THE COMPANY
The mail room barber co from South Carolina is owned by brewer and master barber Robert Watkins. Robert offers handmade, ethically sourced products of high quality. The reviewed pomade is his natural pomade ‘XX’ which stands for medium hold. He created an ‘XXX’ (heavy hold) and ‘X’ (light hold) as well. The natural pomades are hydrogenated castor oil based (castor wax) pomades. This series nourish and replenish hair and scalp. People in search for vegan products are in the right place here. Robert claims the XX washes out without a fight and yes they do! Latter can be very interesting for the unorthodox water based lover who wants to explore the oil based world.
Robert is best known for his medium oil based: ‘Nolde forest’ pomade, made in collaboration with photographer Cody Calhoun. Nolde forest is a permanent run inspired by a Pennsylvanian forest named ‘Nolde’ and infamous for its unique wood scent.
Last but not least, the classic pomade which is wax based (beeswax) and has white petrolatum & lanolin as classic ingredients in it. Robert recently removed the petrolatum and swapped it for castor jelly (castor wax and castor oil).
Very important to mention: he does all the work, even his website: looks great too!
Bonus: The mail room barber, the story – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZoSNEVStiY
More info: https://www.themailroombarberco.com/
POMADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The XX comes in an amber glass jar, content of 3.5 oz (100 g). A transparent sticker with directions and ingredients is wrapped around which gives it a clean and minimalist design! Pomade itself has a light yellow color.
IINGREDIENTS
Hydrogenated castor oil, candelilla wax, hydrogenated soybean oil, vegetable based emulsifying wax, mango butter, castor oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, essential oils.
- Hydrogenated castor oil: or castor wax.
- Hydrogenated soybean oil: or soy wax.
SCENT
Pipe tobacco, described as: ‘Bold and aromatic like a sweet vanilla cavendish with hints of clove.’ Reminds me strongly of the iron society oil based pomades. Manly, subtle, balanced and not overwhelming in the jar or in the hair. Got breezes now and then. Dig it a lot!
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: slightly damp mop, 3 normal sized licks.
Scooping out: easy, one push there it is.
Breakdown: easy, a tad waxy and sticky. No dry, no overly oily sensation. This process is identical to the Nolde forest from their line.
Working in: slight resistance.
Combing through: light tension. Changing the hair’s direction and parting: some tension. Nevertheless an issue. Dispersing evenly: piece of cake.
Control: provides some good control to lay down every hair and keep it there. Sides were slicked down well. Lifting my front went great and it tamed my waves sufficient and clean, neat as with Nolde. My cowlick stayed down after a few brush strokes. No flyaways due to its slick and balanced stickiness. Hairdo: alright in terms of looking clean and neat, average height in the front. In all its aspects, it acts around the same as the Nolde forest. This is a slick pomade, very petro alike.
SHINE
Medium. No fading when the day goes by.
HOLD
Medium (original hold) according to the brewer. More of medium-firm for me. About the same as the Nolde forest.
ENDURANCE
It manages to keep the hair clean and neat all day. Didn’t have to struggle with many loose hairs. Minor sag. It tamed my cowlicks. Waves came through a tad more but my hair still looked neat. It endured temperatures around 50)° F (10° C), some humidity, no heavy activity.
RESTYLING
Easy, no tug. Keeps some gold hold + clean hair shape.
BUILD UP
Very manageable. I don’t wash my hair, just build up on damp hair with some tonic in it.
WASH OUT
1 or 2 shampoos depending on your hair type and products, present build up. Rinses really easy for an oil based and an ideal option for a one-day use.
SIMILAR POMADE(S)
- The mail room barber, Nolde forest.
- The beer can professor.
- O’Douds medium.
- O’Douds heavy.
- The iron society medium.
- The iron society firm.
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 