At the most basic level, shaving is just something sharp being used to cut off unwanted hair. There is no difference between the metal used in a male or female razor. There is, however, a large difference in the look and feel of everything around the razors, being it the housing of the blades or the handle.
It has been shown over and over again that women pay more for health and beauty products. Companies are taking advantage of some psychological tricks that women in general place more value on their looks, or are required to achieve a certain look, so will pay more for the same product.
Clever marketers and brand designers started making products pink to differentiate them from the male versions and then charging a nice little mark up on the product.
Razors are no exception. Look down the aisle and you will see the same 3, 4, and 5-blade razors in both the men's and women's section but the packaging is all different and the housing of the blades is different. The blades exactly the same but they don't tell you that and they charge women more for the same shaving experience.
To avoid paying the Pink Tax, make sure to focus on a few simple things
- Being brand agnostic
- Ignore marketing jargon
- Avoid if it's pink for no reason
Being brand agnostic means focusing on what task the product is going to do. Do you need to pay for the fancy brand when the generic brand has the exact same drug or active ingredient?
Is the product full of marketing jargon? Especially if it talks about being designed specifically for women. The difference between oily and non-oily skin is much bigger than the difference between male and female skin. Make sure you look for specific outcomes and benefits.
If the product is pink for no reason then it's usually a red, or in this case, pink flag. If the company makes a pink product for women and a blue product for men it's usually cheaper to buy the blue one and get the same outcome.
At Straightface we just offer one razor. It works amazingly well on both men and women. The differences between individuals hairs and where they are shaving are so much more profound than the difference between men's hair and women's hair that to make individual razors would be staggeringly expensive and would not result in creating a markedly better outcome for your shaving needs.
Shave well, be awesome. Tell someone you love them.
Cheers,
Luke
