What does OnlyFans have to do with the most profitable shave brand at Erewhon? You’d be surprised. Given the inability to share revealing body parts or mention the word “razor” on public platforms like TikTok, for example, Nimbi took matters into its own hands. Nimbi razors, which launched in 2019, are the first plastic-free tools of their kind. The brand recently turned to the adult platform as a means for education and further brand awareness. The decision has helped it maintain its spot as the luxury grocery store’s top personal care line.
“Our body razor is a fantastic pubic razor,” said Anna Reid—a thought leader in strategic design and sustainable solutions—who co-founded the brand with former lawyer and investor Gemma Doyle. “But we, as women, haven’t been taught how to achieve the smoothest, healthiest results in our intimate shaving. Typically, we’ve all adopted a trial and error technique, where we mostly rely on abstract illustrations explaining the bikini line.”
According to a 2023 study conducted among 522 U.S. women ages 18-85, 94% who’ve removed their public hair at some point used a razor or trimmed with scissors.
Inside The Decision To Utilize OnlyFans
Given the high percentage of the study, it only made sense for Reid to take a step out of her comfort zone by turning to the only platform that could educate, while simultaneously provide greater exposure. The education boost can only amplify the power of Nimbi razors (4 for $10), which Reid considers safe for her psoriasis.
“I chose to design a razor with a single, super sharp blade, as all the derms I consulted with recommended this for sensitive skin,” she said. “[But our team] had never been ‘taught’ properly to shave when we were younger. It wasn’t a passed-down ritual for women in the same way maybe facial or haircare is. Our community’s first shave stories are very similar: picking up your parent’s or sibling’s razor that you found lying around in the bathroom and having a go. No shave cream, no preparation, no refining of technique, or even an understanding of where or how to shave various body parts—let alone the ‘why’ you have the desire to shave.”
In addition to explicitly guiding users through the shave process without restrictions, Reid admires how OnlyFans “is a free, nonjudgmental space where we felt we could lean in and have fun.”
Therefore, she wanted to find OF partners who really tapped into the playfulness and matched the ethos of the brand.
“We carefully select creators who align with our values, have an engaged audience across multiple platforms (including OnlyFans), and could authentically deliver our message,” the co-founder shared. “We then brief them to create high-quality, relatable, intimate shave tutorials, and the results are always incredible. It’s beautifully executed content that not only aligns with our brand, but also provides valuable education for shaving techniques.”
Reid specifically refers to @mons.monday as her quintessential “Nimbi person,” explaining, “I’ve actually followed her for years on Instagram. She’s super cool, has flawless style, runs her own fashion brand and speaks on female issues in such a thought-provoking, candid way I’ve always loved. She’s so artful and relatable in everything she does, so this was the first person we reached out to. We couldn’t believe how amazing the collaboration was. Her tutorial was perfect and engaging. We can’t wait to work with her again.”
The Sexualization Of Nimbi Razors
Nimbi Disposable Razor Model Shot
Photo courtesy of Nimbi
As for whether Reid worries about sexualizing the brand, she knows what comes with the territory.
“OnlyFans is a divisive platform, so we understand that it’s provocative,” she said. “For us though, it’s about creating educational and relatable content, free from constraint. This was the only place I could think of where we could do that. Showing pubes poking out of underpants during grow-out over the holidays, or a landing strip shave tutorial, isn’t for the male gaze! It’s not graphic, it’s intimate and real.”
With or without OF, Reid said there’s no escaping the sexual nature of shaving, period.
“It’s quite inherently sensual,” she said. “A lot of the time we shave for the sensation of touch, so there is a connection there that I’m not worried about exploring with our community in any way.”
Thanks to progressive brands like Nimbi, Reid anticipates intimate razor tutorials to become commonplace over time. In fact, fellow Erewhon shave brand Billie—which was acquired by Schick’s Edgewood Personal Care Company in 2021—has also leaned into the idea of embracing pubic hair in its recent campaigns.
“We’re in an era with hyped-up education on things that may have been more taboo 10 or even five years ago,” Reid said. “Products are out there to serve a much wider array of needs. It wasn’t that long ago Viagra was a dark ad on the net, now there’s a whole world of sexual wellness out there with cutting-edge education, and mass drugstores are the destination for these products. It’s just the nature of how we’re understanding our bodies and becoming better educated in our personal needs. So really, customers are demanding to understand more and make choices based on better knowledge.”
The Target Retail Partnership
Nimbi put its raw marketing to the test again, but this time in front of a mass market. To commemorate its 900-store partnership with Target in March, the brand’s Instagram posted a carousel that started with a pubic landing strip image and continued to a message that read, “Breaking news: Nimbi has landed.”
“It went great!” Reid said, of the online response. “We didn’t have any negative sentiments in reaction to our launch ad. Our razor is particularly excellent at removing pubic hair, and the best tool for perfecting your landing strip, so we had a play on this with ‘landing at Target.’ ”
Speaking of Target, Nimbi launched plastic-free dermaplane tools (3 for $6) exclusively with the retailer. This accompanies the brand’s pre-existing Shea Butter Shave Foam Pucks ($10).
Moving forward, no brand can guarantee success or acceptance. What Nimbi does promise, however, is to continue pushing the envelope and staying true to its roots. “Our biggest asset is our authenticity,” Reid said. “We run our social channels as if they were our personal channels.”
Case in point? Nimbi razors recently received more than 1.6 million views on TikTok for posting a shower, shave, martini moment. Said the co-founder: “We’re obsessed with it.”
Nimbi founders Gemma Doyle and Anna Reid
Photo courtesy of Nimbi
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