"Next Level Pomade" -By James Bui

The search for the best water-based pomade is ongoing and everlasting. But today, we shall talk about an important landmark in the progression of water-based pomades away from being just fancy gels.

Layrite Super Shine came out a while back — I don’t remember when I first saw the product. It’s no new product and because the lack of publicity/talk about the goop, I ended up never trying it until mrpomade recommended it to me. And man, I wish it received the publicity it deserves.

Water-based products are generally characterized with matte-finish, strong hold, and drying up. There have been a few products that have done well to break away from that trend — The Daimon Barber No.1, for example. This product right here, Layrite Super Shine, goes to extreme lengths to offer the user stuff only previously found with oil-based products…insane shine, oil-like malleability, and never EVER drying up.

This is the jar. As before, it’s very similar to the original Layrite Deluxe jar except with a red label. It comes in your standard 4 oz. and overall, like before, the presentation is well done.

Opening it up, this is the goop itself. As a friend of mine said, “Looks like burger sawwwwce!” and no lie…it does. It looks like In-N-Out special sauce minus all the relish and other random particulates. Then for the smell…I won’t lie to you guys. It smells like wet paint. I don’t know why some random scent wasn’t thrown in. Anything would have been better than this wet paint smell; HOWEVER, it’s luckily a very light scent and not strong enough to last once you go outside.

Application
This stuff is so unlike anything I’ve ever tried before — in a good way. The texture was….weird. When you disturbed the top layer, it shedded away like lotion. Yet, as you went deeper or rather, as you pulled some goop off the surface…you can feel that the layer’s underneath are thicker or uncompressed. What does this mean to you as a common user? Nothing. The only important this is it’s like lotion. Then, once you rub it all up in your hands…it’s starts getting sticky and what not — kinda like Blind Barber.

Running it through your hair…it was definitely sticky but still not a hassle to get in at all. Just check out the video…pretty simple. Oh, also…

I opted not to use any other product with the Super Shine to fully showcase its abilities. Understandably though, most people will opt to use it in combination with some other strong water-based product. It’s always easy to make a pomade look good when cocktail-ed, so I wanted to make sure no doubts could be made on the results I show.

Styling
Time. Because of the nature of this pomade and it’s unique characteristics, it required more than the usual time to style. Its hold and control was really reminiscent of Tancho pomade, which also took a while to get accustomed to and style with. 

Slickness. This stuff is slick as fuhhhhhh. The shine is unbelievable. Also, because of the stickiness it has, your hairs will not stray. However, they may start clumping together more than you like. Wet-combing or adding a little bit of a normal water-based will counteract this.

Strength. It is a low-to-medium hold pomade. The type of hold it gives you is VERY DIFFERENT from other water-based pomades. It’s crazy. It’s NLS. You have to come into this product as though you are using a oil-based product. The strength will lend to a very beautifully shaped pompadour if you have the gifted hands it requires.

Conclusion
This is some next level shit — simple as that. It is was water-based product that offers the user extremely high shine all day long, malleability without ever drying, and a natural grease-like hold that is almost unheard of.

It does offer a lighter hold than most other water-based products, and you will have to restyle throughout the day. Plus, the smell is unpleasant BUT thankfully, very light and non-existent after a few minutes. Now, is it worth it? HELL YEAH!

Allow me to repeat. It is a water-based pomade. Does NOT dry. Has high shine. And feels like a oil-based pomade. DONE. It receives my seal of approval.