What is Clay Pomade?
You may have heard the term Clay Pomade pop up in conversations in the last few years. It’s one of the fastest growing segments of hair styling products. A good chunk of its newfound popularity comes from the fact that more people than ever are learning about the benefits (both superficial and for health) of this styling product. Social media helps – take one look around Reddit or TikTok and you can find thousands of people posting about different clay pomades.
What Exactly is Clay Pomade?
Clay pomade is pomade that is created with a mixture of clay, usually kaolin (on high end products) or bentonite (on products that focus on thickness and hair volume). Other types of clays can also be used, like “Moroccan” or rhassoul clay. These fancy types of clay look exotic but perform exactly the same as regular bentonite clay.
What Does Clay Pomade Do?
Clay pomades are popular for mainly two reasons:
1. They create a matte finish. Clay pomades are known for their matte finish, which can reduce shine and reduce oiliness. This provides a natural, matte look that is both trendy but also healthy for your hair. Clay can absorb excess moisture, oil, and impurities, which keeps your hair healthier looking.
2. Clay pomades increase hair volume. This is important for certain kinds of hair styles, or for people with very fine or very thin hair that want to increase the “thickness” of their hair. Although clay pomade won’t make your hair grow more, it will give the optical illusion of thicker hair, due to the way clay absorbs and retains moisture, and “pumps out” hair strands to make your hair look fuller. This is perfect for short, high hair styles or for people that want to make their hair look bigger and fuller.
How Much Hold Does Clay Pomade Have?
That depends on the specific formula. The clay content has nothing to do with how firm the hold is. The hold in pomades mostly comes from the wax content (beeswax, carnauba wax, or candelilla wax, etc) or from synthetic polymers like PVP or VP/VA copolymer. Of course, a thicker pomade made with more clay content will probably give a higher hold, simply from the fact that it’s more viscous than a regular pomade. However, if you are looking for a high hold, look for a clay pomade that combines clay with beeswax or other types of waxes.
Clay Pomades vs Matte Pomades
Do you know the difference between a clay pomade and a matte pomade? That’s a bit of a trick question! The reason is because most clay pomades are matte pomades, but not all matte pomades are clay pomades.
Still with me? Since clay gives a matte finish, almost all clay pomades will be considered a matte pomade. There are exceptions of course, like oil-based clay pomades that have more oil content. However, most clay pomades you’ll find at the store will be water-based pomades, and they will most likely have a matte finish.
There are many matte pomades out there that contain clay (like the Daytona Supply Co Hi-Lo pomade, which contains a small amount of kaolin clay for a matte finish). However, these probably won’t count as a true clay pomade, since clay pomades use a lot more clay as a product percentage.
What is The Best Clay Pomade?
That is a loaded question that depends entirely on the look you want to achieve! There are a wide variety of clay pomades out there, ranging from super thick and viscous to ones that feel like traditional pomade. There are also both oil-based and water-based versions. At DSC, we enjoy clay pomades that increase volume while being easy-to-spread and creamy. That’s why we’ve developed Cosmic Clay from scratch, aiming to create a well-rounded clay pomade with all the benefits of bentonite clay, but with a creamy texture that is easy to use with all hair types.
Tl;dr: Clay pomade is a type of hair pomade that is made with clay as the main ingredient, commonly with either bentonite clay or kaolin clay. Clay pomade usually has a matte finish, and is beneficial because it increases hair volume and helps to absorb excess oil and impurities from your hair.