Matte Pomade vs Clay For Hair Styling – What’s the Difference Between These Styling Products?

Tl;dr: Matte pomade and clay pomade are both types of matte hair styling products. They both have a matte finish and “natural” look, with clay being a little thicker and adding more volume to the hair. Both can be used to get the same hairstyles. Clay pomade is popular for people with thin or fine hair.

With the meteoric rise of matte hair products in the last few years, both matte pomades and clay pomades have been exploding in popularity. And with good reason – unlike the older hairstyles that are achieved with traditional oil-based pomades or the wet-look hairstyles that are achieved with hair gels, both matte pomades and clay pomades open up a whole new world of contemporary hair styles that are in vogue in the 2020s.

Cosmic Clay, an example of a clay pomade

What Types of Hair Styles?

The beauty of matte pomades and clay pomades is their ability to create natural looking hair styles. If you want to make it look like you’re wearing no hair product at all, you can achieve this look best with a matte pomade or matte clay. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t have high hold. For example, the Daytona Supply Hi-Lo matte pomade will hold almost any hair style, while at the same time look natural and semi-soft (not crunchy or oily like traditional pomades or hair gels).

What Makes it Matte?

Both matte pomades and clay pomades usually use some type of clay for the matte effect. Both natural kaolin clay and natural bentonite clay are used in high-end hair products – Kaolin is usually used for general-purpose pomades, while bentonite is most often used in pure clay products. Bentonite absorbs a little more water than Kaolin, so it is used in clay pomades that promote volume. Both clays are used to absorb excess oil on the scalp, thus giving a dryer, matte look with very little shine.

How is Matte Pomade Different from a Clay Pomade?

The truth of the matter is that they’re both extremely similar. After all, most matte hair pomades contain either kaolin or bentonite to reduce shine. A clay pomade will also use these same ingredients, except in higher volumes. This extra clay gives a volumizing effect.

Clay pomade is also sometimes thicker than a regular matte pomade. This is due to the increased amounts of clay. Some clay pomades have as much as 50% clay by product volume.

Hi-Lo Matte Pomade, an example of a standard matte pomade

What Hair Types Are They Used On?

You can use both matte pomade and clay pomade on any hair types, for any style. However, clay pomades are recommended for people with thinner hair. This is because bentonite clay has natural volume-enhancing properties due to its ability to absorb moisture. This makes hair appear “bigger” and thicker than it actually is.

If you see pomade that is marketed as “thickening pomade,” most likely its just a regular clay pomade containing bentonite clay. Bentonite will make any hair style look more voluminous and thicker. No need to get special thickening pomade – any high quality clay pomade will have the same effect.

Summary: Both matte pomade and clay pomade are very similar. They both use clay (either kaolin or bentonite clay) and both have a matte finish. Clay pomades can be a little thicker due to the increased clay content. Clay pomades are used to promote volume in hair, whereas a regular matte pomade is more general for all hair types. They both can achieve the same hair styles.

Matte Pomade vs Clay For Hair Styling