Stonington — With thick hair, both Adam Simone and Adam Hahn struggled to get a comfortable shave. They tried safety razors but were dissatisfied.

Unlike the modern cartridge razors, safety razors don't use plastic, but they also don't have pivoting heads.

The Adams thought, "Why has nobody ever combined these technologies?"

They were energized in part by the success of razor companies like Dollar Shave Club and Harry's, and wanted to emulate their direct-to-consumer model. But they wanted to use a different type of technology.

They launched Leaf Shave, selling an all-metal razor — made of zinc and stainless steel — with a pivoting head that holds one, two or three blades, making it customizable for different shaving preferences. Their application for a patent on a pivoting-head razor with individually loaded steel blades is pending.

The Leaf razor became available for purchase last March, and Simone, a Canterbury native and Norwich Free Academy alumnus, said the company has sold more than 10,000 so far.

He and his wife, April Collier from Pawcatuck, moved from Pittsburgh back to Connecticut last year and now reside in Mystic. They opened a Leaf Shave office in Taugwonk Business Park in November, while Hahn still works out of Pittsburgh.

Hahn handles the product development and works with manufacturers, while Simone deals with the downstream aspects, such as marketing and sales.

In coming up with the name of the company, Simone said they didn't want something gender-specific, and they wanted to reference their commitment to sustainability and reducing plastic waste.

"It doesn't make sense to start a company that is using a disposable plastic utility in 2019," he said.

Turning to the market for guidance

Simone, 33, got his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering at Northeastern University, where he did his first of three co-ops — full-time internships, usually paid and usually for six months — at Gillette, in the packaging development and design department.

But Simone doesn't think this experience shaped his later desire to enter the razor industry, viewing it as more of a coincidence. After graduating, he got his master's in biotechnology and management from Carnegie Mellon University.

While working in marketing at Blue Belt Technologies, a medical robotics startup in Pittsburgh, he met Hahn, who ran the mechanical engineering group. Medical equipment company Smith & Nephew closed on its acquisition of Blue Belt in early 2016, and the Adams decided they wanted to work together.

Simone said that it "just felt right to let the market tell us whether we should build the company or not," and so he and Hahn launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Leaf Razor in July 2016.

At that point, they already had suppliers selected and were only waiting on the close of the campaign to make the first production order. They informally surveyed backers on what razors they had been using, and solicited input on the Leaf razor design.

In under a month, they surpassed their $100,000 fundraising goal, with 1,407 people ultimately pledging $115,328.

Hahn explained in a polished video on Kickstarter, "We got tired of spending $20 for a four-pack of razors, and even though some alternatives have become available recently, like subscription services, the fact remains that we're still spending way too much money to shave with cheap, plastic razors that assume a one-size-fits-all mentality."

Leaf sells 20 double-edge blades for $9, and 50 for $14. Instead of replacing an entire cartridge, users can replace edges individually, if one is wearing out faster. The razor itself — which comes in six colors — costs $79 and comes with 20 blades.

"There's no reason why it wouldn't last a lifetime, if you care for it," Simone said.

Leaf Shave has its blades manufactured in Israel and the handles in Taiwan. The company sells its razors on its website and with some wholesalers, including Package Free Shop in Brooklyn, N.Y.

e.moser@theday.com