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Hair Product • A Beginner’s Guide

October 20, 2014 By //  by The Beardsgaards Leave a Comment

When we ask men in our chairs what they are using for hair product, we often get a blank stare. Or we get a response of “paste” or “gel,” which, upon further questioning, we determine to be a product that is neither one of those things.

A lot of men seem completely confounded by hair product, and for good reason. There is a lot to know as far as general categories of hair product, not even getting into those obscenely complicated ingredient lists.

Today we are going to give you a brief overview of all the basic varieties of hair product, what they do, who should be using them, and how to get the best out of them (and each link will take you right to our webshoppe, where you can take them home).

Paste/Fiber

Overview

These labels can apply to a variety of products that can range from low to medium shine, and usually medium to high hold. Most give you moderate to heavy stick and solid texture.

Hair Types & Styles

Despite what the product calls itself, what you are really looking for is the hold and shine level. Low shine varieties are best on fine to medium hair, while the medium shine (usually natural shine level with a little extra definition) are good for medium to thicker hair.

Remember, low shine adds bulk to hair, high adds definition and reduces the hair helmet look. Thick hair paired with matte product can make you look like a Lego man. Choose accordingly.

How to Use

Apply to completely dry to ever so slightly damp hair. Emulsify a small amount between hands and touch them to the hair, moving it this way and that, allowing the hair to pick up product off your hands as opposed to working it into the hair to get good distribution without gooping it up too much.

Once you get enough on there, wipe your hands off and style with your fingertips. These products can be a bit variable in hold, so start small and you can add more for additional hold.

We Recommend

Mud/Clay

Overview

These labels can apply to a variety of products that can range from low to medium shine, and usually medium to high hold. Most give you moderate to heavy stick and solid texture.

Hair Types & Styles

Despite what the product calls itself, what you are really looking for is the hold and shine level. Low shine varieties are best on fine to medium hair, while the medium shine (usually natural shine level with a little extra definition) are good for medium to thicker hair.

Remember, low shine adds bulk to hair, high adds definition and reduces the hair helmet look. Thick hair paired with matte product can make you look like a Lego man. Choose accordingly.

How to Use

Apply to completely dry to ever so slightly damp hair. Emulsify a small amount between hands and touch them to the hair, moving it this way and that, allowing the hair to pick up product off your hands as opposed to working it into the hair to get good distribution without gooping it up too much.

Once you get enough on there, wipe your hands off and style with your fingertips. These products can be a bit variable in hold, so start small and you can add more for additional hold.

We Recommend

Wax

Overview

Wax isn’t a product you want all over your whole head, it is more for adding texture and definition through the ends of the hair.

Hair Types & Styles

Wax is best used on medium to thick, straight hair. If you want to look like an anime character, this is your goo.

How to Use

Spread a small amount over your fingertips and work through ends of hair to add definition.

We Recommend

Pomade

Overview

In the days of yore, most pomade was made with bacon fat. Straight up lard in your hair. Today things are more of the vegetarian variety (although many are not vegan) because beeswax is a common base. Some pomades are even water-based these days, and will rinse out as easily as a gel would. And MY do we have a lot of varieties of all the types these days.

Hair Types & Styles

While not recommended for thin and/or fine hair, it is perfect for medium to thick hair and slick, old school, classic styles. Gel-lovers, meet your new best friend.

How to Use

Scoop out a dab, work between your palms to warm and emulsify, and work in to completely dry, pre-styled hair, root to tip, paying special attention to the middle of the top of your head. Comb through and style with long comb strokes, adding more pomade if needed (start lighter, but you can often go real heavy on this stuff.

We Recommend

Hairspray

Overview

We often hear reports of men putting hairspray in wet hair and letting it air dry, which is about as opposite of its intended use as you can get. Hairspray is a finishing fixative, used to set an already done style.

Hair Types & Styles

Any type is fine for hairspray if your style needs some finishing.

How to Use

Style your hair however you do, dry naturally or with a blowdryer, apply product or not, and finish with a bit of spray, held 8 to 12 inches from your head.

We Recommend

Gel

Overview

We should probably begin by saying that we do not even carry what folks commonly think of “gel” in our shop (the 90s-style giant tub o’goo), because we believe they should burn in the fires of Mount Doom (and they might, with the sky high alcohol content many of them have).

Hair Types & Styles

We like to use gel’s tacky nature to give some grip to super soft, silky hair.

How to Use

Gel can have many uses, but for us we like it as a pre-styler, adding some wet and blow drying in to add movable, touchable hold that doesn’t even feel like you have anything in there, or using a little in dry hair to add some more solid hold.

We Recommend


What do YOU like to use in your hair?

Filed Under: Blog, Products & Grooming Tagged With: Evergreen Terrace, Grooming, Pillar, Products

About The Beardsgaards

The Beardsgaards are a pair of mom-and-pop barber nerds with a shared obsession with perfection. We built this old school barbershop to feel like home to everyone who enters beneath the Elvish script above our door. If we and the Gaardian army can give you a better handle on your grooming routine, all the better.

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We built this place for you, to bring you everything you ever dreamed you could find in your friendly neighborhood barbershop, and a stupid amount more. Beardsmith and Blademaiden, the mom and pop founders, invite you to explore the realm.

Our Little Slice of Valhalla

In historic downtown Batavia on Route 31 between 1st and Main

117 S Batavia Ave, Batavia, IL 60510

PHONE: ( 630 ) 454 - 4820

EMAIL: shop@beardsgaardbarbers.com

Appointment & Walk-Ins Both!

Parking

Loads of free parking here, both on the street in front of the shop, with an even more substantial parking lot in back.

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Family owned & operated since 2014. There be nerds here. And dragons.
💈Classic Haircuts • Epic Beards • Razor Shaves💈
House brand @riverpeakapothecary

Beardsgaard Barbers
It’s official everyone! Beard trims are back and It’s official everyone! Beard trims are back and open for booking. While we know it’s been months and everyone is looking a bit scruffy please be patient as we try and squeeze all the beard trims we can into the schedule. We’d also like to thank everyone who’s been diligent with keeping our shop a safe and healthy environment. 
If you’re already booked in the schedule we can’t guarantee we can add a beard trim to your service but we can definitely try booking you for a different time to get that beard in. 
{Link to book in bio}
Our news friends at @nbcchicago popped in for some Our news friends at @nbcchicago popped in for some street interviews. You can see what our clients and barbers said at 4pm and 6pm today!
We were deeply saddened by the news of Christopher We were deeply saddened by the news of Christopher Tolkien passing a year ago, and still are to this day. Our love of his father and Lord of the Rings is ever present here at Beardsgaard. So tonight we, and hopefully the rest of you, will take a moment to remember one of the greatest authors of all time, his son, and the impact the Tolkien family has had on our lives. 
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”
-J.R.R. Tolkien
While we appreciate all the self sufficient kids t While we appreciate all the self sufficient kids that come into the shop, we still need an adult with them to sign our liability waiver. We know it’s a bit of a pain but it’s really to appease Phydeoux the shop dragon. He has a hunger for children and waivers, and we’d rather feed him waivers.
You don’t have to wear it after your cut, but do You don’t have to wear it after your cut, but don’t forget your hat. It’s cold outside.
The product goblin (and the rest of us) think @soa The product goblin (and the rest of us) think @soapdistillery body oils smell good enough to drink. We promise the oils will make you feel much better if you put them on your outside instead of your inside though.
Well hello to those with wild beards who heard whi Well hello to those with wild beards who heard whispers of moving out of Tier 3 Mitigation! Please pause, we're not there yet. 

This does not apply to the entire state of Illinois, only certain regions. As of now, we are still in Tier 3. We will announce when we have moved to Tier 2 on all of our social media channels as well as our email list, so sit tight until then!

Because knowledge is power, you also can go to http://dph.illinois.gov/regionmetrics?regionID=8 at any time and look at Region 8, which contains Kane County. As of this posting, we are not meeting the metric on hospital bed availability. 

We promise, we want to get everything under your mask looking and feeling great, but we cannot do that until it's safe. Thank you for understanding, and please keep an eye out here, on Instagram or sign up for our email list at the bottom of www.beardsgaardbarbers.com to get updates.
And you? Do you like the barber shop? We like you. And you? Do you like the barber shop? We like you.
We may specialize in short, traditionally masculin We may specialize in short, traditionally masculine haircuts, but Beardsgaard has always been a place for everyone; girls, guys, gays, theys - all identities and orientations find acceptance and a barbershop home here. If, however, you are looking for the luscious salon locks that are far less in our barberly skill set, we are the lucky next door neighbors of the incredible @coasthairsalon
Between the two of us, we have heads of every sort covered in spectacular hair, and positive vibes.
While we would love to see more than half of your While we would love to see more than half of your faces, until Illinois is out of Tier 3 we are just not allowed to do any face services. That means all beard trims and face shaves are not a thing for the foreseeable future. We know that’s a bummer for most of you but think of how epic and wizardry your beards will be once we can do trims!
For beard updates we will be posting across social media and sending an email out to those of you that are on the email list as soon as we know anything. Hang tight Gaardians, your face gardens will be pruned again some day.
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Our Little Slice of Valhalla

In historic downtown Batavia on Route 31 between 1st and Main

117 S Batavia Ave, Batavia, IL 60510

PHONE: ( 630 ) 454 - 4820

EMAIL: shop@beardsgaardbarbers.com

Appointment & Walk-Ins Both!

Parking

Loads of free parking here, both on the street in front of the shop, with an even more substantial parking lot in back.

Current Hours

Closed for Shop Lunch 2-3 pm weekdays, 1-2 pm Saturdays

• Monday - Friday 9 / 8 • Saturday 9 / 5

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All full for the day! (Closed Sundays & Mondays. Call or book online )
For the safety of our staff and clients, we must refuse service to anyone with cold or flu-like symptoms.
Actually there’s a whole list of questions we’re gonna ask you at the door, brace yourself.
Shop closes for lunch weekdays 2-3 PM and Saturdays 1-2 PM
Shop our entire shop online, for shipping worldwide or curbside pickup! {CLICKY HERE}
Beard trims are back! Book Here!
While you’re here, peruse our sibling shop right next door or in the Webs of Inter, River Peak Apothecary!