Feb 7, 2016
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Pomade Review: King Brown Matte Pomade – Dry Versatility, Reviewed by Spruce & Sharp
This week, I’m looking at the entire King Brown line, which is now available to all U.S.-based customers on Hedgelion. King Brown has been around for a while, but due to the fact that they’re based in Australia, it’s always been difficult to buy from them directly since shipping all the way from Down Under proves to be costly. With Hedgelion, we’re offered the same product, but with free shipping to customers in the States.
The King Brown company had a great deal of hype built around it when their first hair product, the Original Pomade, dropped a while ago. However, the two pomades that followed failed to gain the same amount of interest when they initially hit the market. That does not mean that they should be overlooked by any means.
King Brown currently offers three pomades in their core line: Original Pomade, Premium Pomade, and Matte Pomade. For these reviews, I’m going to start with the newest and conclude with the oldest. So, we’ll be going Matte > Premium > Original this week. Mostly, I’m doing it this way because the Original is their petro-based, and that will involve me taking more time to play around with buildup and seeing how long it takes to de-grease.
So, with the long-winded introduction out of the way, let’s talk about what we know about the product from its product description on Hedgelion. It’s a lighter medium-holding clay-pomade hybrid meant for dry, clean textured looks. Since this blog and my YouTube Channel, focus mostly on neat looks, I will test the pomade’s ability to maintain a neat look as well as shape a messier/more textured look.
Video Review
Packaging and Presentation: The three King Brown pomades all come in similar 2.5 oz rectangular tins, but each one has a different color. The Matte Pomade comes in an olive-gray tin with an orange racing-style stripe down the right side. In my opinion, King Brown tins are pure art and are examples of top-level packaging. The words “King Brown” and the snake logo in the bottom-right are both raised above the surface of the lid. No expense was spared when it came to finer details of presentation. We also see the words “Dry Hold” down at the bottom. Since “Dry Hold” means nothing, as far as whether it’s a light, medium, or heavy hold, I’ve found that those words are intended to describe the characteristics/feeling of the hold, rather than the strength. Additionally, compared to the other two tins, which have a gloss finish, this one has a matte finish.
Pouring: I normally don’t include this category in reviews, but I feel it’s worth mentioning. When we as consumers spend money on a pomade or other hair product, we expect the container to be adequately filled. Unfortunately, when opening this product, I didn’t find that to be the case. The product slopes down around the edges of the container, and I could even see the bottom of the container in certain parts. If I’m paying for this product, I expect the entire surface of the container covered and that the product is filled adequately. The Original and the Premium Pomades both have their tins completely filled. This is not Hedgelion’s fault, and I don’t know if King Brown products are homebrewed or lab-made. Regardless, it’s a production error that needs to be corrected going forward, and it’s the manufacturer’s responsibility.
Scent: It’s described as a leather scent with grassy notes. I can definitely see that, but to me it smells more like a dull musk. I don’t mean “dull” as in “bad”, I mean dull as in soft, subtle, and by no means overpowering.
Application and Styling
Consistency: Upon opening the tin, you’ll be met with a product that definitely looks and feels like a clay. When you scoop it out, you’ll feel a dry, waxy product. You don’t need to scoop a lot at a time. With this pomade, smaller scoops are best. Since your tin of King Brown Matte Pomade will most likely not be evenly-filled either, you’ll be glad to know that a little does go a long way with this product.
Breakdown: When rubbing your hands together, you’ll break it down quickly, but you’ll need to check your palms to make sure it’s completely broken down. It definitely feels like a dry product.
Application: It’s a dry product, so there will be some degree of grip. However, it spreads around the hair rather evenly. I found that to be a nice surprise.
Pre-Styling: I expected there to be some resistance when slicking my hair back and forming a part. While you will feel the product when moving your comb through your hair, it won’t give you any problems with resistance. As I formed my part, the side stayed down, but fell against the side of my head in a more natural-looking way. It didn’t look slicked down, but rather rested nicely against the side of my head.
Time: Though we’re more used to slick products that tend to bring the hairs together, this product did not prove difficult to style a neat look with. You have to pay some extra attention to certain areas, as it’s not intended for a purely neat look, but King Brown Matte Pomade still proves an easy product to style with.
Performance
Control: Because it’s not a product designed to control your hair in a super-neat fashion, you will notice some hairs straying off around the fringes. However, it’s not absurd. It looks more like a casual, effortless hairstyle as if it were the result of a quick combing job. You can form a neat style that keeps everything held together, if you put in the time and effort. Over time, though, you will notice looks of hair separating and piecing, because it’s meant to provide texture. If a messier, looser look is what you want out of a product, you’ll like that you can still shape your hair with this pomade without it looking sculpted in place. All of this is due to the fact that product feels dry in the hair and has no sort of slickness whatsoever.
Weight: King Brown Matte Pomade is very lightweight in the hair. It will feel like you didn’t even put product in your hair that day.
Hold: The hold is on the lighter side of medium. This allows higher volume, but you can retain a better shape for longer than if you were to use a pure light-holding product.
Hardening: The product does not harden. It just feels like clean, dry hair. You can move your comb through your hair with this pomade without needing a source of water.
Endurance: Like I said, this product will eventually force your hair to piece off and texturize. When that happens all depends on your climate and lifestyle.
Shine: As the pomade’s name suggests, it’s matte. Zero shine.
Re-Styling: If you want a neater matte look, you can reshape your hair rather easily with this product. Like I’ve said a handful of times already, will eventually start to piece off again at some point, but you won’t have any difficulty moving a comb through your hair at any point in the day.
Rinsing: King Brown products always have interesting ingredients. Since the Matte Pomade is partially petro-based and partially water-based, you can rinse most of it out with just water. It’s advertised as being 90% water-soluble. In the shower, I foundalmost all of the product comes out of your hair in one go. To make it a one-day commitment, you’ll need a single shampoo rinse.
Buildup: If you choose to just rinse with water, you’ll get a very light, very dry buildup. It feels like a super light hairspray. So, in short, don’t build up with this product. It won’t provide you any realistic advantages when styling the next day.
The Following Pictures are an Example of a Textured Look Achieved Using King Brown Matte Pomade
Final Verdict
As far as a neat, cohesive hairstyle goes, King Brown Matte Pomade may not be your best choice. However, if you’re in the market for a looser, more casual, and textured look, it’s a solid option. You can get a really nice messier look without it looking sloppy, careless, or unkempt. This pomade’s best characteristic is that it looks like you did not apply any product to your hair to achieve your desired style.
What I like most about the King Brown line in general is that they aren’t out to reinvent the wheel, but rather each product has its own interesting twist. With the Matte Pomade, the twist is the dry, yet comfortable feeling you get from using it and that it’s a product that is both petro and water-based. If you want texture and the option for higher volume, you may very well thoroughly enjoy using this product.
We should also discuss the financial situation surrounding this product. It costs $18 for 2.5 oz. container. That’s because shipping the product to the US, even at wholesale quantity and cost, is not cheap. Pull out a map, and you’ll quickly be reminded that Australia is decently far away from us. At least with Hedgelion we can access it without paying additional shipping fees.
Even with the cost considered, you do not need to use a lot of the product at one time. That’s nice, considering my only real major gripe with it is the fact that the container was not adequately filled, compared to the other two pomades in the King Brown line. Thankfully, despite this manufacturing error, your tin of King Brown Matte Pomade will last you a while.
Overall, this and Shear Revival’s American Gardens Styling Clay have been my two favorite texturizing products that I’ve reviewed so far.
Pick it up at Hedgelion here.
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This week, I'm looking at the entire King Brown line, which is now available to all U.S.-based customers on Hedgelion. King Brown has been around for a while, but due to the fact that they're based...