VAMPH Grooming The Prestige Water-Based Pomade review

Quite sometime back, we had a look at VAMPH Grooming's The Prestige Water-Based pomade. The pomade has since then been reformulated and Shen was kind enough to send me one to review. Here we have The Prestige Water-Based pomade; an unorthodox water-based pomade with a heavy hold. It goes without saying that I'll be making plenty of comparisons to the old formula which you can read up over here. With that being said, let's dive into the review shall we.

Packaging

As per usual with all VAMPH products, the pomade comes in the familiar black, brown and gold box. I've said it once and I'll say it again, it still looks really good and well presented.

The product itself comes in a 3.5oz amber glass jar with a black lid. All the design work is still retained from the previous version, but one main difference is within the labels itself. What previously was a sandstone coloured label is now printed on this reflective foil label. I think it looks absolutely stunning and makes the overall packaging just pop even more.

Scent

Shen told me that the scent that I received is different than the final scent for the pomade. I believe the final scent is lemon, frankincense, myrrh, bay leaf, atlas cedar and juniper berry. The only difference for the scent I received is that it doesn't contain lemon. It smells a lot like dried spices and in fact, reminds me a bit of dried chilli. Not the best scent, especially seeing how VAMPH usually nails it with scents, but once again this isn't the final scent. It's also a pretty subtle scent so it doesn't bother me especially once it's in my hair.

 

Application

The product scoops out with minimal effort. Feels pretty similar to the old formula, but has an even creamier consistency. Breaks down really smooth and applies into your hair just the same. Has some tugging and pulling, but definitely not as bad as the previous iteration of the pomade. Applying into damp hair will lessen these issues as well.

Slickness

One issue I had with the old formula was the lack of slickness; something that is definitely fixed with this current formula. It combs through much easier and doesn't feel as dry. Has a small amount of stickiness to help keep strays in place. Overall, a definite improvement.

Control

Styling with this product feels rather similar to the previous version. It styles really well, gives you plenty of shape and stays well in place where you want it to. It's not heavy in weight but still has a good amount of density to it to not feel flimsy and weak.

Strength

Despite the creamier application, it's still able to provide you with the familiar heavy hold that it's older formula had. Provides great height and doesn't lose it's hold throughout the day.

Shine

As expected, it's a low to matte shine.

 

Durability

Another great quality that was kept from the old formula is the endurance. It easily puts up with hot weather and even if a restyle is needed, I've found that the product is able to be restyled much better compared to the previous version. It does lose a bit of it's slickness throughout the day which means stubborn strays and clowlicks, but the overall endurance is still great.

Washability

1-2 showers with shampoo will get all of the product out, but I've found that a lot of the pomade washes out within one rinse. Leaves behind a fairly light and clean buildup.

Price-point

Buying it directly from VAMPH will cost you about $21.52 SGD ($16 USD) with shipping. Shipping costs may vary depending on location. I'm very pleased to see quite a number of these reach American shores and I've even heard that Tadashi from Hedgelion is bringing them in, so my American friends will have an even easier (and cheaper) time purchasing these Malaysian goods.

Verdict

The Prestige Water-Based pomade was one of the first few UWB pomades that I've ever tried. Even though I had some minor gripes with it, it was still a great pomade and I really liked it. It's one of my go-to recommendations for people. Seeing how it was reformulated, I was rather interested to see what was further improved from it.

One of the most obvious improvements from the old formula is with the application. The previous version had a more thicker, grippier application where the reformulated one is more smooth and creamy. It still retains a lot of the styling qualities it had previously and still provides the same amount of hold, something that didn't need to be adjusted, which is great. Endures through the day just the same and even washes out much better than the old one which is a definite upgrade. My main issue with it would be a problem that I had with the old formula, and that is with the slickness still. Even though it's better with this formula, it still gets lightly dryer throughout the day and loses control of some stubborn areas.

With all that said, it's pretty safe to say that the reformulated The Prestige Water-Based pomade is a clear improvement from the old version. A lot of the issues that I personally had with the pomade has been amended and the overall performance is still unaffected. It's just in time that these products hit American shelves cause now, you don't have a reason not to check them out. You will not be disappointed.

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