Aug. 11, 2022 - Headless Frozen Mammoth Hoggin' Day 11

• Brush: Proraso Professional Boar | Break-in photos
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR (Kamisori)
• Blade: Schick Proline (11)

• 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 #>!hidden!<

A third of the way through AA and things are getting a bit monotonous so I've been looking for ways to spice things up.

The first thing is trying to get a bit more creative with my SOTD photos because simply changing the placement/angle wasn't very exciting. As much as I like seeing various break-in brush photos, it's also nice to see people getting insane stacks with their gear and trying new things. Shout out to u/djundjila for joining me in getting some toys involved in his SOTD photo yesterday.

Additionally, I got in some synthetic cooling agent yesterday and I tried adding several drops to my lather and it was exactly what I was looking for. 🥶 The slow build up of cooling seemed to peak around my third pass but it was never painful or excessive. When I applied my balm I also added a few drops and the cooling effect lingered for around 5-10 minutes. Summer has been brutal here (35C+ and humid every day) so I'll be making good use of this cooling agent for another month at least.

Not a lot of changes to my brush in the past few days, but I do feel like it may be holding on to more water than it did initially so I'm starting to do some very light shakes before loading again. I'm thankful that the combination of this brush + the Tusk base is giving me effortless top tier lathers compared to some others who can't seem to get decent lather for 2 passes using more than 5 grams of soap. 🤯

Aug. 11, 2022 - SOTN AA Sonder 11

• Prep: splash of cold water
• Brush: Summerbreak Soaps 26m SHD
• Razor: Merkur Progress
• Blade: Wizamet (1)

• 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

Figured it was time for another fresh blade... have a great day and shaves all #MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Raiser Pinsel Simfix SF1 Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword (4)

• 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

Austere August 2022 day 11 https://imgur.com/a/J3ieyx9

Aug 11, 2022 - AA: MA-RH-MM - Almond Leather - Day 11

• 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 (11)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Aftershave
• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Ombré Leather - Eau de Parfum

Still hanging in there with this blade. Hopefully it still has enough life in it to make it to the end of the month because these past few shaves have been neither close nor comfortable.

#GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Rating: 2.5/5

Aug. 11, 2022

• Brush: Summer Break DeMaranville B15
• Razor: Charcoal Goods Brass Level 2
• Blade: Personna Super Stainless (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

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

  #MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022 - eleven

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Omega Pro 48 Boar brush 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: GEM PTFE (11)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Eleven shaves. So far so good. Nothing to complain about yet...

I must admit that it is getting a little boring. Soon the fun will begin. I have been eating as much as possible to get my belly conditioned for stropping because palm stropping is for wimps.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#MammothMafia

A Mammoth Micromatic Raw Hoggin’ August

Brush Progress

• Brush: Zenith B26 #RawHoggin
• Razor: GEM MMOC #GEMsOfWisdom
• Blade: GEM (11)
• Lather: House if Mammoth - Hygge in Tusk
• Post Shave: Hygge Splash & Balm
• Fragrance: Hygge EDP #MammothMafia

Brush in a great spot, doing it’s job and softened to the point of happiness.

Today I focused on getting through the shave with good technique and knocking down hair whoever it was left over (carefully). The blade may have turned a bit of a corner, and with focus I was able to mow everything down for a 98% BBS except trouble areas on the neck. It’s possible this outcome is as good as my first few shaves. And I think the level of burn on splash application is the same as it has been. So all around I’m happy with it!

Day 1 Prep Video

RawHoggin Unboxing Pics

MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022 - Austere August Day 11

• 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 (11)

• 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

Thoughts for the day:
After seeing Fearless Leader (u/Semaj3000) complain about the state of his PTFE, I felt deeply concerned. Not only because it's increasingly likely he will "semaj" himself, but I also felt bad thinking of how wirey and manly his beard must be with that overly sensitive skin...

Me? I haven't even flipped this blade. Still glass smooth, and finally not smelling like pig ass. The knot is softer than I would have ever expected and I think the steady diet of Tusk is helping that. This is officially my favorite boar now. That said, I don't want another unbleached knot any time soon... Imma need some time to mentally recover from this one.

Will the 31mm green soap slayer unseat this brush? Only time will tell...

Mandatory Taggage:

#GemsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

August 11 2022

• Brush: Zenith B28
• Razor: GEM MMOC (Gen 1)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (14)
• 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 - Hygge

Three more passes in the books, autopilot fully engaged. I probably could have stopped buying soap after getting this Mood Indigo set, I really don’t think I could get tired of it, but we all know I didn’t do that.

#MammothMafia

#GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 11, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (11)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

For all the shit I talk about face-lathering, you can't say I'm not giving it a fair shot. Every day, I think, "Is this it? Is this the day I come around and say that face-lathering isn't the atrocious bullshit it proves itself to be, time and time again?" and every day I think, "This is the worst fucking way to shave! Awful!"

The face-lathering-hate is mostly a joke (except it does really suck, like wow, it's terrible), but I'm guilty of thinking that way much more seriously of certain other things. For example, Microsoft Excel is the worst fucking software to deal with data (seriously, it is the wrong software for at least 98% of what it's used for, and VBA is crap, but on the other hand M in Power Query is surprisingly handy). I also tend to have a glint of the same feeling whenever I'm typing text with anything that's not vim or at least vim-like. I'm typing this out in reddit's text-entry box, and sure, I could do it with vim and then copy it over, but.... Actually, there's no real reason I'm not doing exactly that...

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

11 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: splash of warm water
• Brush: Zenith B33
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (11)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Balm

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1460 Boar Brush 21mm
• Razor: Razorock GameChanger .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (11)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Balm

I figure if I'm uploading a SOTD picture every day, it might as well be half decent. I know next to nothing about photography, but for the rest of the month I'm going to try to learn something and get a few good pictures.

I think today my lighting was alright, but the soap tub started tipping over and the angle the picture's taken at looks a little awkward. Well, maybe I'll get a better one tomorrow.

Tags:

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

August 11, 2022

• Preshave: Hot water
• Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 plate
• Blade: Feather (11)
• Brush: Chisel and Hound 26mm Fanchurian
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite Aftershave Balm

MammothMafia

August 11th, 2022 - Mammoth Hoggin Raw GEMs of Wisdom

• Prep: Warm water

• Brush: Zenith B36 “Copper Scrubby!”

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

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (undieci)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Splash

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

#MammothMafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Before and After

The hog is getting easier to splay and is loading up lather quicker today. Took about 15 seconds of swirling the brush to pick up the lather I smeared in the bowl. First pass lather was about the best I’ve made this month. Second pass wasn’t as billowy, but was very slick.

The GEM is staying in the zone with about the same amount of feedback and no irritation. It has been about a week since I got a nick or weeper. I might have gone a bit too light on the pass, not as close of a shave today.

Not doing the sidetracked challenge, but in honor of the Tusk base, today I played Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk”. Not going to watch the Kevin Smith film “Tusk”. Don’t want to watch a crazy man try to surgical change someone into a walrus.

Edited to put in the link to the SOTD picture.

Aug. 11, 2022 - AA Day 11

• Prep: Hot Shower
• Brush: Zenith B34
• Razor: MMOC (Gen 2)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (11)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

Shave today was as solid as could be. I was up early again because my daughter has just decided that sleep is for the birds and she wants to be awake. All the freaking time. Sometimes I see these memes and videos about "just a reminder that you're living the life younger you dreamed of, so make it count" and I get that, I really do like my life and I'm grateful for it, but, parents, let's be honest - we could do without the sleeplessness and just enjoy the rest. But I digress.

The Zenith continues to work beautifully and it seems like it's splitting more day by day. Soft lather, whipped up real well today. One big think I've learned in using this brush is that adding water to the soap isn't as finicky as I'd thought. Since I'm tub loading, I tend to have too much soap in it and the first bit is almost always too thick. Early in the month I was trying to gently add a few drops of water but no more - now I just dunk the first 1/2 inch of the tips or so in the sink and work it right in - works like a dream. If I need more, I might paint it on or just dunk 'em again and keep going. That's how we ended up with a great lather today, anyway.

MMOC was smooth and efficient for today's 2 pass (With and Against). I was a bit short on time so I didn't get to do the full 3, but it was still a darn fine shave. I realized this morning that I've really come to like this razor and I'm going to need to grab some more blades for it to work it into my regular rotation. This is the beauty of AA - equipment that you thought might suck becomes stuff you learn how to use and enjoy.

Sonder was, as always, excellent. As I got out of the shower today my shelf did catch my eye and there's some gear on there I'm looking forward to using in September. I'm loving Sonder and the cooling effect, but on these hot humid days I just want to bust out some SBS Cannonball! for a full cool down. In due time.

Sonder thought of the day: Even though you can recognize the reality of Sonder - that everyone you interact with is living a life that's as vivid and complex as your own - there are still going to be people and situations that catch you totally off guard. I'm dealing with a real complex situation at work that affects so many people and is just, really not great. My boss' former best friend turned out to be someone that nobody thought he was. Knowing people is such a hard thing to really do. I'm sure there are parts of each of our lives that nobody knows about. Hopefully they're not like that (and if they are, well, stop and turn yourself in), but situations like this make you wonder how deeply you can really know people. It's startling when you realize that a person you thought you knew and thought you wanted to be like was living a total double life and may actually be some sort of socio- or psycho-path - devoid of any kind of social or mental regulations, mimicking what it's like to feel emotion while using his position of power to prey on others.

Anyway - What's my takeaway here - I guess it's just be careful. As we have worked with a training organization to make sure we do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening where I work the main trainer has said that we have to be "appropriately vigilant" to prevent keep kids safe. So - do what you can to keep your kids and others' kids safe. Be vigilant. And when or if you see something that's alarming - say something. There's not always an opportunity to see something, but sometimes there is. And when you do, do something about it. It takes a community to keep a community safe.

Hope you have a good one.

#mammothmafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Edit: removed the sensitive parts of the post and replaced it with "dealing with a complex situation." I feel better about that.

11 August 2022 - Austere August

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

Getting there. No fever today. Two-pass shave: with and across.

mammothmafia

Aug 11, 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 (11)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder EdP

Every day tags: #MammothMafia #GEMsofWisdom

2022-08-11 - Austere August - Raw Hoggin' Mammoth MMOC

Prep: Warm Shower
Brush: Semogue Torga - C5
Razor: GEM MMOC version 2
Blade: GEM Stainless (11)
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/WsVsFuD

The brush is awesome, maybe the best l have. The razor is still excellent and the Sonder is one of my favorites. A DFS in 2 passes.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022 - Austere August Day 11

• Prep: Hot Shower, Stirling Soap Facial Soap
• Brush: Zenith 508A SE 28mm
• Razor: GEM Micromatic OC Gen 1
• Blade: GEM PTFE (11)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Restore - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Restore - Balm

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Grey Vetiver

Decent shave this morning. Had to cut it to down to two passes as I was a bit rushed this morning. 20 days left…..

Mandatory Tagging:

#GEMsOfWisdom

#Rawhoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022 - August Austere Day 11

• 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

Sonder continues to be enjoyable as a daily shave soap, and fortunately that’s all I got today. #MAMMOTHMAFIA #UNCHALLENGE

Aug. 11, 2022

• Brush: Maggard Razors 30mm Synthetic
• Razor: Leaf
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Excellent shave today. Getting better with my lather, and the Leaf seems to work well with Nacets. Happy almost Friday!

#MammothMafia

Aug. 11, 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: Warm shower
• Brush: Zenith B10 Boar
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR
• Blade: Feather Professional (2)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap

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

• Post Shave: alum

Shave of austerity #11

2 pass shave; fantastic shave with little to no alum. Let’s talk about almond leather from a scent profile.

Initial note is a robust amaretto. As I lather, I get the leather and a bit of the frankincense as I finish the lather. The aftershave seems to carry more of the orange blossom for me, and it almost comes about with a bit of honey.

I don’t think I could ever get sick of this scent. It fits any day, any weather, and it is great for AA because it’s purely inoffensive and unobtrusive. I don’t ever see this being a bad choice in any circumstance.

Great work u/mammothben

Tags and challenges: #MammothMafia & HeadlessHorsemen

Aug. 11, 2022 - Day El

• Prep: Warm water wash
• Brush: Zenith B33 Copper Boar Brush (now with patina concentration device)
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE Coated (11)

• 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

In preparation of House of Mammoth’s Voices I am drinking a Mango Sticky Rice sour beer from Crooked Run Fermentation.

Today I learned a little something about the MMOC. I took the advice about changing the angle to an extreme. I used a bigger angle away from the skin for the first pass on one side and the normal angle on the other. Then for the second pass on both sides the normal angle. The side with the initial steep angle felt much better. I will try it again tomorrow.

The brush actually does still stink, the Fú Dào just hides it. The water the brush soaks in stinks. I decided I want a cool patina for the handle. So I have a zip tie around the brush and I am going to get an O-ring to go around the center of the brush. I am hoping it will make for some good blue oxidation rings. We shall see.

Brush break-in album #rawhoggin #mammothmafia #GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 11, 2022 - AA 11

• Prep: Cold Water Splash
• Brush: Semogue
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2
• Blade: GEM PTFE (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Balm

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

Break in album. SOTD in title.

Late evening shave and off to bed. #GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Aug 11 2022

• Prep: Mineral oil massage

• Brush: Wenghè Pure Bristle 🐗

• Razor: Brassbird head CG brass bishop

• Blade: Voskhod

• Soap: Mammoth Z

• Balm: Mammoth Z

Late as shit. Dammit. Two pass shave under the watchful eye of The Boy. He made the lather, but disapproves of the brush.

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

#Unscented

#ZFighter

Peppa