• by P.J. Bednarski  @pjbtweet, December 7, 2018

YouTube star Remi Cruz has a smooth leg up on some influencer pals: a product named after her.

Gillette is unveiling the Venus x Remi limited-edition razor, backed by Cruz, the 23-year-old whose YouTube channel, MissRemiAshten, has nearly 2.5 million subscribers.

The new razor features a “vibrant tropical print” recalling the “bright colors and tropical flowers” of Cruz’s videos, according to the company. It’s now available exclusively through the new Venus Direct subscription service that Gillette parent Procter & Gamble started without much fanfare in July.

It’s available for pre-order today.

Venus Direct offers more than 10 kinds of women’s razors, with different blades and handles.

The subscription feminine blade site competes with several others, including upstarts Billie, Angel and Dollar Shave Club, which claims its women’s blade subscriptions let women avoid the “pink tax” — that is, being charged more than men for essentially the same product.

A four-pack of blades and a Remi razor is $21, according to the website, but a basic Venus razor and four blades are $10, with free shipping.

That’s compared to a Shave Starter Kit for women from Dollar Shave Club, which costs $5 for the razor (supposedly discounted from $15),  four blades and a small tube of shave butter.

But options and replenishing blades sent periodically make perfect price comparisons between brands’ various subscription plans more complicated.

“We want to help every woman feel confident to express herself in her own unique way. For many, that includes how her skin looks and feels, and Venus Direct has a complete range of products to meet her unique needs,” says Falguni Desai, leader of the Venus Direct program, in a prepared statement.

Cruz sounds like somebody who might be too busy to remember to stock up on blades at the drugstore. In addition to MissRemiAshten, she has another YouTube channel, RemLife, with over a million subscribers, and accounts on Twitter and Instagram.

Earlier this year Cruz started her own skincare line, HoneyPop, which includes a clay mask kit and acne cream. She also has a podcast, Pretty Basic, with her friend, Alisha Marie, that became popular on iTunes. As an influencer, she’s had many corporate clients.

Last year she made news by losing 50 pounds in three months, and more recently, she’s done introspective videos about how some fans' perceptions of her changed -- not always for the better -- as she slimmed down.