The ins and out of Pomade
As promised: Our breakdown on one of the biggest categories of styling products in short hair grooming!
Pomade can be broken up into 2 major categories: Grease and Water Soluble, one of those is far more prevalent than the other in modern day barbershops and we’ll discuss each in detail. why you see more water soluble and the benefits and drawbacks to each.
WATER SOLUBLE:
Most likely what you walk by in aisles at the store or what you see on a shelf at your local barbershop. These pomades are incredibly common and in demand because they are far easier to work with than their grease pomade predecessors, they tend to dry down and stay in place all day so you don’t really have to worry about your hair moving around on you. They easily rinse out at the end of the day with a little water and shampoo and they come in a wide variety of holds (light hold to heavy hold) and finishes (matte to high shine). Now time for their drawbacks: although it is a benefit that they dry down, have minimal product transfer and don’t move very much, the downside is that if you put on a hat or helmet throughout the day you’ll likely have a harder time restyling your hair afterwards. These pomades often don’t hold up in humid environments and sweaty situations as they are broken down by water. Water soluble pomades can dry out quickly if you aren’t careful with resealing your tin everytime, furthermore throughout the use of the tin you will likely find the product get tackier towards the end of its life as the repeated air exposure with every use will dry it out and there isn’t much you can do about it.
GREASE POMADE:
A very traditional styling tool. Grease, or oil based, pomades are the OG styler for men. First introduced in the late 1800’s. These pomades have many attributes that you won’t get with a water soluble pomade. First and foremost is the ability to restyle your hair. These pomades don’t dry down like a water based pomade so if you do wear a helmet or hat throughout the day you'll be able to comb your hair back into place a lot easier, on top of that they hold up a lot better in situations of humidity and sweat. You can also be the champion of second day hair with products like these. The drawbacks? While the easy restyling is a benefit the accompanying factor is the likelihood of product transfer to helmet and hat, now all products are not designed the same so this doesn’t apply to every brand but it is something to keep in mind. They do not, and quite frankly are not designed to, rinse out like water soluble pomades, you often need a heavy duty shampoo which is not recommended for daily use as it can be very drying to the scalp. This is something many modern day pomade users aren’t familiar with so the demand for grease pomade has definitely plummeted over the last 10 years. You also will not be finding any matte options in this category, it’s straight shine through and through as it is impossible to formulate oil into a matte composition.
Hope this general guide was helpful, Happy Saturday!