THE COMPANY
I will be diving into another American grooming company: Anchors aweigh hair co, established in 2013, by barber Benjamin Miller (Tennessee). Benjamin fabricates handmade products for the hair, beard and skin. Being a barber himself, gives him the opportunity to create grooming products that are adapted to the needs of his costumers. Benjamin is in the handcrafted grooming game for 7 years now which is a great achievement! His products are on the pricier side and of quality! He is also known to have brewed the first unorthodox water based pomade: the Teddy boy original aka shape makers. Most people think O’Douds was the first but that tribute goes to Anchors.
Wanna know more: https://anchorshairco.com/
POMADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Teddy boy slick is my pomade of choice today. The slick is a medium hold oil based, without mineral oils and a nearly all natural approach. The package is a green, plastic jar. It has a white screw top lid with the co’s designation. The jar exists of stickers with light-green and white fonts that are clean and playful. At the front you read its designation, the content (4.5 oz/127 g). The smaller one is 2.5 oz/71 g. Information on there: oil based, classic pomade, the hold and sheen levels plus a slogan, the ingredients, that it is a handcrafted product, paraben free, petroleum free, alcohol free, veteran owned & operated, a bar code and the co’s coordinates. Pomade has a pale yellow tint.
Anchors, Teddy boy slick pomade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhsfPCCEkBs
INGREDIENTS
Beeswax, emulsifying wax NF, ceteareth-30, castor oil, olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable glycerin, soy lecithin, peppermint oil, tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, camphor oil, vitamin E oil.
Nearly all natural with a lot of healthy nurturing content! The old batch consisted of petrolatum and micro(crystalline) wax.
A few ingredients explained:
- Emulsifying wax NF or E-wax NF: is a complete vegetable-derived wax used to create oil in water emulsions.
- Ceteareth-30: is an emulsifier to make oil in water emulsions.
- Soy lecithin: is an emulsifier to make oil in water emulsions.
Emulsifiers are used in water based pomades to bind the water with the oils, waxes and butters. What’s the use of the emulsifiers here? They facilitate the pomade’s washout.
SCENT
The scent is a mix of peppermint, tea tree, eucalyptus and camphor essential oils. On opening it, you experience a breeze of tea tree. Tea tree can be tart but in here, it is really not that potent. I like the scent but it could have been slightly stronger for me.
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: damp hair, 3 licks on top of freshly washed hair.
Scooping: scoops out easy.
Breakdown: thick, has a tad of a waxy consistency. The pomade becomes very creamy, a nearly lotion-alike substance, greasy, non-sticky. The product gets white in the hands and in the hair but disappears after distributing and combing through. I took big licks, therefore this whiteness. Tried out smaller licks and the whiteness vanished.
Working in: super easy to disperse. No tug and pull.
Combing back: nearly no resistance. Combing the hair to the side was hassle-free again.
Control: lays down the hair easy and keeps it okay in place. You need to recomb. My cowlicks went down. My front’s height was average and a little wavy from the beginning while offering a clean, neat look. The sides were puffy, not that facile to manage. Some straying going on. I had to recomb several times. Slick pomade.
SHINE
Labeled as high shine. Yes, has high shine. Stays like that.
HOLD
On the label: heavy hold. To me, the slick gives a solid light hold.
ENDURANCE
This review was written during the corona crisis: my hair was longer, this counts. Teddy boy slick is a solid light hold. Endurance wise it is alright when doing no heavy duty. I was not very active, did a few walks in temperatures of 70°F (21°C), in the sun, no wind. My hair sagged, got loose strays and more waves came through. It still looked alright to go out. The hold weakened due to the oils dissolving in the mane. Teddy boy slick is an ideal winter pomade or to be used as a topper. For shorter, straight, fine hair, the slick will do a good job as a standalone. I have medium-thick wavy hair and a user of mediums, firms and non-wavy heavies.
RESTYLING
Had to restyle. My waves became more prominent.
BUILD UP
Don’t wash my hair on a daily base. Build up for me: water, tonic and 2 scoops to revive everything. The build up was very manageable, adding slightly more hold.
WASH OUT
The ease of wash-ability is different for everybody. The teddy boy slick does not give any issues in that regard.
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 