The History of Men's Hair Products: From Pomade and Brylcreem to Modern Hair Clay

Every man who has ever run something through his hair before leaving the house is continuing a tradition that is roughly a hundred and twenty years old. The products themselves have changed — from animal fat and petroleum to plant oils and beeswax — but the job has stayed the same: hold a shape, give a finish, and not embarrass anyone before the end of the day.

This is a short history of how men's hair products got to where they are, why hair clay won the last twenty years, and how to work out which category suits the way you actually wear your hair.

The pomade era (1900s to 1950s)

Before the First World War, most men who styled their hair used whatever greased it down. Bear fat, lard and mutton tallow were rubbed into the scalp and combed flat. The first commercial breakthrough was Brylcreem, created in 1928 by County Chemicals at the Chemico Works on Bradford Street in Birmingham. Its formula replaced the animal fat with an emulsion of water and mineral oil, stabilised with beeswax. It was sold first to barbers, then straight to consumers, and by the end of the 1930s it had become the dominant men's hair product in Britain. Its cultural peak came during the Second World War, when members of the RAF — particularly pilots — were nicknamed "the Brylcreem Boys" because so many of them used it.

The look that pomade was built for was a hard side part with a wet, glossy finish — the "executive contour". Products from this era were heavy, slick, and reliably strong, but they stained pillowcases and were difficult to wash out without a solvent-based shampoo. American brands like Murray's Superior, Royal Crown and Black & White dominated the barbershop counters of the same period and are still sold today, largely to the pompadour and rockabilly revivalists who want that authentic, over-the-top shine.

The wax years (1960s to 1990s)

As the clean-cut silhouette of the 1950s gave way to longer, messier hair in the 1960s and 70s, the demand shifted. Men wanted movement, separation and a little bit of shine — but not the stiff helmet that pomade produced. Hair wax filled the gap. Wax is softer than pomade, built on a beeswax or paraffin wax base with added oils, and it allowed for pieced-out texture rather than sculpted hold.

Wax peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s when brands like Tigi Bedhead, American Crew Fiber and Baxter of California became fixtures on the bathroom shelf. The finish was glossy to semi-gloss, the hold was medium to firm, and the look was the messy crop and curtain fringe of the Britpop and American Pie years. Wax is still very much alive — it is the right product if you want visible definition and a touch of shine — but it has a well-known weakness: it can look greasy by the afternoon, especially on fine or thinning hair.

The rise of hair clay (2000s to today)

Around the middle of the 2000s, a new category appeared on the shelves of men's grooming brands and barbers: hair clay. The defining move was the shift away from shine. Advertising, fashion and the tastes of younger customers were all pulling in the same direction — towards a matte, lived-in, "you cannot tell he is wearing product" finish.

Hair clay was designed to do exactly that. Traditional formulations used bentonite or kaolin clay powder to absorb oil from the hair and create the dry, matte appearance. Modern clays, including the Oliver J. Woods Abyssinian Clay, use lightweight plant oils and natural wax to provide a firm matte hold without the drying effect that kaolin-based clays can have after a few weeks of daily use.

The look is the textured crop, the short back and sides, the casually tousled combover — the styles that have dominated men's hair since roughly 2012 and show no sign of leaving. If pomade was the drawn executive silhouette of the 1950s and wax was the styled-and-seen look of the 1990s, clay is the considered-but-casual look of the last decade.

Where salt spray fits in

Sitting alongside clay is salt spray, which does a completely different job. Salt spray is not a hold product — it is a pre-styler. Mineral salts and sometimes a small amount of polymer swell the hair cuticle and give thin, straight hair the thickness and texture it does not naturally have. Used on its own it creates a beachy, just-out-of-the-sea look. Used under a clay or wax, it gives more body for the styling product to work with. It is the most useful product you can own if your hair is fine, straight or tends to go flat within an hour of leaving the house.

What makes modern hair clay different

The hair clays on the shelf in 2026 are not all built the same. The high-street versions still lean heavily on synthetic polymers, PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) and alcohol to create hold — which works, but dries the hair out over weeks of continuous use. A smaller, newer group of brands has moved back to natural hold ingredients: beeswax, plant oils and plant butters, with the hold coming from the wax rather than a film-former.

The Abyssinian Clay is one of those. Its firm matte hold comes from Cera Alba (beeswax) rather than synthetic polymers, and the conditioning comes from Crambe Abyssinica (Abyssinian) Seed Oil, Hazelnut Seed Oil, Coconut Oil, Blackseed Oil and Vitamin E. The clay conditions the hair while it holds it, which matters because most men use styling product almost every day of their lives.

The short version: if you like a clean, defined silhouette with shine, wax or pomade is still the right category. If you want a matte finish that looks un-styled and does not dry your hair out over time, modern hair clay is what was built for that.