What Makes Cowboy Butter Products Different?

When it comes to styling hair, there are many ways to go about it. Most companies will have 5 to 10 different hair styling products available to purchase for men. Most are usually not great as a standalone product. Users typically end up using 2 to 3 different kinds of products from one or the same brand just to create the right mix that works well enough to get them by.

When I was creating the Original Hair Butter and Grit Matte Paste, I wanted to make products that could be used in many different ways and styles, all by adjusting the amount you use, how you apply it, and how you style it.

Because Cowboy Butter® hair products are 100% oil & mineral based, it is a highly concentrated version of what you typically buy at the store. The recommended starting point for our hair product is only a pea sized to dime sized amount. Folks, that equals out to approximately 150-200 uses... not days. So, if your shampoo routine is every 2-3 days, then you'll be good for a long while.

Most products are water based, meaning they use between 50% and 70% water as their main ingredient. The next highest percentage ingredients are typically cheap, synthetic, and used to maximize profits. These products are often packaged in thick walled or insulated containers that make it look like you are getting a lot, when really, they are only filled with about 1.5 oz to 2 oz of actual product. Cowboy Butter steel tins are filled to a minimum of 3.4 oz.

They will also highlight in their marketing the higher quality materials. You know... those such as jojoba, shea, argan, aloe, herbals, etc. But in reality, if you were to look at their actual formula percentage usage, they are often using less than 1% of those ingredients. What makes it worse is that, under U.S. cosmetic labeling regulations, ingredients at 1% or less may be listed without following the same descending order by weight as the main ingredients greater than 1%. That makes it easier for companies to mix up the order, manipulating the perceived benefits of a product, while using only trace amounts of the ingredients they are promoting/marketing.

What makes Cowboy Butter different is that we use incredibly high quality, valuable (and sometimes difficult to source) ingredients. We will use as much of each ingredient as the formula requires until the balance is right. Our approach is not based on how low we can get our unit cost to increase profit margin. It is based on doing whatever it takes to make some of the best performing products on the market! All while still staying true to our values of using based and naturally derived ingredients.

I started experimenting with different ingredients, doing extensive research on the benefits of each one, including scientific studies published online, and went to work balancing out the ratios. It took 33 iterations, and almost a year of real-world testing, before I felt like I finally got it right enough. From that 33rd base formula, I have continued to tweak things little by little, continuing to work towards the best possible outcome in performance.

I wanted to create products that men could rely on without needing a drawer full of options or a long routine just to get their hair right. Simple, concentrated, useful products made with real intention. That is the standard I believe grooming should be held to, and that is what Cowboy Butter® is here to keep building.

We believe in representing what being grounded, honest, natural, caring, rugged, artistic, capable, and real looks like.

Not perfect. Real.

So, from the formulas, to the manufacturing process, to the designs and aesthetics, they were either made and built by me, or created by real artists within my circle. You are truly getting something made by a team of people who believe in the movement and the principles behind it.

From your friend and founder,

Luke