Wax It! - The Ultimate Hair Wax Challenge!

The latest top men’s hairstyle is most definitely the undercut. Snagging the likes of celebrities like David Beckham, Justin Bieber and even female stars like Rihanna and Miley Cyrus have joined the ever growing trend of sporting an undercut. This post isn’t about how to cut an undercut. We shall leave that to your hairstylist who will expertly coif your hair into shape. After all, it really depends on your hair texture, thickness, length etc. So maintaining the undercut looking good everyday isn’t just about having your sides and back shone every now and then. More importantly, what product should be used to slick back your hair for the overall look. The top will have to have volume, resistance to humidity and a good hold for maintaining the look throughout your day.

So now, here are 10 hair styling products that have been tried and tested to bring about the undercut to a whole new level. These products are should fulfil these criteria, they will give a matte look, increase hair volume and have an overall strong hold. As a constant in this review, the products were applied to washed and thoroughly blown dry hair. They ARE ranked in order of merit. (Yes, we tried every single brand listed) Echos Line Estyling Matte Paste Avoid if you want matte, voluminous and well held hair. It wasn’t matte, shined up hair pretty quickly especially in high humidity, didn’t give any volume due to its wet texture and definitely held hair like water. If you’re looking for the opposite of the above, I guess this works well. Hold: 4 Shine: 8 Volume: 2 Toni & Guy Men Styling Clay Another branded yet overhyped wax. It doesn’t hold hair well in our humid climatic conditions. It was a little to shiny on the hair which made it looked oily by the end of the day. Hold: 4 Shine: 7w Volume: 3 INTouch Creative and Mega Wax For this off the shelf wax, there’s nothing to shout about. Medium hold, medium shine, medium please-choose-another-wax-for-undercut. Hold: 6 Shine: 6 Volume: 2 Gatsby Styling Clay A cheap off the shelf product compared to the rest. Emulsify in your hands relatively well, but gives a medium sheen to your hair as you slick it back. Hold is ok, but oiliness is felt and seen at the end of the day. Hold: 7 Shine: 8 Volume: 3 Gatsby Mat and Hard Wax Cheap, good hold, quite matte, minimal restyling capability and some volume. Itís the economical answer to a wax that gives you a nearly there undercut look. Just nearly there. Lower cost does draw you in if you don’t mind, though.’ Hold: 7 Shine: 4 Volume: 3 Osis+ Rough Rubber A needle in a virtual haystack of hair products. This one was found in Malacca, Malaysia. People on YouTube had mentioned how good it was at providing a strong hold with a matte look. However, I think thatís really for the temperate countries. The paste was really rubbery and therefore hard to distribute over hair. Multiple times of applying small amounts were needed and when done, provided a strong hold but failed in giving a matte and natural look. It’s worse that it’s so expensive. Hold: 9 Shine: 4 Volume: 3 Alterna Bamboo Style Ultra-hold Sculpting Clay While it gave a good hold throughout the day, it would turn hair shiny with humidity and couldn’t be restyled during the day. It was harder to distribute evenly as you emulsify the product in your hands. However, it did give volume and had a nice scent. Hold: 7 Shine: 7 Volume: 7 Osis+ Dust It A unique product not found in many stores. Expensive for a small bottle, but sworn by many hair/makeup stylist to be great at bringing volume to thin hair. Its nickname is “pong pong powder”. Overall, it is difficult to distribute evenly as it really is a fine powder and when done, your fingers will have a hard time running through your hair without encountering tangles. Also, it leaves quite a bit of residue in your hair. Plus side is it does have an incredible hold. Hold: 9 Shine: 0 Volume: 9 Erratic Molding Clay Unique in that this clay comes in a squeezy tube, it does deliver a matte look, quite strong hold and medium volume. I would rate this 2nd in my list of products here. It was easy to distribute, normal resistant to humidity so you maintain the matte and natural look of your hair. Hold: 7 Shine: 2 Volume: 7 Dominate Matte Wax Truly is dominating, this is the ultimate choice for the perfect undercut. A perfect score for being matte, holding the longest, zero shine from humidity and bringing good volume to the undercut holds even after you restyle during the day. Only point to note is that it leaves a noticeable white residue if you do not distribute it evenly. Other than that, perfection. I recommend putting small amounts two times over so as to provide the extra hold. Hold: 9 Shine: 1 Volume: 8 So there you go! We promise no heads were harmed in this review of the best hair wax, if you do find our writers losing hair, it’s probably due to this review.