Aug. 17, 2022 - Headless Mammoth Hoggin' Day 17

• Brush: Proraso Professional Boar | Break-in photos
• Razor: Feather Artist Club SR (Kamisori)
• Blade: Schick Proline (17)

• 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

Back to an uneventful shave today. I've become quite proficient with this shavette during this month but I'm starting to wonder how much my technique is compensating for the reduced sharpness of the blade. I've started employing almost a buffing technique when I'm doing my ATG pass which isn't resulting in any irritation but I wonder if that's going to bite me once I swap back to a fresh blade. My shaves are still comfortable but I typically aim for as close to BBS as possible and the lack of close shaves is bothering me a little bit.

The progressive reduction in backbone of the brush has got me thinking about whether this brush could eventually become too floppy for me. Compared to my Zenith of similar size but much higher density, this brush splays much easier, but I'm thinking the lack of strong backbone is also due to the lack of density in the brush. I've also been experimenting with how much I mash the brush into my face when I face lather and it seems to work quite well if I use a light touch and alternate between swirling and painting. 26mm seems to be about my sweet spot as well in terms of face coverage and amount of lather produced.

A lot of people are itching to use different scents but I'm finding that my itch is more on the hardware side. I love experimentation and comparisons and I can't wait to try this brush on different soaps to see if the brush lathers my other soaps effortlessly and also break in a Zenith brush for comparison. Once September gets closer I'll think a bit harder about whether I want to commit to Sample September or just take it more casually.

Aug 17, 2022 - AA: MA-RH-MM - Almond Leather - Day 17

• 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 (17)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Aftershave

Today's shave went much better. The buffing technique, especially on the third pass, has allowed me to get a much closer shave with almost no irritation. I'm going to keep working on using this technique to get around the tugging and biting I was experiencing before.

#GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Rating: 4/5

Aug. 17, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Raiser Pinsel Simfix SF1 Synthetic
• Razor: Van Der Hagen
• Blade: Wilkinson Sword (10)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive - Balm

#MammothMafia

17 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. 17, 2022

• Brush: Ever Ready Unnumbered
• Razor: Charcoal Goods Brass Level 2
• Blade: Personna Super Stainless (14)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Chatillion Lux - 1904

  #MammothMafia

August 17 2022

• Brush: Zenith B28
• Razor: GEM MMOC (Gen 1)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (20)
• 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

I think the soap needed more water today since it was not as slick as I would have preferred. MMOC plowed through but today wasn't the most effortless shave.

Today for u/Teufelskraft's #sidetracked challenge I present a great song from a great singer-songwriter, Amy Macdonald.

Amy Macdonald - Automatic

#MammothMafia

#GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 17, 2022 - Hump day shave-o-rama

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Omega Pro 48 Boar brush 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: GEM PTFE (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Blade starting to degrade. Or maybe my lather wasn't as slick today. The shave was fine, but this might be the start of shittier shaves. We will see tomorrow. Nothing to report, really: Brush feels great. Hygge smells great. Blade TBD. Hump day always means that the work week is more than halfway through. Good.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#MammothMafia

Aug 17, 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 (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

• Fragrance: House of Mammoth - Sonder EdP

Every day tags: #MammothMafia #GEMsofWisdom

Aug. 17, 2022 - Austere August Day 17

• Prep: Hot Shower, Stirling Soap Facial Soap
• Brush: Zenith 508A SE 28mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 1
• Blade: GEM PTFE (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Restore - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Restore - Balm

• Post Shave: Zingari - Unscented - Aftershave

• Fragrance: Tom Ford - Grey Vetiver

Day 17. We are beginning the back half of AA. Had a pretty good shave today. Blade is performing well and my brush is lovely. I am putting a pretty good dent in this soap, but I think the balm will last forever. So little goes so far with this stuff.

Mandatory Tagging:

#GEMsOfWisdom

#Rawhoggin

#MammothMafia

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 losing a few more hairs over the last couple shaves.

Things are just fine, mainly a matter of getting used to DFS in some spots.

Day 1 Prep Video

RawHoggin Unboxing Pics

MammothMafia

August 17, 2022

• Preshave: Hot water
• Razor: Blackland Era - Level 3 plate
• Blade: Feather (17)
• Brush: Chisel and Hound 26mm Fanchurian
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Kryptonite Aftershave Balm

Another good shave and pretty quick too. I don’t think quick is a good thing I think I’m just getting better with my technique. I keep wanting to replace the blade but so far so good. I feel like at this point I’m going to keep using it until I get irritation or a poor shave from it. It will certainly make the first shave on a new blade magical.

MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022

• Prep: Shower
• Brush: Semogue 1460 Boar Brush 21mm
• Razor: Razorock GameChanger .84
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (17)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Almond Leather - Balm

I was in a bit of a rush, so today's picture isn't great. Well, maybe I'll get something better tomorrow.

Tags:

#RawHoggin

#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 17 https://imgur.com/a/wpc9n2b

Aug. 17, 2022 - AA Day 17

• Prep: Hot Shower
• Brush: Zenith B34
• Razor: MMOC (Gen 2)
• Blade: GEM PTFE (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Sonder - Aftershave

This morning was another great start to the day as far as the shave went. I accidentally overslept by a half an hour, so the morning was a bit rushed, but still made it to work on time and it's been a good and productive morning.

The MMOC performed well today - nothing to complain about. I did nick a little bump on my neck that caused some bleeding, but otherwise a solid shave.

I got a lot of sandalwood off Sonder today - still with a hint of green, but as my splash rubbed in it was mostly a nice soft sandalwood coming through for me. I like the smell of sandalwood a lot, but, my only experience with a strictly sandalwood scent was from TOBS when I first started. I thought their cream would be good - it reviewed well on amazon - and ordered it. It was fine, but every time I shaved my face would be on fire afterwards. I couldn't even use Nivea Sensitive Balm post shave because it was too painful. I don't know if it was an allergy to strong sandalwood, if it was my terrible technique, or it was brush burn from the cheap boar brush I had no idea how to use or break in. My guess is it was the latter two and sandalwood is fine, but I've not been brave enough to order anything pure sandalwood scented since in the event I was wasting my money.

The Zenith 12 was again excellent. Unfortunately the logo seems to be rubbing off a bit, which is understandable since it's printed on, but kind of a bummer. I had to dip the brush in water a couple times to get the lather wet enough this morning from overloading a bit too much, but no big deal. Lathering on my face, though, was glorious.

While some cough u/ginopono cough loathe the process of face lathering, I can't imagine not including my face in the lathering process. How else will my follicles be massaged and what else can cause so many endorphins to release that I am positively euphoric by the time I'm all lathered up? Do I think a bowl appreciates being massaged? Not at all. It's a stupid porcelain bowl, it doesn't have feelings. Such a wasted opportunity to increase blood flow, shave quality, happiness hormones, and quality of lather. What kind of monster spends a whole month spitting in the face of happy shavers everywhere? Be better.

Sonder thought of the day: Nothing too profound today except to say that I have to remind myself a lot that connection in relationships, whether a marriage, friendship, working relationship, whatever - needs to be cultivated regularly, and when I'm feeling disconnected from someone, often they are, too. It's important to remember sonder and not treat people like they're emotionless drones who are oblivious to the nuances to your relationship - they know your dynamic, too, and - well - you (I) might not be the easiest person to have a relationship with all the time. So - it's important to do little things to tune that relationship up, whether it's asking an intentional question and listening, if it's a kind gesture, whatever. Their world is alive like mine and reaching out across the divide means something.

Have a great day.

#mammothmafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Aug. 17, 2022 - Austere August -Z

• Brush: Declaration 28mm B14 Jefferson Artisan’s Choice
• Razor: Blackland Era lvl 3 oc
• Blade: Personna med prep (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

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

Fantastic shave today. Happy Wednesday everyone!

#MammothMafia #Unchallange #Unscented

17 August 2022 - Austere August

• Prep: splash of warm water
• Brush: Zenith B33
• Razor: Blackland Blackbird Ti
• Blade: Gillette Silver Blue (17)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Mood Indigo - Balm

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

August 17th, 2022 - Austere Raw Mammoth GEMs Hoggin of Mafia Wisdom

• Prep: Warm water

• Brush: Zenith B36 “Copper Scrubby!”

• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2

• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Alive

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Splash

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Alive Balm

#MammothMafia

#RawHoggin

#GEMsOfWisdom

Before shave 17 and After

Well boss is back so I took a lunch break shave. It was between meetings, but not a lot of time to get much work done. Brush is getting easier to splay, and I’m noticing it is slowly adding more split ends. Hopefully in the next 14 shaves will get to where the majority of ends split and get a well cushioned little scrubber. It is getting easier to build lather on my face. I added about a blueberry sized scoop of lather to the bowl. I got enough to do a 3 pass+ shave (although stopped after 2 passes).

The GEM had no noticeable change in the last couple shaves. Today I got about as smooth a shave as I could from two passes and a bit of buffing. Very close to a bbs shave. I’d say best shave this month 4 1/2 out of 5.

The reason for the great shave, besides the GEM blade and razor, or even the Zenith B36, is squarely on the excellent foundation this Tusk base provides. I am getting great slickness from the lather, and residual slickness is good enough for a pass if I want. I still added more lather for the second pass, but for a little buffing it was great without adding more. The scent is still enjoyable. I will appreciate the variety, but I could use this set until it runs out if I didn’t have lots of good things to sample in September. I wonder if I should have gone with Sonder or Hygge, but I think I picked the right one for me. Great scent, some menthol in the splash gives a nice cool aftershave feel, and the balm makes a nice finishing touch.

Aug. 17, 2022 - August Austere Day 17

• 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

Kids first day of school today. It was kinda nice to see them up and about when I left for work. Always enjoy when I to get to say goodbye and wish them a good day. Shave was, of course, fantastic. I am still enjoying Sonders scent and it seems to still be agreeable to my face so that’s a plus. Hope everyone doing the crazy challenges are doing ok. #MAMMOTHMAFIA #UNCHALLENGE

2022-08-17 - Austere August - Raw Hoggin' Mammoth MMOC

Prep: Warm Shower
Brush: Semogue Torga - C5
Razor: GEM MMOC version 2
Blade: GEM Stainless (17)
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/VcyDhk4

17 shaves in the books. The blade is fine, l think daily shaving is the key. My daily stubble is less difficult than a few days growth would be. The brush is pretty awesome.

#GEMsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022 - Austere August Day 17

• 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 (17)

• 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

Thoughts for the day:
Imgur is pissing me off. Even in desktop view. Whatever.

So shave went fine. No complaints. I am looking forward to a new soap but I'm still enjoying it. Skin is doing great with just the magic splash. I could skip post most days but I really like aftershave so why not? I think my skin was a bit softer last year when I used the magic balm, but it's not by a huge margin and I prefer this.

Mandatory Taggage:

#GemsOfWisdom

#RawHoggin

#MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022

• Brush: Grey Chubby - Zenith B37
• Razor: Micromatic Open Comb
• Blade: GEM - PTFE Coated Stainless Steel (17)

• Lather: House of Mammoth - Z - Soap

• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Z - Aftershave

It's been what feels like a pretty unproductive day of ~~messing with database server clusters at work~~ searching for jobs and apartments at the public library. In a little bit I'm going to ~~go to a krav maga class I haven't been to in a while because I had a bit of a cough~~ attempt to bury my emotions in ice cream because face-lathering has destroyed my life.

To be clear, I don't have anything against anyone who happens to like face-lathering. After all, subjective experience is exactly that—subjective. By the same token, I won't get in anyone's way if they, say, prefer to eat ice cream with chopsticks. Meanwhile, I might find it to be the case that chopsticks provide a time-consuming, ineffective, and unsatisfying method of ice cream consumption, in contrast to a spoon. To each their own, I say!

#GEMsOfWisdom
#RawHoggin
#unscented
#MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022

• Brush: Frank Shaving 30mm Badger
• Razor: Henson AL-13 +++
• Blade: Gillette Nacet (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Soap
• Post Shave: House of Mammoth - Hygge - Aftershave

Over the hump! I think my other soaps are starting to look at me funny.

#MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022 - Day 17: another hotel shave

• Prep: Hot shower
• Brush: Zenith B33 Copper Boar Brush
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: Persona GEM PTFE Coated (17)

• 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

Well today the shave was just alright. I just do not know what changes to make it good or bad. The shave was mostly comfortable, but my neck got a couple rough spots.

The brush is getting better. It was probably the first shave that I did not feel any pokey scratchy discomfort from the brush. I am still not sold on the boat brush. I just do not really like how it holds water or how I have to add water to hydrate the lather.

Edit: correction.

Brush break-in album #rawhoggin #mammothmafia #GEMSofWisdom

Aug. 17, 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 #17

IStandByOsma

3 pass shave, additional Osma pass. I offended the zeitgeist yesterday by raising the concept that alum could be a hand to hold during your shave rather than a bouncer that nods as you leave the party. I challenged my concept once more this evening, and am now confident in my assessment that it helps me achieve more precise lines about my preserved facial hair (eg, “goatee”). This is as good of a shave as I have ever had.

In other news, I can’t wait to skip a work meeting to interview with another job tomorrow. That’s a definite first.

Tags and challenges: #MammothMafia & HeadlessHorsemen

Aug. 17, 2022 - AA 17

• Prep: Cold Water Splash
• Brush: Semogue 1305 Pure Bristle 22mm
• Razor: GEM MMOC Gen 2
• Blade: GEM PTFE (23)

• 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 in title.

Only “groundbreaking” thing about my shave today was that my lather was noticeably under hydrated ok my first pass. User error for sure, just being a bit lazy and rushing. #GEMsOfWisdom #RawHoggin #MammothMafia

Aug. 17, 2022 - SOTD AA Sonder 17

• Prep: Splash of cold water
• Brush: SummerBreak 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

Late post as we left early yesterday morning for disneyland with the nephews. Had a long and tiring day but it was a goodie #MammothMafia