New Brand Billie Offers Women an Alternative to Dollar Shave Club

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Like tampons, buying women’s razors isn’t fun or exciting. It’s something you do because you have to, probably complaining in your head the whole time about how overpriced they are. Billie, a new direct-to-consumer body care brand, wants to change that.

Today the brand launches with a subscription-based model delivering razors made specifically for women’s in-shower shaving, along with a handful of body products.

“We’ve sort of seen women as being an afterthought in the shaving category,” says Billie co-founder Georgina Gooley. “If you look at the big brands that started ages ago to the more recent start-up brands, everyone is very focused on improving the shaving experience for men. For women, it’s kind of like they just slap a bit of pink on it and think it’ll be fine. We wanted to make sure we weren’t just taking a men’s blade and making it for women.”

The way it works is pretty simple, especially if you’re familiar with the uber-popular (and men’s-focused) Dollar Shave Club or any of the women’s-focused shave clubs to come before it. Your initial order, or starter kit, from Billie includes two razor blades, a handle, and a magnetic holder for $9. The razors themselves are five-blade razor cartridges wrapped in aloe shave balm, and they’re specially spaced to let hair and soap pass through, meaning the blades won’t get all clogged with gunk immediately after you finish leg number one.

Subsequent deliveries include four five-blade razor cartridges for $9, and you can opt for any of Billie’s body products — like shave cream ($8), sudsy body wash ($9), or body lotion ($12) — at checkout. As far as how often you get these refills? That’s entirely up to you.

“You get to pick your [handle] color, and then we ask you how often you shave,” says Clooney. “If it’s every day, we recommend you get a delivery once a month. If it’s every other day, or a few times a week, [a delivery] every two months. If you only shave a couple times a week, a delivery every three months.”

I was able to try out the starter kit after meeting with the brand a couple weeks before the launch, and as someone who routinely steals my boyfriend’s razor whenever he leaves it in the shower, I really enjoyed the whole experience with Billie, from the unboxing to the actual shaving.

The lightweight handle, though made of plastic, felt really sleek while shaving, like it was just gliding along my legs. It gave me the super-close shave I love from men’s razors and left me with no razor burn or bumps. I’ll be honest and say that my favorite part was easily the magnetic holder that you can just stick to a dry spot in your shower: Unlike the other million razor holders and stands I’ve tried, it actually stays put.

To celebrate the launch, Billie is offering “The Pink Tax Rebate,” which is a cheeky way to reimburse women for all the money they’ve spent on shitty, overpriced pink razors. You can earn credit toward a Billie purchase by sharing a referral code, and for every five, 10, or 20 friends that click through (no purchase necessary!) you’ll get a $5, $10, or $20 credit to use on the site. Try it out for yourself straight through mybillie.com.

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