Uppercut Deluxe stocks three stylers at ProHair, and they are among the easiest products in the shop to buy wrongly. All three are light, all three finish matte or close to it, and all three sit within $1.50 of each other. The names do not help either.
So here is the sorting question, and it is not the one most people ask. It is not how much hold do I want. It is what is your hair failing to do?
The three, side by side
| Product | Applied to | Hold | Finish | Fixes | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay Spray 150 ml | Damp hair, before styling | Light, gritty | Matte | Hair with no volume and no grip | $22.50 |
| Control Cream 120 ml | Damp or dry | Barely there | Natural | Frizz, shapeless curl | $22.50 |
| Foam Tonic 150 ml | Damp hair, before drying | Light | Natural shine | Flat curl, and heat damage | $21.00 |
Clay Spray — for hair that will not hold anything
This is a pre-styler, and that is the part people miss. It goes into damp hair before you dry and shape it, not over a finished style. What it leaves behind is grit: a dry, slightly rough texture at the root that gives everything you do afterwards something to grip.
Best for: fine or straight hair that falls flat within an hour, and anyone whose hair is simply too smooth and slippery to hold a shape.
How to use it: spray through towel-dried hair, roots first, then blow dry with your fingers or a brush. If you want more definition on top, this is the layer that goes under a paste or clay — not instead of it.
Control Cream — for hair that has a shape already and keeps ruining it
Control Cream barely holds anything, deliberately. It is a smoothing and grouping product: it stops frizz puffing up through the day and gathers curls into defined pieces instead of a cloud. If you want your hair to look like you did nothing to it, this is the one that achieves that most convincingly.
Best for: curly and wavy hair that looks shapeless rather than unruly; frizz-prone hair of any texture; anyone who hates the feeling of product in their hair.
How to use it: a small amount through damp hair, worked from the mid-lengths. On dry hair, rub it right out between your palms first and use it as a finisher on flyaways.
What it will not do: lift anything, or hold a structured style. If you need your hair to stay where you put it, this is the wrong product.
Foam Tonic — the one to buy if you own a hair dryer
Foam Tonic is the only product in the entire Uppercut Deluxe range with heat protection in it. That alone decides it for a lot of people. Everything else it does — light hold, curl boost, a healthy natural shine — is a bonus on top of the fact that it is standing between a hot dryer and your hair.
Best for: anyone who blow dries regularly; curls that need encouraging rather than controlling; thick or coarse hair that needs softening before it is shaped.
How to use it: a golf-ball of foam scrunched through damp hair, then dry. Scrunch as it dries if you want the curl tighter.
A note on Matte Pomade — and a correction
Correction, this season: the 100 g Matte Pomade is now stocked standalone at $19.69, with a 30 g travel tin at $8.00 and a 300 g backbar tub at $52.50. This guide used to tell you the only way to get it here was inside the Matte Pomade & 3 in 1 Wash Duo at $33.00. That duo is still good value if you want the wash too — the pomade lands around $15.75 inside it — but it is no longer the route to the tin.
And the tin is no longer alone: the whole solid line has landed. Deluxe Pomade for strong hold and high shine, Monster Hold for coarse hair that beats a normal pomade, Featherweight Paste for reworkable texture, Clay Pomade for a dry gritty matte and Easy Hold Cream for low hold. Most come in a 30 g tin — buy that first.
Layering, in the right order
- Wash. 3 in 1 Wash most days.
- Damp hair. Clay Spray for grip, or Foam Tonic if you are about to use heat. Not usually both.
- Dry and shape.
- Finish. Control Cream on dry hair for frizz and flyaways, or a paste for structure.
- Weekly. Detox & Degrease Shampoo. This matters more than people expect — matte stylers are wax-based, and a normal shampoo leaves a film that flattens your hair and makes the next application behave worse. One deep clean a week resets it.
Frequently asked
Can I use Clay Spray and Control Cream together?
Yes, and it is a good pairing on wavy hair — spray for grip at the root, cream at the ends for frizz. Just use less of each than you would alone.
Which one gives the strongest hold?
None of them, honestly. All three are light. Uppercut's hold products are the pomades and pastes; these three are texture, control and protection. If you need real hold, buy a tin: Matte Pomade for no shine, Deluxe Pomade for shine, Monster Hold if neither holds you. All of them are now stocked standalone.
Will Foam Tonic make my hair crunchy?
No. It is a light-hold foam with a natural finish, not a setting mousse. If you are getting any stiffness you are using too much.
Is Control Cream a curl cream?
Effectively, yes — it is sold as a control product but it behaves as a light definition cream on curly and wavy hair, which is what most of the people buying it use it for.
How to buy from us
ProHair has supplied Canadian salons and barbershops since 1996. Everything on this page is stocked in Canada, shipped from Canada, and priced in Canadian dollars. Shipping is free over $120. Prices quoted in this guide are the prices live on 17 September 2026 — they move, so the product page is always the number that counts.