I know there are quite a few threads about various hair products. Believe me. I've probably read them all trying to find what I need. I thought I'd share my experiences with various items. For the record, I am trying to achieve a 50s business cut, slick look. Not necesarily shiny, but not dry either. I have very dirty blonde hair, quickly going gray in places. I don't do a pompadour and a lot of the reviews I've read about various pomades are geared towards that style, so I have to read between the lines in a lot of pomade reviews. I also live in Oklahoma and am frequently outdoors, so the idea of something dripping down my forehead in 100 degree + temps is something I take into account as well. That all being said, here is what I've tried so far:
Vitalis: This was my first purchase of "old school" product, mainly because it was namechecked in one of my favorite Vic Chesnutt songs ('Parade'). I really had read no reviews or discovered this forum when I purchased it. It was ok. I probably didn't use enough. The smell is tolerable, kind of like a barber shop. It allowed me to comb my hair into place and get it where I wanted it. After several hours, though, it just left me looking (and feeling) like I hadn't washed my hair in a few days. Still combable at that point and still somewhat of a hold, but not exactly what I was looking for.
Murray's: Wow. This is some strong stuff. Coming from deep south Georgia, it smells like a black lady. That was my only point of reference. The first time I put it in my hair, I was kind of surprised at the results. It allowed me to mold my hair just how I wanted but kind of clumped some hair up in places - most likely due to my inexperience - and after a few hours it just felt like it was weighing down on me and like I was wearing a helmet. A step up and in a different direction from the Vitalis, but still not exactly what I was looking for.
It was at this point that I discovered this forum and was able to better plan my next purchase. I was still restricted to local drugstores/beauty supply places because I vowed not to order online until I had a better idea of what did and didn't work of easily obtainable items.
Groom & Clean: This was my favorite of everything I've tried until I found an item I will be reviewing in a few minutes. It went in smoothly, gave me ALMOST the amount of hold I was looking for, and washed out easily with just water. Another plus was that it completely rid my hair of any remaining Murray's. They should seriously market this stuff as pomade removal. It works wonders. The smell was nice and tolerable. By the end of a long day, though, it looked a little flat and oily. It was easy to comb through to bring it back to life a bit, but it never looked as good as it did in the morning when it was freshly in there.
Jeris w/o oil: This is basically a nice smelling water. Doesn't hold at all and, I've learned, isn't really its intent. I will say this about it: when it dries after an hour or two, my hair was the softest and most conditioned it had ever felt! Not what I was after, though.
Clubman Gel (regular version): This was nice. I've never been a gel user so I was kind of surprised by the "scrunch" factor. A couple of hours after I put it in, it was full on crunchiness. I went and combed through it, though, and every bit of crunch was gone, yet the hold and the styling remained in place. It was the dry version of the slick look I'm after. A great product, very surprising in it's ability to hold even when hair is completely dry, but still not what I was after.
Lucky Tiger 3-purpose : Basically a better smelling, less oily Vitalis. Kind of like a cross between Vitalis and Jeris. I put this in my son's hair each morning and comb it on his way out to kindergarten. He likes it because it has a tiger on it.
It was at this time that I really screwed up one evening in my second attempt at using Murray's. I didn't warm it up enough in my hands and it just went on like glue and really made a mess of my hair. After combing through it and pulling out a lot of hair in the process, I remembered how well the Groom & Clean worked, so I loaded up my hair with that, on top of the Murray's. I have to say, with one exception the result was EXACTLY what I had been looking for. The G&C cut the glue like qualities of the Murray's and made my hair the exact texture, shine, and hold I had been looking for. The one exception was that it left it feeling a bit "gummy". The next morning, though, even though people say all the time how difficult Murray's is to get out of your hair, it came out with water only. The magical powers of Groom & Clean CANNOT be understated.
I had been reading a lot about pomades, realizing this is probably what I was after, and that I had just started off with the wrong kind. I got online and read a lot of reviews and ended up ordering a can of High Life Light and Sweet Georgia Brown purple. They haven't arrived yet but I am looking forward to trying them out. I did bite the bullet, though, and went and spent $17 at Walgreens on American Crew pomade, one that seems to get consistently good reviews:
American Crew Pomade: This. This is what I've been looking for. It gave me the same texture/shine/hold as my accidental mixture of Murray's/G&C, yet didn't feel gummy. It kind of leaves my hair feeling like I've just barely towel dried it. At least if I comb through it after an hour or so. At about the hour mark, it feels a bit like gel, kinda crunchy, but a quick comb through removes that quality and I'm left with exactly what I was looking for. Not "wet" slick, not dry, not oily appearing - just perfection. The price, though, is not something I'm happy with. If anyone has used the generic Sally version (American Classic) and can compare them, it would be much appreciated.
That's about it. I thought I'd try and give my experiences with some of these because, like I said, most pomade reviews I come across are more geared towards rockabilly/pomps and it's not what I'm after. If anyone out there has experience with pomades in a non-pomp/rockabilly manner, I'd love to read your reviews.
I have also been buying a lot of classic aftershaves. I really like Clubman, Master Bay Rum, Pinaud Lime Sec, and Aqua Velva. These are the only ones I've bought so far but like all of them. Also, threw some Clubman talc in a sock for my balls! A great tip I picked up here.
Thanks and I look forward to contributing more on this forum once I take the plunge into wet shaving. I'm actually considering skipping safety razors and going straight to a straight. I figure guys a hundred years ago didn't learn to shave with a safety first so how bad could it be? I look forward to figuring out how bad it's gonna be
-Brad
Vitalis: This was my first purchase of "old school" product, mainly because it was namechecked in one of my favorite Vic Chesnutt songs ('Parade'). I really had read no reviews or discovered this forum when I purchased it. It was ok. I probably didn't use enough. The smell is tolerable, kind of like a barber shop. It allowed me to comb my hair into place and get it where I wanted it. After several hours, though, it just left me looking (and feeling) like I hadn't washed my hair in a few days. Still combable at that point and still somewhat of a hold, but not exactly what I was looking for.
Murray's: Wow. This is some strong stuff. Coming from deep south Georgia, it smells like a black lady. That was my only point of reference. The first time I put it in my hair, I was kind of surprised at the results. It allowed me to mold my hair just how I wanted but kind of clumped some hair up in places - most likely due to my inexperience - and after a few hours it just felt like it was weighing down on me and like I was wearing a helmet. A step up and in a different direction from the Vitalis, but still not exactly what I was looking for.
It was at this point that I discovered this forum and was able to better plan my next purchase. I was still restricted to local drugstores/beauty supply places because I vowed not to order online until I had a better idea of what did and didn't work of easily obtainable items.
Groom & Clean: This was my favorite of everything I've tried until I found an item I will be reviewing in a few minutes. It went in smoothly, gave me ALMOST the amount of hold I was looking for, and washed out easily with just water. Another plus was that it completely rid my hair of any remaining Murray's. They should seriously market this stuff as pomade removal. It works wonders. The smell was nice and tolerable. By the end of a long day, though, it looked a little flat and oily. It was easy to comb through to bring it back to life a bit, but it never looked as good as it did in the morning when it was freshly in there.
Jeris w/o oil: This is basically a nice smelling water. Doesn't hold at all and, I've learned, isn't really its intent. I will say this about it: when it dries after an hour or two, my hair was the softest and most conditioned it had ever felt! Not what I was after, though.
Clubman Gel (regular version): This was nice. I've never been a gel user so I was kind of surprised by the "scrunch" factor. A couple of hours after I put it in, it was full on crunchiness. I went and combed through it, though, and every bit of crunch was gone, yet the hold and the styling remained in place. It was the dry version of the slick look I'm after. A great product, very surprising in it's ability to hold even when hair is completely dry, but still not what I was after.
Lucky Tiger 3-purpose : Basically a better smelling, less oily Vitalis. Kind of like a cross between Vitalis and Jeris. I put this in my son's hair each morning and comb it on his way out to kindergarten. He likes it because it has a tiger on it.
It was at this time that I really screwed up one evening in my second attempt at using Murray's. I didn't warm it up enough in my hands and it just went on like glue and really made a mess of my hair. After combing through it and pulling out a lot of hair in the process, I remembered how well the Groom & Clean worked, so I loaded up my hair with that, on top of the Murray's. I have to say, with one exception the result was EXACTLY what I had been looking for. The G&C cut the glue like qualities of the Murray's and made my hair the exact texture, shine, and hold I had been looking for. The one exception was that it left it feeling a bit "gummy". The next morning, though, even though people say all the time how difficult Murray's is to get out of your hair, it came out with water only. The magical powers of Groom & Clean CANNOT be understated.
I had been reading a lot about pomades, realizing this is probably what I was after, and that I had just started off with the wrong kind. I got online and read a lot of reviews and ended up ordering a can of High Life Light and Sweet Georgia Brown purple. They haven't arrived yet but I am looking forward to trying them out. I did bite the bullet, though, and went and spent $17 at Walgreens on American Crew pomade, one that seems to get consistently good reviews:
American Crew Pomade: This. This is what I've been looking for. It gave me the same texture/shine/hold as my accidental mixture of Murray's/G&C, yet didn't feel gummy. It kind of leaves my hair feeling like I've just barely towel dried it. At least if I comb through it after an hour or so. At about the hour mark, it feels a bit like gel, kinda crunchy, but a quick comb through removes that quality and I'm left with exactly what I was looking for. Not "wet" slick, not dry, not oily appearing - just perfection. The price, though, is not something I'm happy with. If anyone has used the generic Sally version (American Classic) and can compare them, it would be much appreciated.
That's about it. I thought I'd try and give my experiences with some of these because, like I said, most pomade reviews I come across are more geared towards rockabilly/pomps and it's not what I'm after. If anyone out there has experience with pomades in a non-pomp/rockabilly manner, I'd love to read your reviews.
I have also been buying a lot of classic aftershaves. I really like Clubman, Master Bay Rum, Pinaud Lime Sec, and Aqua Velva. These are the only ones I've bought so far but like all of them. Also, threw some Clubman talc in a sock for my balls! A great tip I picked up here.
Thanks and I look forward to contributing more on this forum once I take the plunge into wet shaving. I'm actually considering skipping safety razors and going straight to a straight. I figure guys a hundred years ago didn't learn to shave with a safety first so how bad could it be? I look forward to figuring out how bad it's gonna be
-Brad
