As the years go by and we work on new Ministerstwo products, we sail out into open water ever more boldly and explore areas of cosmetic formulation that were unknown to us until now. So we are opening 2024 with the launch of a completely new product category in our range, opening the door for you to the world of natural hair styling cosmetics. Join us on a short guided journey - we will explain how the products available on the market differ and why, among all of them, our Rosemary + Salt hair clay is worth choosing :)

The most popular hair stylers - how do they differ?

To begin with, we would like to point out that this time we will focus on the types of products conventionally used for styling men's hair - conventionally, because hair has no gender, and what matters is rather its length and the hairstyle we want to achieve. So the ladies reading us are very welcome to stay with us :)

Categorising hair stylers is no simple matter - depending on the point of reference we adopt, these products can be divided into many different, often overlapping subcategories. The leading criterion may be, for example, composition and texture, the finish on the hair (matte or shiny), the strength of hold (light, medium, strong) or the function and possible uses...

Certainly worth singling out are the products known as pre-stylers - cosmetics applied to damp hair before drying and styling, designed to make hair more responsive to shaping, add volume and protect it from high temperatures. Quite often they also have caring properties. Depending on the formula, however, the same product can serve both as a pre-styler and as a styler ;)

• gels - especially popular in the nineties and early two-thousands, they hold even the most extreme hairstyles and give a high shine. It is easy to overdo them, they can stick hair together or stiffen it, making it look greasy or forming a kind of crust. Used properly, on the other hand, they allow you to achieve a wet-hair effect, to smooth a hairstyle completely or to bring out and hold the curl in wavy and curly hair.
• brilliantines - associated (and rightly so!) with twentieth-century gentlemen, Elvis Presley or The Godfather, they allow maximum smoothing of the hair and give a very high shine.
• gums - heavy and hard to distribute, but very strong, perfect for sharp hairstyles. Unlike gels, they provide a very durable effect without sticking hair together or stiffening it.
• pastes - products of varying strength, usually giving a natural or very matte effect, allowing touch-ups and easy to wash out. They give hair flexibility, make shaping easier and work well for adding volume. Especially popular for messy hair styles.
• creams - most often used for styling frizzy and curly hair in order to tame and smooth it and emphasise the curl.
• waxes - products that hold hair strongly and add shine, and can also have a caring effect. They give the hairstyle flexibility, but need to be warmed up in the hands and are usually hard to wash out (it may be necessary to emulsify them with a conditioner).
• clays - they offer a natural look, a matte finish and medium hold, and on oily hair they additionally absorb excess sebum. They are easy to apply and give flexibility and a lot of control. They add texture to the hair, support volume and do not weigh it down.

The next category of products, pomades, calls for a somewhat broader discussion. Depending on the source, you may come across a definition of pomade as a specific type of cosmetic, but more often it is a collective term used for all men's hair stylers that are not a gel, a mousse, a powder or a hairspray. In that sense the pastes, waxes or clays mentioned above are precisely pomades, and they are then categorised by finish (shine pomades and matte pomades) or by composition:

• Wax pomades are the most classic and old-school products, with a thick and dense texture, relatively heavy and hard to wash out. They do not set, however, which means they allow the hairstyle to be touched up during the day.
• Water-based pomades usually have a gel formula, are light and easy to wash out. They set on the hair, giving the hairstyle high durability.
• Hybrid pomades combine a water base with a wax-and-oil one, offering varying degrees of hold and different finishes.

To make things easier, clay pomades can be wax-based, water-based or hybrid ;)

It is not easy to find your way through the intricacies of professional terminology or the rich range of products on the market. Choosing the right product depends not only on the desired finish or hold, but also on the length of the hair, its type and its porosity. Luckily, you do not have to master all the secrets of hair styling straight away to begin the adventure! It is enough to reach for a product created with beginners in mind, one that will successfully answer a range of needs - and that is exactly what the Rosemary + Salt hair clay from Ministerstwo is :)

Matte hair clay Rosemary + Salt

Our first hair styling cosmetic will work beautifully for beginners looking for an easy-to-handle styler, for more advanced users who value versatile products, and for experienced enthusiasts who curiously test every novelty on the market.

The aluminium tin holds 100 grams of a one hundred percent vegan hybrid hair pomade that smells of the Mediterranean coast and gives the hairstyle a natural, matte finish, medium hold and many hours of durability with the option of touch-ups during the day. The clay's formula was developed to work for styling every hair type while ensuring comfortable application and easy washing out. After all, at Ministerstwo we like simple solutions!

Why choose the hair clay from Ministerstwo?

• A natural, matte finish, medium hold, easy application and washing out, plus the option of touching up the hairstyle during the day, make the perfect combination for beginners. The Rosemary + Salt clay is a styler with which it is genuinely hard to overdo it!
• The clay's formula is entirely vegan and consists of almost 98% ingredients of natural origin. Its well-balanced formula means that it can be used on every hair type - from dry to excessively oily - with no worries about drying it out or weighing it down.
• The clay's versatility and high efficiency allow it to be used for styling hair of different lengths. And that means you can use it even through drastic changes of hairstyle, or share it with the rest of the household :)

If we have managed to tempt you into testing it, we warmly invite you to visit the clay in our shop. As for us, we will be back before long with another post about hair styling, once our line-up is joined by... a creamy pre-styler ;)