Aug. 7, 2022 - Headless Mammoth Hoggin' Day 7

• Brush: Proraso Professional Boar | Break-in photos
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR (Kamisori)
• Blade: Schick Proline (7)

• 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

Soap Weight: 136.3g (1.4g used)

The brush is back to feeling fairly soft again without the pokiness that I experienced two days ago. It feels like it's splaying easier too. I'll be weighing my soaps each day to see if I can get a feel for my soap usage but so far I've just been loading until it looks and feels like it has a pretty heavy load. My impressions for how quickly this brush picks up soap was tainted by the first few days so I need to take a step back and reevaluate. I've been shaving around 6am and letting my soap dry for several hours before measuring the weight so it will be imprecise but should provide the general idea. I'm a little surprised by the amount of soap I used today and I'd be happy if I can consistently use around 1-1.5g of soap each day.

In terms of building delicious, dense lather, I'm still finding the boar extremely easy to use. With my dense badgers sometimes I start off with too much water and end up with a bit too much air in my lathers, but I'm not sure I'm able to even produce that kind of fluffy lather with this brush because I have not experienced it even once so far regardless of how much water I start with. It definitely helps to be using one of my favorite bases so it will be interesting to see how this brush performs with my other soaps next month.

At this point, I've already gotten most of what I want out of the break-in process and further improvements will be in much smaller increments and there won't be any more big revelations. The lather is already optimal for me, the boar smell is nearly nonexistent, and the brush is sufficiently comfortable for face lathering. The only remaining question for me is how soft this brush will end up being once it's fully broken in because that's the only area that's currently still lacking for me.

Once again I overshaved my jawline trying different angles of attack and got some irritation. I'll try more bullfrogging tomorrow to see if I can make that area easier to shave by creating a flatter surface to work with. The blade is still showing no signs of deterioration, but I am still finding it hard to shave as closely as I can with DE probably due to the thicker AC blades. My hairs are coarse and lie flat against my skin so I'm finding that I need to do a bit more touching up to the get all the hairs. In my experience the base plate/guard of DEs putting pressure against the skin actually helps lift those hairs up so they are easier to cut and I don't have that aid with the open blade format.

Aug. 7, 2022

• Brush: Summer Break DeMaranville B15
• Razor: Gillette Slim Adjustable
• Blade: Polsilver Super Iridium (16)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Chatillion Lux - 1904

  #MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - Austere August - Z

• Brush: Declaration 28mm B14 Jefferson Artisan’s Choice
• Razor: Blackland Era lvl 3 oc
• Blade: Personna med prep (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

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

Good ol’ boring shave today.

#MammothMafia #Unchallange #Unscented

Aug. 7, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

Every day I think I'm going to put something interesting in the photo, if not to make it interesting then at least make them in some way distinguishable in the otherwise invariant day-to-day. Today all I could muster up was a new angle. Maybe at some point I'll do the ol' bedsheet-light-diffuser thing.

But not for at least a couple days, I think, because this damn malady seems to be getting creative. For the past it was just a cough; you know, the kind that makes it feel like a torrent of dry sand is ripping through your trachea each time? Hell, I can handle that. But now nose stuff has been introduced, which is the worst.

But not as bad as the atrocious insult to shaving that is face-lathering, made worse by the unnecessary repeated pressure around my schnoz.

Don't worry, I'm probably out of ways to say that face-lathering sucks, so I probably won't keep it up for longer than another day or two. Saying it sucks, that is; I've committed to continue this horrid act of injustice for the duration of the month...

#GEMSofWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug 7, 2022 - AA: MA-RH-MM - Almond Leather - Day 7

• 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 (7)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Aftershave

I got a late start today, and I honestly kind of phoned the shave in. The lather was good, but not excellent. The shave was along the same lines. It was two passes, no cuts or irritation, but there were still some spots that could have been cleaned up better. It was good enough for today.

I'm finding the new angle for the MMOC to be much better than just keeping the cap flat against the skin. Using this angle, I have much better control of the pressure and glide.

I'm a little worried about the blade. It seemed to be tugging a little on the second pass. Hopefully it will hold up.

#GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Rating: 3/5

A Mammoth Micromatic Raw Hoggin’ August

Brush Progress

• Brush: Zenith B26 #RawHoggin
• Razor: GEM MMOC #GEMsOfWisdom
• Blade: GEM (7)
• Lather: House if Mammoth - Hygge in Tusk
• Post Shave: Hygge Splash & Balm
• Fragrance: Hygge EDP #MammothMafia

The blade is definitely loosing some power and in the early stages of tuggy. Gosh only a week in too. I had to do some extra work in clean up, but I can’t complain about the result.

I loaded really heavy on the brush and got a YouTube worthy, yuge lather today, so the brush is doing it’s job! Still scrubby and I can feel the tips more than I’d like. But I guess the benefit of this is it picks up a bunch of lather from the puck. With a softer soap base like Tusk, it really isn’t necessary, but with those hard milled pucks of days past (pre de provence, lookin at you), this might be the ideal brush.

I must mention I’ve been absolutely loving the post shave routine with matching splash and balm. They offer slightly different aspects of the Hygge scent, but the wonderful effects of these ingredients on skin is splendid.

Day 1 Prep Video

RawHoggin Unboxing Pics

MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1460 Boar Brush 21mm
• Razor: Razorock GameChanger .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (7)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Balm

Tags:

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

August 7 2022

• Brush: Zenith B28
• Razor: GEM MMOC (Gen 1)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (10)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo splash
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo balm
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Seville

I had a fun time seeing Phish on the beach in Atlantic City last night, there’s something to be said for being old enough to know when to leave before the encore to be able to get out of the parking garage without an hour’s wait. Great music and great people-watching as always. The shave this morning was pleasant, even the Gen 1 MMOC can be an autopilot razor once you’re familiar enough with it.

#MammothMafia

#GEMSofWisdom

Aug 07, 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 (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder EdP

Every day tags: #MammothMafia #GEMsofWisdom

August 7th, 2022 - Searching for GEMs of Mammoth Raw Hoggin Wisdom

• Prep: Warm water

• Brush: Zenith B36 “Copper Scrubby!”

• Razor: GEM (is truly outrageous) MMOC Gen 2

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (sette)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Splash

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

#MammothMafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Raw Hog Before and Raw Hog after shave 7

Handle going green at the bristles

I may need to play around with my iPhone focus. It is hard to see the split ends that have started in the before picture. Yesterday noticed that at the handle where the bristles touch the copper, starting to get a layer of verdigris. Might be from chlorine chemicals in the tap water. The verdigris is starting to wick up the bristles. Will be interesting to see how it pans out over the month. Starting to get spots of darkening copper on the rest of the handle. That is probably a copper oxide forming there. Should start to develop into that old penny color in a few months. It has been 30+ years since I took chemistry, but looking up what is causing the color changes was interesting.

GEM of Wisdom gained today, light strokes, don’t ride the cap, but not to far from it. Angle seems to work best if the comb touches and the cap almost skims the surface. I bet if I measure the angle of the blade, it would be pretty close to 30 degrees. Feedback was decent, enough to hear the blade was cutting, but no chattering and not very loud. Blade is gliding pretty well. I could almost do my passes on the cheeks in longer strokes, but still keeping to short strokes and checking the angle. On the neck, the downward strokes need more care, but shaving up from the base is pretty smooth. The opposite to me with a de razor. I have modified my grip on the handle, trying to keep the pressure to just the weight of the razor. Result today, no irritation and the splash had almost no sting at all. Best shave of the month so far

Lathering the beast, still is a thirsty hog. I smeared an almond sized bit of soap in a bowl, and quickly loaded it. Took the brushto the face as soon as I could see most of the lather was in the brush. Not even a proto lather in the bowl. It took quite a bit of scrubbing and several splashes of water to start getting an ok lather on my face and neck. On the second pass, I had barely enough to get a layer of lather on the face.

For the soap, after shave splash, and balm, still enjoying them. Soap is very slick when hydrated and leaves a nice residual slickness on the skin. I could buff after every pass if I liked, but I refrained from that. Not going to chase bbs when I am keeping to two passes (wtg and xtg on face, but more like xtg and xtg on the neck). Scent is still quite enjoyable, but I think my wife liked it more when I changed up every day.

Going to be a pretty lazy Sunday. Some summer storm showers are supposed to ge rolling in soon. Going to do some more cleaning today, and maybe watch “Harley Quinn” on HBO Max. I don’t know why I waited this long to start, but now I have multiple seasons to binge. Might see if we can finish the puzzle we started on Friday. Working on puzzles is part of the recommended therapy for my wife’s neurological issues. She is finally showing improvement the last week. Maybe by September she can go back to work.

• 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

Austere August 2022 day 7 https://imgur.com/a/iYr8azA

Some thoughts at the one week mark; Brush is really breaking in beautifully, getting noticably fluffier compared to the unboxing pic I took. Lots of splits. The brush has a good backbone and is getting softer while retaining that backbone. I can easily see this becoming a favorite brush. The smell isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but there is a smell. I couldn't figure out what the smell reminded me of until this morning. The unscented Mammoth soap has what I can only describe as a 'hot' smell - not smoky or spicy but the acrid smell of hot metal. Add in the boar brush aroma and it smells like my space heater at work does when I first turn it on - sort of a hot metal/scorched dust scent.

7 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: splash of warm water
• Brush: Zenith B33
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (7)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Balm

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - Sir Stacks-a-Lot

• Prep: Warm water wash
• Brush: Zenith B33 Copper Boar Brush
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE Coated (7)

• 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

u/Tonality stacking impression day. Thank you u/J33pGuy13 for the inspiration for today’s picture. Also, u/J33pGuy13 ‘s stacking game left a little to be desired, so here is how mine started. After taking the picture I realized that there was something missing and the hardware was feeling left out. So I added the brush and razor.

Today the brush wasn’t terrible. I still have some hope for it. The lather came out pretty good. The shave was better than yesterday. Maybe the blade is getting past the bad beginning or maybe the advise of u/Impressive_Donut114 helped, or some combo of the two. It was a smoother and there was less tugging. Still not as nice as my modern razors, but maybe by the end of the month I will have it figured out. The first pass was not very great, but the second pass was much better. Maybe I need to be doing a 3 pass shave every time with the MMOC. I will try it tomorrow.

Fú Dào is an excellent fragrance and value. The scent has a strong sillage and is long lasting.

Brush break-in album
#rawhoggin #mammothmafia #GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 7, 2022 - Seventh day of austereness

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Omega Pro 48 Boar brush 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: GEM PTFE (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Another great shave today. I should enjoy it as this blade will soon start to get difficult. Brush has less stink. And when properly splayed, it literally covers half of my face. Once broken in fully this will be a great brush, especially for head shaving.

Afternoon shaves ++

#GEMsOfWisdom

#MammothMafia

7 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: steamy 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

Woke up under the weather but still got a shave in. Covid test was negative, so hopefully it's just a cold and not the monkey pox.

mammothmafia

Aug. 7, 2022

• Brush: AP Shave Co 28mm A3 Fan
• Razor: Henson AL-13 ++
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Back to work tomorrow after some vacation time -- got to pay for all the ~~toys~~ necessities somehow! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

#MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - AA 7

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1305 Pure Bristle 22mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2
• Blade: GEM PTFE (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Balm

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

Progress break in album. SOTD in title.

Probably my most irritation free post shave feelings, but not my closet shave of August. I loaded a shit ton of soap too, which I think helps make the brush feel a bit less intense. That, perhaps, plus the slightest break in. The knot was also soaked a tad longer as its was also my first post shower shave of Aug. seemingly a combo of factors helping me today. That said, between my technique and this blade, still a bit tuggy. #GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Raiser Pinsel Simfix SF1 Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen
• Blade: Voskhod (8)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive - Balm

#MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - Austere August Day 7

• 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 (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

🐗Raw Hoggin' Progress🤮:
•Unused
•Shave 1
•Shave 2
•Shave 3
•Shave 4
•Shave 5
•Shave 6
•Shave 7

Thoughts for the day:
Smell was manageable again. Woot. I'm loving how soft this thing is getting.

No issues wirh the shave. One week down.

Mandatory Taggage:

#GemsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - SOTD AA Sonder 7

• Prep: splash of cold water
• Brush: Summer Break 26m SHD
• Razor: Merkur Progress
• Blade: Wizamet (2)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

• Post Shave: Zingari - Rescue Potion - Serum

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Balm

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

Easy sunday shave... have a great day and shaves all #MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - August Austere Day 7

• 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

Nice Sonder shave after some early morning yard work. Gotta get that stuff done early around here before it get over 100 degrees. Needless to say the cooling action in the aftershave was especially nice to have. 1 week down, just gotta stay strong for a few more. #MAMMOTHMAFIA #UNCHALLENGE

2022-08-07 - Austere August - Raw Hoggin' Mammoth MMOC

Prep: Warm Shower
Brush: Semogue Torga - C5
Razor: GEM MMOC version 2
Blade: GEM Stainless (7)
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/s7G7g15

Another great shave, everthing is working well.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 7, 2022 - Austere August Day 7

• Prep: Hot Shower, Stirling Soaps Activated Charcoal Facial
• Brush: Zenith 508A SE 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 1
• Blade: GEM PTFE (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Restore - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Restore - Balm

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Grey Vetiver

Day 7, busy day with my daughter's birthday party. Good shave.

Mandatory Tagging:

#GEMsOfWisdom

#Rawhoggin

#MammothMafia

August 7, 2022

• Preshave: Hot Water
• Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 Plate
• Blade: Feather
• Brush: Blackland 23mm synthetic
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite Aftershave Balm

Traveled today so missing a few of the niceties but it was a great shave as always.

Have a good night.

MammothMafia

Aug 7 2022

• Prep: Mineral oil massage

• Brush: Wenghè Pure Bristle 🐗

• Razor: Brassbird head CG brass bishop

• Blade: Voskhod

• Soap: Mammoth Z

• Balm: Mammoth Z

Pretty sure I spent more time upvoting everyone’s top level comment than I spent shaving. Rough weekend. Two passes for the masses. Fill the sink. Drop in brush and razor. Oil da skin. Dress the pig. Slap it on the oiled skin. Remove it with the bird. Splash da skin. Balm it. Go feed the family.

May your Diety of choice make it a good one.

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

#Unscented

#ZFighter

not much change going on

Aug. 7, 2022 - AA Day 7

• Prep: Hot Shower
• Brush: Zenith B34
• Razor: MMOC (Gen 2)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (7)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

Tonight's shave was downright pleasant. What a different a week and a few helpful friends/internet strangers can make. Maybe it's because I stacked my SOTD pic.

MMOC was great. Just a 2 pass again tonight with some chin buffing and I only had one bleeding spot, but that's because I accidentally shaved off a stupid neck pimple that should already be gone anyway. Maybe it'll disappear quicker now, but I have my doubts. Otherwise - smooth sailing with the MMOC and the GEM blade is really gliding well - I've noticed that most of the tugginess of the first few shaves has totally disappeared; this could be because my technique has improved dramatically or, as others have suggested, I could be in the goldilocks zone of the GEM blade. I've now literally shaved with and MMOC and GEM 7 times ever, so I really don't know what to chalk it up to. I can say that I plan to keep the MMOC even after this is done and make it part of my rotation, and I'm intrigued at the idea of adding an open comb DE to the mix as well - the MMOC is my first experience with an open comb.

Zenith continues to perform beautifully. Loving this brush, it's amazing. Shed a few hairs tonight for the first time that I've noticed in the last few days, but no big deal. My Semogue Owner's Club has a hair in it that I think is set upside down and even after 30 or so shaves with it it is still very stratchy and pokey on my face - thankfully no such issues with the B34. I would highly recommend this boar to newbies and veterans alike.

Sonder - what is there left to say? It's excellent. I'm continuing to learn to dial in the soap to water ratio and each shave seems to be a little more perfect, although none of them have been bad (save for the first, which I underloaded while using a brand new brush).

Sonder thought for today: Even famous people are just like you and me, living vivid and complex lives. They're not all good people (like anyone), but many of them feel very fortunate for where they are, they deal with imposter syndrome, they feel inadequate and undeserving, they enjoy the money but are sad about the relationships it ruins, and, most of all, so many of them still feel totally empty inside. There's a notion that goes around that if we somehow make it big we'll feel fulfilled and financial freedom means feeling free and like we know what we're doing. Unforutately, that is almost universally not true. Rich and famous people just have bigger and more extravagant ways of trying to fill the hole inside and can spend more money chasing meaning. This came to light most recently for me in a podcast with one of my favorite comedians. My wife and I really enjoy John Crist and his brand of comedy, and he went on Bert Kreischer's podcast (he's also a hilarious human, btw). The whole thing is worth a listen, in my opinion, but it's particularly insightful when these two start talking about how empty they often feel and the addictions they've turned to to handle it. Here is the whole episode if you're interested. Even if you don't know either of these guys, I think you'll find it interesting. If you're concerned with language, it's quite NSFW in that regard, so - wear headphones or something. It's also long. Anyway. Sonder - everyone's life is vivid and complex and even our idols and entertainers and favorite public figures are just regular old humans like you and me. They've had disappointment and joy and failure and success and on and on. People. And so, when they behave like people, we should probably expect that.

I don't care if I win anything from this - doing these Sonder reflections every day/evening is so good for my soul. Helping me think through people and real world stuff, kind of like journaling and maybe a few others read it. Thanks to those who do - maybe you'll be encouraged or challenged by something along the way. Only 24 to go.

Have a good evening, y'all.

#mammothmafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Aug. 7, 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: Tears
• Brush: Zenith B10 Boar
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR
• Blade: Feather Professional (1)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap

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

• Post Shave: alum, Zingariman Sego

Shave of austerity #7

2 pass shave; this was actually 7pm yesterday but I forgot to post. I am so bad about this.

Tags and challenges: #MammothMafia & HeadlessHorsemen