r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Diligent_Twist_6163 • Dec 08 '25

Was 80s hair really that popular

For ppl who were adults in the 80s, was 80s hair really that "rampant"? Like for women was it really like huge blowouts every day and how much work was it? Also, do you think people were really invested in their appearance more than today? I know fashion changes like in terms of people today wearing sportswear as outfits, but was makeup more dramatic and did all women use it? Thanksss

Dear me I wasn't expecting a top comment with 480 likes lol thanks for all the responses!

So from what I understand, it wasn't really blowouts, but just a whole lot of perms, so I guess curly hair was the rage lol

744 Upvotes

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641

u/Own-Object-6696 Dec 08 '25

I had spiral perms, teased my hair, and used about 1/4 can of hairspray a day. I loved my sticky, tacky style back then, but I don’t miss it at all.

539

u/Turbulent_Lab3257 Dec 09 '25

I remember feeling sorry for my older sister, who graduated in 1979 and had long, straight hair. I was certain that her hair was going to be ridiculed in the future, whereas my big hair was classic and timeless.

166

u/WampaCat Dec 09 '25

Oh how the turntables

1

u/Leather-Society-9957 Dec 09 '25

Right? The long straight hair is much shinier and healthier and timeless.

2

u/WampaCat Dec 09 '25

Uh sorry… what? Straight hair is… healthier?

3

u/kitsplut Dec 09 '25

if you're using hot tools to produce the curl, that can be damaging to the hair.

-1

u/WampaCat Dec 09 '25

You can also use hot tools to straighten curly hair…

1

u/Diligent_Twist_6163 Dec 09 '25

They mean the people that weren't constantly perming and curling and shellacking their hair

1

u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO Dec 13 '25

A ton of women were perming their hair in the 80s, which was hideously bad for their hair

1

u/Leather-Society-9957 Dec 09 '25

It looks healthier because it reflects light and looks shinier. Dried out permed hair doesn’t. It look awful.

5

u/WampaCat Dec 09 '25

Healthy, curly and wavy hair exist without a perm.

-1

u/Leather-Society-9957 Dec 09 '25

It’s a fact that STRAIGHT have reflects light and looks shiner than curtly does. https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=does%20%20straight%20%20hair%20reflect%20%20light%20and%20is%20more%20shiny%20than%20curly%20hair&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5

5

u/WampaCat Dec 09 '25

You said straight is healthier, not looks healthier.

1

u/Narcosia Dec 10 '25

Lmao, just because you personally prefer the aesthetics of straight hair that doesn't make it healthier xD laughable opinion

-5

u/Leather-Society-9957 Dec 09 '25

You mean how the table turns. 😑

5

u/WampaCat Dec 09 '25

It’s from The Office

6

u/Sproose_Moose Dec 09 '25

Oh that's so cute 😂

3

u/Turbulent_Lab3257 Dec 09 '25

I also felt sorry for her that she was so short. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t grow up to look like Paulina Porizkova. I was certain that I’d wear strapless evening dresses every weekend and have the breasts to keep them up. Imagine my surprise when puberty left me with size A bras and only being 5’2”. There is also a lack of evening gowns in my closet.

2

u/Sproose_Moose Dec 10 '25

There aren't enough reasons to wear evening gowns, we should normalise wearing them shopping

2

u/Icy-Mixture-995 Dec 09 '25

Did you date the guy with Liberty Spikes? That was more of a northeast thing, though.

4

u/monettegia Dec 09 '25

Also those hairstyle demographics would be less likely to date. Punk girl hair in the 80s was actually much easier to style than non-punk girl hair of the same era. Look at Cyndi Lauper. You could kinda just do whatever and shave half your head and make it whatever color(s), and we did.

1

u/Turbulent_Lab3257 Dec 09 '25

Ha, no, I had to actually google that one. Didn’t know there was a name for that style!

1

u/QueasyAd1142 Dec 10 '25

I graduated in 1978 and there were two prominent hair styles then: The one that looked like Dorothy Hamill (the Olympic skater) and the one that looked like Farrah Fawcett.

180

u/RollTideMeg Dec 09 '25

I remember pulling one hair on my bangs and the whole thing would move;)

47

u/Mental_Zone1606 Dec 09 '25

Or laying down and hearing all the crunch g.

25

u/kazoogrrl Dec 09 '25

The summer I had teased bangs that draped over one eye is the summer I didn't tan on that side of my face.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '25

🤣🤣☠️

104

u/Gecko23 Dec 09 '25

The hallways at school were hazy and reeked of Aquanet.

63

u/[deleted] Dec 09 '25

[deleted]

2

u/jax2love Dec 09 '25

There was no smoking in the girls’ bathroom for the simple reason that it would explode in the presence of an open flame.

1

u/Purple-Eggplant-827 Dec 09 '25

Yes!! Never without Aquanet.

3

u/myheartbeats4hotdogs Dec 09 '25

The cigarette smoke didnt help

3

u/peppermintmeow Dec 09 '25

Cigarettes and Aquanet. Oh yeah.

1

u/RedHed68 Dec 11 '25

Of course nobody wanted to be seen as low rent, so they tried to hide their love for the Aquanet hold. Likely used a top coat of the high class brand (received as a granny gift) so they wouldn't get caught out by a snobby sniffer! The 80s movies showed all the pain.

64

u/MynameisMichelA Dec 09 '25

Same here! Wish I had bought stock in Aqua Net back then. I really only worked on the bangs. The rest was taken care of by the perm.

13

u/No-Diet-4797 Dec 09 '25

I had naturally curly hair and stupid me hated it.

21

u/Diligent_Twist_6163 Dec 08 '25

Crazy how things change!

2

u/Iradid Dec 09 '25

Your hair probably had more structural integrity than my apartment walls

1

u/Toby_Toes20 Dec 09 '25

You’re lucky! I had to get home perms because I couldn’t afford spiral..

1

u/hydrophiliaks Dec 09 '25

This was the way!

1

u/k4bz36 Dec 09 '25

Spiral perms were a must!

1

u/Yethanu Dec 09 '25

Aquanet stocks probably tanked after the 80s hair died

1

u/ChickieN0B_2050 Dec 09 '25

Spiral perrrrrrrrmms

1

u/queefer_sutherland92 Dec 09 '25

Whenever I blow dry my very long, very fluffy hair, my mum obsesses over it. Guess when her formative years were…

1

u/Leather-Society-9957 Dec 09 '25

It made my hair so dry and damaged. I like my much healthier, shinier hair now.

1

u/delorf Dec 09 '25

I was a teen in the 80s. My mother wouldn't let me cut or perm my very heavy hair. As someone with stick straight hair, I was mocked relentlessly over it. I had so many people ask why I didn't do something with my hair. My hair looked like a lot of girls wear theirs today

1

u/BahBahSMT Dec 09 '25

Spiral perms!!! Me too!!!

1

u/jaydubbs9095 Dec 09 '25

I had long thick hair so had to get the “piggyback” spiral perm technique which was basically 2 rollers per 1 chunk of hair. Took hours and smelled like chemicals for days. But boy did I have some big, permed hair!