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I remember (in almost embarrassingly vivid detail) the first time I saw a Venus razor commercial. I was a preteen and thought it was about the chicest thing I had ever seen. I begged my mom to let me start shaving my legs just so I could stick the little razor holder—that also stored the replacement heads—up on the shower wall. Nearly two decades later, my first status razor seems downright garish compared with the personal care items on the market now. Brands like Flamingo (razors), Quip (toothbrushes), and Myro (deodorant) offer products that look almost sculptural, usually in muted, on-trend colors. Suddenly, consumers aren't just purchasing personal care products because they work. They want something that’s aesthetically pleasing too.
In some ways, this feels radical: a way to make the everyday extravagant—and accessible. Not all of us can afford a bathroom remodel or have a landlord who will let us retile. These smaller luxuries are still often more expensive than their drugstore predecessors, but a $9 disposable razor or $10 deodorant is hardly the same as a steam shower. This trend in product design is also reminiscent of a past when items like this weren't made to be disposable: Both men and women used grooming tools meant to last a generation, not a year or two. And, of course, in an age where Instagram has influencers sharing their beauty routines, and in turn their bathrooms, we can feel the same compulsion to beautify our space.
Companies, it turns out, are more than happy to oblige our desire for nice-looking things. And there’s likely another reason we find them so irresistible: The well-designed products also mimic broader design trends. From bed frames to bookshelves, all the way down to toothbrushes and shampoo, it's no secret that start-ups draw inspiration from minimalism. You’ll find more than a few examples of brands selling things in millennial pink, a color that people often claim is over, but that we still can’t get enough of. It’s also a way to accessorize your bathroom for less money, and with things you were going to be buying anyway. In a time when the age of first-time home buyers is trending upward, it also gives the young and upwardly mobile another way to refresh without renovating.
Whatever the motivation, nice-looking toothpaste can create small moments of joy. I far prefer leaving out a tube of my Corpus deodorant to my other standby, Arm & Hammer. One downside? We’re thinking so much about these once-hidden products. Simple purchases that would have been a passing consideration at CVS become the stuff of internet rabbit-hole research and intense consideration. Before, we might have chosen our basic bath products based on scent or efficiency. Now, however, everything has to be worthy of display. Whether you find on-trend bathroom products a source of stress or of joy, it's clear that that well-designed thing of floss is about more than just dental health; it’s a part of the zeitgeist.
