THE COMPANY
Labcosm was a Greece company that had to close its doors due to the Greece financial crisis.
It is now in hands of OnceUponAFavorGR5 owned by Mary Boppin’s out of Thessaloniki, Greece. They operate an Etsy shop with handmade gifts for all your loved ones.
You find 3 handmade pomades: a soft hold (grease lighting), medium hold (biker) and a heavy hold (strong direct).
POMADE IN THE SPOTLIGH
Pomade of today’s review will be the medium hold: the biker pomade. This comes in a 80 gram tin (2.8 oz). What do you pay for such a small tin? € 13.30 ($ 14.90). This is no cheap product. Whether this is worth the money, you’ll read later. The tin is closed off with a screw top lid to protect against humidity and filth. The design: catches the eye, it is great. What a nice classic appearance. On the front, you’ll see a sticker in the style of the 30s-50s with a biker, the brand and pomade’s name plus some slogans. The flip side contains a small sticker with the ingredients and an expiration date.
The biker pomade has a dark yellow tint.
INGREDIENTS
Vaseline, beeswax, lanolin, paraffin oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, fragrance, BHT.
- This is the list you’ll find on their Etsy store. The list on the tin shows the ingredients in an other order and there are more others as well. The order above seems to be the most realistic to get the medium strength out of it.
- BHT: or butylhydroxytolueen is an organic compound derived from phenol and widely used as an antioxidant. This prolongs the pomade’s shelf life.
SCENT
They call it: ‘a masculine fragrance’. What does this mean for me? I get kind of a floral scent, and yes masculine. It carries out a classic aroma that’s balanced in the tin and the hair. Don’t dig it much but it’s okay. The fragrance notes disappear after a while.
STYLING PROCESS
My hair type: medium thick, wavy, somewhat unruly hair, medium length. I wear a contour.
My styling equipment: Denman brush D3, Bixby comb and a boar brush.
Application: 3 decent licks in fresh, damp hair. Damp: manages the waves.
Scooping out: few pressure and there it is, smooth and gentle.
Scooping: a few rubs and there it is.
Breakdown: experience a rather thick, sticky creaminess which is not overly waxy. Feels a bit greasy.
Working in: goes in easily with a bit of resistance, the typical medium hold procedure.
Combing back: some resistance present, predicting enough hold. Switching the mop’s direction to the side takes place easy: mild tug. Distributes facile throughout the mane.
Control: once it’s in, you’ll notice a good amount of control. The hair obeys immediately without a waxy grip giving direction and letting the hair’s jump up again and again. The lanolin in there helps to offer that slight stickiness that’s in balance with the present wax and oils. Result: my cowlicks stayed down, the front was straightened out with good height, no strays. The sides were slicked back well. Styling went well plus quick, slick and smooth.
SHINE
No sheen description from the co. To me: a bit less than medium. Looking at the ingredients, I expected more sheen. Nice luster in sunlight.
HOLD
Says: a medium. For me: a straight medium. It offers good hold to keep the mane in place, even having wavy hair.
ENDURANCE
Has good endurance. My activity: no heavy physical activity. Temperatures: around 7° C (45° F) and rain, some wind. During summer time, it will lack endurance. Therefore, they brewed the strong hold. Day end: my hair looked nearly the same. Just recombed my back and sides due to the rain and wind. It had not sagged. On day 2, I was sweating and my hair began to split (cowlick area). I also walked in the rain but that didn’t destroy my shape.
RESTYLING
That’s what oil based is made for! No problem to do that. Some slight waviness after restyling.
BUILD UP
Don’t shampoo my hair daily. I build up by adding water, tonic and 2 scoops of pomade. Manageable build up.
WASH OUT
The washing out process is different for everybody. A few washes will rinse all out.
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 