Clubman-Pinaud Firm Hold Pomade

This morning I am stoked to be trying out something from the iconic Clubman-Pinaud brand: their new firm hold pomade.  With the huge pomade movement it was somewhat odd that a brand that was there at the beginning was not partaking into the pomade revival. Pinaud has been around and making men look better since 1810.  That’s some serious staying power.  Once you try a product of theirs you will appreciate why they have stayed in business this long.  To date I have tried of number of items in their range.  Check out the posts: Pinaud.  Their products are of a good quality and are within every man’s budget.  Those 2 criteria’s are crucial and speak to the point that you don’t have to remortgage your house in order to get quality grooming products.

You should know up front that Clubman-Pinaud is not a brand that is sold everywhere.  This is not because it is an elitist brand – nothing could be further from the truth! But they have positioned themselves as a “Barber” brand.  In that light, you will find Pinaud products at your barber shop as opposed to your local pharmacy.  My jar was supplied by the awesome Team at OBSCO in the Ottawa Byward market. OBSCO is Ottawa’s Barbers and Hair Stylist supply store.  You can find anything from the Pinaud Pomade to your Barber chair.

Shout out to Amanda and welcome back to the shop!  Thank you for your continued support of Style4Men.ca.

Clubman-Pinaud has had the Brilliantine pomade out forever, but they have been working on expanding their hair fixative offering and have produced the following new options:

• Light Hold pomade
• Medium Hold pomade
• Firm Hold Pomade
• Molding Putty
• Molding Paste

So about this firm hold pomade; it comes in a rather unassuming little jar and sports a happy orange hue.  Our timeless and iconic gentleman is still proudly standing and representing the brand.

The jar looks somewhat smaller than the standard jar.  It’s higher and more narrow than the common flatter jars, but weight’s in at 113 g so you are getting a proper amount. Personally, I like that the jar is see through because it’s an easy visual reference.  The pomade looks and feels a bit like a firm gel, which in some respect it is.  Many water based pomades are also referred to as ringing gels.  That being said, pomades include waxes and oils as part of their mix while gels typically do not.  These additions render overall better results; the hair can be reworked, there is no flaking, your hair and scalp is not dried out and lastly these oils and extracts nourish your scalp and hair.

After sporting this pomade for the last 2 days, I can say that I am impressed.  It’s a proper pomade that is easy to work with and does what it’s suppose to do.  I will admit that it did not hold my mope the whole day, but there is allot of hair to hold up there with my bangs being about 8 inches long.  A simple reapplication around 4 PM did the trick to get me through the evening.

Every pomade maker has a slightly different scale for product performance and obviously they are rating it compared to their own product offering.  Clubman is labeling this a strong hold.  Based on my product testing, I would suggest medium to firm hold.

Here is a little before and after demonstration using the Clubman-Pinaud strong hold pomade.

  

The fragrance used in this product is extremely timid and I can barely identify some orange or maybe tangerine. Having a good pomade to turn too that doesn’t have a dominating fragrance competing with my cologne, is often a nice thing to have.  For that discretion, I like it.

As with any pomade, shine is one of the two main considerations.  Hold being the second consideration.  As with many water based pomade, shine is not outrageous here. I would say it simply gives a healthy natural glow.

Above I mentioned the Brillantine pomade that Pinaud still produces. Is there a parallel to be made between these pomades?  Most certainly! Scent wise, it’s very close and the new firm hold has a bit of an orange element which is not found in the Brillantine.  When comparing texture, they are essentially identical.  For the actual hold, again it is very comparable and I might even go as far as to say that I got slightly stronger hold with the Brillantine if you can believe it.   That being said, the Brillantine is a forgotten pomade and it makes sense for Clubman to want to refresh itself and bring a new offering to the market.  Because bottom line not every guy out there is inclined in the vintage-nostalgia thing.

The ingredient list here is on the long side, but it’s not a full on chemical party.  Clubman has opted to use a number of plant and flower extracts to make this pomade and we thank them for that.  I am also pleased to report that there are no paraben here.

In closing, if you are new to the pomade gig and want to try a product from a company with the most experience out there, the Clubman-Pinaud Strong hold pomade is an excellent starting point.  The jar goes for $15.95.  You won’t be disappointed.

Here is the rating on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is a perfect score and the highest shine indicator.

• Hold: 4.5
• Shine: 3.5
• Texture: 5
• Feel in hair: 5
• Facility to wash out: 5

You can get this pomade as well as the rest of the Clubman-Pinaud range at:

Reminder: Mention STYLE4MEN when checking out for a 10% discount.