THE COMPANY
Pomps Not Dead (PND) is a well-known brand in the pomade communities and 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. These pomades are infamous for their classy and classic labels, their great scents and slickness.
Edwin offers other stuff such as hair tonic, laces, guitar picks, caps, … .
More info:
POMADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The one I’m going to highlight will be: firm gauge or close quarters combing (CQC), a firm petrolatum based pomade. This comes in a 4 oz (113 g) silver round tin with a bullet displayed on there. Not a fan of that lay-out, except for the green and black texts at the sides: very classic + classy. CQC has this caramel colored outlook, similar to the original (OG) and pompage pomades.
INGREDIENTS
Petrolatum, beeswax, microcrystalline wax, castor oil, jojoba oil, scent.
SCENT
Hoppes 9 – gun cleaner scent, matches the label. Smells kind of sweet but it’s more complex than that, it’s a real novelty scent. Somebody described it as: entering a garage with the typical air of oils, petroleum and such. When I was working it through the hair, that was exactly what I experienced. Not my favorite smell in the PND range but okay. In the jar: not very strong, not overpowering. In the hair: whiffs from time to time but not abrasive or overwhelming.
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 boar hair brush, a Denman plus a detangler (Tangle teezer). During styling, I use brushes most.
Application: into damp hair to control my waves and to facilitate overall styling. 3 average sized licks did the job for me.
Scooping out: a slight tension to descry (top layer), just a little push and the pomade comes out with the shape of a caterpillar. Scooping deeper: a lot softer texture.
Breakdown: a few good rubs to become a waxy, bit greasy and bit sticky texture.
Working in: gives a slight resistance.
Slicking back: just a little tension, okay for a firm. I used my tangle teezer and Denman brush for they contribute to less tug and pull and less breakage of the hair. My tangle teezer does not work (well) with waxier pomades (it does not disperse the pomade well + combs superficially, hair clumps together) but with the CQC I had no such occurrence. Overall styling process: good, no hassle. You’ll notice this is a firm but it has not the properties being a difficult to style with. It has the right amount of stickiness to keep everything together and workable. In that regard it’s similar to the accessible Big slick firm. Further experiences: slick stuff, induces no strays (great slickness-wax ratio as we are used from PND), tamed my cowlicks great and my waves were managed. Sides were held down properly.
SHINE
PND describes the shine as a natural shine. On my hair: around a medium and all day long present. For a firm this pomade offers some great sheen! Sun shining on it: such a fantastic, healthy sheen.
HOLD
Firm hold according to the product’s strength description. To me: a firm indeed or a strong if you want, right between a medium and a heavy. It’s a tad less firm than the daily grind.
ENDURANCE
CQC has a really great endurance under normal circumstances during my, in particular mental work, as a teacher. Endures some normal Belgian winter weather as well: temperatures around 50° F (10° C), little fog, some humidity, a tiny bit of sun, a bicycle trip and a solid walk. End of the day: still some great shape, a few small flyaways, nearly no sag and no real splits. My cowlicks stayed in place. In short: really impressed!
RESTYLING
CQC is an oil based so you can restyle all day long. Did not need to do that but when testing I noticed a tad of tension while combing. Hair kept nice shape without more waves showing up, kept a nice hold.
BUILD UP
Waxy but very workable. Styled on wet hair. 2 average scoops every time, the next days.
WASH OUT
3-4 washes, normal for a firm petro. Of course, it all depends on the quantity that was in and the type of hair you have. Hair feels soft after you’ve rinsed it out.
SIMILAR POMADE(S)
Pomps not dead, fuel for the hare game.
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 