Has anyone tried making their own pomade?

[Eiverg]

I've been a Schmiere waterbase fan almost exclusively since I went dormant in 2018. I typically use the medium hold. I'm close to the bottom of my current tin. Went online and found that Rumble 59 won't ship to the US anymore.

About a year or so ago, I saw a video with a basic recipe for pomade. I had most of the stuff on hand from when I made soap several years ago. I made a small batch with a few minor changes. I don't have the recipe readily available and I don't remember how thorough my notes were. From memory I used olive oil, mango butter, jojoba oil, castor oil, and beeswax. I think I also used some Macadamia nut oil. The beeswax separated a little bit over time. I think that might be because I didn't have microcrystalline wax that was called for in the recipe. It was oil based, but washed out very easily. No residue after a quick shampoo. I suspect it will be a little harder to wash out with the microcrystalline wax. I recall using 10% beeswax and thinking I needed to up the amount because it was a very light hold.

I ordered the wax and some aluminum tins that should be here tomorrow. In the next week or two, I plan to make a small batch or two (probably enough for a couple 2 oz containers). If anyone has ever made their own pomade, I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Spider]

Interesting. I keep bees and make stuff out of my beeswax. In a couple of books I have read with recipes, I've never seen pomade or anything for the hair. I make a beard balm, which could be used in the hair I guess, but I don't think it would be very effective/lasting for a full day.

 

[CBLindsay]

Interesting. I keep bees and make stuff out of my beeswax. In a couple of books I have read with recipes, I've never seen pomade or anything for the hair. I make a beard balm, which could be used in the hair I guess, but I don't think it would be very effective/lasting for a full day.

I found your beard balm to work well as a pomade. I like the softer more flexible hold so it did well for me. I would say it 'held' better than simply putting oil in my hair but nothing like a comercial pomade (which is what i liked about usng it)

 

[Luecke3262]

@Spider A bees wax pomade would be super cool to play around with, but I wonder what would have to be added to it to provide a decent amount of hold.

 

[Eiverg]

I'll go through my YouTube history after work, and find the video that I used. She provided a recipe that I used to get me in the right direction.

 

[Spider]

@Spider A bees wax pomade would be super cool to play around with, but I wonder what would have to be added to it to provide a decent amount of hold.

My Beard Balm is Coconut oil, Shea butter, Beeswax, Olive Oil, Vitamin E oil, Lanolin, and Fragrance.

 

[Eiverg]

Here is the link to the video that got me started.
DIY Pomade

 

[dangerousdon]

Has anyone tried making their own pomade?​

If you mean Vasaline when I was about 10 years old because I was wearing my parachute pants for the day...then hell yeah!

 

[Spider]

Here is the link to the video that got me started.
DIY Pomade

Well that's interesting. It's very similar to the beard balm I make.

	My Beard Balm	Youtube Pomade
Oil (Total)	52.5%	60%
Butter	30%	30%
Wax	15%	10%
Lanolin	2.5%	0%

So, mine should actually have more hold (more beeswax) than her recipe. But just knowing how it works in my beard, I didn't imagine it being a good Pomade. I guess I'll have to give it a try.

 

[Eiverg]

Still haven't unearthed my soap stuff to see if I saved any notes from the project. From memory, I only substituted some of the Olive Oil for other oils. I felt that upping the Beeswax to 15-20% was going to be the next test. That means that your beard balm may be on point as pomade. I have short hair and do a comb over. 10% worked enough to do a decent job of holding my hair in place for a day at the office, even though it was on the lighter side for my taste.

 

[Eiverg]

The only recipe I can find is a small note where I wrote the recipe from the video. I made a note "20g Olive, 5g Macadamia, 5g Jojoba". The recipe didn't call for Microcrystalline wax, that's my mistake. I think it was some other DIY recipes that used Microcrystalline wax. I probably made a mental note to include that in a future batch to see how it would affect the hold. I don't know if I should be happy that I remembered something, or upset that I remembered something incorrectly.

Time to make some test batches with increased wax content. One with just beeswax and one with beeswax and microcrystalline wax. The microcrystalline wax is more malleable.

@Spider does the beeswax in your beard balm make it grainy over time? The last batch I made was great at first. After 2-3 weeks, the texture started to change and get a little grainy.

 

[Spider]

@Spider does the beeswax in your beard balm make it grainy over time?

Mine haven't changed over time. The first test batch I made had a slightly grainy texture in the tub, but it quickly melts on my fingertips so it's not really a big deal. But I looked into it, changed my process, and my regular batches are far less so.

Basically homemade balms will crystalize because the wax and oils/butters have different melting points, and when they cool, they solidify at different temps. To prevent or reduce this effect, you want to rapidly cool the mixture, so they essentially solidify at the same time. This is done by either letting them cool in the fridge or freezer rather than on the counter. I did mine in the fridge and am happy with the results. But depending on the ingredients used, you might want to cool them off quicker in the freezer for maximum results.

 

[Eiverg]

Made a 100g test batch. I just finished making it and put it in the fridge. The batch I did today was a mix of beeswax and microcrystalline wax at 15%. I worked some of it between my fingers, from the cooled spoon, and I think it's likely going to be the low end of medium hold. There are two bonuses that I realized with this batch.

1. I used a rose petal scent, so Momma is less likely to get upset at the mess if I don't get it all cleaned up.
2. The rose scent is reminiscent of Klar Kabinett. It's been many years since I've used any. At some point I'll pull some out and do a comparison.

Found the glitter stash while I was looking for popsicle sticks, so I can make some pomade for you guys if you want to try.

 

[Eiverg]

Yesterday I tried the DIY pomade. I scooped out an almond size amount. It was a little hard to dig out, but as soon as it hit my finger it started to melt. Rubbed it between my palms a couple of times and it was evenly melted. Applied it to towel dried hair and it went in without any pull. The rose scent was amazing, but just barely on the too strong side. Hair styled easily with a comb over.

It left my hair soft and shiny all day. I will need to use it a few more times to decide if it's leaving my hair a little on the greasy side. I smelled whiffs of rose periodically through the day, I would prefer the scent to fade to almost nothing over an hour or so. I will likely cut the fragrance from 1% to 0.5% on the next batch. It washed out easily with a single shampoo. I used Trader Joes Tea Tree shampoo without any need for other "tricks" that are often needed with oil based pomades.

I'm not the best at reviews and will update if my opinion changes over the next couple of days.

 

[Sara-s]

@Spider are your percentages done by weight or volume?

 

[Spider]

@Spider are your percentages done by weight or volume?

Weight.

 

[Sara-s]

Made a 100g test batch. I just finished making it and put it in the fridge. The batch I did today was a mix of beeswax and microcrystalline wax at 15%. I worked some of it between my fingers, from the cooled spoon, and I think it's likely going to be the low end of medium hold. There are two bonuses that I realized with this batch.

1. I used a rose petal scent, so Momma is less likely to get upset at the mess if I don't get it all cleaned up.
2. The rose scent is reminiscent of Klar Kabinett. It's been many years since I've used any. At some point I'll pull some out and do a comparison.

Found the glitter stash while I was looking for popsicle sticks, so I can make some pomade for you guys if you want to try.

What are you using for the rose petal scent? Is it a fragrance oil? If so, which one (i.e. from what company)?

 

[Eiverg]

It's a fragrance oil. Red Rose Petal from Just Scent. Their website auto-forwards to another one. They have a rose petal scent, but I'm not sure if it's the same one.

 

[JanJosh]

I wish I knew how to do half of this. But I do use the remaining beard stuff I have for hair styling here and there. Plant based oil when I want a manageable, loose and slicked back look, ostrich/beef tallow based for a thicker and more locked in look, and beard butter for an overnight moisture and repair. From my own opion plant based oils will give a shiner and much more tucked in feel but you can recomb over the day, great for dry hair styling. Animal based is a little more matte but will hold strong when dry, but won't be as easy to restyle and fix after settling, but cooperates with warm water.

Beard balm is too tacky and will feel awful in the hair. Beeswax is strong and good in lighter doses for thicker pomade but for beard balm it's overkill. I had to throw all my tins of it away after going clean shaven, no one to adopt them, plus it's a hygiene thing.