Gillette Designed A Razor Specifically For People With Disabilities & It's About Time

Getting the perfect shave is hard. Between the sharp razor and messy shaving cream, just doing your own grooming can be a challenge. If you are a caregiver having to help someone else get a close shave, the task can be even more daunting. But that's about to change. Gillette has designed a razor designed for assisted shaving, and it's improving the shaving game for people with mobility-related disabilities and conditions. The tool, called Gillette TREO, is designed to be held in your hand and used on someone else, providing comfort with every stroke.

When I was younger, my mom worked in an assisted living home. She told me stories about having to pass the infamous "shaving-the-balloon test" before she got to work with the residents. If the balloon didn't pop by the end of a shave, she was delicate and steady enough to work on the resident's fragile skin. It's a technique dated back to the 1940s, according to Oregon Health & Science Academy.

After 70-plus years of using the same practice-makes-perfect approach, Gillette has finally come up with an assisted shaving razor, which has been deemed by TIME Magazine as the first of its kind. According to the website, the Gillette TREO was design like a paintbrush. You hold the razor in your hand like a pencil, and use the soft-shave blade as you would any other razor.

The kicker is that the blade is designed to prevent clogging and to be perfect for use on thin skin. The handle of the razor contains a new shave gel that "hydrates the hair and lubricates the skin for a comfortable, mess-free shave," according to the website. After you're done shaving, the gel can be rubbed in as an aftershave as well.

The blade of the Gillette TREO can easily be popped off and disposed of safely, but the bottom can be kept to reuse. Gillette's promo videos show it being used by a man and his elderly father as well as in a hospital setting.

As of Oct. 18, this razor is not yet available in-store or online. The only way to get your hands on the Gillette TREO is to request a sample online. According to Allure, only 50,000 units are available at a first come, first serve basis. Bustle reached out to the brand to see when the TREO design will become a permanent edition to the Gillette selection.

Not just anyone can get a sample though. There's a form you need to fill out that asks you to provide the name of the person being cared for as well as the caretaker. Plus you need to state the person's experience with disability. The brand encourages everyone to leave their feedback on the website, which means there is a good chance this product is in beta mode for an eventual wide release.

On top of having a touching video on why this product is needed, the brand also created a how-to guide for shaving someone in need with the Gillette TREO. Just rub on the shave gel liberally, remove the razor cap, grip the razor like a pencil when you shave, and dispose of it at the end. It's really that simple.

"Until now, razors have been designed solely for individual use," the website reads. "So we’ve been developing a new way to provide a high-quality shave to people who need assistance."

Even though the brand's slogan is "The Best A Man Can Get," Gillette products work for every gender out there. And with a product as important as this, fingers crossed every person who needs a little hand shaving can get this game-changing tool.