Apothecary 87 is a young brand from the UK founded by Sam Martin, a former bartender. The name is as a reference to Sam’s dear grandfather who passed on aged 87, as well as his own birth year of 1987. We were fortunate enough to visit Sam and his team at their office in Doncaster during our trip to Barber Connect 2015, and brought their products back to Geylang for all you barbershop fiends.
The flagship Apothecary 87 pomade is a water-based formula that offers a surprisingly firm hold without a gel-like texture. It works best when applied to damp towel-dried hair, which provides more control while styling. The pomade will set and hold its form at a quicker rate – this is a boon for experienced users who would able to take advantage of this property to finish their styling and be out the door under five minutes flat.
Like the majority of orthodox water-based pomades, this will definitely harden in your hair, but it does feel slightly more forgiving and malleable; the trade-off is that it loses a bit of strength if you reactivate the product with water one too many times. The scent is an extremely sweet maple that is perfect for pancake-lovers – the fragrance is noticeable as soon as you pop off the top of the glass jar. We would recommend this pomade to users who are ready for an alternative to the usual suspects in the water-based lineup.
Get your Romeo on and shout for Apothecary 87 at The Panic Room.