The Official Guide To 80's Hair (I'm So Ashamed)

Everyone has their 5 minutes of fame, right? Well, I hope this isn't it for me. I received this e-mail today.

Hello!I came to your website because I was doing a google search on '80s hair' and 'big hair' because a local club is having an 80s night dance and me and my friends are looking for BIG hairstyles and BIG bangs
to model our look after. I'm 16 and don't have a lot of to draw on in this dept!

Despite alot of results there aren't really a lot of photos of this hairstyle (maybe people are too ashamed!!) I'm sending this email to people who have put up "big hair" pictures of themselves in hopes you'll give us a little help! If you have a couple minutes I'd really appreciate it if you could share some tips getting really huge hair! We came up with a few questions we're asking:

HOW did you do it? The pics we've seen, 80 hair absolutely defies gravity!

How long did it take you everyday to get ready? I'm so low maintenance I couldn't even imagine!!)

What kind, and how much hairspray did that take?

Did you have the tallest hair in your school?

If not how big was the biggest!?

Did your hair 'wilt' during the day? Or was it totally stiff from hairspray?

Really any big-hair hints/stories/tips you could writeus would be really appreciated!

Thanks,
Jen

p.s. Did this hairstyle have a name (or was it just"big hair"? How about makeup What went really well w/ this style? Finally, my friend Jill (who smokes) wants to know If with all that hairspray did you ever hear of anyones hair catching on fire? (She does have a point!!lol)Thanks again!!
Jen

I think she was referring to THIS post. Here is my response.

Jen,

This is just too funny for words! I would love to help you with "big hair". The key is all about ratting your hair! I had really long hair so I would hold my head upside down and comb the hair gently backwards, several times, towards my head at the roots. Bangs were blow dried back with a round brush or curled back with a curling iron and then ratted straight up or back off the head.

When you use the curling iron, spray your hair with hairspray while you curl it. It makes the curl really stiff. Don't hairpsray your whole head until you're done making it big and whatever you do, don't use a hairspray that's going to flake. (Try Aussie in the purple bottle at the grocery store or Big Sexy Hair)

It would take me a good 45 minutes to do my hair everyday. Hair will wilt as the day goes on but we would just rat it again, spray and go. I don't think there was any name for the hairstyle and I never knew anyone that had actually caught their hair on fire by smoking. But let me tell ya, we definately worried about it.

My hair would tend to be stiff and would move in one big motion. But it wasn't hard as a rock. Gosh, I wish I could come over and do it for ya. Sounds like fun! I'd loved to see the picture of the finished project.

Good luck,

Gayle

So, there you have it. I don't get questions on organizing my busy life, great parenting tips, or spiritual wisdom.....mine is, "So how do you make hair big!"

See, we DO all have our own special gifts.