THE COMPANY
Pomps Not Dead (PND) is a noted brand in the pomade community, on the same level as Lockhart’s, Big slick, O’Douds, Flagship and Shear revival.
The company was founded by Edwin Carson out of Houston, Texas and contains all hand brewed grooming products. His pomades are infamous for their classy and classic labels (handmade by his wife), their great scents and their slickness.
Edwin also made an unorthodox water based with a medium hold. There are 2 batches available which are both a great addition to this list!
Edwin offers too: hair tonic, laces, guitar picks, caps, … .
More info:
POMADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The pomade I’m going to highlight will be: ‘Hey you, firmage’, a petro based firm hold. Lots of people think petrolatum is an oil but it is a wax in fact. I will categorize it under oil based for the convenience. Its labeling is a creative 3D pomp face, you’ll need 3D glasses (not every carrier includes them). There’s also a coffee scented firmage for coffee lovers/addicts among us.
Firmage comes in a 4 oz (113 g) tin, great design. The pomade’s color is yes: purple. This doesn’t affect the color of your hair nor stains your pillow. The purple matches with the grape scent.
INGREDIENTS
Petrolatum, beeswax, microwax, castor oil, coconut oil, scent.
SCENT
Grape: subtle sweetness in the tin and in the hair. Not overbearing, well-balanced whiffs the entire day. Scent isn’t very lingering. Glad because I don’t dig intense lingering smells all day long.
PND offers a firmage in coffee scent (from pompage) which is delicious!
STYLING PROCESS
My hair: I’ve medium thick, wavy hair. I wear a side part with a contour.
My styling equipment: at the moment, I’m using a brush with wild boar hair, a Denman brush plus a wide tooth comb (detangler). During styling, I use brushes most.
Application: 3 normal sized scoops in a damp mane to obtain what I wanted.
Scooping: top layer is a bit sticky, you can push your finger in. This predicts it’s gonna be a not so difficult pomade to scoop. And yes, scooping is a piece of cake bearing in mind this pomade is a strong/firm hold.
Breakdown: nice and smooth, with little pressure. You become an oily, waxy consistency.
Working in: firmage goes in the hair super easy with no resistance. Spreading evenly: easy too.
Combing back: tug and pull = none.
Control: gives a strong, steady, not sticky grip. Don’t need much product: it grips, keeps hair together well. Combing through (Denman brush) vs Cowlicks, sides, waves managed. No tendency to split in the front or at the rear. A clean, slick shape, no irritating flyaways or strays, nice comb lines were the end results. Great hair height. Fast styling.
SHINE
Shine description: light shine. For me around a medium. Sheen didn’t fade.
HOLD
Heavy hold. Right after I styled, my hair kept shape.
ENDURANCE
Cowlicks, sides held down nicely, no splits. Wind, rain, a bit of cycling, a walk, some heat didn’t mess up anything. At the end of the day: very few flyaways, very few strays. No mentionable sagging nor waving. Feels not heavy in the hair (medium weight), but tended to weigh my hair down (maybe I used too much). Bit of a greasy feel but not unclean. Overall: nice endurance but not the best for me.
RESTYLING
No problem at all. Being a petro based, restyling is great without any loss of hold. Waves did not come through. No tension as I combed through (Denman brush).
BUILD UP
Build up is a bit on the greasy side. This keeps the hair together and slick. Days after: 1, 2 small licks will do it.
WASH OUT
Around 3 washes. After the rinse, hair felt soft.
SIMILAR POMADE(S)
- Lockhart’s heavy.
- Pomps not dead, lardage.
Interested in oil based pomades only? You can join our ‘Oil Based Pomade Enthusiasts’ Facebook group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/OilBasedPomadeEnthusiasts/
POMADE IN WORDS 