The water based pomade world is interesting. There are plenty to choose from and although James has covered a good amount of them, I’m still dabbling my feet in it. I’ve got to say the ease of being able to wash everything out after a shower is damn nice.

Anyways, here’s another water based product that hasn’t disappointed the various times I’ve used it. Dapper Dan is a company that runs with the slogan “Vintage Look for the Modern Man.” I don’t like to adhere to any conceptualization of what’s vintage and what’s modern – if it looks nice and doesn’t gross me out, I’m good. Do I get that from this pomade? We’ll see…

It comes in a very lightly green tinted aluminum tin. Reminds me of the sickly color cartoon characters become when they about to yack. This green color is offset by the “vintage” design of printed on rust and scratches, which is fairly decent in terms of presentation. It ain’t horrible, but it ain’t the cleanest. You get 100ml (because it’s from the UK), which is roughly 3.4 oz.

Advertised as a “clean, crisp, and fresh” but all I got was a fruity melon smell. Those around me confirmed.

As a medium hold water based pomade, it was the usual thickness and gel-like consistency coming out of the can. Had a small feel of oil characteristic though, which washed off easily by running my hands through water.

2-3 finger tips for a solid hold on me. I’ve been applying it on mildly damp hair, which has given me favorable outcomes in terms of styling – it makes the process a tad bit smoother. Here is where the fruity smell starts spreading into the space around you.

It’s advertised as a medium shine, but in my opinion, it’s borderline matte to little shine. I’m guessing the small amount of shine comes from the product’s castor oil ingredient, so the more you add, the more shine (and slickness) you’ll get. My 3 finger tips gives a very minimal shine.

Medium hold throughout the day. Minimal hardness, which means the strength doesn’t come from the hair freezing in place.

I didn’t notice anything too dramatic in terms of it losing it’s initial characteristics – the pomp held, strays didn’t appear, and the pomade drying up too hard. This however, was only for the standard work day of about 8-9 hours. Beyond this is up in the air.

Fixing it hasn’t been a problem if I notice a stray or two, but in terms of redoing everything I had done in the morning? This is too scary to try at work when I don’t bring the pomade.

Washes out with a shower.

One shower= no more product

The more water based pomades I try, the more I feel like they’re the same to some degree. Dapper Dan stands out a bit because of its slight oil-like characteristics (mainly the shine) and it’s ability to stay firm for a solid amount of time. The shine is very minimal but it provides a neat and “dapper” look. I’ve used it multiple times and it hasn’t failed me yet. The only thing to note is that it didn’t have the capability to hold down my tougher to tame hairs on my right side. These tend to curl a bit more, so as you can see, it gets a bit unruly. Other than that, my tin of Dapper Dan Deluxe Pomade will be empty pretty soon.