A quick write up from the morning i've spent at Obsession Wax.
First of all thanks to Jay for his hospitality and the invite to come over and see what this is all about.
We started the day off with Jay showing me the ideas for the new design for the labels and website logo and I must say they look very sleek and professional.
He then took my through to the 'factory' a rather impressive place to be, as soon as you walk in the smell of the waxes and scents available hit you, and it smells amazing!
We started to look at Jays rather impressive wax collection and discussing the feel and texture of other brands waxes, through these discussions it can truly be seen that Jay knows his stuff.
We then went on to discuss the obsession itself, going through the whole range but focusing on Hybrid 86 and Euphoric The two I had come to see. Jay advised that the whole process on developing a wax takes numerous hours and countless trials in order to perfect the wax ready for retail.
One of the waxes Jay is currently developing is the colour charged wax which can be seen here. I'm always sceptical when it comes to colour charging. With my lack of chemistry knowledge I cannot understand how it works, but my god it does. The test panel already had a purple colour charged wax on which had two layers applied. Under the light you can see the purple hue from all angles.
Jay then pulled out another sample of the colour charging wax and began to apply it. I could not believe what happened, before my eyes the panel started to pick up a yellow glow, we then proceeded to spray water onto the patch. The beeding that followed was fantastic and rivalled that of the much more expensive waxes I've previously tried.
Following this i asked how long it would last, as this is still in the early stages of development Jay didn't really have an answer. He did however pull out a bottle of Chemical guys new car solvent which he proceed to apply this to the purple patch. Whilst the tar and glue remover did take off some of the colour charge it was clear that the purple glow still remained. He then pulled out a bottle of paint thinners, this didn't seem to touch the colour at all. From then it was decided that polishing the paint would be the only way to truly remove the colour charging.
One thing to note is that colourings and scents that are used by Obsession wax contain no wax or solvents which is how he is able to provide the ultimate customisation through the range.
After sampling a small amount of the vast range that he has (from a not so great curry, to a wonderful palmer violet) I settled on the perfect one for me, Bubblegum. Naturally when selecting bubblegum I went for a blue colour both to match my car and also to fit in with the scent.
Jay then went on to show how the wax is made and hand poured, explaining the importance of getting the solvents to the 'perfect' temperature in order to avoid the crystallisation of the solvents or wax causing a grainy texture that can be seen with some other high end waxes. During the pour Jay also stressed the importance of half pouring the pots and allowing it to cool slightly in order to reduce the chance of any cracking to the wax.
Below are a few photos of the final result of my custom pour done before my eyes.
Unfortunately due to the typical British weather I've been unable to trial the wax on my car today however come next weekend if it has improved I'll be able to update this page with photos of it in action.
Once again thanks to Jay for having be round today, it was a brilliant experience and nice to meet you. I'll look forward to the future products you have in the pipeline, some of which are going to be very special!
Thanks for reading all and congratulations on getting to the end!
Matthew
First of all thanks to Jay for his hospitality and the invite to come over and see what this is all about.
We started the day off with Jay showing me the ideas for the new design for the labels and website logo and I must say they look very sleek and professional.
He then took my through to the 'factory' a rather impressive place to be, as soon as you walk in the smell of the waxes and scents available hit you, and it smells amazing!
We started to look at Jays rather impressive wax collection and discussing the feel and texture of other brands waxes, through these discussions it can truly be seen that Jay knows his stuff.
We then went on to discuss the obsession itself, going through the whole range but focusing on Hybrid 86 and Euphoric The two I had come to see. Jay advised that the whole process on developing a wax takes numerous hours and countless trials in order to perfect the wax ready for retail.
One of the waxes Jay is currently developing is the colour charged wax which can be seen here. I'm always sceptical when it comes to colour charging. With my lack of chemistry knowledge I cannot understand how it works, but my god it does. The test panel already had a purple colour charged wax on which had two layers applied. Under the light you can see the purple hue from all angles.
Jay then pulled out another sample of the colour charging wax and began to apply it. I could not believe what happened, before my eyes the panel started to pick up a yellow glow, we then proceeded to spray water onto the patch. The beeding that followed was fantastic and rivalled that of the much more expensive waxes I've previously tried.
Following this i asked how long it would last, as this is still in the early stages of development Jay didn't really have an answer. He did however pull out a bottle of Chemical guys new car solvent which he proceed to apply this to the purple patch. Whilst the tar and glue remover did take off some of the colour charge it was clear that the purple glow still remained. He then pulled out a bottle of paint thinners, this didn't seem to touch the colour at all. From then it was decided that polishing the paint would be the only way to truly remove the colour charging.
One thing to note is that colourings and scents that are used by Obsession wax contain no wax or solvents which is how he is able to provide the ultimate customisation through the range.
After sampling a small amount of the vast range that he has (from a not so great curry, to a wonderful palmer violet) I settled on the perfect one for me, Bubblegum. Naturally when selecting bubblegum I went for a blue colour both to match my car and also to fit in with the scent.
Jay then went on to show how the wax is made and hand poured, explaining the importance of getting the solvents to the 'perfect' temperature in order to avoid the crystallisation of the solvents or wax causing a grainy texture that can be seen with some other high end waxes. During the pour Jay also stressed the importance of half pouring the pots and allowing it to cool slightly in order to reduce the chance of any cracking to the wax.
Below are a few photos of the final result of my custom pour done before my eyes.
Unfortunately due to the typical British weather I've been unable to trial the wax on my car today however come next weekend if it has improved I'll be able to update this page with photos of it in action.
Once again thanks to Jay for having be round today, it was a brilliant experience and nice to meet you. I'll look forward to the future products you have in the pipeline, some of which are going to be very special!
Thanks for reading all and congratulations on getting to the end!
Matthew
