But overall, you can expect a paste to feel creamier than a pomade. Pastes with oilier ingredients will also feel waxier and stickier, while those with clay minerals will feel drier and grittier. Water-based pomades are more gel-like, while oil-based pomades feel waxier, tougher, and stickier. So, with the “waxier” pastes you’ll find ingredients such as beeswax, lanolin, petrolatum, etc.īut with the more “clay-like” pastes, you’ll find ingredients such as kaolin and bentonite, together with waxy ingredients that are given less importance. The additional ingredients usually lean more towards clay or more towards wax, with waxy ingredients being more common. Pastes are usually water-based but not always. Water-based pomades have water as their core, but often with a range of other compounds including waxes (in much smaller quantities).

Oil-based pomades usually have petroleum, petrolatum, beeswax, or paraffin as their core ingredient. Pomades can either be water-based or oil-based. Pomades and pastes often include very similar ingredients but usually in very different quantities. Here’s a quick summary table of the key takeaway points.

Pomade Vs Paste: 8 Key DifferencesĪfter learning these key differences, you’ll probably find one product more appealing than the other. To get straight to the point, the main difficulty people have when comparing pomades and pastes is trying to define what a “paste” really is.Īfter reading this, it’ll all be a whole lot clearer. In general, pomades are pretty easy to define. You can get different types of pomades and different types of pastes I’ll be discussing this as we go along too. I’ll then go through specific hair types and how that should influence your decision. What I’ve done is compared these two types of products by looking at different features that may lead you to choose one over the other. That’s the core message, but I’m sure you want to dig a whole lot deeper. Pastes are better for hair that’s thin, short-to-medium in length, or for adding texture, layering, and a matte finish. Pomades are most suitable for hair that’s medium-to-high in thickness, medium-to-long in length, and for definition, slickness, and gloss. It makes comparing them and choosing the “right” product for your particular hair tough at times. If that's really the best stuff out there, then I guess it's what I will buy but something in the $5-$10 range would be better.Some hair products are harder to define than others. I know American Crew Fiber is a popular one but the price is a bit high. I don't know how to describe the look I'm going for but THIS is the best example I can find in terms of hairstyle AND look from a product. If I don't put any product in it, it likes to stick straight out and up and I look ridiculous. I have thick, fine, straight hair with little texture/body. I want to be able to run my hand through my hair a few times in the afternoon and restyle it a bit (pliable). I want a 'natural' look to my hair but have control over what it looks like. I don't want it to be hard or crusty like a gel. I'm looking for a product that doesn't provide much (if any) shine but holds fairly well. It's also a bitch to put in: I feel like I'm pulling hairs out when applying it (towel dryed hair then apply about 10 minutes later) and my hands are so tacky afterward, even after using hand soap. I love the price, the hold and pliability it provides but I don't like the shine and, as with most people, it's a bitch to get out of my hair. I bought a can and have been using it for a few weeks but I'm not sold on it.

Last haircut I got was with a new barber and he suggested Murrays. It didn't hold well, wasn't pliable (I'd try to restyle in the afternoon and it would lose all hold) and was a bit too shiny. It was alright for a $5 container but wasn't what I wanted. For years I used Garnier Fructis Surf Hair Paste because I was cheap and didn't want to change anything.

Hair putty vs pomade