TL;DR Version

1. DollarShaveClub is a ripoff and waste of time. Buy the blades from DorcoUSA.com direct and save even more money and get the blades faster. You’ll get more blades for your money and you get them a lot faster.
2. The Dorco requires more passes for the shave even though it has more blades. It also sucks on the neck area and caused an ingrown hair.
3. Even though the Dorco is a fraction of the cost, I prefer the the Gillette as it provides a better shave, lasts longer, and shaves closer.

The Long Version

DollarShaveClub Review

After watching the hilarious viral video, I recently took advantage of DollarShaveClub through a deals site to give them a try. I’m wary of services that make me lazier but the prospect of saving money on expensive razors was too good to pass up. The premise of the service is you don’t need to remember buying your own razor blades and they’ll be cheaper than the Gillettes you’d buy at the store.

After signing up for the DollarShaveClub service, about two weeks later, I received a razor handle in the mail in a tiny cardboard envelope. Yes, that’s right, just a razor handle and no blades. While I’m all for giving businesses a second chance, there’s nothing convenient about having to remind the company that’s supposed to take the burden of remembering your blades to send you the blades, especially when you’re out of razor blades and they take two weeks to send them. I did send an e-mail to their customer service to alert them that the blades were missing and it took three days for them to respond. I don’t know their volume but that’s a long time for a response in internet time.

After inspecting the new “Executive” blades, I did some searching and found out that the blades were simply Dorco blades that they were reselling at a marked up premium. Dorco sells the cartridges in a 4 pack of blades. For some odd reason, DollarShaveClub removes one from the pack and sends you the pack with three and an empty slot.

Since my whole premise was saving money, I decided to explore Dorco directly. For the same price as two months worth of DollarShaveClub, which would equal 6 cartridges, I was able to buy 16 replacement cartridges. Additionally, I received the replacements in three days.

Dorco Pace6 vs Gillette Fusion ProGlide

I tried the Dorco Pace6 razor for two weeks. The verdict? It’s a decent razor. The handle is well designed and solid. My only complaint about the handle is that the base is really bulbous which makes it impossible to fit into my holder. The blades themselves only do a decent job overall. In comparing the Gillette vs. the Dorco, the Dorco requires more passes to do the shave even though it has an extra blade on it. They also absolutely suck shaving on my neck and have actually caused an ingrown hair. The Pace6 also does not provide as close a shave as the ProGlide so I have to shave more often. The Pace6 blade’s sharpness also doesn’t last as long as the ProGlide.

I’ve never had a cut, nick, or ingrown hair before with my ProGlide. After the negative experience, I’m sticking with the ProGlide even though it’s more money.