DTC Women's Shaving Brand Billie Makes Its Biggest Category Extensions Yet

Direct-to-consumer razor brand Billie has seen a remarkable rise: After launching in November 2017, by January of this year one of the world's largest CPG conglomerates, Procter & Gamble, had already announced plans to acquire the brand, which are still underway. Though Billie's hero product is a razor, it has launched other items for use before, during and after showering: body wash, shaving cream and lotion. Now, Billie is stepping out of the shower with its latest launches, which are its biggest category extensions yet: dry shampoo (called Floof), facial wipes (Wonder Wipes) and lip balm (Super Salve). Along with the new product launches, Billie is also revamping its website. [article_summary section="1"]But what's interesting about Billie's latest launches is that while they're all outside of the shower category, they're in different categories themselves, from haircare to makeup removal to lip products. Co-founder Georgina Gooley explained that instead of diving deep into one particular category, Billie is creating the products its customers are looking for. [kickout id="1"] "The intention was always to create products that were part of women's everyday routine, and deliver a product that was effective and hardworking," Gooley said, also pointing to a desire to keep the products at an affordable price point, with all three running at less than $15. Billie went straight to its consumers to see what those products were, speaking with 500 women through surveys and focus groups to determine the products they most wanted to see the brand produce. The goal, she said, was to truly play a positive, noticeable role in women's everyday routine, rather than dominate a specific subcategory. "We say we're stepping out of the shower," she said. "We wanted to be able to impact women's routines in a really meaningful way, rather than a niche product that you might use when you're going on a night out once a month. We wanted to really focus on those products that would really make an impact on your day-to-day." [article_summary section="2"]Billie is also prioritizing the creation of safe products, touting ratings of 1 or 2 on the Environmental Working Group (EWG)'s Skin Deep Database, which ranks products from best (1) to worst (10) based on "the known hazards associated with ingredients listed on labels." In another effort to encourage consumers to stock their bathrooms with clean products, Billie is also releasing a Clean Cash Calculator online program that will allow consumers to look up their personal care products—no matter what brand they're made by—and calculate their EWG score. If a person finds the product they're using isn't as safe as a comparable Billie product, Billie will give them a credit to make the switch. As Gooley said: "We wanted to give women a fun, easy way to play detective in their medicine cabinet and really find out how clean their routine is."