# Brylcreem -- A little dab'll do ya **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348 "2006-06-04T03:11:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/21 "2006-06-06T19:38:04Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > OK. So they’re new, improved greasy kid’s stuff. But the look is similar – like you were caught in an oil slick. Er…I think you might be using too much. I use gel in my hair, and that’s to avoid the frizziness…I rub it between my palms and scrunch up my hair with it. I have naturally tight, perfect curls; the gel just causes them to stay in shape and not fall out or become frizzy or static-y. And as I run my fingers through my hair, I must say it’s still silky soft and nice to the touch. I certainly don’t have the oil slick look…not that I ever could, with my hair. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/22 "2006-06-06T19:59:17Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > Alberto V05 still makes a very similar product that I’ll use on occaision, and I have a tube of Brylcreem in the bathroom too, as my hair is really fine and gets too “fluffy” right out of the shower. A pencil eraser sized glop on my finger smoothes everything right out. The only complaint is all of this stuff smells really old school medicinal. **Cluricaun** has it right; just what the ad says: A little dab’ll do ya. I started using it a couple of years ago as an alternative to hair spray to keep little frizzies from my hair. Works better than conditioner for me. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/23 "2006-06-06T20:42:07Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > **Cluricaun** has it right; just what the ad says: A little dab’ll do ya. I started using it a couple of years ago as an alternative to hair spray to keep little frizzies from my hair. Works better than conditioner for me. Oh yeah, it’s truly a minimalist product. Even a dime sized portion is enough to make one look rather like they didn’t wash their hair this month. Another decent one that you don’t see to much anymore is called “Top Brass” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/24 "2006-06-06T20:49:15Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > My boyfriend (22) likes the old fashioned dandy thing, and he uses it sometimes. Along with moustache wax. And sock garters. Tell your boyfriend that _real_ dandies _never_ hold their moustaches up with sock garters. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/25 "2006-06-06T21:13:35Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Tell your boyfriend that _real_ dandies _never_ hold their moustaches up with sock garters. Are sleeve garters okay? (The risk of looking like the extra in a bank in a Western who’s about to get robbed notwithstanding.) ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/26 "2006-06-06T21:30:45Z")
I used it on my mohawk when I was a kid. I finally settled on a mixture of shaving cream and aquanet. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/27 "2006-06-06T21:37:22Z")
If you’re really serious about hair control, forget about all that cream and gel stuff. When I was a kid, we had something called Butch Wax – I can’t remember if that was the brand name or the generic name. It had the consistency of, well, wax. It could keep a strand of hair up in a high wind and was de rigeur if you had a flat top. I remember getting yelled at by my Grandmother when I was in the car and accidentally lay my head against the window. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/28 "2006-06-07T02:50:42Z")
Look in the hair care isle wherever it is you shop, and you’ll find more wax available than in the candle isle. It ranges from things that cannot possibly by actual wax, since they have the consistancy of mayonnaise to things that seem to need a flame set under them before use they’re so, well, waxy. IMHO, Paul Mitchell makes a really nice wax that does a great job with both hold and texture. A little thicker, but still nice is organic bees wax. That has the added benefit of smelling like beeswax too. This thread makes me think about the fact that I have waaaay too many hair care products going on in my life. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/29 "2006-06-07T22:40:35Z")
Ugh, my dad uses it when he ‘dresses to impress’ - although I think he’s only gone through 2 or 3 tubes in my lifetime :rolleyes: . The smell of Brylcreem still haunts me. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/30 "2006-06-08T02:13:26Z")
My grandpa used to (still does?) use Groom and Clean. When I had a pixie cut, I used to use a nice pomade. Damned if I can remember the brand though. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/31 "2006-06-08T11:48:33Z")
Back in the early 60’s my dad used Brylcreem. And Gleem brand toothpaste. The tubes were the same size and the colors & logos were similar looking. One sleepy morning … He stopped using Brylcreem after that; said the taste was truly unforgettable. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/32 "2006-06-08T16:22:15Z")
I had Brylcreem forced on me as a kid. I had a burr haircut until I was in the 2nd grade, then I told my parents I wanted hair. So I got hair, with Brylcreem. Luckily, about that time, there was an ad campaign for some hair tonic and the catch phrase was “The Natural Look”. It might have been the source of the “greasy kids stuff” line, too. Anyway, it made it clear that the '50s grease look was out and I got to quit using Brylcreem. Hooray! I have a bottle of Vitalis still in my medicine cabinet, left over from some of my grandfather’s stuff. And some Old Spice, Lavoris, stuff like that. I have a real “retro” bathroom, with razor strops hanging on the wall, shaving cups and brushes, and straight razors I made into a shadow box display. But now I don’t have any hair to speak of, maybe it was the Brylcreem all those years ago that made it fall out. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348/33 "2006-06-08T16:58:06Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > But now I don’t have any hair to speak of, maybe it was the Brylcreem all those years ago that made it fall out. My girlfriend firmly believes this to be a true fact. Every time I resort to some of my industrial lubricant hair products, she insists that this is why my hair is falling out, due to clogged follicles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brylcreem-a-little-dabll-do-ya/359348.md?page=1)