Beard-Loving Millennials Are Killing the Razor Industry

It’s getting hairy.

Thomas Freeman

Aug 9, 2018

millennials-razors-main — (Photo: Getty Images)

Millennials are adopting more casual attitudes about face shaving, and it’s killing the razor industry.

Sales of manual razors and blades slipped 5.1 percent in the United States this past year alone, and Gillette even reported a 24-percent decrease in sales.

CNN reports that in developed markets, the number of times men shave a week is down from 3.7 to 3.2 this past decade, amounting to two fewer shaves a month.

“Today, men are not judged negatively when they skip a shave — it is not considered lazy or disrespectful,” Massimiliano Menozzi, the vice president of Gillette North America, told CNN by email.

millennials-working — A bearded millennial in an open office space

There is also a well-documented surge in the popularity of beards, goatees and more among younger Americans. A less clean-shaven and more “laid back” look is what’s in.

Traditional razor brands, like Gillette and the Art of Shaving, are pivoting to “grooming” products in order to stay afloat.

For instance, sales of Gillette trimmers have grown 4.2 percent this past year, meaning millennial men are not going full Sasquatch.

I guess all those millennials caught wind of our “lumbersexual” article from a few years back.