Gillette develops razor for ‘assisted shaving’

From the shape of the handle to the angle of the blades, razors have always been engineered for people to shave themselves. But what happens when a resident needs someone else to do the shaving?

Gillette, owned by Proctor & Gamble, is billing its new TREO as the first razor designed for someone who is shaving another person. The marketing campaign has given rise to the term “assisted shaving” and has shed new light on caregivers who perform hygiene tasks and other activities of daily living for those who can no longer perform the tasks themselves.

The idea came from social media. Gillette employees saw conversations on social media sharing the challenges of shaving someone else. Gillette spent the next 18 months developing the new single-use razor, which uses a wide, easy to hold shape, safer blade heads and shaving gel in a squeezable tube handle—handy for situations where water is undesired or unavailable.

Gillette made a film about a man caring for his aging father’s hygiene, “Handle With Care,” which won two awards at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.

TREO is not yet on the consumer market, and Gillette has not announced a release date.

Photo: Gillette

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.