THE COMPANY
I came across Persona grooming while looking around on Etsy. What immediately caught my attention was their beautiful 50’s designed pomade tin!
Persona grooming is an American brand from North Dakota. Brewer Aaron Mathison fabricated his greaser oil based by hand.
More info: https://www.etsy.com/listing/770718686/the-greaser?ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1
POMADE IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Persona grooming’s: the greaser pomade which is a reference to the 50’s greaser culture. Aaron explains what he pursues with his oil based pomade: ‘great for short, long and especially curly hair. The product is designed to moisturize your hair while creating a barrier from things that would normally wreak havoc on your hair such as humidity and light rain.’
The greaser pomade comes in a transparent, solid plastic tin. Labels are stickers in 50’s style: great labeling, I dig this a lot! Lid is a twist lid with following information: the brand’s name, a 50’s car, medium shine, high hold, hair pomade, 3.2 oz (85 g). Tin: brand’s name, explanation of the pomade, ingredients, directions, caution, brand’s data. Pomade itself is yellow.
INGREDIENTS
Petrolatum, beeswax, lanolin, jojoba oil, castor oil, fragrance.
I’m always happy when I see jojoba oil in a formula. Jojoba oil is a very versatile oil, similar to the own skin sebum. Therefore, a very good choice.
SCENT
Sort of a 50’s barbershop. Smells different in the tin and in the hair. In the tin: pretty strong, sweet, sort of a vanilla at first (I thought of vanilla tobacco) and deeper notes of talc. Smells alright for sure. In the hair: subtle breezes, I smell the talc mostly: not a fan of but, it’s all about personal preference plus a matching 50’s old fashioned (greaser) scent.
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 amounts in damp hair. Damp hair straightens my waves + makes styling much easier.
Scooping: top layer feels hard. One solid push, the pomade comes out caterpillar-alike/ waxy.
Breakdown: effortless. At first, tending to clump but when rubbing further it got a creamy, oily sensation (somewhat greasy) without beads. There’s no stickiness and the amount of wax is not dominant.
Working in: easy, nearly no resistance going on. Easy to spread throughout the mop.
Combing back: nearly nothing as regards tension. Slicking the hair to the side went facile.
Control: laid down my hair very easy. My cowlick area was tamed easily because of the non-waxy texture. The more wax a pomade contains, the more my hair wants to fight back (hairs sticking up). My sides: did not get them that tight but they looked clean. No strays, flyaways due to he oiliness of the pomade. Got some medium height out of it. Had to recomb my front several times for my waves came through slightly. This is typical for an oily, not that waxy of a pomade vs my bangs. But the greaser tamed them afterwards. Slick and smooth pomade, comfortable all the way! Styling went quick. User-friendly product.
SHINE
Described to have a medium shine. Yes, it has a solid medium shine. The sheen got more intense once the hair had settled and the oils do their moisturizing task.
HOLD
High hold. ‘High’ hold is open to interpretation. Is it a firm or maybe a heavy? Once it hit my mop, I got the impression it being a medium tending to the lighter side (a lighter medium but not a light medium). Thus, the hold is not high for me but it suffices to style my hair. I would prefer calling this a high control pomade instead.
ENDURANCE
Temperatures around 24° C (75° F): sunny, hot, sweaty weather. My front became slightly more wavy. The brewer talks about the advantages this offers for curly hair. Yes, to accentuate curls + to combat dingy, frizzy hair. My hair remained clean and neat. It gives that shiny brylcreem look but with enough hold.
RESTYLING
Restyling is key when using an oil based. Restyles well. I feared my waves would show through more but that was okay.
BUILD UP
Don’t wash my hair on a daily base. Build up for me: water, tonic and 2 scoops to revive everything. This build up feels oily (not greasy), very manageable. The build up does not add much more of a hold for my mane.
WASH OUT
Ease of wash-ability is different for everybody. A couple washes and gone. Aaron’s suggestion: shampoo, rinse, repeat, condition. Washes out rather easily.
SIMILAR POMADE(S)
- The classics pomade.
- Grandad’s old fashioned medium.
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 