Natural Hair Clay by WSP

At Style4men.ca we are incredibly lucky to get to try and explore such an array of products.  But every now and then, it is very tempting to turn to a known and trusted pomade.  At the same time every day has to count on the testing roster.  This morning, I surmounted my urge to be lazy and reached over for a known pomade and instead opted to try out a product which I wasn’t initially expecting to have on our test bench; the hair clay tobacco scent from Wet Shaving Products (WSP).   The reason I wasn’t expecting this product is simply because I was initially not aware that the good folks at WSP also made a pomade, considering that the bulk of their business is in the “shaving” space.

Check out our other reviews covering WSP stuff.

Let’s just say that I wasn’t unpleased with this product at all!  Here is what I found.  First off, the labeling continues in the true WSP spirit and is perfect retro-vintage.  The simple choice of colours (orange, black and white) gives it a certain authenticity.  The container is actually the common shaving soap aluminium can.  That makes perfect sense for the folks at WSP to reuse one of their container and it also makes for a rare packaging in the pomade world.  Being a vintage buff, finding a metal container for any grooming product automatically give it a few bonus points.  Metal being 100% recyclable grants even more bonus points.

Based on the ingredient list, I knew that this hair fixative was to fit in the true Artisanal-natural space.

1. Butyrospermum Parkil (Shea Butter)
2. Kaolin (Clay)
3. Beeswax
4. Coconut Oil
5. Fragrance
6. Argania Spinsosa (Argan) oil

At 6 items, this is one of the shortest ingredients list I have encountered since launching Style4men.ca.  I am by no means an over-enthusiastic health disciple, but I am also not immune to the growing concerns of chemicals ingredients in our food and grooming products.  Seeing such a list is very encouraging.  I will admit that more and more pomade makers are following this approach and are producing healthier products, but this is not about them, this one is about WSP.

OK, so you’ve gone natural, now what? … and more importantly, is that stuff gonna hold my hair?  We will get to that very shortly.

I usually don’t pay much attention to the weight of a pomade container since it is generally in line with its volume.  The common weight/volume being 4 OZ  (113 gr).  This jar on the other hand felt like twice that weight.  It clocked in at 176 gr on my very scientific kitchen scale.  Yes the container is metal but that doesn’t account for the dramatically heavier total.  It’s quite simply that clay is heavier than the water pomades I normally work with.

Interesting…?  Won’t that make for a heavy product that will weight down my hair?  Fair question.  Suffice to know that you will use very little of this product to achieve proper styling and “No” I did not weight down my hair.

I have only worked with maybe a handful of natural pomades.  In all cases up to now, these products made my hair feel fantastic.  Healthy, smooth and basically revived.  But they had little to offer in the hold department, let alone all day commitment.  I was thus approaching this product with some skepticism.

Having clean and dry hair, I squirted a few shot of water mist with my Barber water spray bottle just to help with the application.  I scooped out about a dime size pearl.  Now be forewarned that this product is tough and you will have to work a little to scoop it out.  But as soon as I started warming it up in my palms it became creamy and very easy to apply.  My hair was a total curly disaster, but as soon as contact was made things got tamed.  Even faster than with a water based pomade.  I made sure to spread the product evenly and proceeded to comb things in place.  Very easy!  You can tell that the natural oils were coming to life and my hair looked awesome.

Now for the big question: how long is this gonna last?  Usually, the natural heat coming from your head is enough to relax these oil based solutions and make the styling fall down.  Not this one.  Clearly the balance of clay and oil works well.  The drive to work was no issue but the 12 minute walk in the windy street did a little damage.  No problem.  Comb things back in place.  This lasted until lunch.  I combed a total of 3 times during the day.  For a natural product, this is nothing short but impressive.

My hair looked incredibly natural, as in you could not tell that a product had been applied.  It was a very healthy looking shine and when touching the hair, I couldn’t tell that something had been applied.  If you are the kind of person who doesn’t like the feel of product in your mope, this is something that will totally interest you.  Folks with allergies or any skin ailments, take note: this healthy hair styling solution can totally give you a chance at doing something with your hair again.

Here is the rating on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is a perfect score and/or level of shine:

• Hold: 3.5
• Shine: 3.5
• Texture: 5
• Feel in hair: 5++
• Facility to wash out: 4

The product identifies itself at Tobacco scented.  I will admit barely being able to identify that scent.  It is extremely discreet, but this is also what I have noticed with other “clay” based preparations.  The clay scent is strong and can easily mask everything else.  Now this is not to say that this product smells of clay, no it remains a well balance arrangement of: clay, oil, soap and green tobacco and I liked it!

Shout to Mel at WSP for putting her trust in Style4men.ca for this review.  🙂

The Hair Clay by WSP is a proper natural styling clay that will actually hold your hair in place. From the previous research I did when making my own pre-shave oil, I was made aware of the incredible benefits of argan and coconut oil on skin and hair.  The expression I recurrently use for these oils is: the natural Rock Stars of skin and hair.  There you have it folks!