REUZEL Red pomade
I recently picked up a little thin can of the REUZEL red water pomade at Eleganza. To my knowledge this is the only shop in town that carries the REUZEL suite of products in the National Capital Region. The red can is the “High Sheen” iteration of the pomade product, while the blue can is their regular water based formulation. Since I have been consistently impressed with the REUZEL blue, trying the red product was a natural step.
First off, the actual pomade is somewhat more clear or transparent that the pomade in the blue can. It was also firmer on contact and needs more relaxing. On application it felt literally the same as the blue product. But I was surprised to see that I ended up using more product than I normally do in order to get my desired hair placement. Something like 2 to 3 scoops more than what I normally use of the blue pomade.
What I am referring to as a “scoop” is what you see on my finger in the above picture. Pomade being what it is, very little of the product is needed to get fantastic results.
As for the feel in the hair, I got the impression that one is somewhat stickier than the Blue pomade. That might very well be because I also ended up using more. The product dries in place in about an hour and retains some level of its stickiness. The hair is firm but not in a crunchy state like what you might get with gel. In that sense it is easy to restyle.
As this is the “HIGH SHEEN” concoction, I was expecting a fairly shiny outcome. Maybe not as shiny as some of the old school products I have been sampling lately, like Brylcreem for example, but some shine. The Blue REUZEL doesn’t really shine and the Red REUZEL shines more by maybe one increment. It is really minor. In that light, I would say that if you want to try the REUZEL water based pomade, the Red and Blue are in practicality interchangeable.
If shine is what you are mostly after you might consider trying an oil or petroleum based pomade. They hold very well and give considerably more shine than water based products. Just be aware that washing an oil or petroleum based pomade is a different beast. Best case scenario, 2 shampoos.
Scent wise, the Red and Blue were identical. A nice and fairly discreet honey scent.
It being being water soluble or water based makes it very easy to wash out. The product essentially rinses out under the shower.
Something I have been considering but have yet to try is combining products together. For example, using the REUZEL Blue as the main fixative and then applying a very small coat of Brylcreem for shine. The folks at Hair Junkie were advising me on doing that during my last visit. Their suggestion was to in fact mix the two product before application
Here is the rating on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is a perfect score.
- Hold: 4
- Shine: 3.5
- Texture: 4
- Feel in hair: 4
- Facility to wash out: 5
The Barbers that run and own the “Schorem” barber shop in Rotterdam are also the guys behind the REUZEL brand. Below is a short documentary about how they came to be. The spirit and purpose of these guys is totally inspiring. They speak and live “style”.
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