They may be giving you irritation, but there are plenty of people whose skin is not irritated by multiple blades or cartridges in general. My skin has certainly never been irritated by a cartridge razor.
The LEAF Razor, Reviewed...
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They may be giving you irritation, but there are plenty of people whose skin is not irritated by multiple blades or cartridges in general. My skin has certainly never been irritated by a cartridge razor.
Some people get irritation from the lubra strip
Pretty sure if gilette made the guard cart for a more luxurious handle design and guard price it would sell for the single blade no lubra audience
I just heard about the Leaf today from someone and am very curious, as it offers what I loved about my old Gillette disposable razors without all the plastic waste. I see an earth day sale at 25% off today, which is what got me doing some research- the group that announced it raved about it, but at $80 (minus 25%) i'm on the fence...
I really love mine but I only use it for head shaving. I don't shave my face. I find it way easier on the head then my DEs and WAY closer than my old Mach 3. I think it would be tough to work around the upper lip and nose because the head is huge. It also took some getting used to technique wise to get a BBS. It's kind of like a cartridge but not quite. It's its own animal. I don't remember the last time I cut myself with it but it shaves crazy close. I'd recommend it with no reservations for head shaving but keep in mind how big the head is if you're planning on face shaving.
Thank you. So someone gave me a Harry's razor as a gift a few years ago, which I don't really use other than for occasional traveling, but any thoughts as to whether they are similar in size? They seem to be, but it's hard to tell online.
I don't have a Harry's but I dug out my old Mach 3 and what I believe is a Dollar Shave Club which I have no clue how I even came in possession of. This might help you judge sizes.
Two more views. If you're more familier with DE razors let me know. I've got quite a collection and can use one of those for reference.
Edit: For the record. I don't use cart razors so my reference razors are very old. I think they might have belonged to my oldest daughter. Ignore the rusty blades.
Edit: For the record. I don't use cart razors so my reference razors are very old. I think they might have belonged to my oldest daughter. Ignore the rusty blades.
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There is no need to snap blades. I cut mine in half with a sturdy pair of scissors when using a shavette. It's safer, you get an equal flat half, so it doesn't leave a knurled edge. I find this type of toe nail scissor excellent for cutting blades.
wow, super helpful, those pics. much appreciated!
Great tip. Thanks.
I can't really say, but I image it's just the same as the trial and error we all go through with safety razor blades.
Some work, some don't.
With the Leaf I had to play around with settings and blades a little. Cartridges never really bothered me until they started getting dull.
I only load the most aggressive slot and the middle slot. I use Feather blades, shave two times per week and replace them after the fourth shave no matter what.
The worst irritation I’ve ever had with any razor was with a 1930s Gillette NEW with a Polsilver Super Iridium blade.
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I definitely feel your pain with that one.
It sucks. The recovery time is even worse. On the face, anyway..
It sucks. The recovery time is even worse. On the face, anyway..
Yup it sucked. My wife's a DNP. She was ready to drain it and write me prescription for antibiotics. I talked her into giving it 48 hours to see if the swelling went down. It still took two weeks before I could shave again. The entire time she lectured me on shaving too often, not being careful and getting what I deserved for being a moron. That was the worst part. Her bedside manner with me is generally lacking.
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I still love the Leaf razor. It's just so easy and smooth to use. Not quite as close as my higher efficiency DE razors but it's a wonderful shaver for sure!
That's quite a discount, you should grab it!
IMO the Leaf razor is a product design failure on 4 fronts. A razor, be it any razor, DE, SE or cart razor is by definition a tool or a machine and any tool basically achieves 2 things. Makes a task easier AND / OR makes a task safer. Or gives some advantage in terms of quality or efficiency.
1) Ease of use : Blade loading seems to be a pain in the neck. Just saw a video on You Tube uploaded recently showing a reviewer fiddling with loading the blades. The 3 plates appear to be die cast and have pivots. Its difficult enough to load a single blade in a 3 piece razor. It would be a nightmare for a person with glasses or less than perfect vision to load 3 half blades into the slots and tine crevices.
The process of breaking a blade (if one uses standard blades) is in itself unsafe and adds an additional step in the process. New users might find it and interesting tool for the first few days or weeks but once the novelty of owning something fancy wears off it starts to feel like a chore. I experienced it with my smartwatch (having to recharge it every so often) and went back to my old mechanical quartz watches.
2) Why 3 blades? Why not 2 or why not 4? I mean because of 3 half blades, one half blade goes waste and for that the manufacturer had to come up with an additional trimmer. I feel 4 blades were not opted for as they would have just made the head too wide and unusable.
3) Having 3 blades with the 3 plates and all the fidgety clamping mechanism makes the head is pretty wide. This will make shaving in the moustache area very very challenging WTG or ATG. I hear the manufacturers themselves recommending shaving sideways and this is an indication they realise this design flaw for which they have no solution. If you ask me I would have dumped the third blade and made the head slimmer.
4) Just look at all the joints and pivots and plates. I mean it looks like a mechanical Swiss watch. And with Swiss watches we have to be very careful not to drop them or bang them. What happens with this razor if the user drops it or bangs it against the sink either accidentally or intentionally to clear a clog?
I mean if at all the company wanted to get an innovative solution to the market they could have done away with the DE blade to begin with and done something like the Genesis. We could have had an automated blade magazine where the user could just dock his razor and push a button and the magazine would unload the old blades automatically and load new ones sequentially. This would have meant real technology, and also would have given higher value addition and ensured safe loading of blades and eco friendly disposal of used ones.
1) Ease of use : Blade loading seems to be a pain in the neck. Just saw a video on You Tube uploaded recently showing a reviewer fiddling with loading the blades. The 3 plates appear to be die cast and have pivots. Its difficult enough to load a single blade in a 3 piece razor. It would be a nightmare for a person with glasses or less than perfect vision to load 3 half blades into the slots and tine crevices.
The process of breaking a blade (if one uses standard blades) is in itself unsafe and adds an additional step in the process. New users might find it and interesting tool for the first few days or weeks but once the novelty of owning something fancy wears off it starts to feel like a chore. I experienced it with my smartwatch (having to recharge it every so often) and went back to my old mechanical quartz watches.
2) Why 3 blades? Why not 2 or why not 4? I mean because of 3 half blades, one half blade goes waste and for that the manufacturer had to come up with an additional trimmer. I feel 4 blades were not opted for as they would have just made the head too wide and unusable.
3) Having 3 blades with the 3 plates and all the fidgety clamping mechanism makes the head is pretty wide. This will make shaving in the moustache area very very challenging WTG or ATG. I hear the manufacturers themselves recommending shaving sideways and this is an indication they realise this design flaw for which they have no solution. If you ask me I would have dumped the third blade and made the head slimmer.
4) Just look at all the joints and pivots and plates. I mean it looks like a mechanical Swiss watch. And with Swiss watches we have to be very careful not to drop them or bang them. What happens with this razor if the user drops it or bangs it against the sink either accidentally or intentionally to clear a clog?
I mean if at all the company wanted to get an innovative solution to the market they could have done away with the DE blade to begin with and done something like the Genesis. We could have had an automated blade magazine where the user could just dock his razor and push a button and the magazine would unload the old blades automatically and load new ones sequentially. This would have meant real technology, and also would have given higher value addition and ensured safe loading of blades and eco friendly disposal of used ones.
It doesn't seem like you own this razor. I don't think it's fair to watch a YouTube video and declare a product to be a design failure. Very few of your points actually hold any water when you own the razor and use it. I've had one for a year and disagree with everything you've said except for the head being too big.
I really like mine and would buy it again. I haven't had any issues with the points you mentioned. IMO it's not a failure. In all fairness I'm a head shaver and I don't think it would work as well for face shaving.
Imho the proof of the pudding is in the eating...... so I will keep the leaf on my wishlist based on people actually using the razor. But since I am happy with my broman i am in no hurry
