Schmiere – Better Dan Pomade

Today’s pomade is another one from the Schmiere line. When I got all my stuff in from Sophia over at the Schmiere company, this one was in the box as well. They put it out a while back, but I hadn’t gotten to check it out until now. So let’s see how their Better Dan one holds up!

Just like their other pomades, it comes in their standard tins. And like the Red Ink one, this one also has the labeling lithographed right on the can. Now this pomade is kind of a tribute to a very famous fake pomade. We all know about Dapper Dan from the movie “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” made by the Coen brothers. Schmiere took that pomade design and put their own spin on it, creating this Better Dan one. The can itself looks pretty similar to the Dapper Dan cans in the movie, but of course they put their own twist on it and have their signature images on it as well. In the center is their famous black bird, like always, but this time he’s up at the top instead of the center. Just like how the guy is up top on the Dapper Dan cans. They put a newsboy cap and overalls on him this time, as well as a fake beard and mustache, like Clooney wears in the movie when he’s signing at the event toward the end of the film. He’s also holding an old school microphone like the ones used in the movie, and behind him is a white circle. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a moon, or a spotlight, or just a white circle like some of the old pomades cans used to have for stores to write the price in. Either way, it’s there just behind him to the left. Just to the left of the circle, it says “For men of constant sorrow” as a tribute to the name of the song they sing in the movie. Just to the right of him it says “59 for greasers only.” Below the bird is name of the pomade in cursive style letters and it says “by Schmiere from Rumble 59” in between the name. Then at the bottom to the right of the name of the pomade it says “Men’s Pomade” in block style letters. Then around everything is a ring of black and white bars, just like the ring on the Dapper Dan cans. So like I was saying, very similar to the other cans, but with their own style thrown in as well. Very cool can. Makes a great addition to my collection. However, on the bottom of the can, it doesn’t look anything like the bottom of the Dapper Dan cans. Instead it looks just like their other cans do, and has the same info laid out in the same way. It looks exactly like the bottom label on their red ringing gel, only with “Schmiere” above the “Rumble 59” and then some words around the tan part of the layout. Other than that, it’s the exact same, and is the same as their other regular line cans. It’s still a cool layout for that part of the pomade can though. Most companies don’t put much design into the directions and whatnot area of their cans. So it’s nice to see these cans have that design to them.

This pomade happens to have a white, or natural color to it, rather than being colored like most of their other pomades are. In fact I think there is only one other one that’s white, or natural colored like this one. All of their other pomades have various colors to them. I happen to like the natural look of pomades quite a bit, as well as colors, but it’s nice to see a natural colored one from this company. It seems to have the same texture and surface look as their Doktor Corvus one does. So I’m guessing this one will be a little bit heavier than their mittel hold is. However, I could be wrong, and this one might be the same as their mittel. I’ll soon find out! The scent of this one is very unique, and smells great! As I figured it would. At first it smells like a clean soap, but then you get a sweet fruity note as well. You don’t have to smell it for a while to pick it up though, it follows the clean scent pretty quickly. I’m not sure exactly what fruit it is, but it kind of reminds me a little of cherry pixi stix. The clean/fresh soapy note mixes with the sweet fruity note really well and kind of gives off a slight powdery scent, which is why it reminded me of the cherry pixi stix. Whatever fruit scent it is, this pomade smells great. And the scent is nice and strong too, but not overpowering. I think it will last nicely throughout the day. Hopefully my next can of the Red Ink pomade will have a scent this strong. Cause I absolutely love that scent! I just wish it lasted longer and that I could smell it in my hair. Anyway, back to this pomade.

Scooping this pomade out of the can was pretty similar to their Doktor Corvus one, but a little bit creamier. And when I got it out of the can the cherry scent really shined through. It smelled much more like cherry than clean fresh soap. It was very interesting how it looked scooped out too. I don’t think any other pomade I’ve tried has looked this way when I scooped it from the can or jar or tub. It didn’t scoop out like a hard or soft waxy pomade, nor did it scoop out like a greasy pomade. It was very interesting and I liked the look of it quite a bit. So much so that I almost didn’t want to ruin it haha. At least I have the picture though, so I can look at it again later. Breaking it down in my hands felt just like their other mittel pomades do. So I’m guessing this one is another mittel of theirs. It didn’t have much tackiness to it, but rather felt more creamy this time. Applying it to my hair was super easy, and it went in evenly with just my hands. I saw about the same amount of shine as the Red Ink one had. This one has a stronger scent to it though. I could easily smell it as I was combing it into my hair. That was also a breeze, and felt more like combing a light pomade into my hair than a medium.

Since you guys already know how their mittel pomades hold up my hair, I decided to go with more of a slicked style this time. I’ve reviewed quite a few of their mittel pomades, and wanted to change it up a little bit. I was very happy with the way this stuff made my hair look too. It kept all my hairs together very nicely and even managed to tame my cowlick pretty well. The shine seemed to die down a little bit after I styled my hair though. I’m not sure why that happened, but it did. It may pick back up as the day goes on though. Often times that will happen with pomades.

After about two and a half hours I checked my hair and snapped a picture of it. Just as I thought, the shine did pick up a little bit. You can clearly see it’s a bit higher than it was when I first styled my hair. So far this one is keeping my hair in place nicely too. I didn’t have any stray hairs come out of place, or any parts split open at all. I’m definitely liking this one quite a bit so far. Even the scent was still easily noticeable a few hours after applying the pomade. As of now, this one seems to be performing just like their other mittel pomades, and I think it will continue to do so throughout the day and with buildup.

At the end of the day I checked my hair one more time and it still hadn’t moved at all. As you can see in the picture, not even the comb lines had split open at all. You can’t tell from the angle I shot the picture, but the shine seemed to be the same as it was earlier when I first checked my hair. It didn’t increase at all from then on. Which is fine with me since it was a decent shine and I was happy with the way it was. After about halfway through the day I noticed the scent had died down and it became difficult for me to smell it. Every once in a while I would get a tiny hint of it, but it wasn’t as strong as it was before. I was able to smell it for quite a while though, so I am happy about that. All in all, the first day was really great with this pomade. I’m expecting the buildup to be like their others are, but only time will tell.

The next morning I woke up to find my hair feeling pretty much exactly as it did with the Red Ink pomade. I had some work to do outside, so I didn’t jump in the shower right away since I was just going to get all sweaty and whatnot. After I finished my work I took a shower and noticed when I got out, that barely any of the pomade had come out of my hair. Even less than with the Red Ink one. It felt like almost all the pomade was still in my hair. Definitely less than 1/4 of it had come out of my hair. So I just used a tiny bit to touch up the areas that felt slightly decreased and then styled my hair. It went right into place with ease, and seemed to hold my cowlick a little better than the first day. I didn’t notice any increase in the shine at all, but was still fine with how it looked.

Since I learned my lesson with the Red Ink pomade, I had a feeling this one would work better adding a little pomade to my hair. And for the most part I was right. I only had one part that had fallen down about halfway through the day. It happened to be one of the longer parts of my hair on the right side of the top of my head. And I think it’s just because of the length of my hair. However, once I recombed it back into place, it stayed there for the rest of the day. It only fell down one other time when I was wrestling around with my son. Apart from that, day two was great. I was very happy with how the pomade kept my hair in place. One thing I did notice was that it did seem to feel like some of the pomade had come out of my hair throughout the day. It did the exact same thing as the Red Ink pomade did, but just not as much. Adding the little amount of pomade that I did helped in that area. Even though it did feel that way, my hair didn’t keep falling out of place like it did with the other one. So all said and done, day two was awesome.

This is another one I’d highly recommend you guys get. Not only for its performance, but also as a collection piece. Every pomade enthusiast should have this pomade for sure. And if you can get one, a prop from the movie. A Dapper Dan Pomade can is a great addition to any collection. Mine happens to have pomade in it, which I was extremely stoked to see when I got the can! Anyway, do yourselves a favor and pick up a can of this stuff. You won’t regret it one bit! Head over to their website http://www.rumble59.com to get yourself a can. Be sure to check out the other awesome pomades they have up on their site as well while you are there. Thank you again to Sophia and the folks over at Schmiere for sending me this can to review! I really enjoyed the pomade and love having such a cool and interesting tin to add to my collection! Stay tuned for more Schmiere products coming up soon! Until then…

Keep your coiffure in order,

-JC

Schmiere – Red Ink Pomade

Alright, we are getting back to some of the Schmiere pomades that my friend Sophia sent me a little while back. This time I’m checking out their new Red Ink Pomade. They released this one a couple months ago, and Sophia sent me a can of it to try out shortly after they put it out. Now, I’ve been using it for a little while, but waited to write the review until now. I’m not sure why I waited, but I did. I will write the review like I’m using it for the first time though. That way you guys don’t get a biased review or a recap type review. So let me show you guys what’s up with this grease!

Just like their other pomades, it comes in their standard tins. Only this time the labeling is lithographed onto the can instead of it being stickers like they normally used. The can itself is black and the design is grey, white and red. In the center is their signature black bird with slicked back hair this time. And to go with the design of the can, this time he is shirtless and covered in tattoos, including one under is left eye. There is also a tattoo machine over his left shoulder. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be tattooing him or just sitting there though. The can actually looks like a traditional Americana style black and grey tattoo, which is really awesome! They did a great job with the design of this can, and it’s easily become one of my absolute favorites they have put out to date! On either side of him there are two swallows, and above him is the company name like usual, but this time it’s in red. And the “Rumble 59” above it is in a banner done in flagship letters, instead of their usual design. The swallow on the left has a couple stars and a dagger above it and below it is a banner that has “ROTE TINTE” in red letters in it. The swallow on the right side has a horseshoe above it and a spider web below it. Below the bird is their usual “Feinste Haar Pomade” only this time it’s a banner done in red flagship letters, like the Rumble 59 up at the top. There are also some other stars and dots scattered all around in the background and some other little images like a diamond and some leaves. Like I said, such a cool design! By far the coolest one they have put out yet in my opinion.

On the bottom of the can is their usual info, directions, ingredients, etc etc, but they’re done in the same design as the top of the can. Up at the top is a red heart with a banner that reads “GLAUBE” and some leaves behind it and rays around it. Below that is the company name in red script and black old English with two stars on either side of it. Then is the directions, barcode, ingredients, where it’s made, and the website, again with stars on either side of the website. At the very bottom is “MITTEL” in a banner done in red flagship letters with nautical stars on either side of it in the banner also. Then on the left side of the barcode is a red rose with a banner that says “LEIBE” in it and an anchor below it. On the right side of the barcode is another red rose, but with “HOFFINUNG” in it and a sailor girl below the rose. And like the lid, there are some stars and dots scattered around in the background again. Such an awesome design! Especially for a info area. They really captured the look of traditional americana tattoos in the design of this can, and put some of the most iconic images of that style of tattooing on the can. They did a fantastic job with the design of this can. They even added a cool little touch around the edge of the lid. They wrapped a sticker that looks like a flash sheet with flash images all around the can. There’s a rose, an anchor, a sailor girl, and a heart, like the ones on the can, except the roses and heart aren’t red. This time they’re just done in black and grey, but they’re still really cool. Definitely my favorite can from them.

Opening up the can you see a red pomade, that looks kind of similar to their xmas edition pomade, only this one is a bit darker of a red. The texture looks a little bit more waxy than their standard mittel pomades have in the past. Only time will tell if it is in fact more waxy than the others are. Also, the surface of this one seems to be a little bit more shiny than the others have too. Not sure if that will mean this one will be more shiny or not, but I will find out. The scent of this one is a great licorice scent! However, it’s not just a straight licorice scent. It’s like a mix of the black licorice and red licorice, and there is also a small hint of cherry in there too. It’s really a great scent! And it’s not too strong either. Definitely not as strong as their other pomades have been in the past. This time it’s more mellow, but that could easily change when I scoop it out of the can. Which I kind of hope it does, because I like this scent so much. I don’t know if it’s my favorite of theirs, because they have so many awesome scents that I love, but it’s definitely at the top of my list of favorites.

Another cool thing they did with this can is they included a little comic strip inside the lid! It’s underneath a little clear plastic disc, which I’m guessing is to protect it from the pomade and protect the pomade from it. I really love this new little addition to their cans! And come to find out, it’s not just a comic strip. On one side is the comic strip, and then on the other side is like a little product catalog thing. It doesn’t have every product they make, but has most of their pomades, the vital set, and their shampoo. Very cool thing to put in the cans for people! When I was reading it I accidentally pulled it out of the lid and saw that below it is another little surprise! Inside the lid they put a Schmiere sticker with the bird and a line that says “proud to be a greaser” below him. The perks just keep coming with this one! I love it! Great job with this stuff guys!

As I stated before, this stuff looked a bit more waxy and shiny on the surface than their other mittel pomades have. So when I went to scoop this stuff out I had prepared my finger to scoop out something in between their mittel and their hart. What I was met with was a slightly more waxy version of their mittel. As you can see it didn’t come out as smooth as the others have and there’s a little bit of a gap where the wax separated. It still had the softer feel of their mittel pomades, but also felt a bit more waxy and wasn’t as creamy/greasy as the others have been. This might make for a little bit better of a hold, which would be nice. The scent didn’t get any stronger when I got it out of the can though. It was still on the lighter, more mellow side.

Breaking it down in my hands was super easy, just like their other mittel pomades have been. Only this time, I noticed a tad bit more resistance and less greasiness to it. There wasn’t a huge difference, but there was enough of one to tell. This one also had a slight tacky feel to it as well, unlike their other mittels. However, applying it to my hair felt just like their other mittel pomades. I didn’t get any extra resistance or anything like that. It also was very easy to disperse evenly in my hair with just my hands. I was able to coat all sides of my hair very quickly and didn’t feel any tugging or anything like that.

One thing I did notice, and I had expected this, was that the pomade left a red residue on my hands after I applied it to my hair. It was a little more present than it had been with the Xmas edition, mainly because this one is darker. It has more color in it, which makes the color show up more on your hands. However, it comes right off when you wash your hands, so it’s not a big deal. Although, you cats with light colored hair may see this pomade show up in your hair when you use it. You might see a slight red hue to your hair when you have this pomade in it. It’s not going to stain or dye your hair though, so don’t worry about that. It just might leave your hair looking slightly red while the pomade is in your hair.

Combing this stuff into my hair was also very easy, but I did notice a little bit more weight to it. It wasn’t quite as easy to comb in as the other mittel pomades have been. However, I didn’t see any extra hold from this pomade. Now I was able to get a nice medium parted pomp going with it, so I was happy with the hold I got. I had just expected a little more hold since it was a bit more waxy, but I didn’t get any. Now this could be due to the fact that I’m way over due for a haircut and my hair is longer than it usually is, but I don’t think so. Usually I can still get the most hold out of a pomade that it will give. So I’m thinking that even when I get my hair cut it will still give me the same hold. I did notice that the shine seemed to be a tad bit higher with this one like I had thought it would be. It wasn’t a ton of extra shine, but it did seem to be a little bit more present. However, it was more of a natural shine than a greasy shine. Either way, I was happy with how this pomade made my hair look all around.

It even seemed to tame my cowlick pretty well. And I was also very happy with the control it gave me too. I didn’t have comb lines opening up, or stray hairs sticking out, or anything like that. The tackiness it has really does a great job of controlling your hair when you get the pomade in there. One thing I noticed that was a tab bit of a bummer was that the scent kind of disappeared once I styled my hair up. I couldn’t smell the pomade at all in my hair. With me liking this pomade’s scent so much, I was a little bummed that I wasn’t going to be able to smell it in my hair all day long. Other than that though, the initial performance of this pomade is really great. Only time will tell though, if it holds that good performance all day, and with the buildup.

A little more than halfway through the day I checked my hair in the mirror to see how it had been holding up. For the most part it had stayed in place, but there were a couple things I noticed. First, I had one small section of hair behind my right ear that had fell down out of place. Then I noticed that the center of my pomp right at the very top center part of my head had sunk in a tad bit. Not enough to notice without looking closely though. The last thing I noticed was a couple comb lines had opened up, but not that much, and not enough to make a big difference. I pushed the strand behind my ear back into place and that’s when I noticed something pretty odd about this pomade. It had kind of dried like water bases do. Now it wasn’t hard or gummed up, but it didn’t feel like a medium grease pomade was in my hair. My hair felt dry and like there wasn’t any grease or oil in it at all. It was a very weird feeling running my fingers over my hair. The strand didn’t want to go back into place with me just using my hand, so I grabbed my comb to fix it. Recombing this pomade was super easy, and almost all the resistance was gone from it. It felt like I had a super light hair dressing in my hair. However, my hair went right back into place when I recombed it. I didn’t just fix the one part, but rather recombed everything to touch up each part that I needed to. I’m pretty sure the top sank in because of how long my hair is. I won’t know for certain though until I use this stuff again when my hair is shorter. Another thing I noticed was that the shine had increased a little bit after I recombed my hair. And now the shine took on more of the regular look a grease gives your hair instead of the more natural look it had at the beginning of the day.

My hair stayed in place throughout the rest of the evening without sinking in or anything like that again. The one section behind my ear only came out of place one other time about an hour after I recombed my hair, but then stayed after I fixed it a second time. I’m not sure why that one section did that though. I’ve never had that particular area do that before with any pomade. It was kind of odd. At the end of the day I felt my hair again just to see how it felt, and it wasn’t quite as dry as it was before. Now it had gained a slight oiliness to it, but it wasn’t much and still felt kind of dry. However, even with it feeling dry like there wasn’t grease in my hair, my hair felt really really soft. I was kind of curious about how that had happened, because it was like I had used a very intense/high strength conditioner or something. Usually my hair only feels really soft like this after I use a conditioning pomade for a couple days, or if I use my wife’s conditioner in the shower. It was definitely a nice little surprise for sure, it was just very curious that this happened. I didn’t notice any extra increase or change in the shine at all by the end of the day like I had expected. My hair had the same look/sheen to it as when I first recombed it, but I had thought it would be a little more shiny and/or look like I had a greasy pomade in it. Mainly because of how it had increased about halfway through the day when I fixed my hair. I was still happy with the look my hair had though. And I was pretty pleased with how this pomade performed on the first day. I’m very interested to see how the buildup is tomorrow! Especially with how this stuff made my hair feel.

The next morning it felt like none of the pomade had come out of my hair at all. I was pretty surprised by this since usually at least some of the pomade will come out throughout the day before and while I’m sleeping. However, all of this one stayed in my hair even though it felt the way it did in my hair yesterday. Still this will make for a longer lasting can and great buildup on the days following the initial use I think. After I got out of the shower I did notice that some of the pomade finally came out of my hair, but still not that much. I’d say about 3/4 of it was still left in my hair. I decided to try and style my hair without adding any pomade just to see how it would work. And I actually was able to get a nice style with it. I couldn’t get much height, but it did allow me to get a really nice slicked style going. Since I was happy with how my hair looked and felt like going with a different style this time, I didn’t add any pomade to my hair and just left it how it was. One thing I did notice about it was that the shine had gone down quite a bit. There was still a little bit of shine to my hair, but not much more than my hair has naturally without any pomade in it. I hadn’t expected this since so much of the pomade had stayed in my hair. It’s any easy fix though by just adding a little pomade or using a top coat the second day. I didn’t use a top coat though for the sake of the review and just left my hair how it was.

After just a couple hours I had regretted not adding any pomade to my hair. I had a couple areas that kept falling out of place on me, and they wouldn’t stay in place no matter how I combed them back in. They just kept falling back down after a few minutes. It was kind of frustrating. And feeling my hair when I was trying to get them to go back into place felt like even more of the pomade had come out of my hair. Which was really odd because I didn’t have a hat on and I hadn’t done anything to my hair at all except try to recomb those areas back in. It was almost like I had washed my hair a couple more times or something. My hair felt like only about 1/3 of the pomade was left in it from the first day. With my hair refusing to stay in place, I decided to just throw a cap on and go about the rest of my day. When I took a shower that evening pretty much all of the pomade left in my hair came out. There was only a tiny little bit that I could feel that stayed in my hair.

Now at the beginning of the review I told you guys I had been using this pomade for a while. When I used this pomade before and applied pomade to my buildup on the second day, it performed a lot better. I was able to get nice height, the control lasted great all day long, and the shine was a little bit higher the second day. I just wanted to make sure I included this in the review for you guys, so you didn’t think it acts that way all the time. It’s actually a great pomade, and does even better with buildup in your hair from day 2 on. Really the only thing this pomade needs is a stronger scent. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else I’d change about it. This stuff even washes out pretty easily when you don’t add to the buildup, like I was saying up above in the review. So for you guys that like to wash pomade out of your hair often, this would be a great pomade to add to your line up.

I would definitely recommend this pomade for everyone. It does a really good job all around. And it’s one of the coolest looking cans around. Huge thank you again to Sophia and the folks over at Schmiere for sending me this pomade. I’m almost out of it, so I will need to get another can here pretty soon! You guys should head on over to their website http://www.rumble59.com and get yourselves a can or two right away! They also have some other really cool new pomades up on there now. So make sure you check those out while you’re there. I’ll be featuring some of them here pretty soon as well, so stay tuned for those reviews! Well, until the next one….

Keep on greasin,

-JC

Reuzel – Pink Can

Hello readers! I’m back with the final installment of the Reuzel line. After checking out the two ringing gels and their medium pomade, all that was left was their heavy pomade. A few months back my friends over at Reuzel sent me this stuff to review, along with some awesome stickers. I want to thank them again for sending me this and all the other things they’ve sent me. I really appreciate it guys! Alright, now let’s dig in to the pink!

Just like the other cans, this one has the same style labeling, only with the color change, and some minor text differences to it. The text change it has is down at the bottom where it says “grease heavy hold.” Other than that, it’s exactly the same as the other cans are. And I have to say, I think I like this one the best out of the four different colors. It’s just a really cool shade of pink.

One thing I noticed when looking at all 3 of the cans, was that each can is a slightly different shade of pink. Now they’re all pretty close to each other, but as you can see, there are slight variations in the shades of each can. I’m not sure exactly why that is, maybe because they were pressed at different times, or maybe the ink was different, or its just the sizes of the cans that makes the difference. I’m not 100% sure, but it is kind of cool to see the different shades when they’re laid out next to each other like that.

Another thing I wanted to show you guys was the difference of the bottom on the small can. As I stated in the green can review, the medium and large cans have the same layout and whatnot on the bottom, but the small one is different. And because I already had so many pics in the green can review, I waited until this review to show you guys the difference. As you can see, this one doesn’t have the extra symbols, or the ring around the edge of the tan part like the two bigger cans do. Also, the barcode is moved down to the very bottom of the can instead of in the center of it. All the text seems to be the same, save for the text that is in the ring on the bigger cans. That text has been moved to the top, and is worded slightly different. Otherwise, all of the text seemed to be the same as it is on the bigger cans. I left the medium can turned upside down in the background so you could kind of see the difference in the layout. Now I think I’ve covered all aspects of all the cans and sizes for you guys. Back to the product at hand!

Opening up this can you see an off white, waxy looking pomade, with a slight shine to the surface. It actually looks a little bit like frozen or chilled lard. Knowing these guys, I don’t think that was an accident. On the surface, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be that much heavier than the green can was, but only time will tell for sure. Often times, as I’ve said before, you can tell quite a bit about a pomade just by looking at it. However, sometimes they can deceive you and be different from how they look. Usually they are how they look though. The scent of this one is kind of like the green one’s. What I mean is, it’s quite feminine and reminds me of a women’s product, just like the green one did. But again, this one has a really good scent to it! It’s kind of a sweet, powdery, floral, fruity scent. It has quite a few notes all mixed in together. You first smell the sweet floral notes blended together, then you get the powdery note, and finally a tiny hint of sweet fruit. I’m not sure exactly what fruit it is, but it’s definitely a fruity note. I’ve heard some people say it has a bubble gum scent to it, but it doesn’t really. Well, maybe if it was a flowery powdery gum, but it doesn’t smell like traditional bubble gum.

Upon scooping this stuff out, I was right about the lard look. It scooped out like really cold lard would. It has a waxy texture to it, but it’s kind of a creamy waxy texture. I know that’s a bit oxymoronic, but that’s how it is. You can see in the picture what I mean. It doesn’t have either of the usual looks that waxy pomades do when you scoop them out. And at the same time, it doesn’t look like a grease does either, and it’s got a smooth texture to it. It’s actually quite unique! I don’t know if I’ve ever come across a pomade yet that scoops the way this one does. I think maybe the closest one would be that black Crown pomade I tried a while back. But this one is still different from that one. One thing I noticed when I scooped it out, was that the sweet fruity note became much more present and noticeable. It was kind of buried beneath the other notes in the tin, but when you scoop it out, that note gets nice and strong. It evens out with the strength of the other notes nicely. This one seems a bit more feminine than the green can does, but I think I like this scent better than the green can’s. I’m not entirely sure yet though. I need to test it out for a few days to be positive. I am still a little perplexed by these scents though. It just caught me off guard smelling feminine scents in men’s pomades. Even thought they are both fantastic scents, and I like them a lot! And I’m glad they went with these scents, because they’re some of my favorites. It’s just a bit odd to me that they have these scents is all. I totally expected masculine or neutral scents like their ringing gel ones have. Still, I love this scent either way.

It breaks down in your hands a little bit easier than you’d expect it to and has a nice creamy feel to it. Now it is still heavy and waxy, but it also has a creamy texture to it as well. And kind of feels a little bit like chilled lard at this stage also. It makes me laugh. Whether it was on purpose or accident it’s a totally cool pun to go with the name of the pomade. Applying it to your hair is a bit harder than you’d expect from how it feels broken down in your hands. It goes is kind of like Murray’s or a really waxy pomade, and tugs at your hairs a little. However, it doesn’t just stay on top of your hair like a lot of really waxy pomades do. This one is actually quite easy to spread evenly throughout your hair with your hands. The comb through is exactly what you’d expect from how it applies though. It takes a decent amount of effort to run your comb through your hair with this pomade in. I did notice that it pulled out quite a few of my hairs too. I had kind of expected that though from how it went in. It wasn’t as bad as some heavy pomades do, but there was still a lot of hairs stuck in my comb after the first pass. One thing I did like is that it didn’t keep pulling a bunch of hairs out like some pomades do. After the first pass, only a few other hairs came out, which was nice. And I noticed that this one seems to have a decent amount of shine to it for a heavy pomade. Now I haven’t styled my hair yet, so I don’t know if it will stay, but after combing it all in my hair, there was a nice sheen to this stuff.

I was quite pleased with how my hair turned out too. I was able to get nice height, and it had decent control too. There wasn’t a bunch of stray hairs or hairs sticking straight out, like with other heavy pomades. I’m pretty sure the creaminess it has is what helped in that area. This pomade isn’t as dry as many heavy pomades are, which is often what makes the hairs go astray. The shine seemed to stay pretty well also. It’s kind of hard to tell in this picture, but the other pictures you can see the shine a lot better. I was also really liking how the scent was once I styled my hair up too. It took on more of a sweet fruity and powdery scent and lost the floral notes a bit. It also seemed to get a little bit stronger or more present once it was in my hair. It filled up my whole bathroom, and even when I walked out of the bathroom I could easily smell the pomade in my hair.

In this picture you can see the shine a lot better, and like I was saying, it has a decent amount of shine to it for a heavy. It’s almost as shiny as a medium pomade is. I took this picture about two hours after I styled my hair, and I noticed that some of my comb lines had opened up a little bit. It wasn’t bad, but you can definitely see them a little bit more than when I first styled my hair. There was really only one that had opened up a lot, and it’s right where one of my natural parts is. I often have problems with that area opening up as the day goes on. I’ve learned to just deal with it and recomb it closed when I need to. Even after two hours I could still smell this pomade pretty strong in my hair too. This one lingers a lot longer than the green can does for sure. And I think I do like this scent better than the green one’s. However, I still think the blue can is my favorite scent out of the four. There’s just something about that scent that hits a note with me.

At the end of the day I snapped another picture real quick to see how my hair had held up. I was very pleased to see that my hair seemed to be in the exact same place as it was in the morning! The only real difference I noticed was that my cowlick had split open. Other than that, I didn’t see any other areas that had opened up, drooped or fallen down, or moved at all. I was really happy with that! I didn’t even have to recomb my hair once either. This pomade really did a great job of holding my hair in place all day long. Now, I was pretty much inside all day, except for a couple times I went outside for just a few minutes. So I will have to see how it holds up when I’m outside more than that, but still, it held great throughout the day. And the shine seemed to be a little more present at the end of the day too. I hope that carries over with the buildup and day two makes for a real shiny look. Even the scent lasted all day. I could still smell my hair pretty easily that evening. Now it wasn’t as strong, but I was still getting whiffs of it that night. So far I’m really liking this pomade a lot. I’m very curious to see how the buildup is on this one too. The texture and way it performs doesn’t really give me a good idea how the buildup will be, so I’m pretty anxious to see what that’s like tomorrow.

Surprisingly, the buildup with this stuff wasn’t that heavy. Instead, it was quite light and oily when I woke up. After I took a shower most of the oily feel had gone away and I was left with about half of the pomade still in my hair. I was pretty surprised at this since it’s a heavier pomade. I had expected it to stick in my hair more, like most heavy pomades do. However, I did like the feel of the buildup in my hair quite a bit. It wasn’t too much, and my hair was left feeling quite nice. Also, I was actually able to get a nice style going right out of the shower. I didn’t even need to add any pomade to get a nice looking lower pomp going. And it still had really good control to it as well. I didn’t have a bunch of strays or anything like that. So really, if you wanted to, you could go without adding any pomade to your hair the second day and still look good. I decided to add a little bit to my hair for the sake of the review.

Applying it the second day was a little bit easier to my relief. The lighter buildup allows for much easier application and combing. There is still the resistance you get with heavier pomades, but it wasn’t nearly as much as the first day. The buildup in my hair seemed to kind of smooth out the fresh pomade I was adding in, and make it much easier to comb through. I didn’t really notice any increase in height this time, but I did have better control for sure. My cowlick didn’t open up and I didn’t have any comb lines separate either. The shine was also a little bit more pronounced the second day. There wasn’t a big difference, but I could tell that there was more shine. It looked more like how my hair did at the end of the first day. Which makes me think, that possibly by the end of today my hair could be really shiny. If it does the same thing it did yesterday that is.

Just like the first day, this pomade kept my hair in place all day long. And it did an even better job the second day. I didn’t see any comb lines open up, and my cowlick wasn’t showing either. Definitely pleased with the longevity of this pomades hold! Not many pomades hold all day like this for me. So when I get one that does, I become very enthused about it. The shine however, didn’t follow suit from the first day. It seemed to be the same at the end of the day as it was at the beginning. Which is totally fine with me, because it’s a great amount of shine. Plus, if I ever want more, I can always add a topper to it. The scent definitely was stronger the second day. I could really smell this pomade in my hair easily at the end of the day. It didn’t die down like it did on the first day. I was a little surprised by that, because usually the scent of a pomade does the same thing each day. Not this one, it stays almost just as strong as when you first apply it until the end of the day. I’m not sure why that happened, because my hair didn’t have any scent to it when I got out of the shower. Nonetheless, I was still happy about it, because I really like this scent a lot. Day two was a smashing success with this pomade. There wasn’t one downfall to it at all on the second day.

The next morning before I got in the shower, I decided to try and style my hair. Just to see what would happen, as the buildup was really heavy. Almost like none of the pomade had come out of my hair at all during the night. To my surprise, even with really crazy bed head, I was able to style a fairly decent doo. Now I didn’t get much height, but I was able to style a low profile pomp without having a bunch of gaps, or stray hairs, or messy parts at all. It did what the old High Life light does for my hair. So if you ever have to skip a shower the third morning, you’ll be ok, as this stuff allows you to get a decent style going. And it stays too! I didn’t get in the shower for over an hour after I combed my hair, and my hair was still looking good. The only thing I didn’t like was that it gets really oily the third day. Just barely touching my hair made my hand feel super oily. So I wouldn’t go too long before hopping in the shower, unless you’re ok with oily hair, then you’re fine to go all day. Personally, I don’t like an overly oily feel to my hair, so I washed it off pretty quickly. And almost all of the oil comes out when you wash your hair. However, you can still feel a little bit in there after your shower. The buildup is much heavier the third day as well. I’d say at least 80% of the pomade was still in my hair. So I didn’t even add any the third day, I just styled my hair and went about my day. With it being a bit oily, you do lose a little control the third day, but not much. It was kind of like how the first day was. I had some comb lines open a little, and I also had a couple strands that kept falling down. They were on the side of my head though, so it wasn’t too bad. I could easily comb them back in, or tuck them behind my ear. I also did lose a little height the third day, as well as some shine. It wasn’t much, but I did notice the difference. If I had added just a little pomade though, I think the shine would have been the same as day two. By the end of the day I did lose more control and had a couple spots that just didn’t want to stay in place. But like I said, I think that’s due to me not touching up my hair with a little pomade. However, it could be just how this pomade performs on the third day. I won’t know for sure until I test it out like this again. Although I did see some downfalls on day three, I still think it was a success. My hair didn’t completely come apart, and for the most part, the buildup held my style pretty well throughout the day. I think next time I will wash my hair a second time to get all the oil out and then add just a tiny bit of pomade to touch my hair up. I think that will help make it more like day two was.

All in all, I really like this pomade a lot. There were only a couple tiny things that happened. This stuff is definitely a pomade I highly recommend you guys get and try out. It really works great. Many thanks again to my friends at the Reuzel company for sending me this pomade to review. I really did enjoy it a lot, and I had fun reviewing it. This will for sure be a pomade I use again and again in the future. To get yourself a can, head over to http://www.reuzelpomade.com While you’re there, check out their new products! They have 5 new products in bottles, and two new beard products. I’m very excited to try out the new hair tonics and the new shampoos. Grab yourself a can of this stuff as soon as possible, and try some of their other products as well. They really are great products and well worth the money. Well that concludes the cans, I’ll see you guys next time when I start the bottled product reviews!

Keep it greasy,

-JC

Cool Grease Comb

Hello readers, today we are checking out another Cool Grease product. This time I’m gonna give their comb a review. For the longest time I never knew they even had a comb, but a few months ago I saw that my buddy Tadashi started carrying them on his website. Tadashi, for those of you who don’t know who he is, runs the HedgeLion company. So anyway, I saw that he started carrying these combs and asked him about buying one to try out. He told me how much they were, but just sent me one to review for him and to try out. I was really stoked about that and thanked him for sending it to me. And thank you again buddy, I really appreciate it!
  
This comb isn’t your average comb, that’s for sure. It comes packaged in a clear plastic sleeve, but it’s not sealed. One end of the sleeve is open so you can slide it out, but it doesn’t have a flap or anything. It’s just cut straight across evenly on one end. There’s no barcode sticker or anything like that on the plastic sleeve either. As for the comb itself, it’s a pretty unique looking comb. It doesn’t really have much of a handle on the end though. It’s only about 2″ long, just big enough for the logo to be printed on it. This comb is only filled with small teeth spaced pretty close together. So I’m guessing it’s more of a finishing comb rather than a styling comb. The teeth seem to all be the same length throughout, they’re not tapered at all like some combs are. This comb is only slightly longer than a pocket comb too. So it may make for a great pocket comb as well as a finishing comb. I am going to try it out other ways besides those though.

  
The logo is done in the same gold type of print that a lot of pocket combs have on them. It’s only on one side of the comb, and fills up the “handle” area pretty well. Inside the gold area it says “The Cool Grease Brand” in a couple different fonts. It’s a pretty basic design, but is more than just plain letters like most combs have. So it’s pretty cool to see a change up, and a sort of design on this comb. I was surprised to see that it was only on the one side though. I had expected it to have it on both sides of it like the Layrite comb does. And actually, come to think of it, this one reminds me a bit of the Layrite comb. Only the handle is much shorter. It’s like if you were to cut most of the handle off the Layrite comb. That’s what this one reminds me of anyway. It’s got the same fine toothed aspect to it like the other one does, but it’s not tapered like the Layrite comb.

  
I first used this comb when I reviewed the Cool Grease Cock Grease product. I tried applying that stuff with it, but had some difficulty doing so. Mainly because the handle is so short and that’s a heavy product. That combined with it being a fine toothed comb. So it wasn’t the easiest to apply that product with. Once I got that one combed in and styled for the most part, I used this one as a finishing comb for it. That’s when it performed pretty well for me, and I began to like the short handle. It really allows you to get all the little areas you need to and smooths out all the comb lines nicely. I was pretty happy with it in that aspect. However, I do need to try it out a few other ways to see how it is overall. I mean I know already that it’s a great finishing and touch up comb, but I need to see how it does with other products and in other aspects.

The next time I used it was with that Wet ringing gel. This time I tried it out as a styling comb. It wasn’t the best at this, even with a softer medium product. The comb just doesn’t have long enough teeth and they aren’t spaced wide enough to really get a good shape going. So I styled my hair with my regular comb and set this one aside for another day and product. So far it’s looking like this one is just going to be good as a finishing comb and touch up comb. I’m going to try it out one more time as a styling comb though before I close the door on it. I also need to test it out as a pocket comb, but have to wait until I use a pomade to do that.

So I pulled this one out again when I reviewed Reuzel’s green can. However, again, it didn’t work well for me as a styling comb. Even though I tried it with another softer medium product, this comb just doesn’t have the right dimensions for styling your hair. It’s only good for finishing and touching up your hair. Well, at least as of now. I still have to try it out as pocket comb. I had gotten a bit frustrated with it when I tried it with the Reuzel pomade, which made me forget to try it out as a pocket comb. So I have to wait until I review another pomade to try it out in that aspect.

Luckily, I reviewed another pomade right after Reuzel’s, so I put it to work right away. It does fit in my pocket quite nicely, as I thought it would. It’s only slightly longer than a regular Unbreakable pocket comb, so it fits in my pocket great. It’s also thinner than a regular pocket comb, so I didn’t notice it at all in my pocket. When I used it as a recombing tool, it just did ok for me. Because it doesn’t have wide teeth I had a tough time getting decent shape back to my hair. It was easy to recomb my hair with, I just couldn’t get the shape and whatnot back like I can with my regular pocket comb. So I grabbed my styling comb to recomb my hair back nicely and then used this one again to finish my hair off. In that aspect it does a great job. Better than my normal pocket comb does by far. I was able to get a much more smooth look that I usually do. And I was definitely happy about that.

All in all, it’s a decent little comb for what it is. I can’t do much with it except for finishing and touching up, but in those areas it really shines. I don’t have a better comb than this one for those things. And I would definitely recommend getting one of these for that. It works outstandingly in those aspects. You can get one off http://www.hedgelion.com , and you should do so immediately. While you’re there check out all the new stuff Tadashi has up on the site! Thank you again for sending me this comb to try out man, I really appreciate it. I had some fun trying this one out. And I’m very glad I have it in my line up and collection. Seriously, do yourself a favor and get one of these combs. It really is the perfect finishing comb and touch up comb. It’s going to be hard to find one better than this one out there I think. And I will be sure to let you guys know if I ever do find one better. Until I do….

Stay slick,

-JC

Murray’s – La-Em-Strait

Hey guys, I’m back with another one of the new Murray’s products already. After liking the first one so much, I wanted to post this review right after it. This time I am checking out the La-Em-Strait ringing gel. Back when they first released this new line, my good friend Jim sent me one of each product to try out. I used them back then and gave him some feedback on them, but now it’s time to officially review this one as well.
  

First I want to give you guys a little history on this particular product. Now La-Em-Strait used to be its own company/brand way back in the day. At some point Murray’s had bought them and made it part of their company. Then for a while Murray’s didn’t put out any products under this name, but when they released this line they brought it back. This time it’s quite a bit different than it used to be back in the day. I had found a few La-Em-Strait products over the years collecting vintage products. I was able to find two sample cans of their products, and put the picture of them up there for you to see what they looked like. They’re two different pomades in the same type of mini sample can, but with different labeling. The cans are the same mini cans that the old Sweet Georgia Brown pomade came in. Exelento and a few other ones came in this same type of can. They hold roughly 1/8oz of pomade, or one use worth. Luckily, both of the ones I found were full of pomade and had been taken care of really well. They still looked and smelled great! I could probably even use them if I wanted to, but I never will. I will just keep them for collection purposes.

  

They changed up the packaging quite a bit for these new products like I was saying in the other review. This one comes in the same gray plastic tub with black metal screw top lid as the D-Luxe did. So the lid has the name of the company and est date inside an orange box the same way. The side label has the same layout as the D-Luxe Grooming Creme did too. The box on the lid is just below the orange part of the label again. And the orange part has the name again, which is “La-Em-Strait” this time. Under the orange part, this label is gray colored like the other one, but has a different picture. This time it’s a picture of a barber’s station filled with a bunch of the various products they use on clients. It also has the white letters again, but it says “firm hold gel pomade” this time at the bottom. On either side of the picture is all the info they usually put on their products. The ingredients list, company info, directions, barcode, and the product description. They also give a little history on the La-Em-Strait brand on the label as well which is pretty cool. And like I was saying last time, I really like these new labels. They have cool pictures on them, and the layout and design is really awesome. It’s a nice change up from their normal style.

  

When you open up the tub, this time you see a gel like goop. I can’t tell if this one is clear or gray just yet, but I’m thinking it’s clear. Looking at the surface it seems like it will be a strong medium ringing gel. The scent on this one is very unique, I don’t think I’ve smelled anything quite like this one before. It’s a little hard to describe too, you get a sweet scent right off the bat, and it’s got powdery, licorice I think, and cream type notes all blended in together. Or at least that’s what it smells like to me. Like I said, it’s kind of hard to describe and is very unique, but it’s a really good scent. I quite like it a lot.

  

Scooping it out was just how I knew it would be. It’s a nice strong medium ringing gel, that has a rounded scoop to it. As it turns out this one is clear after all, as I had thought it would be. It would have been pretty cool to see a grey colored one though. I don’t think I have ever seen a grey colored ringing gel before. And this stuff is crystal clear! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a ringing gel as clear as this before. It’s almost as clear as water is. It’s really cool looking. As I broke it down in my hands, it got a little softer than it was when I scooped it out. Not a whole lot, but enough to be able to notice a difference. It has a really smooth texture to it as well, but when you pull your hands apart it takes on a tackiness to it. It’s kind of weird the way it does that. It’s smoother than most ringing gels are, but also pretty tacky at the same time.

Applying it to my hair was really easy too. The tackiness it had to it in my hands didn’t show up when I applied it to my hair at all. It went in very easily when I applied it. However, when I went to comb it through, the tackiness came back into play. It wasn’t hard to comb in, but it did have a bit more resistance than I was expecting from how it felt when I applied it to my hair. It went in nice and evenly with just a few passes of my comb too. So I was ready to style my hair after just a few seconds. Which is much quicker than usual with other ringing gels. I was really happy with how this product applies and combs through my hair. I liked the feel of it in my hair quite a bit. Much better than many of the other ringing gels out there that’s for sure.

  

And as you can see, this stuff has really nice hold and control to it. I was able to get a pretty nice looking doo going on with it. And surprisingly it has quite a bit of shine to it too! I was definitely happy with this aspect of it a lot. As you know, most ringing gels have very little shine if any at all. So when I get one that has good shine, it’s a very welcomed surprise. Lately I’ve found quite a few new ones that have good shine to them. It seems like companies are finally refining the process of making these products and putting out good one. Rather than just putting out a mediocre or subpar product that has little or no shine and is hard on your hair. In the past it seemed like it was really hard to find a good ringing gel, but in recent years they have become quite a bit better. And good ones are becoming easier to find and a bit more common these days. It’s really nice to see that, and allows me to have some good water soluble products in my collection that I like to use on a regular basis. Anyway, back to the product at hand. As you can see in the picture, it did a great job of taming my cowlick as well. And I was able to get a nice rounded pomp going with this stuff too. Usually ringing gels give me more of a straight look to my hair, but not this one. I was really happy with how it turned out after styling my hair.

  

I was also really happy with the comb lines my hair was left with. There weren’t any gaps or big comb lines in my hair at all. Instead, my hair was left looking really sharp. You can see the shine a bit better in this picture too. It looks like I have a pomade in my hair rather than a ringing gel. I’m really liking the shine that this stuff give my hair a lot. The initial styling result really was great. I can’t say enough good things about it. As of right now, I think it’s become one of my all time favorite ringing gels. This stuff really did perform great for me and left my hair looking exactly how I wanted it to.

After about an hour I felt my hair to see how this stuff had set up. To my surprise, it had only slightly gummed up, and wasn’t hardened at all. The shine had also stayed nice and glossy after it had set up too. Sometimes ringing gels will have a little shine to them when you first style you hair, but then goes away when it sets/dries up. Not this not though, it stays exactly how it was before when it sets up. My hair almost felt like it hadn’t set up at all. It was pretty soft to the touch, and felt like I could easily run a comb through it without water. I’m going to wait until later to recomb it though. Just in case it doesn’t recomb as good as I’m thinking it will. I’d rather have it potentially lose hold at the end of the day than right now. So far it’s doing a great job of keeping its hold, control, and shine though. I hope that lasts throughout the day too.

Just as I had hoped, the hold and everything did last all day long. My hair was in the same place it was when I first styles it. I didn’t have any stray hairs come out or splits open up. My cowlick stayed in check all day long. And the shine was still nice and glossy at the end of the day as well. This stuff really did a great job today! Even the scent was still detectable at the end of the day surprisingly. Usually ringing gels lose their scent pretty quickly, but this one keeps it nicely all day long. Now it wasn’t strong at the end of the day, but I did get a whiff of it here and there at the end of the day. When I went to recomb my hair, I was met with a little resistance, but I didn’t see any flakes at all. I did lose a little control and had a few hairs come out of place. Overall though, it recombed fairly nicely without any water. The shine did go away when I recombed my hair though. So I decided to spray just a little water on my hair, kind of misting my whole head a bit. Then I ran my comb through my hair again and went to restyle it. I wasn’t able to get quite as much height and control as it did when I first style it. However, it did restyle pretty well. I had a little bit of a gap where my cowlick is, and one comb line open a bit over by my part, but that was it. The shine returned, I was able to get a rounded shape again, and also got pretty decent height and control when I recombed it with a little water.

I took a shower that night since I had done some work outside and had gotten a bit sweaty and dirty. Just like with most ringing gels, this one came out with just a little water. My hair did feel a tad bit dried out when I was in the shower after I rinsed this stuff out though. However, once I got out of the shower and dried my hair off, it didn’t feel dried out at all. It wasn’t softer feeling like with their D-Luxe Creme, but my hair wasn’t dried out at all. It felt just how it did before I applied this stuff in the morning. I’m definitely happy with that as well. And it’s nice to find yet another ringing gel that doesn’t dry out my hair. I’m very glad companies are doing their homework, fixing problems like this, and putting out products that are better all around. It’s very nice to see, and has kind of restored my faith in ringing gels quite a bit. I will still expect things like that from new ones I try, but it’s always a welcomed surprise when I get one that doesn’t do that. This stuff was a total success today. I really couldn’t be happier with how it performed. It was one of the best ones I’ve tried.

I was very very happy with this stuff and I’m really liking it a lot. There really isn’t a negative thing that I can say about it at all. Just like with their D-Luxe Creme. Everything from the packaging to every aspect of the performance. This stuff really is a great ringing gel, and I highly recommend trying it out. Even if you aren’t a big fan of these types of products, I think you’d still like it. It’s really become one of my favorites, and I highly recommend getting some of it right away. Head on over to the Murray’s website, http://www.murrayspomade.com to get yourself a tub of it. While you’re there, check out their other new products as well. They have quite a few new awesome products, not just in this line either. Big thank you again to my friend Jim over at Murray’s for sending me this awesome product to try out and review for them. I really did enjoy it a lot man! I’m excited to see how the last styling product in this line is. There are a couple other products in the line, but only one styling product left for me to review. I will be getting to it as soon as I can too.

Til next time,

-JC

Murray’s – D-Luxe Grooming Creme

Alright! Finally getting back to another Murray’s product. Today I am checking out their new D-Luxe Grooming Creme. Back when they first released this new line, my good friend Jim who owns The Grease Shop website sent me one of these to try out a couple months back. I had used it back then, but now it’s time to officially review it.

  

They changed up the packaging quite a bit for these new products. Rather than putting them in the clear plastic jars or even the white plastic tubs they have their other products in, they went with a gray tub and black metal screw top lid for these new ones. The lid has the labeling lithographed right on it, but the tub has a sticker wrapped around it. On the lid, they put the name of the company and est date inside an orange box. The side label has the same box just below “D-Luxe Grooming Creme” in the orange part of the label. Under the orange part, the label is gray colored and has a picture of a barber’s hand cutting someone’s hair, and says “creme pomade – light hold” in white letters at the bottom. On either side of the picture is all the info they usually put on their products. The ingredients list, company info, directions, barcode, and the product description. These new labels are a lot different from their other products’ labels. They really went in a totally different direction with these new labels. And I have to say, I like it. It’s a nice change up from their normal labeling. And don’t get me wrong, I love their other labeling a lot, but it is nice to see a change up from that.

  

When you open up the tub, you see a thick white paste type product. I had expected something like their Cream Beeswax, or the Swagger Cream they did for Lucky 13. However, this one, as you can see, is much thicker and looks more like a paste than a cream. This could definitely be a good thing, since pastes generally have more hold than creams do. The scent they went with for this stuff is really awesome too! It has a nice sweet cream scent to it. What I mean is, it has that familiar hair cream scent to it, but it’s also really sweet smelling. And the hair cream scent is pretty faint on this one. The sweet scent is much more present, and it smells awesome. It’s almost like a vanilla or something, I can’t really figure out exactly the scent it is, but it’s really good.

  

As I went to scoop it out, I was met with a pretty unique texture. It didn’t scoop out like a paste as I thought it would, but it also didn’t scoop out like a cream either. It was kind of like a cross between the two and a beeswax pomade at the same time. I don’t think I’ve ever scooped out anything with this type of texture before. This product really has an interesting and unique feel to it. Even breaking it down in my hands was really unique as well. I had kind of expected the bigger clumps to kind of stay that way when I broke it down, and I’d have to press each one to work them out. However, it spread around really smoothly and easily. And this stuff was nice and creamy, yet firm at the same time, and felt kind of like a pomade too. This stuff is really cool, it’s unlike anything I’ve tried before. I’m really liking the feel of this stuff, and I think it will work well for me. At least it hope it does anyway.

Applying it to my hair was really easy too. A bit easier than I had expected from the feel of it in my hands. It went in more like a hair cream than the thick pasty, creamy, pomade like product it is. I noticed once I applied it to my hair that it seems to give my hair a nice shine. I’m hoping this stays after combing it in and styling my hair. It made my hair look like I put in a high shine pomade in it. Combing this stuff in was like combing butter through my hair. There was almost no resistance to it at all, and it dispersed evenly into my hair very quickly. I am starting to see the light hold they said it was come through now. At first I figured it would have a medium hold based on the feel of it. But now that I’ve applied and combed it into my hair, it feels like a light hold. It could switch back up though, you never know. I’ve had products do that in the past, so I won’t write it off as a light just yet. It could end up holding my hair up more than I think it will. It’s time to find out exactly how it does hold.

  

I was able to get a little more height than I thought I would, but not that much. I’d say this one is on the heavier end of the light spectrum, or kind of in between a light and a medium. I got more of a lower profile doo going with this stuff. And as for the shine, it stayed, but kind of turned into more of a high matte shine rather than the glossy look it gave my hair when I first applied it. I quite like the shine it gives my hair, not many products have a high matte shine to them. I was hoping it would have stayed glossy though to be honest. However, I am happy with the shine just the same. And I’m pretty happy with the results this product gives me, hold and control wise.

  

It didn’t tame my cowlick as much as I was hoping for, but that’s ok. After I combed it in, I hadn’t really expected it to control my cowlick much. And it did a little better of a job than I thought it was going to. This stuff also kept almost all of my stray hairs and flyaways tucked in nicely too. I only had a couple on the left side that didn’t want to stay put, but that was it. Another thing I was quite content with, was how this stuff set up. It didn’t harden up like I had thought it would. I had expected it to harden up a bit like their Cream Beeswax does, but it didn’t. Instead it only slightly gummed up a bit, but it still felt soft to the touch. Like I could easily recomb it without water and without getting and flakes or anything. The scent also stays nice and present once you get it in your hair and it sets up. I don’t know what it is about this scent, but I really like it a lot. I think it’s my favorite scent out of any cream or paste that I own and have tried so far.

  

At the end of the day I checked my hair to see how it held up. Surprisingly it held up really nicely for a lighter product. My hair seemed to be pretty much in the same place as it was in the morning. Even my strays and flyaways stayed tucked in all throughout the day. The only thing I noticed was one split over by my part, but other than that my hair seemed to stay in place all day. Just like with their other water solubles, it came out with just a little water when I went to wash it out. And my hair felt nice and soft after I dried it off too. Softer than it was before I used this stuff. I’m definitely happy about that! I had figured this stuff wouldn’t dry out my hair, but I didn’t expect it to soften my hair. So it was a nice surprise when I felt my hair and saw that this stuff kind of conditioned my hair.

I was definitely happy with how this stuff was. I’m really liking this stuff a lot. There really isn’t a negative thing that I can say about it at all. Everything from the packaging to every aspect of the performance. This stuff really is a great product, and I highly recommend trying it out. Head on over to the The Grease Shop website, http://www.thegreaseshop.com to get yourself a tub of it. While you’re there, check out their other new products as well. They have quite a few new awesome products. Big thank you again to my friend Jim for sending me this awesome product to try out and review. I really did enjoy it a lot and can’t wait to get to the other products in this line.

Stay slick fellas,

-JC

Lucky 13 – Junior’s Gel

Alright water soluble fans, I’m back with another one for you guys. After having this stuff for a while and not trying it I figured now’s the time. Besides it’s been forever since I checked out a Lucky 13 product. Let’s see how this gel holds up, shall we?
  

It comes in the same 4 ounce clear plastic jar as the Swagger Cream does. It also has the same type labeling, one on the lid, and one that wraps around the jar. The lid label is a fighting cock in front of an orange bar which sits on top of tan and off white rays. The rooster has boxing gloves on, which is why I said fighting cock, for those of you who don’t know about cock fighting. In the orange bar it says “holds and shines” to the left of the rooster, and “washes right out” to the right of him. Below the rooster is “Junior’s” in varsity style lettering, and “gel pomade” in plain text. To the right of that is the Lucky 13 logo, and the Murray’s company name. For those of you who don’t know, all the Lucky 13 products were made by Murray’s. Lastly, above the rooster it says “for that one – two punch over the weekend” in the same plain text as below the rooster. As for the side label, it has the exact same design as the lid label in the center of it, with the exception of the company logo being to the left of the rooster this time. To the right of the design is the company info, the ingredients list, and some aspects of the product. To the left of the design is the barcode, directions, and a blurb about the product. I’ve always liked this label a lot. It has a cool design to it, and I really like the color scheme. It’s not a usual combination of colors and images that you see. And I think that’s part of what makes me like it as much as I do.

  

Opening the jar up, you see the red goop inside that you could kind of see from the outside. It has a very very shiny surface to it, and kind of looks like it is a softer gel. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any gel as shiny as this on the surface before. Well, apart from soft gels, but this one isn’t like that. This one is by far the shiniest one I’ve seen out of any ringing gel or premium gel that I’ve ever come across. I’m really hoping that will come into play when using this stuff. The smell of this one is a pretty familiar scent. It reminds me a lot of Uppercut’s ringing gel, or the Admiral ringing gel I reviewed. That kind of slightly fruity scent that’s not very strong. This one doesn’t smell as chemically as those two did though. In fact, you have to really smell it to get even the slightest hint of that familiar ringing gel chemical type scent. And to be honest, I’m very glad it’s so faint in this one. I’ve never been a big fan of that scent. So it’s nice when products either don’t have it, or you can barely smell it in them.

  

Scooping it out was slightly difficult to my surprise. Now, I don’t mean it was a very firm gel that was hard to scoop. What I mean is, it was very slippery and had a watery layer on the outside when I scooped it out. That combined with the type of jar and how low it was filled, really made it a challenge to get a decent scoop out. I’ve never come across a gel doing this before either. I have to say, it was quite odd to see, or feel rather, this when I went to scoop it out. I’m really hoping that this doesn’t affect the hold, or that the product has degraded/broken down over time or started to separate or something. I guess I’ll find out in just a minute what the deal is.

When I started to work it around in my palms the water texture went away and it became pretty firm and tacky. It felt much more heavy that I was expecting from how it scooped out. Once I had worked it around I felt a lot better that this stuff hadn’t broken down over time. It didn’t feel like ringing gels do when they start to fall apart, but rather like it was still good. I still don’t know what the watery texture was all about though. As I applied it to my hair I was surprised again by this stuff. It went in much easier than it should have based on the heaviness it had in my hands. It actually went in more like a lighter medium ringing gel, rather than the heavy it felt like in my hands. Combing it was also really easy, and it went in evenly pretty quick too. I quite liked how it combed as well, it feels like it is going to have nice hold and be easy to style. I also noticed that this stuff has a fair amount of shine to it. Almost as much as a pomade does. That is always a good thing when it comes to gel products since they usually don’t have much shine to them, if any at all.

  

Just as I thought, this one was really easy to style and gave me decent hold. I wasn’t able to get my hair as rounded outward as I wanted, but I did get a fairly round shape to my hair. As well as some decent height and nice control. I didn’t have a bunch of stray hairs or flyaways, and it did a great job of keeping my cowlicks in check too. Plus, as you can see, the shine is really nice as well. It looks more like I have a pomade in my hair, rather than a gel. Even the way it left my hair looking was more like I had a pomade in it. So far I’m digging this stuff quite a bit.

Another awesome thing about this stuff is that it doesn’t harden up. After about an hour I felt my hair and it wasn’t hardened at all, not even gummy feeling. It sets up a lot like Cool Grease in the blue tub does.the hold on this one lasts nicely throughout the day as well. My hair didn’t seem to move any, and my cowlicks hadn’t shown through either. I was really happy about that, because I had expected them to since it didn’t harden or gum up at all. I figured after a little while they would open up a bit, but they didn’t. The shine also stayed all day long too. At the end of day one I have to say I’m pretty impressed with this stuff. It really did a great job all around.

The next morning I jumped in the shower and washed this stuff out of my hair. And just as I had expected, it came out with just a little bit of water. My hair did feel a bit dried out though once I rinsed it all out of my hair. I decided not to put any conditioner in my hair, just so I could see exactly how much my hair was dried out. To my surprise, once I dried my hair off, it didn’t feel dried out much at all. Only slightly, like I had used a deep cleansing shampoo or something. It wasn’t nearly as bad as a lot of other ringing gels leave it. As I went about using it for the second time, I was met with virtually a repeat of day one. The only real difference I noticed between the two days was that I got a tiny bit more of a forward doo. I was able to bring it forward a little bit more that on the first day. Everything else seemed to be the exact same as the first day though. From the scoop, to application, and the lasting hold and control it had again. I’m really starting to like this stuff quite a bit. At the end of the second day I washed it out of my hair and felt to see if it dried it out more. Surprisingly, it hadn’t dried my hair out more at all. It felt the same as it did after I got out of the shower that morning. Usually these products progressively dry your hair out as the days go on when you use it. However, every once in a while a product doesn’t do that. This stuff is one of those that doesn’t, and I was very happy to see that it wasn’t.

After using it for a couple days, I have to say I really dig this stuff. The only thing that was odd about it was that watery texture it had. It’s not a big deal at all though, as it had no effect whatsoever on the products performance at all. I still have no idea why it was like that, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. This stuff is definitely a product I recommend trying out, even if you aren’t a water based fan. It really performs more like a pomade than a ringing gel in just about every aspect. Really, the texture is the only difference, and that’s easy to get past. The only downfall is that this product has since been discontinued. So it’s going to be harder and harder to find some as time goes on. I do know that some places still have some stock of it though. So if I were you, I’d snag a jar or two while you still can. It is definitely worth the money to have this stuff. I know I will be trying to get myself a few more jars of this stuff before it’s gone for good. It’s kind of a bummer that they’re no longer making the Lucky 13 products. They were/are really good products. Anyway, snag yourself some of this one if you can, you won’t regret it.

Stay slick,

-JC

Barber Side – Shaving Cream (Orange Sickle)

Hey gents, I’m finally checking out another one of Barber Side’s shaving creams. A couple months back my good buddy Marvin sent me a few items, and one of them happened to be the orange sickle scented shaving cream. So today I’m gonna check that one out. I’m very curious to see if it’s the exact same as the sandalwood vanilla one was, or if it’s different all together.  

It comes in the same huge black plastic tub that the other cream came in, but the labeling is a bit different. This time it’s just white with black writing, instead of it being tan with red writing. Also, the font is different this time too. This label has a rosewood type font on it, which you know I’m a big fan of. These types of letters are some of my absolute favorites out there! I really like them a lot, and like all the diverse types there are. They really are a cool type of lettering. The layout of the label is the same, with the name of the product in big letters in the center, and a straight razor behind it. Just like last time, the razor has a barber pole for the handle. On the far left side it has the name of the company, also in the rosewood font, and the scent name in regular font. Then on the far right side is the ingredients, company info, barcode, and directions. Apart from the font and color change, the label is exactly the same. I think it would look even cooler if the label was tan with black and red colored rosewood font. I do really like the change in the label’s design, this one looks better than the old one with the new font.

  

When I opened up the tub, I saw that the cream inside looks like it’s the exact same as the sandalwood vanilla one. So I’m guessing it’s going to perform the same way the other one did, but I could be wrong. It could surprise me and be different even though it looks the same. The scent of this one is just awesome! It smells so good and strong, yet not overpowering. When you first smell it, you get the immediate orange scent. Then it is followed by a crisp clean note, and the familiar shave cream scent wraps it all up. The cream scent isn’t as strong as it is with most other creams though. It is much more mellow in this one. This shaving cream has one of the best scents by far, I really like it a lot.

  

I ended up forgetting to take a picture of the cream on my brush, because I was digging the scent so much I couldn’t wait to start shaving and started building my lather. So I decided to grab a second brush and put a little bit of the cream on it to show you guys what that looks like. However, this brush decided to not cooperate very well and the cream ended up scattered all over the brush tips. So it’s not the best view of how the cream looks on a brush. Every once in a while I get ahead of myself and forget to take pictures at certain stages of the review. I haven’t done it in a while though, so apparently I was overdue for it haha. Anyway, let’s get back to the review now.
  

I did however remember to take a picture of the lather part way through me working it up. The reason I did this is because I noticed that the lather of this one was way different than the other cream. This lather is very bubbly and foamy like how bubble bath foam is. I was really surprised to see this, because I have never seen a shave cream or soap lather up this way before. They usually are much different, but it was a cool change up. I just hope the lather does well when it comes time to shave. This one did build the lather up really quickly too. I took the picture above after only 10 seconds of swirling my brush around in the bowl.

  

After just 30 seconds the lather was built up nicely, and as you can see, even more foamy than it was before. It looks like I scooped out some bubbles from my sons bath haha. I’ve never seen a shave product lather up like this before, it’s quite odd, but kind of cool at the same time. Another cool thing about this cream is how the scent fills up the bathroom once you build up your lather. When it filled the air though, it reminded me of that orange scented air freshener that fancy places use in their bathrooms. Which isn’t a bad thing, or scent, it just brings a fancy bathroom to my mind is all.

  

Anyway, I went on to take a picture of how the lather fills up both brushes. And as you can see, this stuff packs brushes super full with lather. I’ve only had one other product fill up my brush this much, which was that Schmiere shave soap. It really does a nice job of filling up different types of brushes too. I used both a synthetic brush and a cheap-o boars hair brush, and the cream packed both of them to the gills. I’m definitely happy with this cream so far. The foamy lather still throws me for a loop though. I just can’t get over how different it is. Especially coming from the same company as the other cream. However, I guess each one of the creams is a different type of cream, rather than the same cream just in different scents. Which is definitely a cool thing for me. As most of you know, I like variety when it comes to shave products. And while I like the other cream a lot, it’s nice to have a different type of cream at the same time.

  

I then slapped the lather on my face. And that’s when I saw the familiar lather I know from shaving creams. Once I applied it to my face, it got much thicker and turned into the lather that we all know and love from shaving creams like this. As you can see, it’s now more thick and cloud like, just like how their other shave cream is. It coats my face and whiskers really well, and doesn’t get any streaks or thin spots in it. I also really like the way the scent is right under my nose. The orange really stands out once you get the lather on your face, it’s quite nice. Now on to shaving!

With the first pass of my razor, I immediately liked this cream a lot. It does a really great job of trapping my whiskers and keeping them out of my razor. I also liked how the lather rolls over the bar of my razor too. It makes it super easy to rinse off. I literally just had to dip it in the water and move my razor one way and all the lather and whiskers were off my razor. This was a really awesome aspect of this cream! And it made for a very nice shave, and a quick one too. The fact that I was using a great blade also helped as well. I was really happy with how this cream had performed so far. Really, every aspect of it was great from opening the tub until the final pass of my razor. Very very happy with this cream.

  
One thing that really surprised me when using this cream was how most of my whiskers sank to the bottom of the sink. Now usually, my whiskers float on the water, as you see a few of them doing in the picture. However, for some reason, when I used this cream almost all of them sank to the bottom of the sink. It was really odd to see this happen, and made me wonder why it did. I can’t think of anything other than something in the cream attaching to them and weighing them down to where they sank instead of floating on the surface of the water. This isn’t really anything good or bad when it comes to the cream itself, I just found it odd and thought I’d throw that in the review.

  
After I had let my face dry I felt it to see how the cream affected my face, if at all. To my relief, this cream did leave my face feeling a little bit soft. It didn’t really moisturize my face a lot and leave it super soft, but there was a noticeable difference. I didn’t really know what to expect, since this one is different from their other cream. It was nice to see that the cream did leave my face a bit soft though. And I could still smell the scent lingering on my face after I rinsed off too. They really should make an aftershave with this scent to go with this cream. Just like with the Schmiere shave soap, I had a slightly difficult time picking an aftershave to go with this cream. I ended up using a bergamot aftershave, since orange and bergamot kind of go together. It would be much better if there was an aftershave with this same scent though. This scent really is nice, and I for sure wouldn’t mind smelling like this all day long.

All in all, this cream was a winner for me. I really liked everything about it, and enjoyed all the little surprises it threw my way. I also liked that it was a bit different from their other cream as well. It makes me very interested to try out their 3rd shaving cream too. And after using this cream for a few months, I have to say, it’s become one of my favorites in my collection. I highly recommend you guys trying this stuff out! You won’t regret it at all, it really is a great shave cream. Huge thank you to my friend Marvin again for sending me this cream to review and try out! I really enjoyed it man, and can’t wait to try out the 3rd cream. Head on over to http://www.barberside.com to get yourself a tub of this cream. And while you’re there make sure you check out their other products! They have a lot of awesome stuff, you can read my reviews on all of their products, except the 3rd shaving cream, here on my blog. Just search “Barber Side” up in the search bar and you can see all of them and how they perform.

Til next time,

-JC

The Holy Black

Hey guys I’m back with another ringing gel today. This time I’m checking out The Holy Black ringing gel. The owner was awesome enough to send me a tub of this stuff a few months back to try out. And as many of you know, I had some stuff come up that kind of put my reviews on hold for a little while. However, I’m back now, and it’s time to give this stuff a go!
  
When I was talking to the owner, he had told me that him and the owner of Whiskey Wax had previously been partners. They ended up parting ways and each creating their own brand, instead of doing things together. He also told me, that this stuff’s original formula was really similar to the Whiskey Wax one, but that he had it changed so that his product stood apart from the other one. That really intrigued me, and made me pretty stoked to see how this one is compared to the Whiskey Wax one I reviewed a while back. They come in the same container, a dark brown plastic tub with a metal screw on lid. It’s the same type of tub that the old Bona Fide gels came in. Only this time the lid is black instead of brass colored. This lid also has labeling printed on it, unlike the Whiskey Wax one. The labeling is printed right on the tub like how it is on the Whiskey Wax one though. However, this labeling is much cooler looking in my opinion. It’s all white on the dark tub, which almost looks black. On the lid in a rosewood type font, it has the company name inside some filigree with two straight razors on either side, and two banners above and below it. Then on the side of the tub, it has a different style of rosewood type font again in the center. On the left side of that is the directions and website, and on the right side is the ingredients list. These types of fonts are some of my favorites out there for sure. And you know I’m a fan of filigree laced designs. Which put this one right up my alley. It’s not a super flashy design, being just words and filigree, but it looks really cool. Another cool thing that I like about this labeling, is that you can feel it raised up on the tub since it’s screen printed on there. It doesn’t stick up a lot, but you can feel it when you run your finger across it.

  
When I opened up the tub I wasn’t surprised to see a product that looks nearly identical to Whiskey Wax. It appears to have the same texture, and the color of it is a tiny bit darker, but pretty much the same color as Whiskey Wax. The scent is where I notice the first difference. This one has a bay and lime infused whiskey scent to it, rather than just lime and whiskey. It also has a slight soapy note to it as well, and the whiskey note isn’t as strong. You really smell the bay up front, then the lime and soapy scents, and the whiskey is kind of the softest note of them all. Very unique scent that’s for sure. I’m not sure how I like this one just yet. It’s not that I don’t like the scent, I’m just not sure about it yet. It’s kind of an odd scent, I’ve never smelled anything like it before.

  
Scooping this stuff out was nearly identical to that Whiskey Wax stuff. This makes me wonder how much different this stuff really is compared to that one. Especially because when I broke it down in my hands it felt just like Whiskey Wax too. This one may be a tad bit more tacky than Whiskey Wax, but other than that it feels the same. Just like a lot of medium ringing gels do. The scent gets a little bit stronger when you break it down in your hands, and the bay scent comes through a little more than when it’s in the tub.

As I applied it to my hair I noticed the first difference. This one has more resistance to it when you apply it to your hair. It wasn’t hard to apply, it just didn’t go in as easy as Whiskey Wax did. The second difference was that there was some product left on my hands after applying it to my hair. Which is typical for these types of products, but for some reason Whiskey Wax doesn’t leave any on your hands after applying it. Combing it was just how I expected it to be, a little resistance at first, then a bit easier after I got it worked in. It didn’t take too long to get it dispersed evenly either. At least not as long as ringing gels usually take anyway.

  
The biggest difference I noticed about this stuff was how it styled. I was able to get a pretty decent doo going with this one, unlike Whiskey Wax. It has quite a bit more control to it, and I was able to get quite a bit more height. The shape of my hair also was a lot better, and I didn’t have a bunch of areas split open like I did with Whiskey Wax. So far this one is proving to be quite a bit better than the other stuff.

  
I was quite pleased with how my hair turned out, maybe because I was expecting results similar to Whiskey Wax. As you can see though, the results are much better. This one also gave my hair a little bit more shine than Whiskey Wax did. Now it doesn’t give my hair a lot of shine, but noticeably more than the other one does for sure. I was also able to get a much more rounded front too. And like I was saying before, I didn’t get any splits over by my part like I did with Whiskey Wax. I was very happy with that as well. That’s one thing I’m not too fond of when it comes to products. If they don’t have good control and let my hair split open, I tend not to like or use them very much.

  
After about an hour I checked my hair to see how it set up and to see if it had fallen or split open at all. I was surprised to see that it hadn’t at all, and it looked like the shine had increased a little as well. When I felt my hair, I was surprised at how it set up. For some reason, it didn’t set up the same all over. Some areas were not hard or gummy feeling at all, some places were slightly gummed up, and some were hardened. I’m not sure why it did this, but it was like I put three different products in my hair. It was very odd to feel that in my hair. I don’t know if maybe certain parts of my hair were more damp than others or what the deal was, but it really surprised me how it set up.

  
At the end of the day I checked to see how my hair had held up. I was happy to see that my hair didn’t move too much at all. The only things I noticed were that my cowlick had opened a little, and I had a couple hairs kind of stick up. Other than that, my hair seemed to be in the same place it was when it had set up earlier. The shine seemed to have gone away by the end of the day though. I was a little surprised to see that happen. Usually the shine will stay throughout the day, but not with this stuff. It’s not really a big deal that it went away, I just hadn’t expected it to. I went and took a shower that night and just like with most ringing gels, this stuff comes out with just a little water. However unlike with most products like this one, my hair wasn’t left dried out by this one. My hair actually felt nice and soft, and didn’t feel the least bit dried out. It was like I hadn’t used a ringing gel at all that day. I was definitely happy with this aspect of this product. It’s really nice when the occasional ringing gel doesn’t dry out my hair and scalp. I’ve gotten used to the fact that they do, but it is a very welcomed surprise when one doesn’t.

So far I’m pretty happy with this stuff. And there is definitely a difference, or multiple differences, between this one and Whiskey Wax for sure. They’re all positive differences too. I’ve got to say, after using them both, The Holy Black is better than Whiskey Wax for sure. It has better hold and control, more shine, and doesn’t dry your hair and scalp out one bit. This is definitely one I would recommend trying out, especially if you like ringing gels and other water based products. I will for sure be using this stuff again in the future, and will get another tub of it when I run out. To get yourself a tub of it, head to their website http://www.theholyblack.com and pick one up. Thank you again to the folks at The Holy Black Trading Co for sending me this jar to test out and review. I really enjoyed the product a lot, and appreciate the opportunity. I can’t wait to try out your other products too! If you’re into wet shaving, make sure you check out their shave stuff while you’re on the site. They have some really awesome stuff up on there! Well, until the next one….

Stay slick,

-JC

Hammered Mules – Shave Bowl

Hello gents, I am finally back with another shave bowl review. I know it’s been quite a while since my last one, but I just hadn’t bought any new ones recently. However, I did get this one in recently. I was plinkin’ around on eBay a couple months ago, and stumbled across this one listing. It expired before I could buy the bowl though. So I messaged the company about getting one, because it interested me and I wanted to try it out and review it. To my surprise they emailed me personally and offered to send me a bowl to review!! Can’t thank you guys enough for sending me this awesome bowl to review! I appreciate it very much. Let’s get started on this bowl, shall we?

  
This bowl isn’t your average shaving bowl. For one, it’s copper instead of clay, porcelain, plastic, etc etc., and second it has a handle like a mug does. I’m not sure how the handle will come into play with the use of this bowl, if it does at all. You can clearly tell this was hand made from all the hammer marks and the welds where the handle is attached. For me, this really adds a nice aesthetic to the bowl, and gives it a uniqueness. It’s about the same size around as my Col. Conk shave bowl, but has a much bigger opening and is taller as well. At the bottom is a space that I’m guessing they made for shave soap puck to go. It’s a tad bit bigger around than your average puck, and is only about 1/4″ deep, but it does allow a puck to sit in it nicely. Other than the sticker on the bottom that has the company name and a donkey on it, there are no other markings on the bowl anywhere. To be honest, I had kind of expected some sort of acid or laser etched logo to be on the side or the bottom of the bowl. However, the company opted for just a clear sticker on the bottom of the bowl. Doing so makes the bowl very clean looking, and gives it more of a handmade look. Whereas an etched logo would kind of show more of a mass produced product. So I totally get their reason for going with just the sticker.

I really like the polished and shiny look this bowl has to it! I will have to make sure to take very good care of it to make the shiny polished finish stay that way as long as possible. It will naturally build a patina over time from the oils in my skin/hands, as well as the things in the water. That’s just the nature of metals, and especially copper. Copper is a softer metal, kind of like gold, so it easily gets scratched, and bent, and all that jazz. It also tarnishes easier than other metals, and builds a natural patina quicker as well. I’ve seen some really really beautiful antique copper items that have gained such awesome patinas to them! Each one having a completely unique tarnish to it. I really hope that after the luster of this bowl is no longer there, that it develops a cool looking unique tarnish/patina to it! That will take years and years to accomplish though. Hopefully I still have my blog and can show you guys by then haha.

I will be showcasing this bowl in every way I can for you guys. First I will test it out as strictly a lather building bowl. And then I will try it out with a puck inside of it also. As well as a shaving cream usage bowl too. I have to say, I really like the size and shape of this bowl a lot! It fits in my hand perfectly. I had thought the handle might kind of get in my way, but it doesn’t. I just turn it around to where it’s in between my thumb and pinky, and I’m able to grip the bowl from the bottom quite well. This will allow me to really work up a good lather with my brush I think.

  
I’m going to start by using it as just a lather bowl, even though it has that indentation in it. I started with just a soap I have previously reviewed and had been using for a little while. I wanted to use something familiar so I would be able to see if there was any difference in using this bowl versus my usual one. I noticed a difference with this bowl almost immediately. The indentation allows me to build up the lather a lot quicker. My regular bowl is just a smooth wide bowl, whereas this one has a smooth curve, but also has the indentation. And that right angle allowed me to build up the lather much faster. Other than that though, I didn’t notice any difference in the lather’s quality or texture when using this bowl. The lather seemed to be the same as when I use my other bowl, it just got there quicker. Which is definitely a good thing when you’re in a hurry and need to shave quickly.

 

This bowl really did a good job as a lather bowl. There was quite a bit of lather left in the bowl after I brushed some on my face. I really like the shape and size of it too. It is really easy to grip with my hand and scoop the lather out with my brush. A bit easier than my regular bowl actually. So far I’m liking this bowl quite a bit. I do have some more testing to do with this one though before I make a final judgement of how I like it.
   

After rinsing the bowl out I was pleased to see that the shiny finish was still very present. I didn’t really expect it to diminish at all after just one use, but sometimes things can surprise you. I did see some scratch marks in the bowl from my brush though. They’re very small and light, but they were there. You can kind of see them a little bit in the very bottom down in the indentation area. That part isn’t as shiny, because of the brushes scratch marks. I half expected this to happen though. Like I said before, copper is a softer metal and is very easily scratched and whatnot. All said and done, the first trial of this bowl was really nice. I was happy with it all around. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this bowl builds up a patina too. I think this bowl will really start to look cool after a year or two of using it.

  
The second way I am testing this bowl is with shaving cream. I picked another tried and true shaving cream that I’ve used quite a few times and know how it normally is. However, this time I switched up my brushes and am using my Simpson badger brush. I really like how this brush works up shaving cream lather, so I decided to use it this time. Just like with the soap, the cream’s lather built up really quickly. Faster than it does in my other bowl. I also noticed that there was a bit more lather than I usually get using my normal bowl too. This is definitely a plus for you guys that do 2 or 3 passes when shaving. You will easily have more than enough lather when using a cream in this shave bowl. I was very happy with how much lather I was able to get and how quickly I was able to get it.

The second test of this bowl was awesome. I liked it even more than the first time I used it! Again I noticed more scratches once I rinsed the bowl out. These are giving the inside of the bowl a worn look really quickly. Quite a bit sooner than I had expected to be honest. I figured it would take a fair amount of usage before I’d see a worn look to the inside of the bowl. However, after just using it twice, it looks like I’ve been shaving with this bowl for a month or two. I’m kind of surprised it’s taking on this look so quickly. It’s not a bad thing, I just wasn’t expecting it to do so that’s all. I am liking this bowl a lot though, and can easily recommend it as a shave bowl just after using it twice.

  
For the third test I did of this bowl, I decided to switch things up a lot. I went with a new shaving cream, and a synthetic brush this time. Well, sort of a new cream. It’s a different scent of Barber Side’s shaving cream. Just like the last two times, after just a few seconds the lather had built up pretty much all the way. As you can see there’s quite a bit in my brush and in the bowl. That indentation and the way I’m able to grasp this bowl really makes it super easy to work up lather. And not just with creams, but with soap as well. I’m really liking that about this bowl a lot. It’s kind of spoiling me haha, because now I’m not wanting to use my other bowl as much. This one allows me to build up a really good lather very quickly, and gives me more lather than I usually get from my other bowl. I did try using the handle while I finished working up the lather, but I didn’t really like it much. It’s a bit awkward for me to hold it by the handle and swirl my brush around. I much prefer grabbing the bowl by the bottom and working up the lather that way instead. It’s much easier, and produces lather a lot quicker.

   

When I went to use this bowl with a puck in it, I found that all my pucks were stuck in my other mugs and bowls. And I didn’t want to try and pry any of them out, so I opted to save this test for the next time I review a new puck. With me just starting on a new cream review, I didn’t want to also start a shave soap review. I tried that in the past and it just didn’t work all that well for me. So I’ve just stuck to reviewing one thing at a time when it comes to creams and soaps. I will for sure test this bowl out that way and either update this review, or add in the soap review how this bowl does using it with a puck inside it.

  
I did use the bowl quite a few times each way I tested it though, to make sure I put I through a good amount of use. And after having this bowl for a few months and using it quite a bit, I took some pictures of how it has “worn” so to speak. The first one is the shot of the inside of the bowl. As you can see, there are quite a few scratch marks from my brushes on the inside. Also, the shine it used to have had gone down quite a bit, and the inside is nowhere near as shiny as it used to be. There’s also some dark spots that have started to form on the inside too, kind of starting the buildup of its patina. It’s not a huge difference from how it was when I first got it new, but you can tell that it’s starting to get an aged and worn look to it a bit.

  
The next picture I took was kind of an angled view of the outside, with a little bit of the inside showing as well. I took this one to kind of show how the handle and the rim look. The handle, even though I didn’t grab it much, has lost nearly all of the shine it had to it. And the rim was the same way, which I knew it would be. I often run my brush over it when scooping out the lather. I also sometimes scrape my brush over the edge of the bowl to get excess lather off of it. So I knew the rim would lose its shine, and start to kind of take on a patina to it. The inside of rim has also gained a darker look to it. Now, it had already been slightly darker than the rest of the bowl when I first got it, but it has definitely gotten darker since I’ve been using it. There’s also some dark spots that you can see on the outside of the bowl just under the rim too. These spots got really dark for some reason, and only these spots. I’m not exactly sure what happened there, as I always wiped it off well after using it. And I never left any lather or water spots on the bowl at all. Nonetheless, these two really dark spots came to be on the outside of the bowl.

  
The other pics I took were of both sides of the bowl so you could see how it has “aged” since I’ve been using it. The outside has held up its shine pretty nicely. I mean you can easily see the discoloration and start of a patina building on the outside, but the shine is still there unlike the inside. I was kind of surprised it stayed as shiny as it did with me grabbing it by the sides each time. I had kind of expected the oils from my hands to affect it more, but they didn’t. They definitely aided in slightly discoloring it, but didn’t take the shine down at all. So far I’m really happy with how this bowl has aged and whatnot. I’m really liking the look it has to it after being used for a few months.

As far as the performance of the bowl goes, I give this one a high recommendation. It’s definitely a bowl all of you wet shave enthusiasts and collectors should have in your collection! I really liked everything about this bowl. I don’t have any negative, or even slightly non-positive, to say about it. It really was a great bowl, and has become my favorite that I own. I still like all of my other bowls just fine, it’s just that this one has become my favorite. It’s kind of the perfect bowl for me. I strongly suggest you guys get yourself one of these for your collection/shelf/den, and soon! To get one, just go on their website http://www.hammeredmules.com and put one in your cart. Huge thank you again to the owner of Hammered Mules for sending me this awesome bowl! I really loved it a lot! I hope you don’t mind that I took my time with the review and waited to post it until it built up a little bit of a patina on it. I just wanted to show how this bowl aged so to speak. Anyway, thank you again very much! I look forward to trying out another one of your mugs or bowls in the future!! Seriously guys, check out their stuff ASAP! You won’t regret it, it’s quality stuff.

Stay fresh fellas,
-JC