Aug. 18, 2022 - Headless Mammoth Hoggin' Day 18

• Brush: Proraso Professional Boar | Break-in photos
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR (Kamisori)
• Blade: Schick Proline (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive - Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Alive - Eau de Parfum

AA Tags: #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

I've reached the bottom of the tub! Admittedly, this happened a bit sooner than I was expecting but I did buy this tub used and it was maybe at 80% when I got it. I'm a bit sad but fortunately I still have a mostly full tub of Fu Dao on deck and a set of Voices ordered. This base checks all the boxes for me and I'm happy to use it for the entire month.

I think I'm finally feeling a bit more resistance when I'm doing my ATG pass, particularly on the upper lip area. It's getting slightly annoying the amount of effort I have to put in to try to get a very close shave so I might just give up for the rest of the month and settle with an acceptable shave. Tomorrow we're going glamping with our kids and a bunch of friends but I'm not really looking forward to figuring out how to get my shave on once we're there and having people ask me awkward questions about what I'm doing. On the bright side, it's glamping so there should be a sink with running water and a mirror so the actual shave shouldn't be too challenging.

The brush is very soft now, but I'm beginning to miss the variety in face feel of my different brushes. Boar thrill is waning but last night I was pushed over the edge and ended up signing up for the "moar boar" brush, especially after seeing a preview of the logo. This means I'll own 4 boar brushes, 3 of which are Zenith. Once I finish breaking in all of them (some time around 2024?) I'll have to do another round of den thinning to get rid of some of the brushes in the den because I like to keep things lean.

Aug. 18, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Raiser Pinsel Simfix SF1 Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword (11)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive - Balm

#MammothMafia

• Prep: warm shower
• Brush: Semogue 1250
• Razor: Novelty Cutlery Co straight razor
• Lather House of Mammoth - Z
• Post Shave: Equate witch hazel
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - unscented aftershave balm

Headless Horsemen

#RawHoggin #unscented #MammothMafia

https://imgur.com/a/zzhJsw5

Aug 18, 2022 - AA: MA-RH-MM - Almond Leather - Day 18

• Prep: Warm Water Wash
• Prep: Klar - Activated Charcoal - Face Soap
• Brush: Zenith Cobalt Blue 28mm Boar Knot (505BC SE)
• Razor: GEM Open Comb Micromatic (2nd Gen.)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (18)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Aftershave

Excellent lather for two passes from a 15 second load. I probably would have had enough for another pass, but I had lather flying off the brush this morning.

On the second pass I used mostly buffing, XTG and ATG, to get a near BBS finish. No bites from the blade and no sting from the AS.

Not the ideal shave in terms of time, but it produced great results.

#GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Rating: 4/5

Aug. 18, 2022

• Brush: Summer Break DeMaranville B15
• Razor: Ever Ready Streamline
• Blade: GEM PTFE (34)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Eau de Parfum

  #MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022 - 18 shaves and still no probs

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Omega Pro 48 Boar brush 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: GEM PTFE (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Another easy shave. I did flip the blade but nothing more. Maybe I can get through the whole month with no blade crisis. Nah, that's way too hopeful. Either way, so far so good. I am bored of the MMOC and just stare at all my other razors, looking forward to using them again come September. The silly things we do for meaningless internet shaving competitions. AmIrite?! Anywho, getting closer to the goal each day and this boar brush is turning into a great implement that I will continue to use regularly. Happy Thursday to you!

#GEMsOfWisdom

#MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I didn't think much of it on Monday when I took someone's elbow in the ribs. I had actually forgotten all about it until the pain resurfaced yesterday, while I was on my back on the floor and trying to free myself from a man I had never met before who was on top of me. I could rephrase that, but... nah. That was only my second time back to krav maga, too, after I had had a rough cough that kept me away for a while.

From that perspective, it's kind of turning out to be a rough month, and it seems to have started right as the month began. Clearly, the root cause of all of it—and quite probably the root source of all evil—is face-lathering. Right from the instant that I first raised those bristles directly from tub to face, my fate was sealed.

But hey, if I can put up with two and a half weeks of this, and then a full month, I can handle anything, really.

This is the first time I've used a single soap consisently from a brand-new tub. If it weren't for some dedicated usage of Port-au-Prince earlier this year, it'd be the first time I've used a soap so consistently at all. I didn't realize how much of the soap had gone, becuase I was looking for hints of levels of usage at the edge of the soap, where it meets the side of the tub, much like how the level of aftershave has almost reduced to the top of the label. But that's not how soap gets used up. It was just the other day that I noticed that the top of the soap has become deeply concave.

I've been told that, because face-lathering is relatively ineffective, it requires more soap to be loaded, making it relatively wasteful. I don't know how any of that might be construed as an argument in favor of face-lathering, but okay.

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug 18, 2022 - Getting Sidetracked while searching for the Wisdom of a Mammoth

• Prep: Hot shower and CeraVe Hydrating Facial Cleanser

• Brush: Maggard Green Handle 2 Band Badger 24mm

• Razor: GEM - MMOC

• Blade: Personna GEM Stainless (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder EdP

Every day tags: #MammothMafia #GEMsofWisdom

A Mammoth Micromatic Raw Hoggin’ August

Brush Progress

• Brush: Zenith B26 #RawHoggin
• Razor: GEM MMOC #GEMsOfWisdom
• Blade: GEM (18)
• Lather: House if Mammoth - Hygge in Tusk
• Post Shave: Hygge Splash & Balm
• Fragrance: Hygge EDP #MammothMafia

I did some arm stropping, and it’s possible this blade is back in good standing with me, and now I understand why my dad, a frugal gent, only replaces his blades every 50+ shaves. I have to say, this is an achieving unlocked for me in shavedom.

I love this scent so much, it’s not something I’m really tiring of yet. I do wish I could use some other stuff just to switch it up.

Best shave in a few days!

Day 1 Prep Video

RawHoggin Unboxing Pics

MammothMafia

August 18 2022

• Brush: Zenith B28
• Razor: GEM MMOC (Gen 1)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (21)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo splash
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo balm
• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Restore

Much credit to those of you still finding new insights in your Austere August posts; my well has run dry. Today's shave was better than yesterdays since I was careful to extra hydrate the ol' lather.

#MammothMafia

#GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 18, 2022 - Austere August - Z

• Brush: Declaration 28mm B14 Jefferson Artisan’s Choice
• Razor: Blackland Er lvl 3 oc
• Blade: Personna med prep (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Splash & Balm

Excellent shaving today.

#MammothMafia #Unchallange #Unscented

Aug. 18, 2022 - SOTD AA Sonder 18

• Prep: Splash of cold water
• Brush: SummerBreak 26m SHD
• Razor: Merkur Progress
• Blade: Wizamet (3)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

• Post Shave: Zingari - Rescue Potion - Serum

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Aftershave

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Eau de Parfum

First day back from the roadtrip. Back at my sisters place and the nephews make things tougher to sleep in. Have a great day and shaves all #MammothMafia

August 18, 2022

• Preshave: Hot water
• Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3
• Blade: Feather (18)
• Brush: Chisel and Hound 26mm Fanchurian
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite Aftershave Balm

Another fantastic shave honestly doing this every day definitely has made me a better shaver.

MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1460 Boar Brush 21mm
• Razor: Razorock GameChanger .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (18)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Balm

Today's SOTD pic is a redo of my picture from Tuesday. I didn't get my focus quite right then, so I figured I would try to correct it. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this picture turned out, definitely better than Tuesday's.

Tags:

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022 - AA Day 18

• Prep: Hot Shower
• Brush: Zenith B34
• Razor: MMOC (Gen 2)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

Today was another top tier shave. The MMOC performed very well although I am quite confident that when I put a new blade in my face is going to be chewed up because this dull(er) blade allows me to be a little sloppy without much consequence. I thought today's shave was perfectly smooth with no nicks and no issues and then I put the splash on post-shave and wow - lava mountain on my face. Of course due to the magnificent qualities of the R2D2 synthetic cooling, I was quickly experiencing post-shave bliss.

Face lathering with the Zenith here and here was once again an experience in jubilation as my follicles were massaged until the stubble was perfectly ripe for the shaving. What a joyful experience to start each day as I blissfully rub those pig hairs around and around on my face, whipping up a beautiful lather that would be pleasing even to the most stubborn of grumpy old men.

Sonder - top tier. It's really lasting so long, too. Some have talked about the death circle appearing in the middle of the tub, not me, not even close. Tusk loads up so well that it's not an issue. What this does tell me, though, is that I already have enough soap to last a whole lifetime, probably. The splash isn't even down to the top of the label yet after 18 days and I feel like I'm not being all that conservative with it. Whatever. There are worse problems to have than too much soap.

Sonder thought of the day: Sometimes your wife (or spouse or partner or best friend or whoever) know best about what you need because they, too, are living a full life a la the concept of Sonder. So - listen to them. If they say - "we need to just get lunch today because everyone will feel better and the food we have at home is going to not work today," sometimes it's best to just listen. At lunch today, after a short night of sleep which came after a stressful day of changing my water heater (again) only to find out that it was never my water heater that had a leak but a clogged condensation drain hose, the morning did not go super well. Kids were a bit tired and crabby, I am exhausted, my wife as exhausted, and - well, getting lunch just helped. She knew best. I wanted to argue about it, and I did push back a bit because I hate spending 40 bucks to feed my family fast food, but in the end I just said ok and it made the day better. Should you eat fast food and waste your money? Probably not. But - you definitely should listen to people who love you when they're trying to help. They're not idiots, and they know you better than you know yourself sometimes. So - listen up.

Have a great day, all!

#mammothmafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Aug. 18, 2022 - Austere August Day 18

• Prep: Hot Shower, Stirling Soap Facial Soap
• Brush: Zenith 508A SE 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 1
• Blade: GEM PTFE (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Restore - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Restore - Balm

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Grey Vetiver

Day 18 was a nice shave. Looks like I am putting a decent dent in this soap... balm not so much. Pretty sure this stuff would last forever. Blade is still going strong.

Mandatory Tagging:

#GEMsOfWisdom

#Rawhoggin

#MammothMafia

2022-08-18 - Austere August - Raw Hoggin' Mammoth MMOC

Prep: Warm Shower

Brush: Semogue Torga - C5

Razor: GEM MMOC version 2

Blade: GEM Stainless (18)

Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

Fragrance: Issey Miyake -L'eau d'Issey pour Homme

https://imgur.com/a/r4vE3uK

Another good shave. l am interested to see if the brush breaks in more, it is pretty soft and it works very well.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

August 18th, 2022 - Mammoth Raw Wisdom of GEMs Hoggin Mafia

• Prep: Warm water

• Brush: Zenith B36 “Copper Scrubby!”

• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Splash

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

#MammothMafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Side view before shave, Top view, and After the shave

The hog is getting easier to splay, but sometimes I notice a part tries to tuck under instead of splay out. The brush definitely builds more lather when splayed.

The GEM showed hints of decline today. First pass felt a bit rough with a bit harsher feedback. Second pass settled down, and overall it was still a good shave.

The splash was a bit stingier tonight. Definitely welcomed the menthol and the balm to finish tonight.

Got good news today for my wife. Her long Covid symptoms have improved, and she is going to start back to work part time on September 1st, and then gradually add more hours every couple weeks until back to full time. Still waiting on her benefits from Aflac, but her HR rep says we have addressed their questions about the claim. Just hope it comes in before we need to hit what’s left of our savings.

Aug. 18, 2022 - Austere August Day 18

• Prep: House of Mammoth Almond Leather Bath Soap
• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Mire 26mm Zenith Unbleached Boar
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1
• Blade: GEM PTFE (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

🐗Raw Hoggin' Progress🤮:
•Unused
•Shave 1 through 7
•Shave 8
•Shave 9
•Shave 10
•Shave 11
•Shave 12
•Shave 13
•Shave 14
•Shave 15
•Shave 16
•Shave 17
•Shave 18

Thoughts for the day:
Imgur is still pissing me off.

Another day where I really didn't need the post. We're dialed in and stink free. 🤌

Mandatory Taggage:

#GemsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022 - August Austere Day 18

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Paladin Chief 26mm
• Razor: Merkur 34C
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

Decent shave today with Sonder. I’m trying to push my blades a little bit more, so today was shave #4 for this blade and it just seems to be getting a little rough. Through testing the last few blades 3 shaves seems to be the magic number for me before a Silver Blue has taken too much abuse. The benefits of using the same gear every day so I can test things a bit. #MAMMOTHMAFIA #UNCHALLENGE

18 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: splash of warm water
• Brush: Zenith B33
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (18)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Balm

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

18 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: Morning shower
• Brush: Sterling boar
• Razor: Maggard V3
• Blade: Derby Extra
• Lather: House of Mammoth Fu Dao
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth Fu Dao splash

A quick one-pass morning shave. Perfectly adequate.

mammothmafia

Aug. 18, 2022

• Brush: AP Shave Co 26mm A4 Fan
• Razor: Henson AL-13 +++
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Almost Friday!

#MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022 - Day 18: meh

• Prep: Hot Shower
• Brush: Zenith B33 Copper Boar Brush
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE Coated (18)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - 福 (Fu Dao) - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - 福 (Fu Dao) - Aftershave

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - 福 (Fu Dao) - Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - 福 (Fu Dao) - Eau de Parfum

I was in a bit of a hurry. Two passes but a bit of discomfort, still smooth but there was some decent feedback from the alum.

Brush, nothing new to report.

The direct sun light on the countertop looked cool. I am tired so this is all you get.

Brush break-in album #rawhoggin #mammothmafia #GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 18, 2022 - AA 18

• Prep: Cold Water Splash
• Brush: Semogue 1305 Pure Bristle 22mm
• Razor: GEM PTFE Gen 2
• Blade: GEM PTFE (24)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Balm

• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Seville - Eau de Toilette

break in album and SOTD pic in title.

It’s late, I’m tired, and I’m just going through the motions today. Although I did make sure to hydrate lather better than my laziness yesterday. Most components of my shave seem to have currently plateaued. Brush feeling fine but waiting for the next aha moment of softness. My technique with the gem is still meh, but def better than it was at the start, but I’m wondering if I’ve peaked there. Pretty over the blade. #GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Aug. 18, 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: Warm shower
• Brush: Zenith B10 Boar
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR
• Blade: Feather Professional (3)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Aftershave

• Post Shave: alum

Shave of austerity #18

A great 2 pass shave, minimal irritation. I had a lunch interview with another medical group- I was working, so this was from my car as awkwardly as humanly possible. The locations seem to limit viability of practice transition. So I get through the work day only to find out my kid has Covid symptoms 6 days into her school year. She tested positive shortly after.

I’m actually happy to take some time off from work to dad it up; I was with Covid recently, and my family avoided, so it only seems right to give my wife a break in hopes of allowing her to avoid it yet again. I am doubtful she will be successful given the virulence of present strains, but we can hope.

Tags and challenges: #MammothMafia & HeadlessHorsemen