Back in November, I had an exclusive opportunity to go behind the scenes to the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts to see up close and personal just how a Venus Embrace razor is made. I honestly never knew how much planning and work went into something I take for granted such as a razor. Sure, I like to easily shave my legs, but so much technology to perfect the razor to make the process easier for women is involved, and I am very impressed. After seeing this in person, I won't ever take my razor or shaving experience for granted again.
Behind the scenes with Venus Embrace at the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters.
The Venus Embrace production line at the Gillette World Shaving Headquarters can produce hundreds of thousands cartridges per day.
From conception to design and the end razor result, the whole process takes years. P&G takes the input of highly trained engineers and even consumers who get to test the products before they are perfected and make it in our shower. Beside engineers and robots, yes - ROBOTS, I have to say that the technology is unprecedented.
Gillette World Shaving Headquarters utilizes these robots to transport Venus Embrace razor production materials across the plant.
I would have never imagined the fine tuning of the process that takes a large spool of steel and turn it into a razor - one that shaves my legs perfectly with ease.
- Venus’ five-bladed razor blades start with a large spool of steel, thoroughly washed, placed in a red-hot furnace and immediately cooled to harden.
- The hardened steel is sharpened, cut into individual blades and then coated with proprietary materials that help balance the cutting force and blade life. The sharpening ensures Venus Embrace and Venus & Olay blades have a thinner edge than a scalpel.
- The five blades in Venus Embrace and Venus & Olay are spaced closer together than a 3-blade razor. By reducing the distance between blade tips, these Venus razors minimize drag and skin bulge to improve comfort.
- Each Venus blade is independently mounted on tiny springs, allowing them to adjust to contours and stay in contact with skin, even on tricky shaving areas.
- Venus’ rounded, pivoting cartridge head is specially designed for a woman’s body, including all the hard to reach areas and curves, and helps prevent the razor from ‘digging’ into the skin while helping distribute pressure across the blades and cartridge head.
- The shaving cartridge head on Venus Embrace is surrounded by a protective Ribbon of Moisture for a smooth glide and distributes more lubrication than Venus razors with a lubrastrip alone.
- Venus & Olay features Olay Moisture Bars containing skin conditioners found in Olay products: Petrolatum and Glycerin help lock in skin’s moisture for less dryness and deliver that goddess glow.
- Venus razors feature a curved, ergonomically-designed handle made with lightweight SoftGrip elastomer that makes them easy to hold onto in wet, slippery environments.
Perfection is something P&G takes seriously too. Each and every razor is inspected 90 times by both a real person along the production line and in the end a computer, to meet very specific criteria. If something is off by even the slightest degree, the razor is rejected.
Venus Embrace has high standards when it comes to quality control – each razor is checked 90 times before making the journey to your home.
The care and perfection in the process, again, is astounding. I would also have never imagined that all of this would take place at a factory in the middle of Boston! It really was such a great experience and like I said, I will never look at saving the same way again.
This is also the perfect time to tell you that Venus Embrace just launched a new razor, the Venus & Olay Razor in Sugarberry. I was one of the first people to get a peek at this new razor. The Sugarberry-scented Olay Moisture Bars smell great and make for a super smooth shave without the need for shaving cream. How great is that? My legs are shaved to a super smooth finish each and every time I use it.
All Gillette razors are sold at your favorite drugstore or mass retailers. The Venus & Olay razors have prices ranging from $8.99 - $11.99 that make it super affordable for a luxurious shaving experience.
