KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — Shocked by the steep prices of razor blades back in 2012, Ahmad Hafiz Osman and his wife Mona Marcella Johanabas binti Rosman decided to come up with their own brand of stylish yet affordable shavers and razor blades under the Scott’s Shavers name.
“We took six months to find a local manufacturer to make the shavers and for the razors, we source it from a 100-year-old factory in Germany,” said Ahmad.
The German manufacturer is well-known for its grinding technology and ISO 9001 certified systems.
“The story of Scott’s Shavers and why we use Scott is because it is actually my nickname. I did half of my primary school and half of my secondary school in Scotland.
“When I moved back to Malaysia and started Form Two, we relocated to Sungai Petani in Kedah. It was the last day of Form One. So everyone was like, ‘Ooh, there is this new guy. What’s his name?’ No one knew but everyone was like ‘He’s the boy from Scotland.’ So everyone started calling me ‘Scottish boy, come here.’ So some people started calling me Scottish boy and eventually it became Scott.”
Ahmad started clean shaving, borrowing his father’s old shaver because he felt that it was the best one to use, from age 15.
Aesthetics plays a big part in Scott’s Shavers as their shavers come in different finishing. These colours make them unique compared to your ho-hum supermarket shavers.
The first three colours released were copper, gold and matte silver. Matte black, a limited edition colour, was launched later. “It was requested when we launched our first public engagement with our shavers. It was the first vape event in Malaysia and I know the organiser who invited us because there were non-vape vendors as well,” said Ahmad.
Each shaver set including the limited edition version comes with a zinc core handle, an attached razor cartridge and two extra replacement razor cartridges. The cartridge is fitted with five German-made razor blades.
With the three razor cartridges, Scott’s Shavers estimates that it can last you around three months. The shaver is also pretty easy to replace as all you have to do is just detach the cartridge from the handle.
Since the shavers have a nice heft for holding (about 120 grams), this makes it easy to glide on the skin. It’s so nice that someone actually bought four packs of their replacement razors in one purchase! When Scott’s Shavers emailed him to thank him for the support... the customer said he uses it to shave his head!
Each of the names for the various colour plated shavers pay homage to Ahmad’s time in Scotland. “You got the matte silver called the Highlander, not because of the movie but because of the highlands.
“The copper one is called Thistle because the thistle is the national flower of Scotland. The thistle has a pinkish hue so that’s why it’s named as such.
“Then we have Braveheart which is a reference to the movie but what we’re trying to tell people is Braveheart means heart of gold,” said Ahmad.
Mona adds that, “We call the black one Nessie because pictures of the Loch Ness monster shows it is always black.” The couple’s favourite shaver is the copper one which looks like rose gold. It’s also the first colour they released for their brand.
As for their best-selling colour, Mona said that there is no specific colour that customers prefer. Generally, their customers tend to go for black and silver. What Mona feels is the various coloured shavers can make a nice gift that suits the person’s personality and dressing.
Mona adds, “Sometimes you buy it for your partner, you want to match it with their day-to-day wear. For example if he’s a corporate guy you probably want to go for Thistle, especially if he wears a suit. For guys who are more into outdoors, hiking and biking, they will go for either silver or black. Generally men would go for silver.”
To kickstart the brand, the couple participated in bazaars where they could actually meet their customers. In the beginning, the purely online brand couldn’t gauge what type of customers were picking up their shavers.
“If the person came in boots and cargo pants, looking really macho, they buy matte silver. We would recommend another range but they would say that the matte silver looks cool,” said Ahmad.
So what they discovered was people who bought their shavers actually matched the characteristics of the Highlander, Braveheart, Thistle or Nessie shavers. Ahmad also shared that 50 per cent of the customers who buy the shavers are women who either buy it to shave their own legs or for their partners.
Scott’s Shavers plans to release more colours hopefully by December this year. Also in the pipeline is a full range of men’s grooming products such as a travel case for their shavers, shaving cream, aftershave, moisturisers, specific shaver holders and other grooming accessories for men.
Ahmad explained that Scott’s Shavers is also considering a subscription-based model so that people can access the replacement razors easily and also if possible, change a new shaver handle.
As their aim is to create a homegrown premium shaver brand at an affordable price point for all, their shavers are priced at RM80 per set with free delivery to your doorstep. Engraving is available too but only if you order from their website and it’s chargeable at RM15 (limited to 15 to 20 characters).
You can also find Scott’s Shavers at selected bazaars and their stockist Shortcut Barber (http://www.shortcutbarber.co) which has branches around the Klang Valley.
Check out Scott’s Shavers at:
Website: www.scottsshavers.com.my
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/scottsshavers
Instagram: www.instagram.com/scottsshavers
