No, this isn’t the kind of product you’d find at your typical barbershop. Some cop’s medicine cabinet in an axed Blade Runner scene, maybe, but not your average shop. Seeing as we’ve never endeavoured to be such, that’s partly what sold us on OSiS’ Powder Cloud — released by hair product heavyweights, Schwarzkopf, early last year. The other part was our shop manager and product expert, Jared Quast.

“It’s really not like any other product we stock,” says Quast, who pushed us to buy some for our shops. “The powder creates a pure matte finish with completely weightless volume and texture. You could style a natural-looking, high pompadour without it weighing your hair down like a pomade would.” Plus, if you’re thinning up top, this guy’s got the ability to make “shorter, finer hair look and feel fuller.” How? Crushed lava rocks (or “silica silyalate”) infused into the aforesaid powder, which not only sounds cool, but thickens hair. There’s also some glycerin in there, making the product flexible and “easier to wash off.”

“This gives your hair a nice, natural, ‘you’re-not-trying-too-hard kind of look,'” says Josh Geniole, who works at our Niagara shop (and who’s featured in the photograph above). “It’s actually got a pretty strong hold for having zero weight, but I wouldn’t be shy with the amount of sprays.”

How To Use The Powder Cloud: Getting the best out of this styler is something of a science, but thankfully, a relatively simple one: “Keep it a couple inches away from the scalp then lightly cover the roots and hairline,” explains Quast. “Then, work it in a little with your fingertips, don’t just dust it on top .”

OSiS Session Label Powder Cloud, $20; available at our flagship shop at 254 Niagara Street and our Frank and Oak location at 735 Queen Street West

Check out Schwarzkopf on Instagram here