Body and Hair Pomade Production in Nigeria

Pomade is a greasy, waxy, or a water-based substance that is used to style hair. Pomade generally gives the user’s hair a shiny and slick appearance. It lasts longer than most hair care products, often requiring multiple washes to completely remove. The original pomade of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries consisted mainly of bear fat or lard.

Lanolin, beeswax, and petroleum jelly have been used extensively in the manufacture of modern pomades. Stiffening properties of pomades make sculptured hairstyles such as the pompadour possible; while long lasting moisturizing properties make it popular with individuals with Afro-textured hair.

Unlike hair spray and hair gel, pomade does not dry, keeps the hairstyle flexible and can last much longer. Pomade is used to style hair (including mustaches, sideburns, and beards), giving it a darker, slicker, shinier look, and is often associated with the slick men’s hairstyles of the early to mid-20th century.

Because of its greasy or waxy nature, pomade can last through several washings, although it is easily removed using de-greasers such as high-detergent shampoos, dish-washing liquids, or any shampoos designed for oily hair.

Due to the difficulty of washing pomade out of the hair, water based and water-soluble pomades were introduced to the market and feature fewer wax substances. These products are more easily washable but often do not give the same versatility, shine, and strength of hold offered by the traditional petrolatum-based products.

Some pomade products, such as mustache wax, are marketed for a specific use, while products such as Ultra Sheen, are marketed for specific consumers. Pomade is often used with Afro-textured hair to keep it from drying out. All these products come in various textures and consistencies, and essentially achieve the same effect as either hair wax or pomade.

There is high demand for both body and hair pomade in Nigeria. Its usage cuts across social strata. Different brands of hair and body pomade are found in the market. The popular brands are Johnson petroleum jelly, Morgan hair product, Apple hair products, Vaseline intensive body care products etc.
This report seeks to examine the financial viability or otherwise of establishing a hair and body pomade production plant in Lagos, Nigeria.

The production capacity of the proposed plant is one thousand (1,000) L per day and output of fifty percent (50%) body pomade and fifty percent (50%) hair pomade with input output ratio of 1:1.

The plant would operate at eighty (80%) percent of the installed capacity and would operate for eight (8) hours per day in three hundred (300) working days per annum producing four thousand cartons of twenty (20) pieces of body pomade and hair pomade each weighing two hundred and fifty grams (250 g) bi-monthly.