Aug. 31, 2022 - Austere August - Raw Hoggin' MMOC Ultra Nightmare Mode Finale - A review in Austerity
Day 31 - Today's shave was an excellent 3 pass shave to complete AA. What a month it has been! A huge thank you to /u/wallygator88 /u/Enndeegee u/Semaj3000 and the rest of the organizers for putting all of this together. As a first time GEM and (good) boar user, this month was eye opening. Today's shave reflected all the new skills learned and equipment broken in and tested that resulted in a great shave. I am a boar convert and the GEM is now one of my favorites.
Since I went into these challenges with many questions, I figured I'd take the time to document some stuff here for future shavers to learn from.
Background
Going into AA, I was a relatively novice wetshaver. I've been shaving with a DE for about a year, but didn't get into proper wetshaving until about the beginning of this year. While I've always fancied my face as being a bit sensitive, I think wetshaving may have taught me that it might not be as sensitive as I always thought.
Leading up to AA, my standard and favorite setup was my Rockwell 6S (on plate 4) with a Simpson Trafalgar T3 brush, bowl loading, face lathering and 2 pass shaving. I really wasn't looking for a more "aggressive" razor or a different brush although the recent addition of a C&H fanturian badger brush did have me reaching for the T3 less and less. Other razors that agreed with my face prior to AA were my Merkur 34C and Gillette Fatboy (on setting 5).
With the announcement of the rawhoggin' challenge, I knew it was an opportunity to see if boars could be just as awesome as my fanturian and/or my T3. I noodled around with the idea of picking up a GEM and was intimidated with my limited experience and reputation the MMOC carries. I ended up making a game time decision, buying a GEM and using it for the first time August 1st.
Soap selection was another topic of concern. Since I usually scoop and load from a bowl, I didn't want to run out of soap before the end of the month. I heard that boars were notorious for eating soap and for a good part of August I was traveling outside of the country where restocking wouldn't be an option. I ended up going with a Stirling soap based on the recommendations from a few people here and also because I've had issues lathering Stirling in the past. This was a learning exercise after all!
The Brush: Probably my favorite part of this whole challenge was the brush. Anyone who wants to give a boar brush a try should definitely do it. This brush has become my absolute favorite. It's soft yet firm and delivers and exceptional scrub without the harshness of some other brushes. The dense knot whips up a great lather and takes very little time to feel amazing. Within the first week the brush was feeling amazing and by the middle of the month had no more hog stank and was incredibly soft.
Some quick highlights about the brush:
Day 5: Last day of significant brush hair loss
Day 7: Brush became noticeably soft
Day 13: Brush became noticeably easier to splay
Day 15: Hog smell was gone
Day 17: Brush was pillowy soft and super easy to splay
Brush Pictures:
Day 1 vs. Day 31 Pre-shave: Side Top
Day 1 vs. Day 31 Post-shave: Side Top
RawHoggin
The Razor My second favorite part of AA was getting to know the GEM MMOC gen2. I really had a preconceived notion that this razor was an antiquated, fossil that the masochists here on /r/wetshaving forced themselves to love. I mean how can a design that's almost a century old be that good? I dismissed the idea of trying it early on but my curiosity was piqued. I have to say, I am so happy I gave it a shot because the razor is AWESOME. Prior to using the GEM, the most "aggressive" razor I used was my rockwell on plate 6. Granted, it's a different type of razor, but I figured worst case I can baby myself through the month or just use something else. The razor was nothing like I expected. There is definitely a learning curve and the razor definitely doesn't tolerate bad form, but it's also more forgiving than some give it credit for.
The GEM blade was also impressive in its showing. Now I don't have very coarse or thick hair on my face, but this blade still has more life in it. I didn't palm strop (whatever that is), or flip the blade or anything and it still delivered a great shave. I'm not sure if the dulling of the blade was a factor, but after about a week, I felt very comfortable using the GEM and by day 12 felt like I was on autopilot for my standard 2 pass shaves. In fact, out of the 31 days in August, 27 of them went cut free. I managed to only cut or nick myself 4 out of the 31 days and one was from just plain carelessness. I still need to work on my ATG pass, but it's not something I do very often anyway, so for the purposes of my shaving routine, I definitely feel like I mastered the GEM.
Some quick highlights about the GEM:
Day 7: Felt completely comfortable using the razor
Day 12: Felt like the shave was on autopilot
Day 14: My first 3 pass shave
27 Days without cuts, nicks or irritation
4 Days where the GEM drew some blood
27 2-pass shaves
4 3-pass shaves*
*Note: I did not cut myself once during a 3 pass shave
Days since last blood: 14
Razor and blade picture on day 31
Blade picture on day 31
GEMsOfWisdom
The Soap and Aftershave I have to hand it to Stirling - they do make a wonderful, nurturing soap and phenomenal aftershave. While I have grown completely tired of the soap, it was enjoyable for most of the month. Even with the soap hunger of the mighty boar, the puck managed to make it through the month. Unfortunately, the thought of weighing the soap never occurred to me during the month, but it did seem like I was using significantly less soap towards the end of the month. I did manage to weigh the puck after today's shave and I'm left with 132.6g. The puck (according to u/OnionMiasma) is 83g, which means I have 49.6g (1.75oz) of soap remaining. That's a lot of soap used!
Some quick highlights about the soap and aftershave:
Day 16: First time I started seeing the bottom of the puck (beginning of ring of death)
Day 19: When I started to get tired of the scent
Day 1 vs Day 31 Puck Picture
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