New stuff!

I got quite a few new things in the mail this week, both hair and shaving products. I’m really excited about this stuff and can’t wait to get to checking it out and review it!

So having 3 safety razors and 5 brushes I decided I should probably get a couple stands to help hold these in an orderly fashion. I also picked up a new straight razor after really liking that Dreadnought shavette. The coolest thing is that I got it all from one site and shipping was free! So check out http://www.pomades.com which is also http://www.royalshave.com

They have a facial hair care site as well. Their tag line is “3 sites, one cart.” They have great stuff on their sites. And they will be soon carrying all of my products one there as well!!

Ok so here’s what I got, list is top to bottom, left to right.

DAX Roots – Hair Mayonnaise x2(these are for my friend Valerie)
DAX Roots – Olive Cream
Cock Grease – XXX
Imperial – Gel Pomade
Imperial – Matte Paste
Lucky Tiger – Control Stick
Cock Grease – XX
Schmiere – Shampoo(had to try the new updated one)
Dr. Dittmar – Shave set(wooden best badger brush, ceramic bowl, shave soap)
30° – Chrome stand s5
Timor – 5/8″ Blue Steel Straight Razor
Omega – Black stand
Nickel Plated Straight Razor Stand

I also contacted Bree over at Polished and Proper and she sent me some stuff out to review! What I got when I opened the box gave me a nice surprise!!

P&P – Bay Rum aftershave
P&P – Pre-shave Oil
Thank you note, sealed with wax and a P&P seal(that’s the awesome surprise!)
P&P – pomade

I have never seen a company put a thank you note in a envelope and seal it with wax and their personal seal before! That is just badass!!! Thank you Bree!! That was a really cool touch! These will be out into the rotation immediately, so be on the look out for them!

Stay fresh fellas,

-JC

Cool Grease – Red

On to the next installment of the Cool Grease line. Today we are checking out their red can, this is the other one that Regina sent me. After loving the blue and hearing great things about this one I’m pretty excited to try this one out! Thanks Regina!!!

This tub is a candy apple red color, where their others have been blue and yellow(the used reference). On the lid of this bright red tub is a big black circle with some squares with the “Cool Grease” letters in them. Looks very space age, really cool layout. You never see these types of letters anymore! Way to bring them back guys! Above the letters is the planet Saturn, and a star. Next to the letters is their signature “water type.” And below it says who it’s manufactured by. I like this design the best of all them so far, really cool!

On the front is the same letters with “water type” again in a black box. Just to the left is the guy from the yellow tub. As you turn the tub you see the most awesome little addition to a tub of pomade ever. A badass little space rocket-ship flying above “Be Cool! Instantly.” This tub just gets better and better! Then there’s the ingredients and whatnot in Japanese, along with the barcode. Finally there is the “wonderful shaping” blurb. I really like the look and design of this tub, best one yet!

Just like the others, this one has that little plastic disc. A few of my other Japanese pomades have that as well, so I’m thinking that may just be a Japan thing. Either way it’s kind of cool. So I pulled it off and it immediately felt like the blue tub. Same sticky feel as I removed the disc. When I got it off the scent was almost exactly the same as well. Only this one smelled red instead of blue. I don’t know if it’s because I’m looking at the red tub or if it actually has a slightly different scent, but it smelled red instead of blue. This one also has the same transparency as the blue. I have a feeling it will be the same as the blue, just tinted red.

Yup, it has a very light red tint to it. Making it look kind of pink because of it being so clear. It has the same texture as the blue does as well. Is this stuff going to hold any better? I mean the guide says its a 4 and the blue is a 3, but they feel the same. Only time will tell I guess. I really like the scent of this one out of the tub, more so than when it’s in the tub. Let’s throw it in!

I rubbed the pomade around in my hands and it still felt exactly like the blue one did. Just a medium weight tacky water based feel to it. The only difference I noticed between the two is that this one feels slightly more tacky, but not much. As soon as I ran my hands over my hair I noticed the difference. This one doesn’t like to go in very well. It kind of tugs on my hairs and wants to stay on the top of my hair. Most of it came off my hands as soon as I ran them back. So I had to scoop out another time to get an even coating.

Combing it was also a lot different. This one combed really resistantly unlike the blue. It reminded me of Layrite deluxe the way it kind of tugged slightly and took a while to comb all the way through. I’m not really liking this about it. I don’t mind having to do some combing, I just don’t like a bunch of resistance to the combing.

As far as more hold, I can see that it does have a little more hold than the blue, but not much. I’d say it’s more of a 3.5 than a 4, if the blue is a 3. My pomp really wasn’t much higher if at all with this stuff in it. I did notice more control with this pomade though. And the shine is a little bit higher with this one, liking that! The hold stays exactly where it you put it all day long. And it also gets soft in the heat like the blue. This one doesn’t harden like the yellow one did, it feels more like a medium waxy pomade in your hair. I love that these pomades do that!!

This one washes out with just a quick rinse of water and leaves my hair soft! Finally I have more than a couple water soluble pomade that does this! I get tired of dry coarse hair after using water bases. So this one is creeping up my list of favorite water based pomades pretty quickly. I have to give it some more time and use though.

So the second day it combed in a lot easier. It went in with my hands the same, but combing was much easier. Maybe you just need to use it more often and it is easier to comb. Throughout my using this one, one day I got sweaty and the same thing happened like with the blue. It seemed the more I sweated/it got moisture the harder it got to recomb, but still maintained its hold. When I wasn’t sweating it just recombed like a waxy medium pomade. It’s really nice!

So I have to say I dig this one as well. I think I like the blue better than this one, but I like this one better than the yellow and a lot of other water bases out there. The only thing I didn’t like was the resistance of it in my hair. Other than that, it was a great experience! You guys should definitely give this one a look. It’s one of the better ones out there, plus the tub is just badass! You can find it on Amazon or when the site is up
http://www.hairgoop.com
Thanks again Regina I really appreciate it! These were really awesome to try out, I really like both of them quite a bit. I’m waiting on a couple of their other ones to arrive from Japan so we won’t be checking another one out for a little while. But I have some other awesome pomades coming up!!

Be Cool! Instantly

-JC

Cock Grease – No X

Well guys, this company is way over due for me. They’ve been around for a minute, but for some reason I just hadn’t gotten around to buying their stuff. I had contacted them a couple times, and had planned to buy their stuff and then would find something else to buy or something. So when I ran into Rea at Viva I talked to her about her stuff and she gave me a smokin’ deal for reviewing her products. Thanks for the deal Rea, I really appreciate it!! And today we are checking out the Cock Grease No X pomade.

This one comes in a 4oz slip cover stainless tin, similar to the Rob’s Chop Shop tins. It has both a lid label and a side label. The side one is an oval label like the High Life labels. It’s just a black oval with a yellow border and says “cock grease no x” on it. The lid label is also black with a yellow border, but this one is a pointed border just inside the edge of the label. In the center is “Cock Grease” with a white and red cock (rooster) above it. There are yellow and black stripes behind everything, kind of looks like a bee. Above and below the name on top of the stripes it says “extra slick” above, and “no x keep it up all day” below. Outside the design but inside the pointed border it says “*hair pomade*” above, and “quality control” below the design. Pretty cool design.

Popping open this tin you’re shown a nice vibrant yellow pomade. It has the color of a lot of ‘hair food’ products out on the market these days. The surface looks a little gritty or grainy along with have a very oily look to it. I’m thinking this one isn’t going to have very much hold, if any at all. The scent is awesome which will make this one a great topper! It’s the sweet smell of vanilla cream cake icing! It took me a long time to place the scent. I kept thinking it smelled like a candy, but couldn’t place which candy it was. Then I was smelling it and a cake popped up on the ol’ boob tube and it clicked. Cake icing, vanilla cake icing! Fantastic smell!

Even of it doesn’t have any hold I can’t wait to get this pomade into my hair just because of the lovely scent! So I dug a finger into the yellow grease. What I pulled out really surprised me. The texture was greasy and light like I expected, but as you can see in the picture it wasn’t a typical grease. It kind of has the gritty texture and kind of rippled in a rough way when I scooped it out. It reminded me of what mud looks like when I run my finger over my chain guard or brake guard on my dirt bike to scrape the mud off of it. The mud kind of ripples in the same way. I know, weird comparison, pomade and mud, but that’s what it reminded me of.

In my hands it got really greasy when I rubbed my hands together. As greasy as it got I’m not sure how it will hold. I’m thinking I may get a low pomp with it, but only time will tell. I was surprised to see the scent kind of die down a little as I rubbed my hands together. Bummer.

When I ran my hands over my hair the grease showed up nice and light yellow on my hair and had some resistance to it as I applied it. The more I worked the pomade in with my hands I noticed it all soak in really nicely, but kept the texture. Because of the resistance I didn’t use the fine toothed side of my comb like I’d originally planned. And as soon as I ran my comb through my hair I immediately flipped it around and used the fine toothed side. It combs like butter, so smooth and easy!

I was still wondering how it is going to hold my hair so I tried to form a pomp. To my surprise I actually got some right with this grease. It was a really light hold, but it stayed pretty well. And boy is this stuff shiny! It has a really nice shine to it, I’m really diggin it! The heat of the day kind of made my hair fall down quite a bit. So by the end of the day I just went with a slick back and a high sheen one to boot.

The more I used it the better the control got with this stuff. I didn’t get any more height, but the hold was better. As the days went on I found my hair staying in place better and better. And the shine kept on gleaming each day. The buildup of this one isn’t too overpowering at all. Mainly because a lot of the pomade comes out of your hair in the night. So your hair and scalp don’t feel smothered after a few days of using this one. I did have a big problem on day 3 though. I just could not get my hair to do anything I wanted it to do that morning. So I threw on a hat and went about my day. Then I wet my hair and dried and reapplied a touch of grease. That time it was fine, I guess I just had a bad hair morning. I also found the scent to be stronger the more you use it which was a nice little turn around for me.

I can see myself using this stuff in the future for when I want a low pomp or as a high shine and good scented topper. If you guys like the lighter pomades, either as stand alones or as toppers, check this stuff out. It’s worth it strictly on the scent and the shine. You can find it from their website
http://www.cockgrease.com
They have 5 different holds, including one for the ladies out there. So if you don’t like light ones they have something for everyone. Thanks again Rea! See y’all at the next stop from this company!

Keep it greasy

-JC

Dreadnought – Cut-Throat Razor Shavette

Well today is a first for me, in the method I’m trying, the products that I’m using and the company that makes them. Today I’m checking out my first straight razor. It’s the Shavette made by Dreadnought. I was contacted by Justin from them and after a few emails he said he would send some stuff my way. After a few weeks I received the razor and some blades in the mail. Thanks Justin! He also said he would be sending me some more stuff soon so I’m also looking forward to that!

The razor comes in a nice box. It’s a blue box with some metallic looking writing. In the center it had the Dreadnought logo along with the name just underneath it. The logo reminds me of the movie 300. Under the logo and name is the definition and pronunciation of “dreadnought.” Nice little touch.

On the other side of the box is the logo in the center again. Only this tone it kind of looks like a hologram card. Above the holographic logo it says “the ultimate shave for real men” in some all caps tattered looking writing. I guess you have to be a “real man” to use this razor. Underneath the logo it has the name of the razor “the shavette” and it also has “contains one manly shavette” at the very bottom. Inside the box the razor comes in its own blue and clear vinyl sleeve.

Also inside the box were some instructions on how to load the razor with the blade and whatnot. The razor itself is faceted with blue plastic scales that are riveted together with brass rivets. It has the logo and name on one side of the razor along with the logo on the tang. The head of the razor/shavette comes apart to allow you to put the blade in. It has two nubs to allow the blade to sit it the razor properly and not slide back into the razor. The other half has two holes to allow the nubs to rest in them allowing for a tight fit for the blade. The face is angles toward the cutting edge to allow for easy shaving. And there is a cap that goes over the two halves to keep them shut together tightly so the blade stays in.

I’m using their blades with the razor since they sent me those and I’m assuming they go well with this razor. They’re just plain stainless blades, no logo, no name, just a plain blade. So I snapped it in half and put the blade half in the razor. You can see how it sits in the nubs perfectly. They’re situated right were the holes for the posts in a DE razor would be. I closed everything up and checked out how the blade sits in the razor. You can see the tiny little bit that sticks out of the razor. Basically just a little bit more than the cutting edge of the blade sticks out to complete the face and make the cutting edge of the razors head.

The weight of this razor is really really light. So much lighter than your average DE razor. The weight feels more like a cartridge type razor. I’m guessing its the plastic sales and thin tang that make this one so light. It’s a little weird to have a razor this light in my hands, because my DE’s are much heavier and that’s what I use regularly. But I think the light weight will help me with shaving with this razor.

So I oiled up and got my soap, brush and water ready. Here we go. As I started to shave I immediately noticed that the blade wasn’t very sharp. Not nearly as sharp as my feather blades or even my derby blades are. It didn’t make the shave unbearable but I expected it to go more smoothly. The light weight of the razor really made the shave nice though. I liked how easy it was to maneuver the razor where and how I needed to to get a decent shave. The only part I had trouble with was the left side of my jaw and neck. But I think it’s mainly because I’m just not used to shaving with my left hand or with a straight razor quite yet.

Even though the blade wasn’t very sharp the shave wasn’t too bad. I do like a little bit of a closer shave, but at least it didn’t tug my hairs as I was shaving. The second time I used it I decided to try it with my derby blades and I noticed a significant difference. Much smoother shave and a little bit closer of a shave as well. I do need to get better with this type of razor in order to get a really close shave. But for my first go of it I don’t think I did too bad. And I had a really fun time trying out this razor. I think I may buy a blade and strop to use on a regular basis after using this one some more to get a better grip on this type of shaving.

Overall I was pretty happy with razor. I didn’t really care for the blade, but I could’ve gotten a bad blade. I will go back to them and officially review the blades at a later date with my DE razor to see how they work with that. I really had a decent experience with this razor and my first experience shaving with a cutthroat razor. I actually dug it quite a bit and can see myself using this razor pretty often in the future. If you guys like these types of razors I’d say check it out, it’s not half bad. You can find it from their website
http://www.dreadnought-shaving.com
They also have some other shaving supplies as well so check out the other stuff as well! Thanks again for the razor and blades Justin! Can’t wait to try out the rest of the Dreadnought line!

Take it easy fellas,

-JC

Barber Side – Shave Oil (lemon)

Finally back with another Barber Side product! This time I’m checking out their pre-shave oil. They sent me two of them, but the post man took the liberty of smashing the package up good enough for one of the bottles to break. So I’m checking out the only one I have, their lemon one.

This one comes in a badass little clear glass bottle with a black screw top lid. The bottle reminds me of a small size cologne bottle or something. It’s pretty much just a 2″x2″ square and is about 1/2″ thick. It has stickers on both sides of it.

The front side sticker has the Barber Side logo and name in the center. Above that it says “ESTd. 2007″ and around the edge is a black line for the border. At the bottom it indicates the scent, in this case lemon. Then it says “Pre Oil-Up shave oil” and has the volume amount. Super simple and awesome. I love their labeling a lot, it’s very classic.

On the back side is the name and logo again at the top. Then it has the directions for use. Underneath the directions is the ingredient list. And at the very bottom is the company’s info. I almost forgot to mention that the barber pole razor logo on these labels is in color. It’s really hard to see in the picture but there is the iconic blue and red stripes on the barber pole. I really like their logo, it’s very unique, yet iconic at the same time.

When I unscrewed the lid I was really surprised to see this oil filled to the brim! Usually there is a bit of a gap between the top of the oil and the top of the bottle. But like most of their other products you really get some bang for your buck! You can see the yellowish clear oil through the glass bottle. The scent on it is a very subtle lemon scent with a slight soapy scent too. It kind of slightly resembles their shave cream.

Pouring it out you have to be careful because of how full it is. I poured a little more than I wanted to, but if you do it’s not a big deal. Just wash the excess off your hands after you apply the oil to your face. This oil is quite a bit thicker than the others I’ve tried so far. It feels about as thick, maybe even a little thicker than mineral oil is. We will see if the thicker consistency helps with smoothing out the shave or not.

As I ran my hands over my face I notice a difference right off the bat. It was easier to apply and spread across my face and neck. I was able to make it go pretty far as well. I ended up have a bit left on my hands after applying. Like the Suavecito oil this one soaked into my skin pretty quickly. It didn’t completely soak in though. It left a nice coating on top of my skin to aid in smoothing out my shave.

I decided to use this oil while I review a new razor to see how it works with a brand new product. I also used it with my standard razor as well. Both times I noticed a significant smoothness to my shave. My razors just glided across my face with hardly any effort. I am really pleased with this oil. Not surprised though, the folks over at Barber Side make great products.

I definitely highly recommend picking up a bottle of this oil! You get a generous helping of it in the jar plus it works fantastically! It’s the best shave oil I’ve used so far. To get ahold of it just head on over to their site
http://www.barberside.com
They have more than one scent so if your not into lemon you can try another one. Look at their other products while you’re there because these guys make awesome products!!! Definitely worth picking their stuff up. Thanks again for the stuff guys I really appreciate it!

Keep it clean guys,

-JC

Grant’s Golden Brand – Junior Comb

Hey guys, I’m finished checking out Grant’s other comb. So here’s the review on it. It’s their 5″ comb called “The Junior.” After the Jake comb I put this one into use right away. So let’s see how this one was.

Unlike their other comb, this one is a back pocket comb. So the day they both arrived I threw it in my pocket and started using it right away. It’s a little different from your average pocket comb. It’s slightly shorter and has a rounded end on the fine tooth side. It also has some gold writing on it like the other comb did. This one says “Grant’s Golden Brand Pomade” and leaves out the USA. I like the gold writing on these combs, makes me feel like they’re better in some way haha.

So we all know how back pocket combs work. Hair gets messed up, you take your comb out, fix it and put the comb back. This one made an impression right off the bat. It being smaller makes it fall and lay sideways in my pocket unlike my normal comb that stands up. So I could feel this one more in my pocket than my other one. I’m not sure how I feel about that quite yet.

Using it on a daily basis made me appreciate the smaller comb. I was able to fix the little areas without having to recomb all of my hair like I do with the bigger pocket comb. I can definitely fix my hair a little quicker with this smaller comb.

When I do have to recomb all of my hair it takes a little longer with a smaller comb. So that part I’m not that fond of. But, I very rarely have to recomb my entire head so it’s ok. I also have to grip it a little differently when I use it because of the size. With my old comb I could just grab it, this one I need to grip the very end of it. I have to use my thumb and my index finger while its bent in toward my hand. If I try another way it just keeps falling out of my hands. It was kind of frustrating when it would fall out of my hands at first, but I figured it out as I went along.

Having used it for a while it developed a bend in the comb and the gold kind of came off. I was surprised to see it bend because my other comb never did and they’re both made by the same company. And I was a little bummed about the letting coming off, but I kind of expected it to with the use of it. As used it more and more I got used to the feel of it in my pocket. I was pretty happy that it didn’t stick out like a sore thumb the whole time.

So after quite a while using it I like it. I’m not overly enthralled with it, mainly because it’s just a comb. But I do like it. I’d say I like it as much as my other back pocket comb. I do like the look of it better. So if you need a decent pocket comb while you’re picking up pomade grab one of these they’re pretty cool. You can get them off their website
http://www.grantsgoldenbrand.com
I have a bunch of new combs I will be checking out really soon, all kinds of different ones, so stay tuned!

Stay classy gents,

-JC

The Classics Pomade – 40′s (new scent)

Hey guys, Brian over at The Classics made another scent for his 40′s pomade! He sent me out a tin to try out so that’s what we are checking out today. Thanks Brian!!

This one comes in a stainless slip cover tin with a flat lid instead of a indented lid like the black one. This one has the same label as the the other one. With this one being on a stainless tin it almost looks like a ghost label. Pretty cool!

The pomade is the same color and looks like the same consistency as the black tin. However the scent is a little different. Instead of being vanilla pipe tobacco it’s cherry pipe tobacco!! I love this smell ALOT, it reminds me of my great grandpa. And kind of reminds me of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mainly because that’s when I was around him most and have the strongest memories of him.

Scooping it out of the tin I was surprised that it was different from the black tin. This one scooped out more waxy than creamy. I wonder if it’s going to have the same hold or not. As soon as I rubbed my hands together I knew it would have the same hold, it has the same texture as the black tin does.

Putting the pomade in my hair was the same as the last one as well. Nice creamy light feeling pomade going in and combing. These pomades, well this formula the 40′s, is becoming one of my more favored pomades. It really is a good pomade.

Even styling with it was the same as the black tin was. So this review is kind of turning into a revisited review. Because the only real change is the scent. Well the tin color too, but that’s it. I tend to like the medium holds a little better than the heavy and light holds. And this one is right smack dab in the center of the medium spectrum.

The hold lasts all day long too, which I really like. Even in the wind and moderate heat my hair was in the same place at the end of the day. Didn’t even have to recomb it throughout the day. It does recomb super easily though, if you do need to. One thing I do like about this pomade is that it somewhat washes out with just regular shampoo. Not all of it comes out, so you can still get a buildup, but it doesn’t all stay in your hair.

The buildup is really nice with this pomade. It’s not too heavy like some and it isn’t completely gone like water soluble products. It leaves a nice light buildup for a decent base the second day. I like the combing even better the second day with the buildup. I noticed a little more control with it the second day. And it really makes your hair look good the more you use it. I mean the first day is great, but it just keeps getting better the more you use it.

Cruel Hand – great hXc band! Check ‘me out!

You don’t get much more height with it the second day, but the shine is higher. And you guys know I like a nice shine to my hair. However this one is a high matte shine. I didn’t think that was possible, but it is. Towards the end of the day it starts to become a slightly matte slightly gloss shine. Kind of weird how pomades do that sometimes. I still like the shine on this one though.

Overall, this is a solid pomade. Both this tin with its fragrant cherry pipe tobacco scent, and the black tin. I definitely recommend trying this one out, the scent alone is worth it! Along with the cherry pipe tobacco you pick up other subtle scents as well. To pick up a tin from Brian, head to his etsy store

http://etsy.com/shop/TheClassicsPomade

And check out his other stuff too while you’re there pokin around. He’s got a new pomade coming out soon and he has shirts as well!

Keep it greasy,

-JC