Aug. 13, 2022 - Headless Mammoth Hoggin' Day 13

• Brush: Proraso Professional Boar | Break-in photos
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR (Kamisori)
• Blade: Schick Proline (13)

• 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

The boar thrill is past its peak but I'm still enjoying these shaves that are almost on autopilot mode at this point. I shook out more water today which resulted in a cleaner load off the tub and it wasn't too hard to incorporate enough water on the face to get that sloppy goodness that I like. Last night I took a few minutes to feel the badgers and synthetics that have been collecting dust in the medicine cabinet and they definitely felt a bit unfamiliar because I've been fondling my boars for almost two weeks now. It will be interesting to compare the face feel of the other brushes and see if my preferences have shifted once I've spent a month with boar brushes.

Aug 13, 2022 - AA: MA-RH-MM - Almond Leather - Day 13

• 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 (13)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Aftershave

Only 18 more days to go. This blade has me a little worried, but we'll see if it smooths out at all. According to my records, 13 uses is the most I've taken any blade before. The last one being a Perma-Sharp.

#GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

#sidetracked
As far as music videos go, UNKLE (with Thom Yorke) - Rabbit in Your Headlights is an interesting use of the medium to tell a sort of short story through film that would be difficult to do otherwise.

Rating: 3/5

Aug. 13, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Raiser Pinsel Simfix SF1 Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword (6)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive - Balm

#MammothMafia

August 13 2022

• Brush: Zenith B28
• Razor: GEM MMOC (Gen 1)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (16)
• 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/Declaration Grooming - Cerberus Fougere

Off to a friend’s son’s birthday party so austere post today.

#MammothMafia

#GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 13, 2022

• Brush: Lentfer Custom Woodworks
• Razor: Above the Tie Atlas S1
• Blade: Voskhod (15)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Chatillion Lux - 1904

  #MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022 - Day 13: shave in the airport

• Prep: None
• Brush: Zenith B33 Copper Boar Brush
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE Coated (13)

• 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

Shaving at the airport was interesting. I actually had a decent 2 pass shave. It was actually better than yesterday, more comfortable. I am still playing with technique. This was the nastiest place I have ever shaved.

evidence

Brush break-in album #rawhoggin #mammothmafia #GEMSofWisdom

August 13, 2022

• Preshave: Hot water
• Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 Plate
• Blade: Feather (13)
• Brush: Blackland 23 mm synthetic
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite Aftershave Balm

MammothMafia

2022-08-13 - Austere August - Raw Hoggin' Mammoth MMOC
Prep: Warm Shower
Brush: Semogue Torga - C5
Razor: GEM MMOC version 2
Blade: GEM Stainless (13)
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/uNuQ7J2

A beautiful sunny day, the soap was perfect. Everything still working great.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022 - Sunny Saturday

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Omega Pro 48 Boar brush 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: GEM PTFE (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Gorgeous day here. Great for a long bike ride. Now back home for an afternoon shave then off to see the girlfriend for dinner. Pretty perfect day, I must say.

Afternoon shaves++ Blade still feels great and brush feels better each use. The MMOC is a fine implement and gives me a real close shave each and every time. Has not bitten me in a while either. Have a happy Saturday.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022 - SOTD AA Sonder 13

• 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 - Balm

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

First day of the road trip. Have a great day and shaves all #MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1460 Boar Brush 21mm
• Razor: Razorock GameChanger .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (13)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Balm

I'm pretty happy with today's SOTD pic. I do still think it could be better, so I might try a similar picture tomorrow.

Tags:

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022 - Austere August - Z

• Brush: Declaration 28mm B14 Jefferson Artisan’s Choice
• Razor: Blackland Era lvl 3 oc
• Blade: Personna med prep (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

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

Great shave today. I’m so bored, I’m ready for my wonderfully scented soaps again.

#MammothMafia #Unchallange #Unscented

Aug. 13, 2022 - August Austere Day 13

• 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

Apparently all the stars aligned this morning and I had one of the easiest shaves I’ve had in a long time. I would assume that it’s the continued use of the same products 13 days straight, but I’m not sure I’m that quick a learner. Hope everyone else’s shave went just a smooth. #MAMMOTHMAFIA #UNCHALLENGE

• 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 13 https://imgur.com/a/SKJg4Fz

13 August 2022 - Austere August

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

Feeling relatively good today. Two-pass shave: with and across.

mammothmafia

Aug. 13, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

I seem to recall seeing that the idea behind Austere August was not only to contrast with June's shenanigans and daily-different-soaps, but also to take advantage of consistency, do away with all of the variables, and focus on the shave itself. I recall that Austere August was a time for evaluating technique in controlled conditions and without distractions of silliness.

I dare say that #unscented is very much in line with this kind of idea, clearing out the distraction of the very scent of our soaps. Boring? Overkill? Uncalled-for masochism? Maybe, but it's honest.

I have mixed feelings about the one-blade-for-the-whole-month part of whatever acronym Nightmare mode. On the one hand, even blade-by-blade variation can appear between blades of the same brand and flavor, and the act of changing one's blade may welcome that, thereby introducing a possibly-distracting variable. On the other hand, using a single blade for so long is not usually how one goes about things. Usually. As I see mentions begin to pop up of blades dulling, it makes me realize that TMNT Nightmare mode was an early introduction of wacky August shenanigans.

Then there's the band of zealots who are dedicated to the use of a single infamous soap, be it of an actually-pleasant-smelling batch or of what may well be some manner of horrid grime directly scooped from a mountain-man's ass-crack. Eh, they're doing their ting. It's wacky, but not really that different than #MammothMafia.

The whole hand-lathering thing that's apparently a thing? No one does that. That seems to fly in the face of Austere August.

But the question of lathering brings me to #RawHoggin. At its core, it's very much in the spirit of Austere August, and even promises an inherent reward from dedicated shaving practices in the form of a well-broken-in natural brush. But lurking beneath the surface is the hideous truth, a restriction that promises nothing but a month of agony and meager lathers: the lather must be built directly on whatever skin is to be shaved. For most of us here, that means.... face-lathering.

It is for this reason that RawHoggin is an affront to the spirit of Austere August! For not one can truly dedicate the needed attention and care to a shave when they cannot properly lather!

And yet, here I am...

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

August 13th, 2022 - Searching for the GEM of Raw Mammoth Hoggin Wisdom

• Prep: Warm water

• Brush: Zenith B36 “Copper Scrubby!”

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

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (dodici)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Splash

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

#MammothMafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Before Shave 13 and After

Shave thirteen and you think I would have learned to accept the shave and not go for touch ups. Nope, felt like my right cheek wasn’t as close as the left side, so wiped some of the residual lather out of my goatee onto the cheek, and a few quick little stroke across the grain. That was enough to give me a bit of burn from the splash. I don’t think the blade necessarily caused the regular passes to not shave well. The left side is as close as I get with a 2 pass shave. Nope, got a little sloppy with the razor and opened the door to irritation. Guess lucky I didn’t get any nicks or weepers, so still blood free since week 1.

The hog is really getting easier to splay. I built up a pretty decent lather after loading the scoop of soap I smeared in the bowl. I did need a bit of water splashed onto my face to get it better hydrated. For pass two, I wet my face again, then smeared the leftover lather allover my face before building more with the brush. Worked out well lather wise for both passes.

The House of Mammoth Alive set is still going great for me. I think today I got some of the fruit notes from it, and a strong whiff of the laundry musk. I remember as a kid when we’d visit my Great Aunt at her cabin outside Crested Butte, Colorado. She didn’t have a drier at the cabin, so laundry was dried on a line outside the cabin. It always had an amazing smell of clean, sunshine, and the woods. Not an exact match, but it gets my mind going in that direction. Before my shave this afternoon, mowed, trimmed, and edged my yard. It’s not a large lot, but pretty warm outside for the 30-40 minutes it took to get it done and cleaned up. The menthol in the splash was quite welcome today, and it has my face and neck very cool. Might not be great in January here, but perfect for August.

A Mammoth Micromatic Raw Hoggin’ August

Brush Progress

• Brush: Zenith B26 #RawHoggin
• Razor: GEM MMOC #GEMsOfWisdom
• Blade: GEM (10)
• Lather: House if Mammoth - Hygge in Tusk
• Post Shave: Hygge Splash & Balm
• Fragrance: Hygge EDP #MammothMafia

Brush: all gravy from here
Blade: all scary from here

Day 1 Prep Video

RawHoggin Unboxing Pics

MammothMafia

13 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: splash of warm water
• Brush: Zenith B33
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (13)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Balm

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022 - Austere August Day 13

• 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 (13)

• 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

Thoughts for the day:
Had to do a little buffing but still doing well.

Mandatory Taggage:

#GemsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022

• Brush: Omega Pro 49 Boar
• Razor: Henson AL-13 +++
• Blade: Astra SP (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

I'm impressed. Finally caved and picked up a Henson AL in aggressive. I was reluctant since I already have one in mild and medium and didn't think there would be that much difference (I don't notice much difference between the mild and medium). First shave with the aggressive and I could tell a pretty big difference. I was using sharper blades in the medium (Feather, Nacet) and decided to start with the Astra in the aggressive for the first use, and it was a noticeably more efficient shave. Some irritation, but it definitely got closer, faster, than the others. I may have to reconsider my stance on picking this up in Titanium. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

#MammothMafia

Aug. 13, 2022 - AA Day 13

• Prep: Hot Shower
• Brush: Zenith B34
• Razor: MMOC (Gen 2)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

Shave was beautiful today. I used a Rockwell 6s as my only daily driver for over a year and, honest to goodness, I don't think I ever had as smooth and irritation free of a shave as I did today, with a razor that just 10 days ago brought me to my [metaphorical] knees.

Decided to open the door to one of the best features of the house today the laundry chute for the SOTD pic. You're welcome. I know y'all droolin' over my 80 year old house. Speaking of - replaced my water heater today - and in the words of my dad, the best part about water heaters dying is you spend $600 and you have nothing more to show for it. You had hot water yesterday, and now you have it again today. Good times.

Anyway - The Zenith continues to impress, although I do wonder if it's going to end up being too floppy for my preference - I like my boars to be a little bit more on the scrubby side, but this one just keeps breaking in. Hopefully it slows down, or, I don't know, maybe it doesn't and it's still amazing.

While the MMOC performed effortlessly today and I have for sure reached autopilot mode with it, I did accidentally grab my blackbird as I prepared for the SOTD pic. Thankfully I caught the error and fixed it before shaving - but dang that stainless felt good in hand compared to the lightweight nature of the MMOC. My daughter, too, seems to be pulling me back towards the rest of my collection, haha. She dropped in while I was taking my prep pictures and getting the shave ready pre-shower and climbed up to check out the brushes I wasn't using. The curiosity of kids is the best. 13 shaves in and the blade is still excellent. I've settled into a great 2.5 pass routine where I go with the grain and then mostly against the grain (though some spots just across) with a bit of buffing and it's a very excellent shave. Probably not quite BBS all over the place, but, pretty dang close.

Sonder again felt very aquatic today, probably the grass in it. I'm so glad I chose this one for the month - I'm not remotely sick of it. In all honesty, while I do have some other great scents that I'm looking forward to and some other razors and brushes that I'm excited to use again - I'm really not feeling the pull like some have expressed. This setup is excellent and I'm very happy with it.

Sonder thought of the day: Showing up is so important. I mentioned earlier that I changed my water heater today, but in reality, my dad changed my water heater. I'm 34 and probably could have figured it out solo - but my parents were coming in town for my daughters birthday party today (turns 3 monday) and he offered to help so I took him up on it. It wasn't a super fun job by any means, but learning from my dad is great bonding time, and now that my kids get to be involved and continue to get to know their grandparents, I appreciate so much about the time and energy they put into being present in their lives. They live about 2.5 hours away, but they don't miss anything that they're invited to - no birthdays or major life events. If it's happening, they show up. Doesn't matter if my dad had worked 70 or 80 hours in road construction the week before, they show up. And it means a lot. As I think about their lives, they're people, too. Parents are people, we know this, but there are moments where it hits and as I was thinking about the Sonder moment of the day for me, today was one of those moments. My son absolutely adores his "brampa" and my dad takes that responsibility really seriously - he loves the boy so well and he has fun with him and he just, he shows up. My daughters love their grandparents, too - particularly "gramma." Early on when we had kids it was a struggle for my wife and I to adjust and my parents to adjust to how we'd navigate our relationship - them wanting to be around all the time with grandkids and us wanting to maintain a healthy family of our own and we had some hard boundaries conversations, but I appreciate how we've come through it. As I look back now I see that they were just trying to figure out how to be grandparents at the same time we were thrust into the parents role and it was the first time for all of us. My dad turns 60 this year and I'm too aware of the limited time we have left with him while he should still be vibrant and active and able to do things. He worked hard manual labor for many years and I'm sure that took it's toll on his body, but I'm hopeful for another solid 6-8 years of hunting and fishing and working on things together. Gosh, that's rough to type. Anyway - my kids love him (and them) and knowing what his life looks like, knowing the rough things he had happen to him as a kid and the bad crowd he fell into as a young adult, I'm just really grateful for the ways my dad raised me and how he keeps showing up for me and for my kids, even now.

Have a great night, all.

#mammothmafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Aug. 13, 2022 - Austere August Day 13

• Prep: Hot Shower, Stirling Soaps Activated Charcoal Facial
• Brush: Zenith 508A SE 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 1
• Blade: GEM PTFE (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Restore - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Restore - Balm

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Grey Vetiver

Day 13. Had my company picnic, was a good time. Great shave, new brush is so a great knot. Loving the way it is breaking in. On to the next day.

Mandatory Tagging:

#GEMsOfWisdom

#Rawhoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug 13, 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 (13)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder EdP

Every day tags: #MammothMafia #GEMsofWisdom

Aug 13 2022

• Prep: Mineral oil massage

• Brush: Wenghè Pure Bristle 🐗

• Razor: Brassbird head CG brass bishop

• Blade: Voskhod

• Soap: Mammoth Z

• Balm: Mammoth Z

#MammothMafia

#Unscented

#ZFighter

pumbaa

Aug. 13, 2022 - AA 13

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1305 Pure Bristle 22mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2
• Blade: GEM PTFE (19)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Balm

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

break in album with SOTD in title.

Pretty decent shave today. Brush starting to get pretty decent splay too. #GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia