These Atlanta shaving brands are on the cutting edge of grooming

Photograph by Wedig & Laxton

Bevel
Bevel was founded by powerhouse entrepreneur Tristan Walker under his Walker & Company umbrella. As a Black man, Walker knew all too well how the lack of quality razors affected his shave. “These are simple issues that impact people’s confidence,” says Breann Davis, senior marketing director for Walker & Company. “When you consider the cultural influence of Black men, women, and people as a whole, how much money we spend on these categories, the needs and problems we face regarding our skin and hair, and our desire to have products that look great and work, you realize a brand like Bevel was overdue.”

Bevel has expanded beyond the single-blade razor and now offers a full line of products, including trimmers, hair care products, beard oils, and more. While the brand was originally based in California, it moved its headquarters to Atlanta to be close to its customer base after being acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2018. Davis, who is a native Atlantan and UGA grad, says, “There are so many things I love about being an Atlantan, but one of my top favorites is knowing how we—Atlantans and Black Atlantans—are at the center of 99.9 percent of culture in our state, and we’re influencing culture across the country.”

Photograph by Wedig & Laxton

Hanni
Leslie Tessler knows beauty: She’s worked in New York for brands like Dr. Dennis Gross and L’Oréal and consulted with top Brazilian beauty brands while living in Argentina with her family. While in these roles, she spent a lot of time in Asia, where she first discovered dermaplaning (face shaving for exfoliation) before it was the ubiquitous service it is today. “What I remember most is how it made my skin feel so smooth,” she says.

Her quest to recreate that smoothness led the Sandy Springs resident to found the brand Hanni, a shaving and body care line centered on a weighted razor with a single blade, similar to one she’d experienced in South Korea. The blade is recyclable, and the handle is reusable. According to Hanni, Americans toss 2 billion razor cartridges into landfills each year, making razors the “new straw.”

“Anyone who has highly reactive skin like me ends up getting irritated while shaving because there’s so much skin tugging and friction. It makes shaving not fun,” Tessler says. Hanni’s single-blade razor glides over the skin wherever you need a shave. “Our razor gives you a closer shave, and it’s more gentle,” she says.

Her line includes new-to-market, inventive products such as Shave Pillow, a hydrating, no-mess shaving gel that requires no rinsing.

“I really believe most women have never had a proper shave,” she says. “I want us to treat our body skin the way we treat our facial skin.” Recently, Sephora approached Hanni to be its first shave brand.

Seva
Farshid Hossain also founded shaving brand Seva out of necessity. He was born in Atlanta of Bengali descent but grew up in Bangladesh. When he returned here to attend Georgia State University and Kennesaw State University, he had trouble managing his stubble—multiblade razors are expensive, as are professional shaves at a barbershop.

“I did research on my own and found out single-blade razors are better for your skin because it cuts right to the surface,” he says.

While the company is only a few months old, he’s been inspired by the many orders he’s gotten thanks to savvy marketing. He also plans to host pop-up shaves around town and to produce an aloe vera–based aftershave gel. He’s managing Seva—which means “shave” in Punjabi—while holding down a full-time job in menswear.

This article appears in our August 2023 issue.