Pomade is a greasy or waxy substance that is used to style hair

Hair

Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....

. Pomade makes hair look slick and shiny. Unlike hair spray

Hair spray

Hair spray is a common cosmetic product that is sprayed onto hair to keep it stiff or in a certain style...

 and hair gel

Hair gel

Hair gel is a hairstyling product that is used to stiffen hair into a particular hairstyle. The results it produces are usually similar to, but stronger than, those of hair spray and hair wax, and weaker than those of hair glue.-Types:...

, pomade does not dry and often takes several washes to remove. It can easily be removed using a high-detergent shampoo

Shampoo

Shampoo is a hair care product used for the removal of oils, dirt, skin particles, dandruff, environmental pollutants and other contaminant particles that gradually build up in hair...

 or other de-greasers such as dishwashing liquid.

Traditionally, pomades contain petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly

Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...

 (in fact, petroleum jelly can be used alone as a pomade) and mineral oil

Mineral oil

A mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of alkanes in the C15 to C40 range from a non-vegetable source, particularly a distillate of petroleum....

, and many also contain some sort of wax

Wax

thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...

.