Espresso Pomade review

Ever since I was added into the Malaysian pomade group on Facebook, I've been keeping a close eye on what's been out in the market and also what's being released. One of the pomades that caught my eye was Espresso Pomade. Released only a few months ago, this collaborative effort between Anarki Pomade House and Hands Down Pomade has been rising the ranks with a huge support behind the product. I was fortunate enough to be contacted by the kind folks at Anarki Pomade House to be sent a jar for reviewing along with a few other amazing goods. Without further ado, here's Espresso Pomade.

Packaging

Espresso Pomade comes in a beautifully designed box with branding around it. The pomade itself comes in the ever so familiar 3.5 oz amber glass jar with a black metal lid. Has a cream and brown label along the side as well as on the lid. The design has a simple yet classy approach to it and gives you this cafe sort of vibe.

Scent

As you've probably guessed it, it has a coffee scent. However, it has a more unique coffee scent than what you normally see (or smell). It's got this milky sweet scent paired with the bitter coffee scent. Long story short, it smells like milk coffee. Has a coffee flavoured cookie vibe to it as well. Very kopi ga dai.

 

Application

The pomade scoops out really creamy and soft. Requires little to no effort to get out a nice finger-scoop. Breaks down really easily as well, feeling like a thick buttery cream. Goes into your hair with some minor tugging and pulling. If you apply huge scoops at a time you might face a white streak or two while applying, but it's nothing that won't go away.

Slickness

Combing it through is fairly easy, but it doesn't have that much slickness either. Has this almost matte cream feel to it. The pomade also lacks a bit of stickiness to it to help keep some hairs down and in place.

Control

It's pretty lightweight so styling with it is relatively easy. I can get decent height and shape out of it and still have some decent control over the sides and back.

Strength

Despite being advertised as a firm, I don't really feel as much waxy hold as I thought it would have. Also because it's lightweight, you don't get that dense hold as well. Nonetheless, you still get enough strength out of it to get medium height.

Shine

A low to almost matte shine.

 

Durability

As I've mentioned earlier, this pomade is rather lightweight without much of a waxy feel and does lack some stickiness to it. All of those shortcomings lead it to be a bit weak in terms of endurance. If you're situated in an office all day long, then you're not gonna face any problems. It's when you're out and about is where it begins to slowly fall apart. My hair doesn't completely fall flat, in fact the height holds up pretty good. It's the crown area and sides that begins to go out of place. It's not to say that this pomade has terrible endurance. It just may not be the best option to use on a more active day where you're walking around under the sun a lot.

Washability

Even though it's a medium/firm UWB pomade, it rinses out almost completely with just water. It also leaves your hair feeling really smooth and conditioned. One of my favourite qualities about this product.

Price-point

Espresso Pomade retails for RM 50 which converts to $16.18 SGD ($11.53 USD), but with shipping it racks up to RM 70 which converts to $22.65 SGD ($16.14 USD). Definitely an affordable price-point.

Verdict

I've been using Espresso Pomade for about a month by now. Despite it being an UWB pomade, there are plenty of qualities about it that I like. First and foremost, the scent is really good. While you mostly see bitter coffee ground scents with most coffee scented pomades, this one managed to make itself stand out a bit more with that sweet milky note to it. The pomade's also easy to work with and is able to give you pretty good styling capabilities. The fact that you can wash it all out with just water is purely icing on top of the cake.

But of course, by no means is this a perfect product. For starters, I would prefer a bit more hold out of it. While the pomade has easy application, I feel that some of it could've given way to a bit more hold. My second and main issue would be the lack of stickiness. Once again, I do understand that being sticky isn't a quality that most UWB pomades are known to have (which is why I tend to go for OB pomades), but it's just a quality that I need for me to fully take control of my hair. It's a reason why I hardly use clays and UWB pomades.

Nonetheless, I still think that this is a pretty unique pomade. It has a beginner-friendly approach to it and I think that's really awesome. I normally use Espresso Pomade on top of buildup when I'm trying to degrease or on lazier days where I feel like going for a more loose hairstyle. Overall it's definitely worth checking out and if you need your caffeine fix, the boys at Anarki Pomade House will be sure to hook you up.

Click here to visit Anarki Pomade House on their Facebook page