#caretake

GILLETTE’S LATEST RAZOR WAS BUILT FOR ALLOWING CARETAKERS TO SHAVE THE ELDERLY

Gillette is synonymous with two things. A. Shaving, and B. Slick Masculinity. It’s difficult to find brands that have the kind of reach Gillette does, in the shaving industry. It quite literally has no serious competition, which one can only ask for as a brand, but its the latter reference that one could say is a narrow-sighted problem. Gillette has and does cater to women too, with its gentle Venus series that runs smoothly against the skin, removing unwanted body hair, but a major part of Gillette’s portfolio caters to the young man who believes beards are for hipsters, and wants to have an immaculately shaved jawline with no cuts or bruises, in record time. In maintaining that vision, Gillette forgot a significant part of their market. People who want to, but are unable to shave.

A masterpiece of inclusive design, the Treo enables assisted shaving, allowing helpers and caretakers shave the beards of men who are unable to. Using a straight-razor was out of the question, since these helpers/caretakers weren’t professionals, and using regular razors is challenging enough on your own face, so shaving someone else can be nothing short of an ergonomic nightmare.

Gillette began its work on the Treo as early as 2017, analyzing pain points, areas of failure, and coming up with solutions to the wide range of problems. Studying assisted shaving scenarios revealed that men were shaved sitting down, or in a bed, which meant that the angle on the blade and handle had to reflect that arrangement, rather than one where one shaves oneself. Since the subjects weren’t being shaved/groomed in the bathroom, there was also the challenge of shaving cream becoming a messy ordeal, given that you didn’t have a constant flow of water to periodically wash the razor. All this research culminated in the Treo, the world’s first assisted-shaving razor.

The sky has not yet settled, the birds are still asleep. It is only but a whisper that we will hear, now that all is silent.

Is there any other way? - she asked. I’m not familiar with any other traditions, but he who visits the nightly graves is soon to arrive. I wish not be here when he does.