Layrite

If you're like me and you've been gifted (or cursed) with thick wavy hair, you know that taming such an unruly mane can be an ongoing challenge. Men's hair products promising to solve this problem run the whole range from your classic Murray's Original Pomade, favored by sleeve tatted rebels for decades, to your salon-grade grooming cream with exotic chemical ingredients. Right between these poles lies Layrite Super Hold Pomade, which boasts the best characteristics of both and has been the only one to keep my side part firmly pressed throughout the day. Layrite is the brainchild of Donnie Hawley, whose Hawleywood's Barber Shop and Shaving Parlor has been keeping Southern California men well-groomed since 1999. Apparently, he decided to create his own pomade after growing weary of customers stepping into his chair with mops full of petroleum grease. His goal was a water-soluble formula that holds with a nice sheen but washes out with ease. To achieve that old school Layrite look, ask your barber for three inches up top and a half inch on the side; dry your hair completely and then rub a dime-sized amount into your hands, and work it through your hair from the roots to the ends.