The Bluebeards Revenge – Revenge is sweet

David Hildrew founded The Bluebeards Revenge in 2010 to answer a shaving need of his own – and it turned out to be a smart move, as Katie Middleweek reports

The Bluebeards Revenge was founded by self-proclaimed ‘Bluebeard-in-Chief’ and businessman David Hildrew in 2010, after he decided to find a solution to a problem that had plagued him for years. Hildrew had suffered with very tough and problematic beard growth for much of his adult life and he couldn’t find a product to help combat this sufficiently. And so, he decided to create his own and The Bluebeards Revenge Shaving Cream launched shortly thereafter. Since then, it has developed into a product with a cult following among Bluebeard devotees. To explain the unusual brand name, ‘bluebeard’ is the word that Hildrew coined for someone suffering with problem stubble – and the ‘revenge’ aspect represents that person getting even with it!

Hildrew tells ECM: “The shaving creams and balms contain an ingredient called decelerine, which is actually designed to reduce and slowdown beard growth which directly addresses the problem in hand. It all came about when I wanted to launch the very finest shaving cream range while also injecting a degree of levity and fun into the morning shaving routine. Although The Bluebeards Revenge Luxury Shaving Cream was launched in June 2010, the full product line was introduced 11 months later, in May 2011.”

But success has not just been limited to UK shores. “The brand is actually known as Dreadnought in the US and Canada, and we launched successfully there in July 2012. Made in the UK, the Dreadnought range matches British craftsmanship and tradition with cutting edge technology to meet the needs of the modern North American man.”

Nick Gibbens, Marketing and PR Manager for The Bluebeards Revenge takes up the story of how the brand originated: “Our products were initially aimed at probl