Ossion Wax Guide: Matte, Putty, Pomade or Gel?

There are nine styling products in the Ossion line and the names do not help much. Matte Hold, Matte Styling, Matte Putty, Matte Pomade — four things with "matte" on the tin, in two different sizes, at three different hold levels.

Ignore the names for a minute. Read the ingredient lists instead and the range sorts itself into a simple grid: two formula families, one ingredient that controls finish, and a hold ladder running through both. Once you see that, choosing takes about thirty seconds.

There Are Only Two Formula Families

Every Ossion styling product is built one of two ways, and this decides more about how it behaves than the hold rating does.

Water-based. The 5.07 fl oz tubs all start with water and an emulsifier. They go on easily, spread through the hair without dragging, set within a minute or two, and rinse out with an ordinary shampoo. This is the family most people should be in.

Wax-based. The 3.38 fl oz Matte Pomade and Matte Putty are built on beeswax and mineral waxes instead. They need warming between the palms, they never fully harden, and they hold through humidity in a way water-based products cannot. The trade-off is removal — see the last section, because getting this wrong is the single most common complaint about wax-based styling products.

Which family suits you

Choose water-based if you wash your hair most days, want a fast morning routine, or have fine hair that a heavy wax would flatten. Choose wax-based if you want a style that survives weather and long days, if you like being able to rework the shape with your fingers at 6pm, or if your hair is thick enough that water-based hold gives up by lunchtime.

Matte or Shine Comes Down to One Ingredient

This is the part that is genuinely simple and almost never explained: clay.

Every matte product in the range contains kaolin. The Matte Hold wax adds hectorite on top of it. Clay particles are opaque and irregular, so they scatter light rather than bouncing it back, and they absorb some of the oil sitting on the hair surface. That is the entire mechanism behind a matte finish.

The shiny products — the Medium, Extra, Ultra and Mega Hold waxes and the wet look gel — contain no clay at all. Their polymers form a smooth, continuous film, and a smooth film reflects.

So if you have ever bought a wax that looked greasy on you, the fix is not less product. It is clay.

The Hold Ladder

Within the water-based family, hold runs in a clear order. Pick the weakest one that actually holds your cut — stronger hold always costs you reworkability.

Medium Hold is the light end. Shine finish, stays pliable all day, easy to restyle after a gym session or a hat. This is the everyday option for shorter cuts that mostly hold their own shape.

Extra Strong Hold steps up with an acrylate copolymer film. Noticeably firmer, still workable, suits textured crops and quiffs that need help staying up.

Ultra Strong Hold is for styles that must not move — sharp partings, structured pompadours, thick hair being pushed against its natural direction.

Mega Strong Hold is the top of the range. Realistically this is for coarse, heavy hair or for stage-and-photo situations. On fine hair it is more than you need and will look like it.

The Three Matte Tubs, Side by Side

These are the ones people mix up, so here they are against each other.

Matte Styling Wax — strong hold. Water-based with kaolin. The firmest of the small tubs and the easiest to wash out. Good for a matte finish on a style you set once in the morning and leave alone.

Matte Putty — flexible hold. Wax-based, with beeswax and carnauba. Stays pliable, so you can push the shape around at any point in the day. The one to pick if you like messy, worked, undone texture rather than a set style.

Matte Pomade — medium hold. Wax-based too, but firmer, with ozokerite and mica in the mix. Denser on application and better on thick hair, where putty can feel like it disappears.

A short version: styling wax to set it, putty to keep playing with it, pomade when your hair is heavy enough to need the extra body.

Two Products That Are Not Really Waxes

The Strong Hold Hair Gel is a wet-look gel in a salon-size bottle. It sets hard and shiny and is a different look entirely — slicked, defined, deliberately glossy. It is not a substitute for wax and does not behave like one.

The Beard & Hair Matte Styling Cream is lighter than everything above and contains kaolin. It is made to be used on facial hair as well as scalp hair, which the tub waxes are not — a cream spreads through a beard without pulling at it. Light hold, matte finish, dual purpose.

Getting It Out Again

This trips up more people than any hold rating.

The water-based waxes come out with a normal shampoo. Nothing special needed.

The wax-based putty and pomade will not. Beeswax and petrolatum are oil-soluble, and if you step into the shower and wet your hair first, the water simply spreads the product around instead of lifting it. You end up with a coated scalp and hair that feels dusty and greasy at the same time.

The fix takes one change: work shampoo into dry hair first, before any water touches it. The surfactants bind to the wax while it is still concentrated, and then the water rinses the whole lot away. Our guide to removing hair wax properly covers the stubborn cases in more detail.

One honest note on ingredients

The Extra Strong, Medium, Ultra Strong and Matte Styling waxes all list methylparaben, propylparaben and ethylparaben, and so does the shaving gel. Other products in the range use different preservative systems. If parabens matter to you, check the individual product page — the range is not consistent, and it would be misleading to imply otherwise.

Choosing in Thirty Seconds

Work through it in this order and you will land on one product.

Matte or shine? Matte means clay: Matte Hold, Matte Styling, Matte Putty, Matte Pomade, or the beard cream. Shine means the Medium, Extra, Ultra and Mega waxes or the gel.

Do you restyle during the day? Yes means Medium Hold or Matte Putty. No means anything further up the ladder.

How thick is your hair? Fine hair should stay at the lighter end and lean matte, because shine reads as greasy on fine hair. Thick and coarse hair can take Ultra, Mega or the pomade.

If you are still weighing formats rather than products, our guide to choosing a hair wax for your hair type works through it from the hair side, and the full men's styling range lists everything with hold and finish shown together.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between hair wax, putty and pomade?

In the Ossion range the practical difference is base and finish. The water-based waxes rinse out with shampoo and range from medium to mega hold. The putty and pomade are built on beeswax and mineral waxes, so they hold longer and stay pliable but need a proper cleanse to remove. Pomade is the firmest of the three, putty the most reworkable.

What makes a hair wax matte instead of shiny?

Clay. Every matte product in the Ossion line contains kaolin, and the Matte Hold wax adds hectorite as well. Clay particles scatter light instead of reflecting it and absorb some of the oil on the hair surface. The shiny waxes have no clay at all — that is the entire difference in finish.

Which Ossion wax has the strongest hold?

Mega Strong Hold, followed by Ultra and Extra. Medium Hold sits at the light end and is the one to choose if you want to restyle during the day. Stronger hold also means less reworkable, so pick the weakest one that actually holds your cut rather than the strongest on the shelf.

Does Ossion wax wash out easily?

The 5.07 fl oz water-based waxes do — they are built on water and emulsifiers and lift with a normal shampoo. The 3.38 fl oz matte pomade and putty are wax-based and will smear rather than rinse if you go straight to water. Work shampoo into dry hair first, then add water.

Do Ossion waxes contain parabens?

Some do. The Extra Strong, Medium, Ultra Strong and Matte Styling waxes list methylparaben, propylparaben and ethylparaben, as does the shaving gel. If you are avoiding parabens, check the individual ingredient list on the product page rather than assuming the range is consistent.

The Short Version

Two families: water-based rinses out and suits daily washing; wax-based holds harder and needs shampoo on dry hair to remove. Clay decides matte — every matte product has kaolin, none of the shiny ones do. Then pick the lightest hold that survives your day.

That is the whole range, in three decisions.