Facial Hair Craze Kills Razor Sales

As the popularity and length of beards continue to grow, the sales of razors is falling dramatically – Will Facial Hair Craze Kills Razor Sales. Fashionable, long beards are extremely en vogue at the moment as the hipster community took to them and they permeated the mainstream.

Three of the World’s biggest male heart-throbs Brad Pitt, George Clooney and David Beckham have all been pictured this year sporting facial hair longer than simple designer stubble. This has seen an increase in the number of men growing their beards to increase their appearance of virility and attractiveness to the opposite sex.

The more desperate of men are undergoing surgery to increase their beard length and coverage with reckon numbers undergoing facial hair transplant surgery hoping that this will give them the appeal of Pitt, Clooney and Becks.

US facial hair care giants, Procter & Gamble and Energizer are reporting that both of their razor brands – Gillette and Schick respectively – are experiencing a downfall in sales as men are eschewing the task of shaving in favour of letting their beards grow. The latter experience a staggering sales drop on 10% and research firm Euromonitor International have predicted that the entire shaving industry is set to lose its dominance in the male grooming market for the first time in recorded history.

Euromonitor International analyst, Nicole Tyrimou explained: “The vogue for stubble, the relative non-hairiness of Chinese men, growing acceptance of the unshaven look in the workplace and, most importantly, the ever increasing cost of shaving have all been damaging to men’s shaving and Gillette alike.

“Over the medium to long term, the desire for an unshaven look is expected to continue, especially in Western Europe where increasing unemployment coupled with stubble being in vogue will continue to damage growth of razors and blades.”

Another major factor in the downturn of razor popularity is the resurgence of the designer barber and the barber shop cold shave. This industry dropped dramatically in popularity in the 1990s and 2000s due to the home razor industry but many men are now finding that disposable razors cannot replicate the close shave of an expert barber.

The expert barber can also shape the beard into a number of different styles and appearances that the amateur shaver may struggle with, creating a host of new appearances.