1980s hair nostalgia

[renia22]

So I was on EBay, checking out what kinds of vintage hair products are out there, and I stumbled across Revlon HDR (hair's daily requirements) shampoo and it was such a blast from the past! I forgot all about that one until I saw it. I think it was around in the mid 1980s.


http://youtu.be/HMf8LtQGVmE

Clairol Essences shampoos were nice, too, and I also forgot all about those until I saw them on EBay. I liked the cocomilk one, and the also had aloe, chamomile, ginseng and I forget what else.



Does anyone remember these, or have any ones you liked?

[xoChesleyy]

It's crazy seeing how commercials have changed from that to what they are today.

[DragonLady]

I miss Flex shampoo. :( The smell alone kept me using it for years, but I also liked the way my hair responded to it -especially the green "extra body" version . I know it's still available, but to buy it online costs $20.00 or more per bottle now plus shipping. :( Maybe someone has a super sekrit source they'd like to share with me?

[Scarlet_Heart]

Recently, I saw Salon Selectives shampoo and conditioner at Big Lots and almost screamed. It's not as good as it used to be though. They sold the brand to some other company (Unilever maybe?). It's just not the same.

I also used to love Rave hair spray. I think they might still make it, but I liked the non-aerosol which I don't think you can get anymore. And Dep hair gel.

[renia22]

It's crazy seeing how commercials have changed from that to what they are today.

They sure have! Here's an interesting article from the beauty brains on Finesse's marketing. I remember when the conditioner was first introduced, it seemed so science-y and futuristic:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2014/04/19/how-does-finesse-give-different-levels-of-conditioning/



I miss Flex shampoo. :( The smell alone kept me using it for years, but I also liked the way my hair responded to it -especially the green "extra body" version . I know it's still available, but to buy it online costs $20.00 or more per bottle now plus shipping. :( Maybe someone has a super sekrit source they'd like to share with me?

I loved Flex too! My parents still have half a bottle of conditioner under one of their bathroom sinks, I asked my mother never to get rid of it. I like to go there and smell it :). The frequent use one was my favorite. My friend who lives out in CA says you can still find it at discount stores, but I have not seen it around where I live since 2007 or so.

[Allie_snowflake]

I bought Salon Selectives about 6 months ago and it's definitely not the same. I'd like to try Finesse again!

[renia22]

Recently, I saw Salon Selectives shampoo and conditioner at Big Lots and almost screamed. It's not as good as it used to be though. They sold the brand to some other company (Unilever maybe?). It's just not the same.

I also used to love Rave hair spray. I think they might still make it, but I liked the non-aerosol which I don't think you can get anymore. And Dep hair gel.

Same here with the Salon Selectives! It's totally different and watered down, as is the Tame and Breck that they occasionally have at The Dollar Tree. I also remember Dep gel and Rave hair spray, girls used that when I was in High School. That and Suave or Focus 21. You can still get Focus 21 online. I have the shampoo, conditioner and moisturizing mist. Smells like the ocean in a beachy, seaweed type of way. I love it :)

[renia22]

I bought Salon Selectives about 6 months ago and it's definitely not the same. I'd like to try Finesse again!

Finesse is still great, I buy it all the time! I'm sure they tweaked it over the years, but it works well and smells the same.

[DragonLady]

My friend who lives out in CA says you can still find it at discount stores

That may be worth driving to California for!

[DragonLady]

My friend who lives out in CA says you can still find it at discount stores

That may be worth driving to California for!

[renia22]

That may be worth driving to California for!

Now that would be fun :), and I'd have to hit discount stores along the way to see what other vintage products are still out there!

[Larki]

Is this what you guys mean by Flex shampoo? http://www.amazon.com/Flex-Shampoo-Extra-Body-Ounces/dp/B0000530MH

[ErinLeigh]

Look at the girl piling her hair on her head to shampoo!
I used Breck as a child and Finesse, Salon Selectives and Pantene as a teen. Oh and the original 3 minute miracle before they changed the formula and Herbal Essence. Sigh. good memories.
It all seemed so simple then. I had no idea what a silicone or a sulfate was. I just sniffed the bottle and begged mom to buy.

[Wildcat Diva]

This is probably late 70's but I remember my mother using an electric comb by Gilette called a Purr to detangle my hair. It was navy and white. Anyone else remember that thing?

ETA:
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/1224/tjdk.png

[DragonLady]

Is this what you guys mean by Flex shampoo? http://www.amazon.com/Flex-Shampoo-Extra-Body-Ounces/dp/B0000530MH

Yep. It used to be about $2.00 per bottle here in AZ, even just five years ago. I have no idea why they stopped selling it here, but I can't find it anywhere.

If I could find it at a reasonable price, I'd probably buy cases of it just to make sure I never run out again.

[jacqueline101]

I loved the almond scented Vidal Sassoon that was in the gold yellow bottles.

[renia22]

LOL, that detangler looks downright scary! I didn't have one of those, but I do recall torturing my hair with these:

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps182a013b.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps182a013b.jpg.html)

DragonLady- so tragic about Flex being discontinued. Anything left out there now is old stock, unless Revlon brings it back. That really was a good one! Suave and Alberto Vo5 had good balsam ones too, but those are long gone. Whatever they did to the current Vo5, I don't like it. I used to be able to use it, but now it makes my hair coated and gross. Bleh

ErinLeigh-I totally know what you mean about not knowing what a silicone or sulfate was back then! Things were so much simpler.

I wonder what was in Ivory shampoo and conditioner? Probably crap. It dried my hair out like crazy. But I loved the scent! Check out this dudes creepy voice & how she piles the hair:


http://youtu.be/ZCWtZ5zuWME

[Tall Blond(ish)]

Wow, total flashback to the scent of Flex! I had a lot of fun with hair in the eighties, but also remember bad home perms that left 1/4 of my hair broken at the root, cuts that would probably be described as mullets, forehead burns, and enough Aquanet to drown an elephant.

I remember that HDR ad, but this will always be the definitive 80's shampoo ad:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz8ul-gmLyA

[Tall Blond(ish)]

Wow, total flashback to the scent of Flex! I had a lot of fun with hair in the eighties, but also remember bad home perms that left 1/4 of my hair broken at the root, cuts that would probably be described as mullets, forehead burns, and enough Aquanet to drown an elephant.

I remember that HDR ad, but this will always be the definitive 80's shampoo ad:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz8ul-gmLyA

[DragonFlyPie]

I used to love the Faberge Organics Wheat Germ Oil & Honey. It was something my dad ALWAYS bought, so i used it as a small kid. I thought it smelled so good!

Other "vintage" shampoo & conditioner I remember using... (was born in '76)
Aquamarine, Flex, V05, Sunsilk, St. Ives Swiss Formula (loved these!), Salon Selectives, Finesse, Aussie, Pantene, there are lots more but i can't find them now.
I used to have one "holy grail" conditioner that just made my hair amazing (early 90's.) It was in a thin rectangular bottle, but of course cannot find a single image of anything remotely resembling it online. So, guess i will never know what it was.

[Selkie-]

I used to love timotei products - especially the gorgeous commercials with the blonde-haired woman - what amazing hair! Timotei is sadly no longer available here.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj211/Rachellejoychadwick/article-0-0B81430F000005DC-355_468x633_zps8d115358.jpg (http://s273.photobucket.com/user/Rachellejoychadwick/media/article-0-0B81430F000005DC-355_468x633_zps8d115358.jpg.html)

[Flor]

The still sell the Revlon Flex line here in Portugal. Is it actually any good or do you guys miss it just for nostalgic reasons? :)

http://www.jumbo.pt/Frontoffice/ContentPages/CatalogSearch.aspx?Q=flex%20champo

[Marika]

The still sell the Revlon Flex line here in Portugal. Is it actually any good or do you guys miss it just for nostalgic reasons? :)

http://www.jumbo.pt/Frontoffice/ContentPages/CatalogSearch.aspx?Q=flex%20champo

I'd like to know too because I'm pretty sure I saw that white-green Flex bottle in a local store! :p

[renia22]

Wow, total flashback to the scent of Flex! I had a lot of fun with hair in the eighties, but also remember bad home perms that left 1/4 of my hair broken at the root, cuts that would probably be described as mullets, forehead burns, and enough Aquanet to drown an elephant.

I remember that HDR ad, but this will always be the definitive 80's shampoo ad:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz8ul-gmLyA

That was a great commercial! Pantene is one I would buy once I got to High School. If they had kept the scent, I would still use Pantene.


I loved the almond scented Vidal Sassoon that was in the gold yellow bottles.

That one smelled absolutely amazing! When they reintroduced it, I was so excited, but it was a huge let down that they didn't keep the original scent. That was the best part. I actually wrote to the company about it.

[renia22]

I used to love the Faberge Organics Wheat Germ Oil & Honey. It was something my dad ALWAYS bought, so i used it as a small kid. I thought it smelled so good!

Other "vintage" shampoo & conditioner I remember using... (was born in '76)
Aquamarine, Flex, V05, Sunsilk, St. Ives Swiss Formula (loved these!), Salon Selectives, Finesse, Aussie, Pantene, there are lots more but i can't find them now.
I used to have one "holy grail" conditioner that just made my hair amazing (early 90's.) It was in a thin rectangular bottle, but of course cannot find a single image of anything remotely resembling it online. So, guess i will never know what it was.

I remember every single one of those! Faberge Wheat Germ Oil & Honey was fantastic, I used that one on & off until it was discontinued sometime in the 90s. Have you tried Earthly Delight Shampoo (the brown one)? It's sulfate free so I don't like it, but it smells a little like the Faberge shampoo did. I also bought some Revlon Aquamarine lotion from Walgreens.com for $1 recently. I wish they still made the shampoo & conditioner!

Do you recall the name of the conditioner you liked in the brown bottle? The one I remember that had a thin brown rectangular bottle was Dimension, but I was only able to find a picture of the shampoo. Loved this stuff! It was around mid-80s but I don't recall exactly when they discontinued it:


http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zpsef554b0d.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zpsef554b0d.jpg.html)

[renia22]

The still sell the Revlon Flex line here in Portugal. Is it actually any good or do you guys miss it just for nostalgic reasons? :)

http://www.jumbo.pt/Frontoffice/ContentPages/CatalogSearch.aspx?Q=flex%20champo

Oh, how interesting! It looks like it's still owned by Revlon, so I wonder if they kept the same scent and formulas? I like it for nostalgic reasons, but it also worked very well on my fine hair. Lots of people like the new and improved ingredients and formulas of today, but I actually preferred the ones that were simpler and didn't have all of these conditioning agents and extra ingredients. The shampoo definitely had sulfates; not sure what was in the conditioner. It made my hair really clean and shiny but it still had body. The scent is a cult favorite, very woodsy/warm/ balsam. Although when I found some and was using it around 2007, my husband said he hated the scent, so not everyone was as crazy about it as some of us are.



I used to love timotei products - especially the gorgeous commercials with the blonde-haired woman - what amazing hair! Timotei is sadly no longer available here.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj211/Rachellejoychadwick/article-0-0B81430F000005DC-355_468x633_zps8d115358.jpg (http://s273.photobucket.com/user/Rachellejoychadwick/media/article-0-0B81430F000005DC-355_468x633_zps8d115358.jpg.html)

We never had Tomtei in the US, but I see it now in European grocery stores and have tried it. The 80s commercials on YouTube are great!

[Andeee]

They sure have! Here's an interesting article from the beauty brains on Finesse's marketing. I remember when the conditioner was first introduced, it seemed so science-y and futuristic:

http://thebeautybrains.com/2014/04/19/how-does-finesse-give-different-levels-of-conditioning/



.
If you watch the above link it will keep showing more and more 70s and 80s hair product commercials! Farrah Fawcett shampoo--I don't even think I remember that one! It's like going back in time.

edited to add--just realized there are 3 pages on this thread with loads more links to ancient commercials!

[jacqueline101]

That was a great commercial! Pantene is one I would buy once I got to High School. If they had kept the scent, I would still use Pantene.



That one smelled absolutely amazing! When they reintroduced it, I was so excited, but it was a huge let down that they didn't keep the original scent. That was the best part. I actually wrote to the company about it.

I know I loved that scent. What did Vidal Sassoon say their reason was for changing the scent?

[renia22]

I know I loved that scent. What did Vidal Sassoon say their reason was for changing the scent?

They didn't give me a reason, they only said they were sorry I was disappointed in the new product, and that they would pass along my comment :/ . The 80s version really did smell amazing!!

I found a few more obscure ones that I remember, the Clairol Sunshine Harvest & Earth Born were from the 70s. I vaguely recall having the strawberry sunshine harvest one, because I remember thinking the lid was cool. Queen Helene had some interesting products, too. I remember the placenta shampoo:

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps604b98a0.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps604b98a0.jpg.html)

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zpse8002d62.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zpse8002d62.jpg.html)

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps07582515.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps07582515.jpg.html)

[Scarlet_Heart]

Suave used to make a strawberry shampoo that I loved. And then they changed the scent. :( Does anyone remember that? The bottle was clear and the shampoo was translucent and kind of a pinky red in color? The smell was amazing.

[renia22]

Suave used to make a strawberry shampoo that I loved. And then they changed the scent. :( Does anyone remember that? The bottle was clear and the shampoo was translucent and kind of a pinky red in color? The smell was amazing.

Was it this? This is the one I liked too:

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps0352b592.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps0352b592.jpg.html)

[Katrine]

Fun to reminisce - I got a kick out of the link to the shampoo ads from the 70's. I actually remembered some of the jingles! I used to use Finesse and Vidal Sassoon and sometimes Flex. I finally got a chance to try Faberge Organics - I loved their commercials but it didn't work for my hair. :( Once I discovered St. Ives I used that brand exclusively I think. I loved their moisturizers too.

[Scarlet_Heart]

Renia, yes. Looking at the bottle though, I think that's after they changed the smell. I couldn't find a picture of the old bottle.

[jacqueline101]

I remember every single one of those! Faberge Wheat Germ Oil & Honey was fantastic, I used that one on & off until it was discontinued sometime in the 90s. Have you tried Earthly Delight Shampoo (the brown one)? It's sulfate free so I don't like it, but it smells a little like the Faberge shampoo did. I also bought some Revlon Aquamarine lotion from Walgreens.com for $1 recently. I wish they still made the shampoo & conditioner!

Do you recall the name of the conditioner you liked in the brown bottle? The one I remember that had a thin brown rectangular bottle was Dimension, but I was only able to find a picture of the shampoo. Loved this stuff! It was around mid-80s but I don't recall exactly when they discontinued it:


http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zpsef554b0d.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zpsef554b0d.jpg.html)

I love aquamarine lotion. I can't find it in my area.

[Kelli Kat]

Back in the late 70's, early 80's these were my favorites.

http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac28/mynails/00b69c9e72ac34a8a32732cee3afb672_zpsf3d4c229.jpg (http://s882.photobucket.com/user/mynails/media/00b69c9e72ac34a8a32732cee3afb672_zpsf3d4c229.jpg.h tml)

[molljo]

You can still get Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific here (http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/store/jump/productDetail/Health_&_Beauty/Hair_&_Nail_Care/Hair_Care/Gee,_Your_Hair_Smells_Terrific/54234), but only without one of the original ingredients- deer musk

[renia22]

Scarlet_Heart- I remember using the Suave strawberry as a kid in the late 70s, early 80s, but I can't find an older picture either. It was much better back then, I agree!

jacqueline101- do you ever shop online? I haven't seen Revlon aquamarine in an actual store, but walgreens.com has it right now for $1, and drugstore.com for $2.99

Katrine-that stinks about Faberge Organics not working out for you. They probably changed the formula a few times as well. The last packaging I recall it being in looking like this (1990s I believe):

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps226e26d2.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps226e26d2.jpg.html)

Kelli Kat-I loved both of those, especially Body on Tap!

For Pantene fans, here's an interesting video on it's history. I do remember when it first came to department store in the mid 80s, and to regular stores soon after that, in those same cylinder shaped bottles. It smelled really good, too. That's one thing I recall, is these products all had their own unique, distinct scent :


http://youtu.be/y85M5TX-Ko0

[renia22]

I'm actually wondering if the Suave strawberry came in a bottle that was this shape:


http://youtu.be/8bwd-s0rXEs

[renia22]

I also recall doing this in the 80s. Dear lord, wtf were we thinking?:


http://youtu.be/_nVbDBzlsi4

[Larki]

I'm actually wondering if the Suave strawberry came in a bottle that was this shape:


http://youtu.be/8bwd-s0rXEs

That looks like dish soap. :p

[me_random]

I used to love timotei products - especially the gorgeous commercials with the blonde-haired woman - what amazing hair! Timotei is sadly no longer available here.

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj211/Rachellejoychadwick/article-0-0B81430F000005DC-355_468x633_zps8d115358.jpg (http://s273.photobucket.com/user/Rachellejoychadwick/media/article-0-0B81430F000005DC-355_468x633_zps8d115358.jpg.html)


:D


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU_iNPZL1_4

[renia22]

That looks like dish soap. :p

Haha yes, like Palmolive :)

We had Suave in the house all the time in the 80s when the packaging changed, too. I remember this commercial with Kim Alexis, and having this very formula. I liked it:


http://youtu.be/C3S8lt8aNu8

[jacqueline101]

Scarlet_Heart- I remember using the Suave strawberry as a kid in the late 70s, early 80s, but I can't find an older picture either. It was much better back then, I agree!

jacqueline101- do you ever shop online? I haven't seen Revlon aquamarine in an actual store, but walgreens.com has it right now for $1, and drugstore.com for $2.99

Katrine-that stinks about Faberge Organics not working out for you. They probably changed the formula a few times as well. The last packaging I recall it being in looking like this (1990s I believe):

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps226e26d2.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps226e26d2.jpg.html)

Kelli Kat-I loved both of those, especially Body on Tap!

For Pantene fans, here's an interesting video on it's history. I do remember when it first came to department store in the mid 80s, and to regular stores soon after that, in those same cylinder shaped bottles. It smelled really good, too. That's one thing I recall, is these products all had their own unique, distinct scent :


http://youtu.be/y85M5TX-Ko0


Im going to try walgreens I have a discount card. I loved that lotion a lot.

[renia22]

Im going to try walgreens I have a discount card. I loved that lotion a lot.

Me too! Walgreens.com has free shipping in the US with $25, so I ordered toothpaste and fluoride rinse and a few other things to get to $25, including 3 aquamarine lotions. You can't beat $1 a bottle!

So being on my 80s kick, I checked out Rite Aide today to see what they have, and I found both Skin Musk and Primo ("If you liked Giorgio, you'll love Primo.."). My sister and I had both in High School. The kid had to get the skin musk from behind the case, and he asked me, and pointed, 3 times, to *make sure* that's what I wanted. I was, like, "Yes, I really want the Skin Musk" lol. When I came to the register with that and the Primo, he was polite enough not to judge me out loud. http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/rr138/Iapetus144/NotImpressedPlz.png (http://media.photobucket.com/user/Iapetus144/media/NotImpressedPlz.png.html)

Check it out:

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/elikitty/image_zps101484b4.jpg (http://s225.photobucket.com/user/elikitty/media/image_zps101484b4.jpg.html)

It will be part of my 80s collection. I love this retro stuff so much, I also started a board on Pinterest to organize some of my favorites.

[nicolezoie]

They had Timotei in the US - at least where I grew up in San Jose, CA, they did. I recall it vividly when I was 13, when I was seriously starting to grow out my hair. I remember being spectacularly depressed, watching TV and seeing this product advertised, and my mother actually allowing me to purchase it for my hair. It smelled wonderful and worked great on my swimmers hair, but I don't recall if I was able to keep using it past that bottle. I used to switch shampoos/conditioners after each bottle.

[shayna]

Right, I'm bumping this old thread up into modern times like I did with the 1970s thread.
But let me be clear about this; I liked the charming old 70s and their alien ways.
I in no way condone or agree with anything that happened to anyone's hair during the 80s, I just think that perhaps this thread could work as a sort of therapy or trauma release for people who lived through this era.
Famous people are welcome to contribute, too, they probably suffered more than most because all their videos are still up there on YouTube.

So, push the 'PLAY' button on that Walkman, and make your way (on roller-skates, if necessary) through the clouds of mega-hold Aqua Net and spiral perm curls, back to the 1980s...

[shayna]

I was 12 years old when I first started dying my hair, and I remember clearly what I used; a free sachet of Shaders and Toners wash-in in an ugly sort of mahogany colour which didn't suit me at all. But it was free and I felt very glamourous to have coloured my hair.

At school there were very few girls with long hair by the mid-eighties, it was seen as old-fashioned and frumpy. The term 'hippy' was an abusive one by then. Quite a few of us continually messed about with our hair colour and style because it was mostly shorter than 6" all over, and at that age hair grows really quickly. I was into punk and alternative music the whole time, I guess I still am actually, so those were the sort of styles I wore. Us punky ones mostly did our own or each-other's hair, there was a certain mockery of people who went to hair salons for a cut.

So, despite having lived through them, I am not much help with 80s hair advice. Those long permed off-center ponytails were everything I was against at the time. Sorry about that. :o

[Lady Stardust]

I got a perm in 1986, like everyone else…but my aim was to make my hair conform less! I wanted to do messy styles, and my hair was too straight and neat to do them. I did get some interesting hairstyles in the 80s, I used to go to the Vidal Sassoon school in London to get it cut by students. They were different, and quirky (both the students and the hairstyles!)

I laughed at loud at your description of Shaders and Toners mahogany shayna….I have memories of telling people I’d dyed my hair and they’d kind of peer at me, and I’d have to stand under a lightbulb for the colour to show up :) It was dyed bright red and copper at Vidal Sassoon one time and that certainly showed! It trashed my hair though.

I loved Henara wax and I also had an amazing conditioner for a while but I can’t remember the brand. I think it was either Revlon or Redken (whichever one that was available in Boots! The other was in salons only, I think). It was a conditioning mousse, it felt and smelled lovely.

I’m trying to push away the memories of other haircuts with “face framing layers” that, looking back, just made a mullet.

[shayna]

I got a perm in 1986, like everyone else…but my aim was to make my hair conform less! I wanted to do messy styles, and my hair was too straight and neat to do them. I did get some interesting hairstyles in the 80s, I used to go to the Vidal Sassoon school in London to get it cut by students. They were different, and quirky (both the students and the hairstyles!)

I laughed at loud at your description of Shaders and Toners mahogany shayna….I have memories of telling people I’d dyed my hair and they’d kind of peer at me, and I’d have to stand under a lightbulb for the colour to show up :) It was dyed bright red and copper at Vidal Sassoon one time and that certainly showed! It trashed my hair though.

I loved Henara wax and I also had an amazing conditioner for a while but I can’t remember the brand. I think it was either Revlon or Redken (whichever one that was available in Boots! The other was in salons only, I think). It was a conditioning mousse, it felt and smelled lovely.

I’m trying to push away the memories of other haircuts with “face framing layers” that, looking back, just made a mullet.
Ack! How did I forget styling mousse? Golly, that was exciting when mousse came along, those of you who weren't around back then have no idea of the amount of moussing that went on in the 80s. Then when those long perms came along, I guess it was a match made in hairdresser heaven. Perming and moussing.

Wow, Lady Stardust, being in London in the 80s (AND Vidal Sassoon, I don't think we would have been looking down our noses at that hairdressing salon!). That would have been a dream come true for me, it seemed like everything I was into happened in London. My great hero of the 80s when I was young was Annabella from Bow Wow Wow, I had a seething jealousy of her. And guess who got a mohawk a few years later totally because it looked so amazing on her. Luckily it did actually suit me, even some adults had to admit that, but just now when I looked at some pics of Annabella back in the early 80s, I still think she is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. And the clothes, Vivienne Westwood's pirate look. Okay, I'll admit Annabella and the pirates are one thing I am actually proud of that happened in the 80s. :o

Thank you, so much Lady Stardust, for that trip down memory lane. :cheer:

[Lady Stardust]

Ack! How did I forget styling mousse? Golly, that was exciting when mousse came along, those of you who weren't around back then have no idea of the amount of moussing that went on in the 80s. Then when those long perms came along, I guess it was a match made in hairdresser heaven. Perming and moussing.

Wow, Lady Stardust, being in London in the 80s (AND Vidal Sassoon, I don't think we would have been looking down our noses at that hairdressing salon!). That would have been a dream come true for me, it seemed like everything I was into happened in London. My great hero of the 80s when I was young was Annabella from Bow Wow Wow, I had a seething jealousy of her. And guess who got a mohawk a few years later totally because it looked so amazing on her. Luckily it did actually suit me, even some adults had to admit that, but just now when I looked at some pics of Annabella back in the early 80s, I still think she is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen. And the clothes, Vivienne Westwood's pirate look. Okay, I'll admit Annabella and the pirates are one thing I am actually proud of that happened in the 80s. :o

Than you, so much Lady Stardust, for that trip down memory lane. :cheer:

Mousse was revolutionary wasn’t it! Do you remember all those VO5 adds, one girl with a curly bob styled in different ways.

Annabella is actually out on tour this year performing Bow Wow Wow numbers. I have a life long crush on Adam Ant (and Bow Wow Wow were basically formed from the Ants!). The pirate thing felt so rebellious, and achievable. I remember reading an interview in Look In magazine where Adam Ant said kids should raid their dressing up boxes and express themselves :heart: I was only 9 or 10 at the time, but I went to the Great Frog jewellers a few years ago and bought a hefty skull and crossbones ring, because that period of music and fashion had a lasting impact on me.

[shayna]

Mousse was revolutionary wasn’t it! Do you remember all those VO5 adds, one girl with a curly bob styled in different ways.

Annabella is actually out on tour this year performing Bow Wow Wow numbers. I have a life long crush on Adam Ant (and Bow Wow Wow were basically formed from the Ants!). The pirate thing felt so rebellious, and achievable. I remember reading an interview in Look In magazine where Adam Ant said kids should raid their dressing up boxes and express themselves :heart: I was only 9 or 10 at the time, but I went to the Great Frog jewellers a few years ago and bought a hefty skull and crossbones ring, because that period of music and fashion had a lasting impact on me.
I wonder how it feels to be a fifty-something woman singing songs from when you were a fourteen-year-old? Uplifting or depressing? I guess she finds it uplifting or she wouldn't still be doing it.
Adam Ant. Oh, yes, you can bet I used to race off to the record shop to buy his 45s! (Young people, go to Wikipedia to look up most of what my last sentence meant) And I sneakily used to wind bits of gold braid around a little lock of my hair and wear a bit of black eyeliner to school. The rules were a bit strict back then about school uniforms and not wearing make-up. Boys' socks falling down and girls' skirts practically showing their bum cheeks were the main problems from what I remember of the announcements at assembly. :o

[Ylva]

I was born in 1993, but I lived my 80s in my teens around 2005-2010. I was heavily inspired by 80s rock and metal music, but also always liked the aesthetic and general atmosphere in movies and shows. I have lots of photos of my abused hair in this album (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=14065). :o I've recently rediscovered my love for the 80s and realised how much I feel at home with the aesthetic and especially the metal. A part of me really wants to cut my hair into a mullet and perm it, but I just know the maintenance would be too much for me. Still, I think one day I will do it, just to have done it. I think it would even look good on me!

I'm the kind of person who has no problem looking absolutely ridiculous (to someone) if that means I feel like I get to express myself. A year or so ago, I was on the lookout for a handbag that I'd feel comfortable using, and I couldn't find one for the life of me... until I discovered a gleaming silvery fanny pack! Now I have a grand total of two handbags that I'm okay using with different outfits. :o

[Bat]

I need to go and read this thread for sure when I have time

I was born in 85 so I wasn't old enough to enjoy the 80s which is sad, but I did have roller skates before Rollerblades were invented. But I love 80s fashion goth and non goth fashion was just so iconic

[shayna]

I was born in 1993, but I lived my 80s in my teens around 2005-2010. I was heavily inspired by 80s rock and metal music, but also always liked the aesthetic and general atmosphere in movies and shows. I have lots of photos of my abused hair in this album (https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=14065). :o I've recently rediscovered my love for the 80s and realised how much I feel at home with the aesthetic and especially the metal. A part of me really wants to cut my hair into a mullet and perm it, but I just know the maintenance would be too much for me. Still, I think one day I will do it, just to have done it. I think it would even look good on me!

I'm the kind of person who has no problem looking absolutely ridiculous (to someone) if that means I feel like I get to express myself. A year or so ago, I was on the lookout for a handbag that I'd feel comfortable using, and I couldn't find one for the life of me... until I discovered a gleaming silvery fanny pack! Now I have a grand total of two handbags that I'm okay using with different outfits. :o

Good for you, Ylva! I completely understand you on both counts. I lived in the 70s in my teens in my imagination; I loved the Sex Pistols and punk music, but the kind I liked was all over by the time I was a teenager. So I was still rocking the spiky hair in the 80s. But I did still like loads of early 80s music and styles. Especially Bow Wow Wow and their singer Annabella, like Lady Stardust and I were talking about earlier.
When I bad mouthed the 80s in my first post I was only thinking about the late eighties, when the California looking perm with pale denim and pastel coloured baggy sweatshirts was really popular here. I kind of forgot that a decade is a long time in fashion years, and 'the eighties' or 'the seventies' would mean completely different things to different people. All this is a way of apologizing to you, and other heavy metalists, for lumping everyone in together in one big permed group. Sorry about that. And, just quietly, I had a huge crush on Slash from Guns&Roses. Because of his guitar playing, of course! :o

[shayna]

I need to go and read this thread for sure when I have time

I was born in 85 so I wasn't old enough to enjoy the 80s which is sad, but I did have roller skates before Rollerblades were invented. But I love 80s fashion goth and non goth fashion was just so iconic

Oh, Bat, you definitely need to have a good session on Google Images researching 80s hairdos and bands! It was all happening in the early 80s, but in my mind, it had all started going wrong by about 1983. I don't know what happened. A shift in the Force? This was why I had to retreat into my imagination and make believe it was the 'Punk Years' all over again. :o

[Bat]

Oh, Bat, you definitely need to have a good session on Google Images researching 80s hairdos and bands! It was all happening in the early 80s, but in my mind, it had all started going wrong by about 1983. I don't know what happened. A shift in the Force? This was why I had to retreat into my imagination and make believe it was the 'Punk Years' all over again. :o

haha, I admit I'm definitely more of a 90s kid than an 80s kid but I agree fashion kind of went down hill

you'd think I'd tease my hair etc but it's one thing I don't think I'd do to my hair

[shayna]

haha, I admit I'm definitely more of a 90s kid than an 80s kid but I agree fashion kind of went down hill

you'd think I'd tease my hair etc but it's one thing I don't think I'd do to my hair
I guess you are a 'modern Goth' perhaps? Back in the day being a Goth was synonymous with 'back-combed hair'.
In fact only very damaged (dyed, bleached) hair would back-comb up the way they liked it.
Natural hair, the way most people on the LHC these days seem to like their hair, doesn't work well at all for teasing up a back-combed look! I know from personal experience trying to get friends' or my sisters' hair to look cool for a day in town, no matter how much hairspray and combing you do, the healthy hair just springs out of the spikes quite quickly. They would honestly spend every few minutes with either the comb or the hairspray out, and miss out on the fun of a shopping trip to the city!
I had a friend who would give you a run for your money bleaching and dying different colours, and I was very jealous of her because her hair was so wrecked she just had to hold her head upside down and blast it with the hairspray for several seconds all over, then scrub it around in her hands for several seconds, and.... ta-da! Instant Goth hairstyle! :o

[Kat]

And here I thought this thread was going to be about hair crimping and side ponytails... lol.

I don't remember which shampoo I used as a kid in the 80s, though I do remember the detangler... I think it was called No More Tangles, maybe? And I think maybe No More Tears shampoo. I was too young in the 80s to really care which shampoo I used, probably... I remember more in the 90s when I got into middle school.

[embee]

In the 80s I was probably using highly diluted Palmolive dishwashing liquid. The scents in so many hair products were, to me, disgusting. Also the scents seemed to last *forever* in my hair. At least Palmolive smelled clean and scent did die away quickly. I remember using Prell at some point, but I really don't recall when - 60s? 70? 80s?. It seemed clean and not highly scented, as I recall. the 80s were long ago, and I wasn't paying that much attention to such stuff. Just trying to take care of house, garden, kids, carpools, failing marriage, dogs, cats, job.......... OMGoodness.

[Lady Stardust]

I wasn’t so sensitive to scent back then, but I do remember Vidal Sassoon 2-in-1 being too highly scented. (That advert must have been on a lot…. “Take 2 bottles into the shower? Not me! I just want to wash my hair and go!”)

My sense of smell heightened when I was pregnant and doesn’t seem to have returned to normal! I also get migraines from all sorts of things, including some scents.

[Ylva]

Good for you, Ylva! I completely understand you on both counts. I lived in the 70s in my teens in my imagination; I loved the Sex Pistols and punk music, but the kind I liked was all over by the time I was a teenager. So I was still rocking the spiky hair in the 80s. But I did still like loads of early 80s music and styles. Especially Bow Wow Wow and their singer Annabella, like Lady Stardust and I were talking about earlier.
When I bad mouthed the 80s in my first post I was only thinking about the late eighties, when the California looking perm with pale denim and pastel coloured baggy sweatshirts was really popular here. I kind of forgot that a decade is a long time in fashion years, and 'the eighties' or 'the seventies' would mean completely different things to different people. All this is a way of apologizing to you, and other heavy metalists, for lumping everyone in together in one big permed group. Sorry about that. And, just quietly, I had a huge crush on Slash from Guns&Roses. Because of his guitar playing, of course! :o

Oh, not to worry! Not that I'm some kind of an expert on this matter since I wasn't even alive back then, but I think the perms were pretty universal across all groups.

In Finland, the 80s were notorious for the "tribal wars" as they are called here. The punk rockers, the heavy metalists, the hippies, the yuppies, the 50s fans etc. were strongly grouped together and against each other (with greater beefs against certain groups than others). Punk rock of course came to Finland later than the English-speaking world, so it was more of a thing here in the early 80s rather than in the 70s. In the 70s, there was Hurriganes (https://youtu.be/AbVuGromaYk?si=fnuwzBE3jC0QbqYT), and that was just about the wildest thing back then, I suppose!

[Lady Stardust]

The early 80s were classed as post punk here in England but there was a lot of amazing alternative music around. Punk allowed a freedom of expression that translated into every other form of culture, including hair and fashion. I think the tribal wars here were more in the 70s, but I only know that from what I’ve read.

The big change that happened in the 80s, for me, was that at the start of the decade, mainstream hairstyles were neat, or at least they looked intentional. Ends were neatly tucked in, or permed/backcombed/crimped and covered in hairspray. By the end of the decade it was fashionable to leave the ends of updos untucked and make styles look undone. I wasn’t interested in following fashion, but it was liberating for me to be able to throw my hair up and not think about how it looked.

[SandyBottom]

Mousse of course! That kept the frizzies out of my face in high school. Salon Selectives in a pink bottle. Kat, I used No More Tangles too! It came in a container with a lousy finger pump sprayer that never seemed to work. I never used hair spray but I do remember a can of AquaNet in the bathroom.

[shayna]

On the 70s thread there was mention of razors and hair removal that sort of crossed over into the 80s, so I'm mentioning this because I remember it from the mid 80s.
The main things involved for successful leg grooming in the 80s at my school were either cheap disposable plastic razors (which could slice fine layers of skin off and nick your skin) OR so-called Safety Razors which you unscrewed and refilled with a double-edged razor blade. Yes, and when Dad gave me my own Safety Razor when I was about 12 or 13 years old, I seriously found I got less injuries by removing the double edge razor blade and using it by itself. Do Not Do This At Home! :rolleyes:
After you shaved your legs (ankle socks and short skirts were 'in' again at that time) you would either apply Johnson's Baby Lotion or Johnson's Baby Oil. Both these products have changed beyond recognition these days, which is a real shame because so many of us would get waves of nostalgia for high school days just from sniffing their fragrance. :o

P.S.- I mean I used the razor blade manually, flexed to curve very slightly, from what I remember. Not the razor holder. That would be silly! :p

[SandyBottom]

I remember my first leg shaving experience ever at 12 yrs old. It was at a classmate's slumber party and we were all crammed in the bathroom, legs up all over the place, shaving cream slathered on and trying not to cut myself as my hand shook. Her mom made a bold move and gave out travel size shaving cream, Daisy razors, and mini boxes of bandaids as party favors:applause

[shayna]

I remember my first leg shaving experience ever at 12 yrs old. It was at a classmate's slumber party and we were all crammed in the bathroom, legs up all over the place, shaving cream slathered on and trying not to cut myself as my hand shook. Her mom made a bold move and gave out travel size shaving cream, Daisy razors, and mini boxes of bandaids as party favors:applause
Aw! That's really cute! :o

[Kat]

In the 80s I was probably using highly diluted Palmolive dishwashing liquid. The scents in so many hair products were, to me, disgusting. Also the scents seemed to last *forever* in my hair. At least Palmolive smelled clean and scent did die away quickly. I remember using Prell at some point, but I really don't recall when - 60s? 70? 80s?. It seemed clean and not highly scented, as I recall. the 80s were long ago, and I wasn't paying that much attention to such stuff. Just trying to take care of house, garden, kids, carpools, failing marriage, dogs, cats, job.......... OMGoodness.

Prell had a fair amount of scent, but like you said, it smelled more clean than fruity or fake-floral. I'm not a fan of the super-fakey scents either (I have V05 shampoo, but I use the brown ones because they're the ones without the fruity-flowery scents; I like real flower/herbal scents but not the overly-cloying fake ones).



Kat, I used No More Tangles too! It came in a container with a lousy finger pump sprayer that never seemed to work.

Oh yes! That's right! I am this close to being able to picture the bottle in my head... the label was primarily yellow, maybe? (Knowing what I know now about my hair, that it just likes to tangle, I now understand why No More Tangles stuck in my memory-- my mom probably bought the stuff by the truckload!) I wonder what was in it; did they have 'cones back then?



Yes, and when Dad gave me my own Safety Razor when I was about 12 or 13 years old, I seriously found I got less injuries by removing the double edge razor blade and using it by itself. Do Not Do This At Home! :rolleyes:


LOL. I can't remember if I've ever heard of women using a straight razor on their legs, but you maybe would've been a natural!

(I'll jump ahead to the 90s briefly: when razor manufacturers decided women's razors needed wires wrapped around the head to protect us from cutting ourselves. Unfortunately, it also tended to protect us from cutting the hair, too... switching to "men's" razors was a revelation and if buying a disposable {I do use a double-edged safety razor normally}, I'll only buy men's because I still feel they work better {and they're not pink...}.)



I remember my first leg shaving experience ever at 12 yrs old. It was at a classmate's slumber party and we were all crammed in the bathroom, legs up all over the place, shaving cream slathered on and trying not to cut myself as my hand shook. Her mom made a bold move and gave out travel size shaving cream, Daisy razors, and mini boxes of bandaids as party favors:applause

I love it! (Were anyone's parents mad? I know at some times and for some people, shaving legs is kind of a sticky subject...)

[SandyBottom]

Oh yes! That's right! I am this close to being able to picture the bottle in my head... the label was primarily yellow, maybe? (Knowing what I know now about my hair, that it just likes to tangle, I now understand why No More Tangles stuck in my memory-- my mom probably bought the stuff by the truckload!) I wonder what was in it; did they have 'cones back then?



LOL. I can't remember if I've ever heard of women using a straight razor on their legs, but you maybe would've been a natural!

(I'll jump ahead to the 90s briefly: when razor manufacturers decided women's razors needed wires wrapped around the head to protect us from cutting ourselves. Unfortunately, it also tended to protect us from cutting the hair, too... switching to "men's" razors was a revelation and if buying a disposable {I do use a double-edged safety razor normally}, I'll only buy men's because I still feel they work better {and they're not pink...}.)


I love it! (Were anyone's parents mad? I know at some times and for some people, shaving legs is kind of a sticky subject...)

There was something about the lettering on No More Tangles...like those plastic ABCs and numbers with the magnets maybe? Lol, the party! I'm sure she caught some backlash for that. We were a very sheltered group that attended a very conservative school. I hid it at first and my mom wasn't thrilled but my dad told her something along the lines of, "It's not hurting anything...there's no harm." I couldn't believe how smooth it felt! (beaming gleefully) It's funny you mention switching to men's razors back then. I did too and continued up until the not too distant past! I found one of my dad's that had a stainless steel? handle and you could use disposable blades-- Gillette Atra--that I used for decades! I still have it. Funny how clear some memories are.

[Kat]

There was something about the lettering on No More Tangles...like those plastic ABCs and numbers with the magnets maybe?

Looked like this (https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fr196bfywopw31. jpg), maybe?

[SandyBottom]

Hah! That's not the lettering I was remembering, but that's definitely the spray bottle!

[shayna]

Shayna, here, with another repressed 80s memory surfacing ... head scarves as accessories. In the early eighties they were rolled into a thin strip and tied horizontally (I mean forehead level all around), preferably with a dashing tassle of loose ends draping artistically down. For reference see pics of the bands Spandau Ballet or Duran Duran during their heyday.
THEN later in the decade ... head scarves were worn more from the top of the head with a big floofy bow, down to the nape of the neck. They went well with big permed curly moussed hair. See Madonna circa Like a Virgin or vintage TEEN magazines from the mid 80s. :o

[Kat]

How about banana clips? I always wanted to like them, but didn't actually like the look of them in hair... the first time I got my mom to put one in for me, I was like, "ew, that's what they look like in?" and was so disappointed.

On the tip of my mind are other accessories from back then, but I can't get them to come up clearly... like, there was something to do with headbands, I think, but I can't remember what.



Hah! That's not the lettering I was remembering, but that's definitely the spray bottle!

You're maybe thinking of this bottle (https://i.etsystatic.com/9311820/r/il/448954/6482042841/il_340x270.6482042841_gzcz.jpg)? That one was after my time, but I saw it on a Google image search.


(Apparently they still make this stuff... part of me wants to try it, since I still have tangly hair...)



Shayna, here, with another repressed 80s memory surfacing ... head scarves as accessories. In the early eighties they were rolled into a thin strip and tied horizontally (I mean forehead level all around), preferably with a dashing tassle of loose ends draping artistically down. For reference see pics of the bands Spandau Ballet or Duran Duran during their heyday.
THEN later in the decade ... head scarves were worn more from the top of the head with a big floofy bow, down to the nape of the neck. They went well with big permed curly moussed hair. See Madonna circa Like a Virgin or vintage TEEN magazines from the mid 80s. :o

The latter was kind of a throwback to the 50s, wasn't it?

Jumping ahead to the 90s again, but kerchief-style headscarves were in... until the time I wore one to high school (it was plain white) and was stopped in the hallway and told I wasn't allowed to wear it because bandannas weren't allowed (this being the days when allegedly bandannas were "gang wear." Despite the fact that mine was, as I said, plain white and not a true "bandanna" at all. But, I had another friend several years earlier who was made to remove a necklace made of a bandanna-type design for the same reason, so...)

[Lady Stardust]

Shayna, here, with another repressed 80s memory surfacing ... head scarves as accessories. In the early eighties they were rolled into a thin strip and tied horizontally (I mean forehead level all around), preferably with a dashing tassle of loose ends draping artistically down. For reference see pics of the bands Spandau Ballet or Duran Duran during their heyday.
THEN later in the decade ... head scarves were worn more from the top of the head with a big floofy bow, down to the nape of the neck. They went well with big permed curly moussed hair. See Madonna circa Like a Virgin or vintage TEEN magazines from the mid 80s. :o

Oh shayna you’ve brought on a flash back :) It was a Kids From Fame kinda look wasn’t it! I had a gold headband with a couple of feathers that dangled down. I bought it on holiday, must have been about 1980/81/82, and I loved it so much. I would only have been somewhere between 7 and 9 years old, in my defence!

The scarf thing, I could never get the hang of. I agree with Kat, it was 50s inspired, and that’s what I loved about it. The knot at the nape would push the rest of my hair up, or the scarf would slide around and I just couldn’t get it to work….until I had a perm. I feel like there should be some kind of amnesty deal for admitting this stuff. It was a very Sloaney look, which i didn’t aspire to….did that term make it overseas? It described the fashion the young women living around Sloane Square in Chelsea, London. Very Princess Diana.

When I had a perm, I managed to wear the scarf in quite a hippy/alternative way, although it doesn’t sound it. I think my inspiration by then was the character Star, from The Lost Boys. I’m not sure if I’d even seen the film at that point but somehow I knew of that style of dressing…hippy, flowing, alternative, and lots of accessories. Sort of gothy but softer.


How about banana clips? I always wanted to like them, but didn't actually like the look of them in hair... the first time I got my mom to put one in for me, I was like, "ew, that's what they look like in?" and was so disappointed.

Yes. The potential of the banana clip, to produce a mohican type style, and the reality, were very disappointing. My hair was too straight when I tried that, for a start. It looked ridiculous.

[shayna]

Kat, I remember those Banana clips looked useful, but they weren't really. One of my sisters or I might have had one, but I think they just got used for keeping our hair out of the way when we washed our face.

[shayna]

And, oh, Lady Stardust, now you have given me more flash backs!
One of our aunties sent us (from over-seas, no less) a bright coloured head scarf each that was pre-wound into a headband and featured ... many gold coins sewn on as dangles. I admit we never wore these scarves out of the safety of our house, but did use them for playing at being Gypsy fortune tellers. :p

People don't need amnesty deals or anything when admitting to 80s hair-dos, because it is a sort of therapy, a healing if you like, these repressed memories need to come out. If Princess Diana was with us today, and a member of the LHC, I'm sure she would agree. Because you mentioning her love of Sloanery, reminded me of the use of hair combs! You know, they held up one or both sides of the front sections of the hair up and back a bit past the ears. I think we even had black or brown ones approved for school uniform purposes.

Yes, The Lost Boys is a classic 80s film. Both for the Star character's curly hair and the boys' magnificent MULLETS!!!!! I was thinking when I saw those old photos of Kiefer Sutherland that if our Bat here on LHC had kept his platinum hair he could have quickly grown a fantastic Lost Boy mullet. Bit of gel, bit of hairspray. Oh, well. :o

[Lady Stardust]

And, oh, Lady Stardust, now you have given me more flash backs!
One of our aunties sent us (from over-seas, no less) a bright coloured head scarf each that was pre-wound into a headband and featured ... many gold coins sewn on as dangles. I admit we never wore these scarves out of the safety of our house, but did use them for playing at being Gypsy fortune tellers. :p

People don't need amnesty deals or anything when admitting to 80s hair-dos, because it is a sort of therapy, a healing if you like, these repressed memories need to come out. If Princess Diana was with us today, and a member of the LHC, I'm sure she would agree. Because you mentioning her love of Sloanery, reminded me of the use of hair combs! You know, they held up one or both sides of the front sections of the hair up and back a bit past the ears. I think we even had black or brown ones approved for school uniform purposes.

Yes, The Lost Boys is a classic 80s film. Both for the Star character's curly hair and the boys' magnificent MULLETS!!!!! I was thinking when I saw those old photos of Kiefer Sutherland that if our Bat here on LHC had kept his platinum hair he could have quickly grown a fantastic Lost Boy mullet. Bit of gel, bit of hairspray. Oh, well. :o

I definitely would have played with those coin scarves too! My mum had a load for dancing, but that’s another story!

Those hair combs…I used to try them but could never get them to stay in. My hair wasn’t thick enough and also any kind of grip would slide right out. Until I got a perm! Again. I was growing out layers, the mullety ones we were given to add volume, some kind of cross between Farah Fawcett flicks and the Lady Di combed back look. I needed to pin those side bits back as I grew them out to avoid a poodle bowl cut.

The combs were also a throw back from the 40s and 50s, and probably earlier.

Keifer Sutherland’s haircut then was classic 80s wasn’t it. My brother had a similar style while he was growing out his hair, but it was dyed black. He hated that transitional hairstyle, but he was the singer in a band, and they made a video, so it was immortalised :)

[SandyBottom]

How about banana clips? I always wanted to like them, but didn't actually like the look of them in hair... the first time I got my mom to put one in for me, I was like, "ew, that's what they look like in?" and was so disappointed.

I had a banana clip and, like you said, wanted to like it. It didn't happen. It just wanted to flop on its side or else slip out.


You're maybe thinking of this bottle? That one was after my time, but I saw it on a Google image search.

Weird. That is the lettering I was remembering, but the bottle's all wrong. Subconscious playing mind games with me!

[shayna]

I definitely would have played with those coin scarves too! My mum had a load for dancing, but that’s another story!

Those hair combs…I used to try them but could never get them to stay in. My hair wasn’t thick enough and also any kind of grip would slide right out. Until I got a perm! Again. I was growing out layers, the mullety ones we were given to add volume, some kind of cross between Farah Fawcett flicks and the Lady Di combed back look. I needed to pin those side bits back as I grew them out to avoid a poodle bowl cut.

The combs were also a throw back from the 40s and 50s, and probably earlier.

Keifer Sutherland’s haircut then was classic 80s wasn’t it. My brother had a similar style while he was growing out his hair, but it was dyed black. He hated that transitional hairstyle, but he was the singer in a band, and they made a video, so it was immortalised :)
Oh, I remember that! When girls decided to grow their perm out and they would develop this strange silhouette with straight hair on the crown area then curly hair to the ends. A friend at school looked like a cute little pixie with hers because it sort of looked like she was wearing an upside-down flower on her head like a hat! I imagine it made her furious! :o

[Kat]

Yes. The potential of the banana clip, to produce a mohican type style, and the reality, were very disappointing. My hair was too straight when I tried that, for a start. It looked ridiculous.

Oh, see, it was that "waterfall mohawk" effect that I precisely didn't like! I guess maybe I just thought the clips were cool looking (I still do like the modern type versions (https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71GLKxLZZGL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg)) and never considered what they'd actually look like in the hair...



hair combs! You know, they held up one or both sides of the front sections of the hair up and back a bit past the ears. I think we even had black or brown ones approved for school uniform purposes.

Not gonna lie... I was using them a few years ago in an attempt to keep the wispies at bay (like, not to hold loose hair back like you're describing, but to hold the sides from wisping out from my hair pulled back to my braid. This after years of using a couple snap-clip barrettes for the same purpose). They did kind of work. Still have the combs, don't know what to use them for now.



I had a banana clip and, like you said, wanted to like it. It didn't happen. It just wanted to flop on its side or else slip out.


Weird. That is the lettering I was remembering, but the bottle's all wrong. Subconscious playing mind games with me!

I wonder if there was a transitional design, like maybe they changed the label before the bottle? Do you remember the earlier cylindrical bottle instead?

[shayna]

I had a banana clip and, like you said, wanted to like it. It didn't happen. It just wanted to flop on its side or else slip out.


Weird. That is the lettering I was remembering, but the bottle's all wrong. Subconscious playing mind games with me!
Trying to remember things from the 80s will do that to you, SandyBottom! :p

[SandyBottom]

I wonder if there was a transitional design, like maybe they changed the label before the bottle? Do you remember the earlier cylindrical bottle instead?

I remembered the first bottle you pictured but I was picturing it with the lettering of the second one:shrug:

[EdG]

The 1980s Hair Bands are still playing on Youtube.

Power Ballads 80's & 90's
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSMUbvaJNSZ-5jF_DzDFCDRsk17vzW1gJ

Watching those videos makes me feel 35 years younger. :rockerdud:
Ed

[shayna]

The 1980s Hair Bands are still playing on Youtube.

Power Ballads 80's & 90's
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSMUbvaJNSZ-5jF_DzDFCDRsk17vzW1gJ

Watching those videos makes me feel 35 years younger. :rockerdud:
Ed
Slash of Guns'n'Roses was always a real hair (and guitar) hero of mine. I used to read Guitar Magazine interviews with him and always hope that the journalist would ask probing hair questions, so that I could find out his secrets for those glossy ringlets. Guitar Magazine stuck to their title and never seemed to ask the important questions ... wash with conditioner? What kind of leave-ins? Detangling method? :o

[EdG]

Slash of Guns'n'Roses was always a real hair (and guitar) hero of mine."Sweet Child o' Mine" is a funny video because the band's appearance is so inconsistent with the truly nice song. They just don't look like they could do that. :rollin:

I was not into Heavy Metal music, but I liked the Power Ballads. Every Heavy Metal band had to put out one nice song. That was around the time I grew out my hair for good. :)
Ed

[Kat]

Slash of Guns'n'Roses was always a real hair (and guitar) hero of mine. I used to read Guitar Magazine interviews with him and always hope that the journalist would ask probing hair questions, so that I could find out his secrets for those glossy ringlets. Guitar Magazine stuck to their title and never seemed to ask the important questions ... wash with conditioner? What kind of leave-ins? Detangling method? :o

Slash. Robert Plant. Brian May.

[shayna]

Slash. Robert Plant. Brian May.
Yes. Yes. Yes.Kat, you are right! There must be quite a lot of them still out there, wind machines blowing their wild manes about. I never quite got how the ones who played guitars managed to do it without getting their hair all tangled up in the strings. It's got to be time for someone to write a book about the 'HAIR of METAL', including handy styling tips for those who dream of recreating the masterpieces they see on 80s videos on YouTube. :rockerdud:rockerdud

[EdG]

I tell myself "Disco music has come back several times. Hair Metal has to be next!" :rockerdud :rollin:
Ed

[shayna]

I tell myself "Disco music has come back several times. Hair Metal has to be next!" :rockerdud :rollin:
Ed

Well, I think our Ylva here has had quite a good go of doing that already! https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=122264&page=6&p=4032227&viewfull=1#post4032227
:henny:

[EdG]

Well, I think our Ylva here has had quite a good go of doing that already! https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=122264&page=6&p=4032227&viewfull=1#post4032227
:henny:Awesome! :thudpile:
Ed

[shayna]

Awesome! :thudpile:
Ed

I'm so glad she thought to take all those photos. Most of my punk creations from the real 80s never got immortalized. Back in the 80s it was all shutter cameras and reels of film, and having to wait a few days to get the film processed at a pharmacy or someplace.
Good Lord, it sounds like we grew up in The Waltons! :o

[Kat]

I never quite got how the ones who played guitars managed to do it without getting their hair all tangled up in the strings.

I never understood how they could throw their hair around and have it fall back into place, untangled...

[shayna]

I never understood how they could throw their hair around and have it fall back into place, untangled...
Well, I'm no expert because I don't think we had it in NZ, but it seems Aqua Net Hairspray was the favorite of rock stars and drag queens in the 80s according to my not very scientific research. Other brands mentioned were Rave and Suave, but Aqua Net in the most super/mega/ultra hold strength was probably the stylist's secret weapon for camera perfect metal hair. :o

[Ylva]

I tell myself "Disco music has come back several times. Hair Metal has to be next!" :rockerdud :rollin:
Ed

Well, I think our Ylva here has had quite a good go of doing that already! https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=122264&page=6&p=4032227&viewfull=1#post4032227
:henny:

Awesome! :thudpile:
Ed

I'm so glad she thought to take all those photos. Most of my punk creations from the real 80s never got immortalized. Back in the 80s it was all shutter cameras and reels of film, and having to wait a few days to get the film processed at a pharmacy or someplace.
Good Lord, it sounds like we grew up in The Waltons! :o

:grin: :heart:

Hair metal and hard rock had a resurgence as a subculture among the youths of Finland around the time that I took those photos, so around 2005-2010. It was especially prominent in our then-favourite social media platform IRC-Galleria that originally came about as a place for IRC users to put up photos of themselves.

80s-style heavy metal is currently seeing rising popularity, not all that much in Finland but at least in Sweden and the UK (Tailgunner, for example).

[EdG]

My theory is that the music companies have gravitated towards the least expensive types of music to produce. Popular music went from tens of musicians in an orchestra or big band, to four musicians in a rock band, to one musician making hip-hop.

I was getting too old for Heavy Metal in the 1980s, but I am now well into the years of mid-life crisis. A Heavy Metal revival seems like the perfect antidote. :rockerdud ;)
Ed

[Ylva]

If Rob Halford* is still singing on full steam at 73, nobody is ever too old for heavy metal! :rockerdud

*not worth looking up for anything hair-related

[shayna]

If Rob Halford* is still singing on full steam at 73, nobody is ever too old for heavy metal! :rockerdud

*not worth looking up for anything hair-related

Good one, Ylva! :rollin:

[Kat]

Well, I'm no expert because I don't think we had it in NZ, but it seems Aqua Net Hairspray was the favorite of rock stars and drag queens in the 80s according to my not very scientific research. Other brands mentioned were Rave and Suave, but Aqua Net in the most super/mega/ultra hold strength was probably the stylist's secret weapon for camera perfect metal hair. :o

Oh, yes, but... in my experience with hairspray, there was no "falling" happening... get that stuff in your hair and it was a stiff, sticky mess! You weren't going to toss your head and have your hair fly majestically.

No, some people just have... nice hair that both moves in a pretty way and falls back into place rather than turning into the stringy mess of tangles mine would... I'm so jealous.

[shayna]

Oh, yes, but... in my experience with hairspray, there was no "falling" happening... get that stuff in your hair and it was a stiff, sticky mess! You weren't going to toss your head and have your hair fly majestically.

No, some people just have... nice hair that both moves in a pretty way and falls back into place rather than turning into the stringy mess of tangles mine would... I'm so jealous.

Yeah, now you mention it, I can remember getting hard spikes in my hair from a similar Firm Hold type hairspray that felt like they were made of plastic. You could actually flick them with your finger and they would boing back up again!

[Kat]

Yeah, now you mention it, I can remember getting hard spikes in my hair from a similar Firm Hold type hairspray that felt like they were made of plastic. You could actually flick them with your finger and they would boing back up again!

It's precisely why I still don't use hair products to this day, to the chagrin of my dance teacher when she's looking at all my flyaway wispies at every competition and performance. But if I don't want to wash my hair right after, I don't want to use product. (I have found that these days, some sprays are better-- the kind that come in a pump bottle rather than aerosol. I usually spray them into my palm and add a few drops of water to dilute a bit, and I get sufficient hold without later having to scrub my hair out of being stiffly stuck to my scalp.)

[shayna]

From another thread, but relevant ... that time in the 80s we tried a bar of soap for hair styling. https://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=130667&page=9&p=4032955&viewfull=1#post4032955

[my2cats1]

Well, I'm no expert because I don't think we had it in NZ, but it seems Aqua Net Hairspray was the favorite of rock stars and drag queens in the 80s according to my not very scientific research. Other brands mentioned were Rave and Suave, but Aqua Net in the most super/mega/ultra hold strength was probably the stylist's secret weapon for camera perfect metal hair. :o

Oh, I remember AquaNet! We would spray, spray, and then spray some more until we started coughing. I think that all the girls in my high school might be singularly responsible for putting a hole in the ozone layer. (I'm truly sorry). Now I don't like to use any hair products with hold. I use a leave-in conditioner or oil on the ends, but I've lost interest in anything that might cause a stiff or sticky feeling. Some things about the '80s should stay in the '80s. :smile:

[Abacus]

Um... I tried using foam rollers on my bangs last night for the first time and woke up looking like an 80's figure skater, so I thought of this thread. I love the 80s so much! The music, the movies, it's by far my favorite decade and informs my aesthetic so much.
After I took this picture I fiddled with them a little more, and I'm actually really enjoying the look haha

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54284510397_f7450ce258.jpg

[Kat]

80's figure skater

OMG, I'm dying because so accurate, lol!