Anyone Try Bees Knees Pomade?

Gents, as some of you may have read in Marco's great thread about the renaissance of traditional pomades, I have some issue with petrolatum based products and particularly those that have liquid oils added for sheen. I am not one who flips out about petrolatum based products. From what little I can gather in the amounts you use them they are pretty much harmless. What I do have issues with is fine hair that is sometimes blonde, sometimes very light brown. Petro based products are a flip of the coin for me as to whether they work or make me look dingy. I have fine hair which means I need strong hold but to get enough grease based in the hair to do a good job, it is always on the cusp of looking really bad.

With that I went looking for more of a wax based pomaded. Particularly beeswax which is less 'greasy' so to speak than microcrystalline waxes based on petrolatum. About the only brand I discovered that held no petro was Bees Knees. http://www.beeskneespomade.com/ They list only three ingredients; Lanolin, beeswax, essential oils. Sounds good to me but I wondered if any of you chaps have tried this and would mind to offer up their experience? They make three styles. All with the same base ingredients. Regular and lite share the same essential oils of tea tree, peppermint, and eucalyptus. The high sheen uses clove, sandalwood, and sweet orange. To tell truth, I like the essential oils in the high sheen much better than those in the regular or lite. I don't get on well with tea tree and eucalyptus. Not because I am allergic, I just don't care for the aroma. The three in the high sheen are personal favourites. I do have a caution about it though because high sheen is where I start getting to the edge of a nice glow to stringy-haired looking scalliwag pretty quickly.

Lanolin. I like the stuff. It has been my experience that many who think they are allergic to it are not. I simply have never used a product that would contain so much lanolin as an ingredient. It is almost always as an adjunct to the main formula. So fire away. Lanolin; greasy? Sticky? Beeswax; I know this one already. Waxy! And quite thick and stable. I suppose this is why it is a second ingredient. They also do not specify why the lite is lighter than the regular. Probably more lanolin to beeswax ratio but who knows? I also have a message into them about the products. Thank you.

i have bees knees reg and a special edition one. they are great products. i also have the high sheen but i havent used it yet.

Gents, the high sheen Bees Knees arrived today. I immediately opened it up to give it a sniff and check the texture. The first thing I noticed was the scent. Heavy of clove I did not pick up the sweet orange or sandalwood. Like cedar, clove can dominate every other scent in a blend. Mayhaps as I use the product the scent will reveal some of the other notes. Right now it is clove with a slight medicinal note to it. Clove can be medicinal but I suspect this is due in part to the other scent oils.

Texture. This is the hardest pomade I have ever seen . It was cold today when it arrived so of course a wax based product would be very hard indeed. I could not dig into it by rubbing hard on the product. A few hours later after it had tempered a bit I could rub my finger into the product but it took some pressure to do it. It felt like if you worked it it would soften up and become pliable. I will report tomorrow how it goes with first application.

I haven't, but I hear it's "the bees kne...." Oh, now I get it!!

Todd, I'm certainly a nostalgic and a lover of pomades from the 1920's and 1930's and, therefore, I'm a fan of oil based pomades with Petroleum. My few attempts to get a Petroleum-free pomade have been a bit disappointing, honestly. One pomade you may consider if Bees Kness does not work for you is Murray's with 100% Pure Australian Beeswax. Yes, it does contain Petroleum, but just in little quantity and, other than that, only other 2 ingredients: selected Beeswax and Fragrance. I've not tested it yet, but it gets good feedback.

Phog Allen said:

Gents, the high sheen Bees Knees arrived today. I immediately opened it up to give it a sniff and check the texture. The first thing I noticed was the scent. Heavy of clove I did not pick up the sweet orange or sandalwood. Like cedar, clove can dominate every other scent in a blend. Mayhaps as I use the product the scent will reveal some of the other notes. Right now it is clove with a slight medicinal note to it. Clove can be medicinal but I suspect this is due in part to the other scent oils.

Texture. This is the hardest pomade I have ever seen . It was cold today when it arrived so of course a wax based product would be very hard indeed. I could not dig into it by rubbing hard on the product. A few hours later after it had tempered a bit I could rub my finger into the product but it took some pressure to do it. It felt like if you worked it it would soften up and become pliable. I will report tomorrow how it goes with first application.

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I'm currently looking for a new pomade and have some of the same desires that you do so I look forward to your feedback about the bees knees pomade. Also, Rock Chalk!

Gents, first day in with the high sheen. Application is as expected, a bit sticky. You need to apply quite a lot of pressure to the product to gather some up on your finger. You definitely need to work this thoroughly in your hands to warm it up and make it pliable enough to spread through your hair. I started as usual with dry hair, combed and brushed into place. I started at the base of the skull and worked it up toward the crown and forehead. It definitely does not go on as easy as a grease based pomade but it is not any worse than the heavy stuff like Murray's Superior. Of course it is a bit harder to work and comb through the hair than a smooth water based product like Railcar Fine Goods. This is to be expected.

Once I got it worked through I used the Kent combs to groom it into place. I think I may have used just a bit too much because I got more of a slick and wet look than I wanted. Now I realise the grease or wax based pomades are going to give you this look. Particularly if you really coat your hair with it. Thankfully it did not give me the dirty haired look so many grease based pomades do. Also, combed hair is going to give a more sculpted look than hair that is brushed or fingered into place. I am learning to use the Kent military brushes with these hair products to give a better volume to my hair. I can and do use the Kent combs as well but I like them in combination with the brushes. Anyroad, once I got it groomed into place I let it 'set up' so to speak and checked its look and feel about ten minutes later. Shine was noticeable but not high sheen. At least not on my hair. This is why I speak to the issues with lighter hair colour and and higher gloss or oil based products. It is a fine line between sheen and stringy look. It is now about twelve hours since I applied it and while it certainly has relaxed it is still able to be well groomed and either brushed or combed into place. Sheen is about the same. So far I like this product. It feels very 'comfortable' in the hair if that makes any sense. No sense of heaviness or oily feeling. This certainly bears further use. I am also interested in trying their normal sheen version and the lite. I chose this high sheen version because I liked the combination of essential oils in it. It is more one dimensional clove though so that is not a deciding factor. The regular version with its tea tree and Eucalyptus is not that appealing to me but I am interested enough to give it a go. I have an email in to the company seeking information but have received no answer as of yet. Stay tuned for updates.

I've been looking at this one for awhile. Once I use up a tin, I'll likely get it. Thanks for the review Todd.

Thanks for the review, sir! The fact that it seems so hard to work with confirms my reasoning behind not using products with lots of beeswax. While I do like The Iron Society pomades, it's just so much easier to use lighter products.

Hope you can get the hang of it sir! I usually work heavier pomades in my hands till it's really warm and slick so it's easier to work with.

Gentlemen, thank you for the nice replies. I intended to update this thread earlier but with the holiday weekend and all, it simply got pushed aside. So here is a bit more fodder to think over. First let me address the hardness and pliability issues. Yes, this is a hard pomade. Very dense to the point you have to scoop it out with a very stiff fingered digging motion. Now once you reach that point you should indeed give it a good working over between palms and fingers to get it properly warmed up and make it more spreadable. After that it is not ridiculously hard to work it through your hair. I have fine stranded hair which may make it easier to work with. I don't know since I cannot directly compare it to another type hair. You chaps with thick stranded or very curly hair may need a 'greasier' product that is slicker.

I am going to say right now I like this pomade. A lot. Since I have been using it my hair is noticeably healthier looking to my eyes. It is likely the lanolin rather than the beeswax. The beeswax is likely there for heavier hold. I have never handled raw or pure or whatever you call lanolin that is not emulsified in a lotion. Lanolin having a close comparison to human sebum is probably very good to hair. It works for the sheep! My hair feels soft and silky. It washes pretty clean but I realised it actually coated or penetrated the hairs and conditioned them.

I like it that though this is a high sheen pomade it is not as shiny as say, Murray's Hair Glo. It has sheen, not shine I like to say. And it works much better on my blonde-ish colour. I am certainly going to investigate lanolin and beeswax based products a bit further. Also, I have made a somewhat solid decision to stay with more matte hair products. They just work better I think. If you have very dark brown or better yet black hair, then the high shine products look superb. The lighter your hair gets the dodgier it becomes to use oilier products in it. At least to my eyes. The Bees Knees actually accentuated my hair colour just a bit. Yes, it had a slight wet look but it heightened the colour rather than helping it to look dirty. Again, I am a novice with these products so don't put too much into this. Opinions change fast with grooming products. It interests me enough I am seriously considering trying their regular and lite versions. I just don't like the combination of essential oils. Tea tree and Eucalyptus are not favourites. Peppermint I can live with. We'll see. I think the more natural low sheen products will work best for me but I will find out. Thanks for reading and I hope someone got some benefit from it.

Thanks for the update Todd! I'm doing my research and carefully considering my first "real" pomade (I've been using what I would call "paste" type products so far). Your information really makes a difference and helps me out!

I might.

Phog Allen said:

Gentlemen, thank you for the nice replies. I intended to update this thread earlier but with the holiday weekend and all, it simply got pushed aside. So here is a bit more fodder to think over. First let me address the hardness and pliability issues. Yes, this is a hard pomade. Very dense to the point you have to scoop it out with a very stiff fingered digging motion. Now once you reach that point you should indeed give it a good working over between palms and fingers to get it properly warmed up and make it more spreadable. After that it is not ridiculously hard to work it through your hair. I have fine stranded hair which may make it easier to work with. I don't know since I cannot directly compare it to another type hair. You chaps with thick stranded or very curly hair may need a 'greasier' product that is slicker.

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I'm thinking you could always use a blow drier to heat/soften the beeswax and also to help as you spread it.

Gents, a small follow up. I used this again today and results were very good. I am now about three weeks into my last haircut and it is starting to show in how my hair lays when styled, groomed, or product added and a combination of the above. I used an amount about the size of a very large pea but not as big as a small marble. Closer to pea sized. Again, thorough working and heating in the hands is a must to get a good application. Same as before I worked it from base of hairline to crown and forehead with a vigorous motion like using friction lotions. I then used the Kent combs to help distribute it evenly through the hair. A tip I learned from a pomade forum review is to comb the product with the growth pattern of your hair. For 99% of guys this will mean forward. With these stickier pomades it helps to prevent tugging and pulling of the follicles. Afterward I used the two Kent military brushes to groom my hair into the typical businessman style.

What I really like about this pomade is it keeps my hair in place without the plastered down feeling. And even now, after 14 hours I can still run a comb or brush through it and get the hair into place. Sure, it will not rock a pomp or slick back this way but my hair is not styled like that anyway. I do think you could easily do those styles with this pomade as long as you put it on thick like grease products, leave it in day to day for a build up, and of course, have the right haircut to make it happen in the first place. I get what I feel is a very well groomed executive contour or college contour. I am not exactly sure what it is called. Nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary. This stuff make it look good, does not weigh it down or leave it looking dirty/wet and the clove smell dissipates quickly. It is most certainly worth a try. I am going to try a light wash tomorrow and then apply more and see how the buildup works. It will be interesting with my hair colour.