Got an Estrid subscription? Perhaps you’ve noticed your blade refills are looking a little different these days. The rumours are true—we’re phasing out our blue blades for uncoloured blades. Read on for why we’re making this change.
Why is Estrid changing razor blades?
Short answer? We’re being super proactive. Long answer: The EU is constantly reviewing what ingredients should and shouldn’t be in personal care products. Instead of waiting to be told to remove ingredients that perhaps aren’t the best for you, we decided to be proactive and remove them now, to set the new standard for shaving products. This means we’re phasing out the blue cartridges for the uncoloured ones. There will be a slow transition online, affecting some products before others, and then later in physical stores. The blue cartridges will be completely phased out by the middle of 2024. Until then, sometimes you’ll get blue cartridges, and sometimes you’ll get the uncoloured ones.
While we’re unable to choose which colour will be shipped to you, rest assured we still stand by the quality, safety and effectiveness of the blue cartridges. But since we’re extra excited by the uncoloured ones, we wanted to get the new and improved blades to you sooner rather than later.
Do the new cartridges perform differently?
Definitely not! All of the good-for-you ingredients, like shea butter and aloe, that provide that famous Estrid lubricating slip and skin-soft conditioning remain.
The stuff we took out—two colourants and titanium dioxide powder, to be precise—are purely for looks and are typically used by companies to hide imperfections in your products.
As we’ve removed the colourants, we now expose the cartridge in all its natural glory, with all its wonderful imperfections. A consequence of this is that there are now slight deviations in the colour and shade. These deviations are caused by the natural ingredients, such as shea butter, cooking at slightly different temperatures during the manufacturing process. Just like baking a tray of muffins!
Why are the new cartridges better, then?
We’re delighted you asked. We think they’re better on a few levels.
Firstly, the new cartridges (and that includes their packaging) use 50% less plastic than the blue ones—a major win for reducing plastic waste and our carbon footprint. Reduced plastic and fewer synthetic additives means the uncoloured cartridges may be more easily recycled, too. At the manufacturing stage, they also have a potentially lower environmental impact since they require less industrial processing to make.
Secondly, the uncoloured cartridges have a reduced risk of skin irritation. While the old cartridges can still be enjoyed by many, the uncoloured cartridges’ simpler ingredient list may be gentler on ultra sensitive skin, which is only a good thing. We believe in transparency and want consumers to know exactly what they’re putting on their skin.
So while we’re saying a slow goodbye to the blue cartridges, we’re excited for you to meet the upgraded versions, which lubricate and condition just the same, but have some even-better-for-you (and better for the environment!) qualities we’re proud of. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Holler at us—our stellar Customer Experience team is happy to help.
