TALK of hipster beards and three-day stubble is all well and good. But the shaving market might be seeing a far more significant change than that. Admittedly, it is not so much revolution as evolution, but developed-world consumers are starting to get fed up with trading up. Last month Energizer, the battery company that owns Schick, announced a 10% fall in men’s razor sales for Q2 2013. Gillette, owned by Proctor & Gamble since a $57 billion deal in 2005, revealed soon after that its razor sales were decreasing in developed markets. Are such brands simply experiencing an unusual blip because recessions and fashion trends have made pricey razors and blades dispensable, or do they need the mother of all makeovers?

Gillette’s business model has long revolved around the concept of trading up. A two-blade razor was first introduced in 1971, and the Mach-3 became the norm in 1998. Ever since, the only way for razors has been up: “If you thought four blades were enough, just look what you could do with five,” runs the marketing spiel. That doesn’t work forever, though—and some consumers are showing the first bristles of discontent.

“There’s a sanity ceiling and it has been reached,” observes Michael Dubin, chief executive and co-founder of Dollar Shave Club (and star of a quite wonderful ad campaign), a company specialising in male grooming products. Nicole Tyrimou, Analyst of Beauty and Personal Care at Euromonitor International, a research firm, confirms that high prices are at least part of the reason why consumers are being deterred.

Cue the alternatives. Disposable razors and supermarkets’ own brands are trimming the margins of heavyweights like Gillette and Schick. In America such private labels amounted to 3.6% of the category in 2012, against just 2.5% five years earlier. In Western Europe their market share has grown by 40% since 2008—largely thanks to countries such as Spain, where own brands have almost doubled in popularity over the period from 9.9% to 17.3%. Expensive razors and blades are easy items for cash-strapped families to cut back on during an economic crisis.

Companies that deliver disposable blades straight to your door every month now offer a cheap and cheerful option. The Dollar Shave Club’s slogan—“Shave Time, Shave Money”—has clearly resonated with frustrated consumers. It boasts more than 280,000 active members and shipped a million blades to American buyers last month. Four four-blade razor heads only cost $6 each month, and the handle comes free in the first delivery. Walmart currently sells five Mach-3 blades for almost $17. The company’s “Not So Hairy” plan allows you to customise your order to minimise wastage and cost. Mr Dubin says that 73% of members now change their blades once a week, compared to 28% prior to joining.

Cyclical factors explain much of the shaving trend. Celebrities from George Michael to George Clooney have sported facial hair in recent years, but there’s no telling when the fashion will abate. The longer it lasts, the more likely it is to become a cause for concern. Ms Tyrimou worries that the arrival of hirsute chic in North America and Western Europe could dent sales in regions like Latin America, whose consumers take their style tips from western celebrities.

Other shifts look as if they are here to stay, though. Across the board, for instance, casual Fridays are eating further into the working week. At the same time, men are more open than ever to the possibility of pampering themselves. Male body shaving is becoming more socially acceptable.

The response to such trends is well under way. Gillette, for instance, is pushing ahead with the marketing of pre- and post-shaving products like gels and creams in North America. The brand also filed a “Gillette Body” trademark in May, and has started to take out related patents. Their Fusion ProGlide Styler is now advertised for whole body use. Men are encouraged to shave below the neck in a series of adverts for a product entitled “What Do Women Really Want?”, featuring Kate Upton, an American model.

Trading down may offer more than one opportunity, as men are not only less inclined to trade up (at least for the moment) but are spending more money on grooming below the neck. P&G figures suggest that 29% of American men and 49% of British men already try to avoid the King-Kong look. It is a market waiting to be tapped into. For the shaving giants, then, down may well be the new up.