VAMPH Grooming The Prestige Hair Clay review

Recently the guys from VAMPH Grooming contacted me about taking a look at their line of hair products. For those unfamiliar, these home-brewers from Malaysia are far from amateurs in the pomade game. They've been around for quite some time and have established their presence after releasing several great products under their belt. I had the opportunity to meet up with their brewer, Shen, and he was kind enough to pass me products from their The Prestige line. Today I'll be looking at something that they've recently reformulated; The Prestige Hair Clay.

Packaging

The entire line of The Prestige hair products comes in this superbly designed black and brown box with embossing on the gold text. This is the first time I've seen a home-brewer put so much time and effort into the presentation of their products and I highly appreciate it. Goes to show how much pride they have in their work.

Here's a funny story regarding the products Shen handed to me. After brewing a fresh batch, he actually mixed up labelling the Hair Clay and the UWB pomades. Long story short, my UWB pomade comes in the Hair Clay jar and my Hair Clay comes in the UWB pomade jar. A purely honest mistake which I can overlook. Plus it feels like having a special edition product haha. I'm pretty certain the rest of you won't face this issue though.

That aside, the Prestige Hair Clay comes in a 3.5 oz amber glass jar with black and sandstone coloured labels. The labelling even has some sort of texture on it which is pretty cool. 

Scent

The newly reformulated clay's scent comes in a blend of green tea, kaffir lime, cedar wood, verbena and a light vanilla note. Seems like a peculiar mix but it actually smells pretty damn good. What I mostly get is the green tea and citrus scent with some sort of musk to it. It's a fairly subtle scent, but really pleasant in my book.

 

Application

One of the main reasons they reformulated from an oil based clay to a water based one was because they received many complaints that the old formula was tougher to work with. I've found that scooping out the top layer takes some effort, but what's below that is definitely easier to scoop with some pressure needed. Breaking down the clay feels fairly smooth without being too creamy while still retaining a thick and slightly gritty texture. Goes into your hair without much hassle but with some tugging or pulling. Apply into damp hair if you must.

Texture

It feels rather thick and dry, so it allows me to get that volume and texture in my hair. It's also not overly dry so you'll still be able to run a comb through if you want something a bit neater.

Control

Because it's not light and fluffy like some clays, you can get good control from it. It goes where you want it to and stays there for the most part. I do find that it has a bit of trouble laying down my cowlick, but any product that isn't sticky will do that anyways.

Strength

You do get a nice medium to heavy hold from the product depending on the amount used. I can easily get great height from it and it barely moves throughout the day.

Shine

Low to no shine at all.

 

Durability

Being a clay, it definitely holds up in the heat really well. You're not gonna have an issue in that aspect. I've also found that restyling with this isn't a problem despite being thick and dry. I can run my fingers through my hair without feeling any form of discomfort and shape my hair as I please. It retains most of it's height and volume throughout the day as well.

Washability

It claims to be water-soluble, but I've found that I do need to shampoo it out. One wash will get all or most of it though.

Price-point

If you get it directly from VAMPH, it's gonna cost you about $30 SGD ($21.36 USD) with shipping. Slightly cheaper than getting a product from the states shipped, but I've seen local resellers on Carousell sell it for $20 SGD ($14.24 USD). Seems pretty worth it to me.

Verdict

Seeing how The Prestige line is a very popular one in the Malaysian community, I had pretty high hopes going into this. Some of you know that I'm not the biggest fan of clay products, so I was pretty keen to see how this one worked for me. My experience with clays haven't been so great in the past. I've found that they tend to give me a much weaker hold than advertised, they're a nightmare to restyle if they're really dry and the creamy ones just fall apart after some time. I will admit that I've yet to try clay products such as Shear Revival's American Gardens, Lockhart's Matte Clay and so on, so my judgement may be premature.

Despite my scepticism, I do feel that The Prestige Hair Clay works pretty well for me. If anything, it's one of the better ones I've used for now. It actually gives me a good amount of hold without being a pain in the ass to restyle. You can achieve something messy or neat, or even go halfway in between. I personally feel that it's fairly well balanced for a heavy holding clay. My main gripe about the product is that I wish it was able to hold down my cowlick and stubborn areas better, but again that's more of a by-product from using a clay rather than the product specifically. I'd also prefer it if it was more easier to wash off seeing that it's supposed to be water-soluble, but even that's not a big deal for me. My overall experience with this clay is a great one and it's definitely pushing me towards looking at more home-brewed clay products that everyone's raving on about.

I think that The Prestige Hair Clay is an amazing substitute for Singaporeans or Asians alike who can't afford clay products from our friends overseas. You still get a handcrafted product of superb quality without paying a hefty amount. I even recommend people abroad to give this clay a spin. If you're looking for a strong holding clay that can endure hot weather, this one right here might be what you're looking for.

Click here to visit VAMPH Grooming on their Facebook page