While a 10-month subscription to Dollar Shave Club costs $90, a 10-month supply of razors from Dorco, for similar models with the same blades, costs under $30. In 2012, Ben Popken, the former editor of The Consumerist, confirmed that Dollar Shave Club buys all of its high-quality blades from Dorco. Its more popular four-blade model costs $6 per month, and a six-blade model costs $9 per month. The only razor that actually costs $1 a month is the company’s twin-blade subscription. Several readers inquired about Dollar Shave Club, the subscription service that promises to deliver high-quality razors to your doorstep for “ a dollar a month.” Though Dollar Shave Club claims its products are unisex, they’re shaped more like face razors, and most of its media shows people shaving their faces.

And while the large pivoting head is helpful for shaving ankles and knees, it’s too cumbersome for shaving the bikini line. While customer reviewers who have arthritis or difficulty with hand steadiness laud the design, overall we found its six blades (two sets of three with a small gap between them) dull compared with those of our picks. You can also grip the handle like you would any other razor. There’s a fairly steep learning curve when shaving using the device as intended (if you buy this model on Amazon, along with a request to review the product, you will also receive from the company a PDF with four recommended options for maneuvering the device).

Roller balls mounted in the handle that face the skin are meant to help the razor glide along. Unlike our picks, which are all cartridges atop long handles, the Aveline cartridge is mounted to a stout, curved handle with a hook for slipping over a finger-so there’s no need to grip anything.

Intrigued by its unique design, we tried the six-blade Aveline razor from HeadBlade.

Schick blades with wire