Styling Products: What IS the difference between pomade and gel?

We’ve heard this question time and time again in the barbershop, or heard enough people calling any old short hair styling products ‘gel’ enough times that we figure there’s enough misconception for its own blog post! In the world of styling products there are hundreds of options. For the sake of not wanting your head to explode, we’ll stick to the most likely products you’ll encounter.

POMADE:

Pomade is your middle ground between a wax and a gel, typically coming in a tin or screw top container. Pomade in itself can have many variations from matte to shiny, low hold to high hold, there’s even grease pomades vs. water soluble pomades. Honestly the variety is so big we feel pomade should get its own post next week.

TEXTURE DUST:

Texture dusts are the newest players in the game and emerged in the barber world circa 2016, they almost immediately took off in popularity with barbers as it was an option we had never seen before. Typically in a shaker or puffer container, very lightweight and moveable throughout the day unlike a lot of gels or pomades, and fantastic for clients with thinning hair. The only bad thing? This is the only product on this list that has to be put in dry hair, which can be a deal breaker for some.

TEXTURE SPRAY:

A lot of these are liquid in consistency and come in a spray bottle. Mainly used in wet hair and then blow dried into whatever desired style the individual is looking for. These products are geared towards a more movable, soft but gritted feel in the hair. A lot of texture sprays use sea salt as a way to put tack into the hair.

GEL:

Typically in a tube or bottle this product is normally geared towards high hold, high shine and dries leaving the hair feeling hard. Although gel still has its place in modern styling many folks prefer other styling products like pomade, sea salt sprays and texture powders.