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The 9 Best High-Hold Hair Stylers for Men: Expert-Approved Products for Maximum Style Control
Whether you like it matte or slicked back, these high-hold stylers will lock it all in place.
by Adam Hurly
Jun 11, 2025
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High-hold products ensure that your hair ends the day exactly as it was styled in the a.m. Here are the primary options you’ve got, sorted in increasing order of shine. Remember that these are just general guidelines for understanding hair product performance, since no two brands will sell products that behave in the same way, especially with products like pomades and gels.
MORE HAIR STYLER ARTICLES:
For High Hold, No Shine: Fiber or Matte Pomade
Fiber is the less agile sibling of putty and clay. I love it for its texturizing and volumizing powers. Fiber is only ideal for shorter and medium styles, though. Apply it dry.
TRY THESE:
Sachajuan FIbre Paste: When you need your style to survive everything from morning meetings to evening cocktails, this fiber delivers uncompromising hold with serious texture-building power that won’t quietly quit.
Reuzel Extreme Hold Matte Pomade: This pomade means business with its extreme hold and matte finish. Wait, it’s really all in the name, ain’t it?
For High Hold, Natural Shine: Wax and Hair Spray
This one has two different products to consider. First, if you’ve got a short style, then use wax to help build choppy texture. Apply it dry. It’s also great at taming down stubborn hair (and beard hair, too).
OR, in longer styles, try hair spray instead; apply it over top of paste or clay.
TRY THESE:
Church California Sun Wax Pomade: I love this for really short styles that need a dust of intentional styling, or even for taming down stray hairs, and building volume at the roots in short-medium styles.
Horace Wax Pomade: French born Horace makes A+ products for your entire regimen, and this wax may be its best hair styler for its tres-bien hold.
Fatboy Defining Finish Spray: The finishing touch that seals the deal: this spray locks in your style with high hold while adding definition and texture, sans any “crunch” that’s common in competitors’ canisters.
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For High Hold, Medium Shine: Gel or Pomade
And here you thought gel would rank as the glossiest in the bunch. That was the old school stuff that turned your head into a bike helmet; nowadays the good gel is much less greasy on application, and not at all crunchy or flaky once it settles.
TRY THESE:
STMNT Gel: Modern flake-free and crunch-free gel that delivers maximum hold and some seriously stylish slickness.
Baxter of California Hard Cream Pomade: An all-time great hair styling product, perfect for pompadours and slick backs, as well as tousled tresses and choppy crew cuts.
For High Hold, High Shine: Pomade
I’m listing pomade twice—it’s also in “medium hold, high shine”—because there are too many classic pomades out there that fall under different hold levels. This is my kinda pomade though—the wetter, the better. Many modern-day slick pomades are water based, which will give you more touchable, buoyant hair, while the oil-based ones will provide that true “Greased Lighting” effect. I love both finishes, so here are two pomades to consider.
TRY THESE:
Blind Barber 101 Proof Classic Pomade (water based): A pitch-perfect pomade that gives you serious slick without any hefty grease weighing strands down (it rinses clean; this one’s water based).
American Crew Heavy Hold Pomade: Uncompromising hold with the reliability American Crew is known for. Trust, your hair will be locked in (and bouncing moon beams) come nightfall.
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