Leaf Shave DFS pass around

Used the Leaf branded blades today and my assessment was meh. Not as sharp and smooth as Personna lab blues or Astra SPs. Not even close to Polsilver SI. I found them tuggy and thus a tad uncomfortable. These seem every bit to my face comparable to Personna Israeli Reds. Better on my face than Derby or Voskhod and not even in the category of the ever crappy Murkur. I am positive these blades will work great for some but not for me.

Tomorrow I'll drop the blade count from three to two and see if I can tweak more efficiency from the razor.

razor arrived today, I will test it out tonight

Used the Leaf branded blades today and my assessment was meh.  Not as sharp and smooth as Personna lab blues or Astra SPs.  Not even close to Polsilver SI.  I found them tuggy and thus a tad uncomfortable.  These seem every bit to my face comparable to Personna Israeli Reds.  Better on my face than Derby or Voskhod and not even in the category of the ever crappy Murkur.  I am positive these blades will work great for some but not for me.  

Tomorrow I'll drop the blade count from three to two and see if I can tweak more efficiency from the razor.

Contacted Leaf and was told their blades are Crystals. M

yes the blades are Crystals from Israel, I recognize the markings on the blade, very good and sharp blade to me at least.

Well I did the first shave and I'm not sure if I want to go for a 2nd one tomorrow lol. Took 4 passes for DFS with questionable spots here and there and I had to use the small razor under the nose area.

I will really have to think about if I want to give it another try, shaving for 4 years with all sorts of DE and SE razors I realized I truly got my self spoiled by nice new and vintage razors that deliver me almost BBS in just 3 passes and then when I throw the after shave on my face only sometimes I get the sting, mainly happens towards the last few shaves before the blade needs to be tossed.

Once I started shaving with the Leaf it took my memories immediately to the days of cartridge razors and I realized " to put some pressure in it!" Passing same spots 3-4 times due to the fact that I made the lather little on the rich side made the Leaf skip bristles because the lather was too rich, but then even when I applied water to it and deluted it a bit I realized not much of a difference. Imagine 4 passes and every each spot in those passes was equal to 3-4 passing's in order to pick up the left over lather + applying pressure.

I achieved somewhat DFS in 4 very long passes, usually Im done in less than 5 min with safety razor doing all 3 passes. Shave was finished, no nicks, no bumps but I knew I was going over my skin way too many times. Then the after shave came in and wow it felt like I splashed muriatic acid on my face and gave me reminder of my days with cartridge shaving, the only difference is from what I remember Gillette was way more efficient and got the job done really fast, but also that thing was clogging up non stop and was pain to unclog it.... The leaf gets clogged after 2 passes which is really fast but it unclogs easy by rinsing under the tap water.

As I'm writing I think I'm done with this razor, while I somewhat I feel guilty from time to time for buying razors that I really don't need to even though they are not the uber expensive ones but of good quality metals and still very affordable, then splurging $15 here and there on different 100 packs of blades and going on a shopping spree at IB for soaps and getting all the different scent that I don't have and when they are on sale.... What I'm trying to say is after the shave with the Leaf razor my guilt on spending some money on this hobby is more justified, I'm finally realizing the rave regarding safety razor shaving, I mean WOW it takes to shave with cartridge after so many years shaving with safety razors to truly appreciate the safety razors plus feel good for honing an already dying out shaving technique.

I honestly don't know what this razor can improve upon, but what a future cartridge razor improve upon on would be this:

1. Keep it 1 blade edge or 2 at the most if you can keep the profile slim enough with 2 blades. The Broman razor got this part right but they include also the tilting head right? that's a whole another issues I will touch upon below.

2. Tilting head!!! Having a tilting head equals worry free shave + mild razor = needing to apply too much pressure on the razor in order for it to do some whisker damage, this equals in lots of passes and lots of after burn when the shave is done.

3. Ditch the tilting head and make the design to be medium aggressive, this way the shaver is in control of the pressure, it will be like shaving with cartridge that gives you safety but you don't go over board applying pressure so you don't get bitten = will still require somewhat technique but not a shave where one has to do too many passes. What I'm saying the razor should be more like a hybrid between safety razor and cart razor, having the razor only using safety razor blades do not make it a true hybrid.

I don't mean to be negative regarding the review just expressing my opinion and I appreciate the Leaf owners for giving us the opportunity to use test out the razor. Razor is here and I can send it back to OP if he desires so or if he wants it can stay here until another member joins the pass around, its up to OP and I noticed I'm the last one on the list

yes the blades are Crystals from Israel, I recognize the markings on the blade, very good and sharp blade to me at least.

Well I did the first shave and I'm not sure if I want to go for a 2nd one tomorrow lol. Took 4 passes for DFS with questionable spots here and there and I had to use the small razor under the nose area.

I will really have to think about if I want to give it another try, shaving for 4 years with all sorts of DE and SE razors I realized I truly got my self spoiled by nice new and vintage razors that deliver me almost BBS in just 3 passes and then when I throw the after shave on my face only sometimes I get the sting, mainly happens towards the last few shaves before the blade needs to be tossed.

Once I started shaving with the Leaf it took my memories immediately to the days of cartridge razors and I realized " to put some pressure in it!" Passing same spots 3-4 times due to the fact that I made the lather little on the rich side made the Leaf skip bristles because the lather was too rich, but then even when I applied water to it and deluted it a bit I realized not much of a difference. Imagine 4 passes and every each spot in those passes was equal to 3-4 passing's in order to pick up the left over lather + applying pressure.

I achieved somewhat BBS in 4 very long passes, usually Im done in less than 5 min with safety razor doing all 3 passes. Shave was finished, no nicks, no bumps but I knew I was going over my skin way too many times. Then the after shave came in and wow it felt like I splashed muriatic acid on my face and gave me reminder of my days with cartridge shaving, the only difference is from what I remember Gillette was way more efficient and got the job done really fast, but also that thing was clogging up non stop and was pain to unclog it.... The leaf gets clogged after 2 passes which is really fast but it unclogs easy by rinsing under the tap water.

As I'm typing this I think I'm done with this razor, while I somewhat I feel guilty from time to time for buying razors that I really don't need to even though they are not the uber expensive ones but of good quality metals and still very affordable, then splurging $15 here and there on different 100 packs of blades and going on a shopping spree at IB for soaps and getting all the different scent that I don't have and when they are on sale.... What I'm trying to say is after the shave with the Leaf razor my guilt on spending some money on this hobby is more justified, I'm finally realizing the rave regarding safety razor shaving, I mean WOW it takes to shave with cartridge after so many years shaving with safety razors to truly appreciate the safety razors plus feel good for honing an already dying out shaving technique.

I honestly don't know what this razor can improve upon, but what a future cartridge razor improve upon on would be this:

1. Keep it 1 blade edge or 2 at the most if you can keep the profile slim enough with 2 blades. The Broman razor got this part right but they include also the tilting head right? that's a whole another issues I will touch upon below.

2. Tilting head!!! Having a tilting head equals worry free shave + mild razor = needing to apply too much pressure on the razor in order for it to do some whisker damage, this equals in lots of passes and lots of after burn when the shave is done.

3. Ditch the tilting head and make the design to be medium aggressive, this way the shaver is in control of the pressure, it will be like shaving with cartridge that gives you safety but you don't go over board applying pressure so you don't get bitten = will still require somewhat technique but not a shave where one has to do too many passes. What I'm saying the razor should be more like a hybrid between safety razor and cart razor, having the razor only using safety razor blades do not make it a true hybrid.

I don't mean to be negative regarding the review just expressing my opinion and I appreciate the Leaf owners for giving us the opportunity to use test out the razor. Razor is here and I can send it back to OP if he desires so or if he wants it can stay here until another member joins the pass around, its up to OP and I noticed I'm the last one on the list

Muriatic acid? You must be a mason? Great report and good to know my experince was similar.

all, if you'd like to jump in on this pass around, let us know. the razor is still with Blagoja Rajevski I believe.

Worth trying! Nothing will catch more the attention in the orchestra intermission than walking around with a few pieces of skin teared off your head ... believe me ...
No really, its a fun razor to use. Just remember to rinse frequently and, if your gonna shave more than just your facial hair (head or legs; maybe) double and triple check.

Muriatic acid?  You must be a mason?  Great report and good to know my experince was similar.

Close enough, I work mainly with tile and stone but if occasion arise I work with wood also

Worth trying! Nothing will catch more the attention in the orchestra intermission than walking around with a few pieces of skin teared off your head ... believe me ...  
No really, its a fun razor to use. Just remember to rinse frequently and, if your gonna shave more than just your facial hair (head or legs; maybe) double and triple check.

LOL I'm telling you dude our safety razors performance have spoiled us... I wonder if they are getting lots of complaints regarding the razor, I mean for sure the store brands cartridge razors left the Leaf in dust performance wise. Looks wise no, it looks very good but who cares how it looks when it struggles shaving...