It didn’t start with a full lineup. It started with a need; a gap in the aisle, a style underserved, a community overlooked. And a jar of pomade that just worked.
Our Soft Clay Pomade was the first. The original. The product that introduced The Barb Shop to the world, and the one that made a lot of our Barbs fall in love with the brand in the first place. It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t trying to impress.
It was just really, really good.
We didn’t set out to make a product for everyone. We made this for the Barbs who had been ignored. The ones looking for something better than the stiff gels and greasy waxes they’d been handed for years. We made it for short-haired folks who wanted definition without stickiness, texture without crunch, and hold without heaviness. A product that would stay in place but rinse clean. A product that worked with your hair, not against it.
The formula had to be right.
Creamy in the hands, smooth through the hair, never greasy.
Made with natural waxes and plant proteins, this pomade gives you touchable hold, a natural finish, and just the right amount of structure. It’s ideal for creating that lived-in look—clean, defined, and confidently undone.
Apply it to damp hair for more hold, or dry hair to fine-tune the finish. Sculpt it, slick it, mess it up, or piece it out—however you wear your Barb, this pomade gives you the freedom to make it yours.
And the scent? It became part of the ritual. Clean, fresh, and barbershop-inspired, it’s the kind of smell that makes you want to open the jar even when you’re not styling. (We’ve seen it happen.)
But we get that scent isn’t for everyone. That’s why we also made a Fragrance-Free version—for sensitive Barbs who want the same styling magic, minus the fragrance.
This wasn’t just a product launch.
It launched a mission: to make styling easy, intentional, and inclusive for short-haired people everywhere.
As our founder Sheena puts it:
“I used to tell my barber not to cut my hair ‘too short’—whatever that means. I was just too scared to be the real me. Too afraid of what people would think. Now, years later, I look in the mirror and I love the real me—because honestly, life’s too short to not. Your hair though? It’s never too short. I founded The Barb Shop so you can feel like you—exactly the way you are.”
And on why this product still matters:
“I know the way a good chop can take the weight off your shoulders (literally). I also know what it’s like to learn to style it with products that weren’t made for you. That’s why I made The Barb Shop—to give the beauty aisle the overdue edge unique to those who rock short hair, and to celebrate the Barbs behind it. Our Soft Clay Pomade does just that. I use it, I love it, and I hope you do too.”
— Sheena Lister, Founder
Want to take it further?
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Layer it over our Go-To Styling Cream for hydration and soft definition underneath.
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Use it after Texturizing Sea Salt Spray to lock in texture and add piecey separation.
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Or combine all three for softness, volume, and structure—done your way.
This is the one that earned our name.
No filler, no flash—just the start of something bigger.
It began with this jar, and it still holds its place.
