looking for a closer shave, this might be a good fit.

Would you be willing to shell out the cash to try Gillette’s new FlexBall razor? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.