By Tom Henkenius, founder of Henkey's
We don't add brands very often. In fact, Brightside is the first new line we've brought into Henkey's since we launched in August 2025.
If you haven't heard of Brightside yet, here's the short version: a San Diego–born men's hair brand built around a surprisingly small collection of styling products that actually do different things.
There are a lot of men's hair products. There are also a lot of pomades, clays, creams and pastes that become remarkably difficult to tell apart once you get past the words on the jar.
Brightside caught our attention because its lineup is unusually easy to understand.
Want lightweight texture and an almost invisible finish? Textured Cream.
Need stronger hold and actual clay? Firm Clay Wax.
Longer or wavier hair that needs control without stiffness? Hybrid Pomade.
And then there's Salt + Clay Surf Spray, the product that really got our attention: a texture spray that combines sea salt with clay to add volume, grip and body.
So the appeal started with a straightforward product lineup. Then we did the rest of our due diligence: Are the ingredients clean and effective? Do the products deliver on their promises? Are we confident these products will help guys out?
The answers we found to those questions are what you're about to read.
From Barbershop to Brightside
Landon Strauss and his Brightside co-founder, Chris Hjerling, didn't set out to start a grooming brand.
They came from the restaurant business. In San Diego, they opened a barbershop with plans to franchise it.
About nine months later, COVID arrived.
The franchise plan didn't survive. But the barbershop gave them something that eventually shaped Brightside: real heads of hair. Barbers in the shop tested hundreds of samples on actual clients while the product line took shape.
One thing that sets Brightside apart is that it owns its formulas. In the beauty industry, a lot of the brands you buy are really white-labeled products: the manufacturer owns the formula, and anyone who meets the minimum order can put their name on it.
"That was one thing we didn't want to do with Brightside—just buy products from a manufacturer, put our label on there and call it a day. We spent years developing each one."
— Landon Strauss, Brightside co-founder
Those years included a series of setbacks outside of their control. All told, getting to market took about three years.
That also explains why there aren't 14 styling products. At one point, Brightside had seven possible pomades.
"We only wanted to do three pomades. We had four other ones, so it was seven total. And we're just like, you know what? Let's narrow this down to three. Just do three really good ones and go from there."
— Landon Strauss
The small lineup isn't an accident. It's the whole point.
Which Brightside Product Is Right for You?
This is where the line starts making sense.
Best for Natural Texture: Brightside Textured Cream
Best for: Natural-looking texture, volume and a matte finish
Landon says this is Brightside's best-selling pomade, and it's probably the easiest place to start.
It's lightweight and ultra-matte, designed to give hair lasting hold without making it look heavily styled.
It was also the hardest of the three to get right. Brightside brought in an additional consultant late in development just to get it where they wanted it.
How to use it:
Use it on its own for lightweight, all-day texture. Use it as a pre-styler to build volume under a higher-hold product. Or work a little through dry hair on day two to refresh it.
Bottom Line:
Think: I want my hair to look better. I don't particularly want anyone to know why.
Best for Strong Hold: Brightside Firm Clay Wax
Best for: Stronger hold, grip and a semi-matte finish
The most important thing about Firm Clay Wax: there's a meaningful amount of clay in it.
The clay blend—kaolin and bentonite—is the third ingredient. We've actually rejected plenty of products marketed as "clay" where the ingredient doing all the work in the name was buried far down the list—or wasn't there at all.
Firm Clay Wax gives you strong, humidity-resistant hold while keeping a little flexibility. It's also water-based, so it washes out far more easily than some traditional waxes and clays.
How to use it:
Warm a small amount between your palms and work it through dry or slightly damp hair, then shape. Start small—you can always add more.
Bottom Line:
If you want real hold from a clay that actually contains clay, this is the one.
Best for Longer Hair: Brightside Hybrid Pomade
Best for: Longer hair, waves, slick-backs and undercuts
This may be the most distinctly Brightside product in the styling lineup. It was also the last of the three to make the cut.
It's more polished than Textured Cream and more flexible than a traditional high-hold pomade, with a medium hold and a light, natural shine. For longer or naturally wavy hair, that middle ground makes a lot of sense: enough control to shape the hair without making it rigid.
And because it's water-based, you're not committing to three shampoos just to get your hair back.
How to use it:
Work it through damp or dry hair, then shape with your fingers or a comb for a slick-back or comb finish. It stays pliable, so you can restyle during the day.
Bottom Line:
If your hair is long enough to move, this gives it direction without making it stiff.
And Then There's Brightside Salt + Clay Surf Spray
This is our favorite. According to Landon, it's also their #1-selling product overall.
Brightside's Salt + Clay Surf Spray starts with something familiar: salt—Dead Sea salt and Epsom salt, specifically—which adds texture, grip and volume to hair.
Then Brightside put clay in it.
That sounds simple. It wasn't.
"The clay would get stuck in the bottom of the bottle, and the sprayer wouldn't work."
— Landon Strauss
Getting enough clay into the formula to actually do something, while still making a product you could spray, took round after round of samples. Even now, the batch has to be stirred at a specific point during manufacturing.
We're glad they figured it out.
The combination is particularly interesting on fine hair. Salt creates texture and volume; clay adds grip and substance.
Brightside also formulated it without alcohol, notable in a category where dryness can be a concern.
How to use it:
Spray it into damp hair and blow-dry for the most volume. Let it air-dry for a loose, matte finish. Or use it as a pre-styler underneath any of the three pomades. A 6 oz bottle lasts most guys six to eight weeks.
Bottom Line:
If you have fine hair and want it to look like more of it, start here.
Why Brightside Is Here
We'd rather have fewer products we can explain and stand behind than an endless wall of slightly different options. (You can read more about how we decide what earns a place at Henkey's.)
After more than a year of actually selling grooming products, that bar has gotten higher—not lower.
Brightside cleared it because it added something useful.
The lineup is small enough to understand. The formulas are Brightside's own. The products have clearly different jobs. And some of the formulation decisions—real clay high in a clay product, clay in a salt spray, texture without drying alcohol—gave us reasons to recommend these products beyond the name on the package.
We didn't need another hair brand.
We needed products that gave us better answers for our customers.
That's why we carry Brightside.
Brightside FAQ
Which Brightside product has the strongest hold?
Firm Clay Wax. It's Brightside's strongest hold, with humidity resistance and a semi-matte finish. Hybrid Pomade is a flexible medium hold, and Textured Cream is the lightest-feeling of the three.
Which Brightside product is best for fine or thin hair?
Start with Salt + Clay Surf Spray. Spray it into damp hair and blow-dry for volume. If you want a little more hold, finish with a small amount of Textured Cream.
Are Brightside pomades water-based?
Firm Clay Wax and Hybrid Pomade are. Both wash out easily—no multiple shampoos required.
Does Brightside Salt + Clay Surf Spray contain alcohol?
No drying alcohol. The texture comes from Dead Sea salt, Epsom salt, and kaolin and bentonite clays.
Can you use Brightside products together?
Yes. Salt + Clay Surf Spray works as a pre-styler under any of the three pomades, and Landon says his nephew mixes Textured Cream and Hybrid Pomade.
Where is Brightside from?
Brightside grew out of a San Diego barbershop opened by co-founders Landon Strauss and Chris Hjerling, where barbers tested the formulas on real clients. The brand owns all of its formulas.
Every product earns its place. Brightside earned its.
How Brightside Hair Products Earned their Place
By Tom Henkenius, founder of Henkey's
We don't add brands very often. In fact, Brightside is the first new line we've brought into Henkey's since we launched in August 2025.
If you haven't heard of Brightside yet, here's the short version: a San Diego–born men's hair brand built around a surprisingly small collection of styling products that actually do different things.
There are a lot of men's hair products. There are also a lot of pomades, clays, creams and pastes that become remarkably difficult to tell apart once you get past the words on the jar.
Brightside caught our attention because its lineup is unusually easy to understand.
Want lightweight texture and an almost invisible finish? Textured Cream.
Need stronger hold and actual clay? Firm Clay Wax.
Longer or wavier hair that needs control without stiffness? Hybrid Pomade.
And then there's Salt + Clay Surf Spray, the product that really got our attention: a texture spray that combines sea salt with clay to add volume, grip and body.
So the appeal started with a straightforward product lineup. Then we did the rest of our due diligence: Are the ingredients clean and effective? Do the products deliver on their promises? Are we confident these products will help guys out?
The answers we found to those questions are what you're about to read.
From Barbershop to Brightside
Landon Strauss and his Brightside co-founder, Chris Hjerling, didn't set out to start a grooming brand.
They came from the restaurant business. In San Diego, they opened a barbershop with plans to franchise it.
About nine months later, COVID arrived.
The franchise plan didn't survive. But the barbershop gave them something that eventually shaped Brightside: real heads of hair. Barbers in the shop tested hundreds of samples on actual clients while the product line took shape.
One thing that sets Brightside apart is that it owns its formulas. In the beauty industry, a lot of the brands you buy are really white-labeled products: the manufacturer owns the formula, and anyone who meets the minimum order can put their name on it.
Those years included a series of setbacks outside of their control. All told, getting to market took about three years.
That also explains why there aren't 14 styling products. At one point, Brightside had seven possible pomades.
The small lineup isn't an accident. It's the whole point.
Which Brightside Product Is Right for You?
This is where the line starts making sense.
Best for Natural Texture: Brightside Textured Cream
Brightside
Textured Cream
$24.95 | 2.5 oz
Best for: Natural-looking texture, volume and a matte finish
Landon says this is Brightside's best-selling pomade, and it's probably the easiest place to start.
It's lightweight and ultra-matte, designed to give hair lasting hold without making it look heavily styled.
It was also the hardest of the three to get right. Brightside brought in an additional consultant late in development just to get it where they wanted it.
How to use it:
Use it on its own for lightweight, all-day texture. Use it as a pre-styler to build volume under a higher-hold product. Or work a little through dry hair on day two to refresh it.
Bottom Line:
Think: I want my hair to look better. I don't particularly want anyone to know why.
Best for Strong Hold: Brightside Firm Clay Wax
Brightside
Firm Clay Wax
$24.95 | 2.5 oz
Best for: Stronger hold, grip and a semi-matte finish
The most important thing about Firm Clay Wax: there's a meaningful amount of clay in it.
The clay blend—kaolin and bentonite—is the third ingredient. We've actually rejected plenty of products marketed as "clay" where the ingredient doing all the work in the name was buried far down the list—or wasn't there at all.
Firm Clay Wax gives you strong, humidity-resistant hold while keeping a little flexibility. It's also water-based, so it washes out far more easily than some traditional waxes and clays.
How to use it:
Warm a small amount between your palms and work it through dry or slightly damp hair, then shape. Start small—you can always add more.
Bottom Line:
If you want real hold from a clay that actually contains clay, this is the one.
Best for Longer Hair: Brightside Hybrid Pomade
Brightside
Hybrid Pomade
$24.95 | 2.5 oz
Best for: Longer hair, waves, slick-backs and undercuts
This may be the most distinctly Brightside product in the styling lineup. It was also the last of the three to make the cut.
It's more polished than Textured Cream and more flexible than a traditional high-hold pomade, with a medium hold and a light, natural shine. For longer or naturally wavy hair, that middle ground makes a lot of sense: enough control to shape the hair without making it rigid.
And because it's water-based, you're not committing to three shampoos just to get your hair back.
How to use it:
Work it through damp or dry hair, then shape with your fingers or a comb for a slick-back or comb finish. It stays pliable, so you can restyle during the day.
Bottom Line:
If your hair is long enough to move, this gives it direction without making it stiff.
And Then There's Brightside Salt + Clay Surf Spray
Brightside
Salt + Clay Surf Spray
$20.95 | 6 fl oz
This is our favorite. According to Landon, it's also their #1-selling product overall.
Brightside's Salt + Clay Surf Spray starts with something familiar: salt—Dead Sea salt and Epsom salt, specifically—which adds texture, grip and volume to hair.
Then Brightside put clay in it.
That sounds simple. It wasn't.
Getting enough clay into the formula to actually do something, while still making a product you could spray, took round after round of samples. Even now, the batch has to be stirred at a specific point during manufacturing.
We're glad they figured it out.
The combination is particularly interesting on fine hair. Salt creates texture and volume; clay adds grip and substance.
Brightside also formulated it without alcohol, notable in a category where dryness can be a concern.
How to use it:
Spray it into damp hair and blow-dry for the most volume. Let it air-dry for a loose, matte finish. Or use it as a pre-styler underneath any of the three pomades. A 6 oz bottle lasts most guys six to eight weeks.
Bottom Line:
If you have fine hair and want it to look like more of it, start here.
Why Brightside Is Here
We'd rather have fewer products we can explain and stand behind than an endless wall of slightly different options. (You can read more about how we decide what earns a place at Henkey's.)
After more than a year of actually selling grooming products, that bar has gotten higher—not lower.
Brightside cleared it because it added something useful.
The lineup is small enough to understand. The formulas are Brightside's own. The products have clearly different jobs. And some of the formulation decisions—real clay high in a clay product, clay in a salt spray, texture without drying alcohol—gave us reasons to recommend these products beyond the name on the package.
We didn't need another hair brand.
We needed products that gave us better answers for our customers.
That's why we carry Brightside.
Brightside FAQ
Which Brightside product has the strongest hold?
Firm Clay Wax. It's Brightside's strongest hold, with humidity resistance and a semi-matte finish. Hybrid Pomade is a flexible medium hold, and Textured Cream is the lightest-feeling of the three.
Which Brightside product is best for fine or thin hair?
Start with Salt + Clay Surf Spray. Spray it into damp hair and blow-dry for volume. If you want a little more hold, finish with a small amount of Textured Cream.
Are Brightside pomades water-based?
Firm Clay Wax and Hybrid Pomade are. Both wash out easily—no multiple shampoos required.
Does Brightside Salt + Clay Surf Spray contain alcohol?
No drying alcohol. The texture comes from Dead Sea salt, Epsom salt, and kaolin and bentonite clays.
Can you use Brightside products together?
Yes. Salt + Clay Surf Spray works as a pre-styler under any of the three pomades, and Landon says his nephew mixes Textured Cream and Hybrid Pomade.
Where is Brightside from?
Brightside grew out of a San Diego barbershop opened by co-founders Landon Strauss and Chris Hjerling, where barbers tested the formulas on real clients. The brand owns all of its formulas.
Every product earns its place. Brightside earned its.