Uppercut Deluxe’s $21 Control Cream is the Perfect Light-Hold Fix for Frizz and Curls
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Readtime: 8 min
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Most men’s styling products pick a side. Pomades and clays commit you to a shape and a shine that takes a proper wash to shift, while leave-in conditioners smooth the frizz and then leave the hair with nowhere to go. Uppercut Deluxe Control Cream was built for the space in between, and that’s the reason the Australian barber brand keeps turning up in conversations about lightweight styling.
The pitch is simple: a water-based cream with barely-there hold that smooths frizz on straight hair and defines curls on everything else, finished with the suede and sandalwood fragrance Uppercut Deluxe has become known for. It runs US$21 for a 120mL, 4.0 fl oz pump bottle, and the brand’s barber ambassadors across six countries have been its loudest advocates.
Uppercut Deluxe Control Cream
Control Cream came out of a gap co-founder Steve Purcell saw in the men’s grooming aisle. “I felt there was a hole in the men’s grooming market for guys who just want a lightweight styling cream. Something that gives the hair structure and shape without bogging it down. Not too much control, and not too little. Something that was just right,” he said. Uppercut Deluxe ran the formula through several rounds of R&D and handed it to working barbers to test before it went to market.
What ended up in the bottle is a moisture-rich, water-based formula aimed at the cuticle layer, the outermost scales on the hair shaft that rough up over time and leave hair looking dry or frizzy. Smooth that layer down and hair reads healthier without the weight. On straight hair that shows up as frizz control and a bit of texture. On wavy and curly hair it works as a curl enhancer, adding definition and shine without the crunch a gel leaves behind.
Hold is deliberately low, and the brand doesn’t pretend otherwise. This isn’t the product for a hard part that survives a full day. Control Cream is the everyday option for structure and shape with no visible sign of product, and because the formula is water-soluble it spreads evenly and rinses out without the build-up oil-based stylers leave behind. At US$21 for 120mL, it sits at the accessible end of the barber-brand shelf.
- Price: US$21.00, with free standard US shipping on orders over US$40
- Size: 120mL / 4.0 fl oz aluminium pump bottle
- Hold: Light, described by the brand as barely-there
- Finish: Natural, with no added shine
- Base: Water-based and water-soluble, washes out with shampoo
- Fragrance: Suede and sandalwood
- Hair types: Straight, wavy and curly, or what Uppercut Deluxe calls all untamed hair types
What Uppercut Deluxe’s Barber Ambassadors Say
Uppercut Deluxe developed Control Cream with working barbers rather than in isolation, and its ambassador roster is where the testing happened. These are barbers on the brand’s books, so read them as informed users rather than independent reviewers. What’s worth noting is the consistency across six countries: almost everyone lands on the same two things, frizz reduction and curl definition, and several make the point that heat is what activates it.
- Tim Hutton, Hutto’s Barbershop, Australia: “Control Cream is great for the guys that want the no-fuss look while still maintaining an all-natural hold that carries them through the day”
- Asada Yoshiharu, Barbers Point, Japan: “It’s great for frizz reduction. Taking the edge off unruly hair, yet an ideal curl enhancer to make curls pop without weighing them down like traditional leave-in moisturisers”
- Mike Conti, Pugsly’s Barbershop, United States: “It brings a new, refreshing approach to styling curls. Control Cream goes to the next level when you add some heat from the blow dryer. This simple action activates the formula and makes styling fun”
- Queen Rockabilly, Tough Tiger Barbershop, Canada: “My clients who need volume LOVE this product! Helps the hair look fuller and thicker”
- Jimmy Morrison, Jimmy’s Barbershop, Australia: “Control Cream is the Swiss Army Knife of styling. You need volume? It has it! You want texture? It’s for you! Feeling frizzy? Say no more”
- Luke Dolan, Luke and Co. Barbers, United Kingdom: “Uppercut Deluxe has nailed the fragrance once again with its Suede and Sandalwood aroma. You really notice it when heat is applied to the hair”
- Be Boyer, Le Coupeur, France: “It’s the product my customers have been asking for, plugging a gap in the styling world”
Heat Is the Part Most People Miss
The heat note comes up often enough to be the practical takeaway. A blow dryer, or a diffuser on curls, is what pushes Control Cream from a smoothing cream into something that builds volume and lifts the fragrance off the hair. Applied cold and left alone it still tames frizz, but that’s the conservative version of what the formula does.
How to Use Control Cream on Curly, Wavy and Straight Hair
Uppercut Deluxe recommends starting on freshly washed hair, then splitting the technique by hair type. The formula is water-based, so it spreads through damp hair far more evenly than it will through dry.
- Curly and wavy hair: Apply a generous amount to damp or dry hair and massage it through for an even spread. Either let the curls set naturally, or use a blow dryer with a diffuser to lock in the curl and build a fuller, thicker look
- Straight hair: Work the amount you need vigorously through damp or dry hair, then add heat from a blow dryer to bring texture and volume back to flat, frizzy sections
- As a pre-styler: Use it as a base layer and cocktail a firmer Uppercut Deluxe product over the top when you want more hold than the cream gives on its own
- Washing out: The water-soluble formula rinses clean with shampoo, so there’s no oily residue to strip out at the end of the day
What Is Actually in Control Cream
Control Cream is water-based rather than oil or wax-based, which is what separates it from the pomades Uppercut Deluxe is better known for. The brand makes four claims for it on the product page.
The full ingredients list runs: Aqua, Ceteareth-20, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, PVP, PEG-100 Stearate, Fragrance (Parfum), 2-Phenoxyethanol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Caprylyl Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Coumarin, D-Limonene, Linalool, Benzyl Benzoate and Eugenol. The fragrance allergens at the tail of that list, coumarin, limonene, linalool, benzyl benzoate and eugenol, are what carry the suede and sandalwood scent, and they’re the ones to check against if you’ve got a known sensitivity.
- Light hold: Gives hair shape and structure without weighing it down
- Natural finish: A healthy finish with no visible sign of product
- Enhances curls: Emphasises the natural qualities of curls while taming frizz
- Washes out easily: Water-soluble, spreads evenly and resists build-up
Who Control Cream Is For
Control Cream answers a specific brief rather than a general one. If you want a defined, high-hold style that holds its shape from morning to close of play, this isn’t it, and Uppercut Deluxe sells pomades and clays for that job. If your hair already does something reasonable on its own and the problem is frizz, flyaways or curls that fall flat by lunchtime, this is the product built for exactly that.
It also suits anyone who quietly gave up on styling products because they all felt heavy or looked obvious. A water-based cream with barely-there hold and no added shine is close to the lowest-commitment way back in, and at US$21 for a 120mL bottle the cost of finding out is modest. Free standard shipping applies to US orders over US$40, so it’s worth pairing with something else in the range if you’re buying direct.
Uppercut Deluxe Control Cream FAQs
It’s a light-hold, water-based styling cream built for frizz control and curl definition. It smooths the cuticle layer so hair looks and feels smoother, adds structure and shape, and leaves a natural finish with no added shine.
Yes. Uppercut Deluxe designed it with curly hair in mind and it works as a curl enhancer, defining curls and taming frizz without the crunch of a gel. The brand recommends applying it to damp hair and drying with a diffuser to lock the curl in.
Control Cream is US$21 for a 120mL, 4.0 fl oz pump bottle on Uppercut Deluxe’s US site, which offers free standard shipping on orders over US$40.
It does. The formula is water-soluble, so it spreads evenly through hair and rinses out with shampoo rather than leaving the build-up that oil and wax-based products can create.
Suede and sandalwood. Uppercut Deluxe’s barber ambassadors note the fragrance becomes far more noticeable once heat from a blow dryer is applied to the hair.
Uppercut Deluxe has spent years being the pomade brand, and Control Cream is the argument that its lightest product might also be its most useful. If your hair needs help rather than architecture, it’s worth the US$21.
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