Hair Spray - Wikipedia

Hair styling product This article is about the grooming product. For other uses, see Hairspray (disambiguation).

Hair spray (also hair lacquer or spritz) is a common cosmetic hairstyling product that is sprayed onto hair to protect against humidity and wind and have it stay in a desired shape. Hair sprays typically consist of several components for the hair as well as a propellant.[1]

Ingredients and operation

[edit]

Hair sprays consist of the following components: concentrate, plasticizers, luster agents, and fragrances, as well as propellants.

Concentrate

[edit]

Hair spray are a blend of polymers that provide structural support to hair. These frequently include copolymers of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl acetate (PVAc). Vinyl acetate-crotonic acid copolymers give harder films. In this way hairsprays can be formulated as flexible, medium, and maximum hold.[2] The copolymer mixture is usually adjusted to achieve the desired physical properties (adhesive strength, foaming, etc.), using plasticizers such as aminomethyl propanol, surfactants such as benzalkonium chloride, and other agents like dimethicone.

Propellants

[edit]

Since the phase-out of CFCs in the 1980s, hydrocarbons are popular propellants. These include propane, butane, isobutane, and related volatile hydrocarbons, as well as other mixtures. Such hydrocarbons are poor solvents for the active ingredients such as the polymers. For this reason dimethyl ether is often added as well. It functions both as a propellant and a solvent.[1] In addition to hydrocarbon propellants, fluorinated gases have been widely used as propellants to replace CFCs, with the most common gas being 1,1-difluoroethane. It is often listed as hydrofluorocarbon-152a.[3]

Other components

[edit]

Plasticizers used in hair spray include esters of citric acid and adipic acid. Silicones and polyglycols are also used.

The concentrate comprises only a small volume of a can of hairspray. Most of a canister is filled solvents such as isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) and ethanol.[1]

History

[edit]

Early hair sprays were developed in Europe in the 1920s. In the US, hair sprays were developed around the time of the aerosol can in the 1940s, and the first patents describing copolymers for hair styling were published in the 1940s.[4][5]

In the US, the first to package it was Chase products (an aerosol manufacturer) in 1948, as the beauty industry saw that the aerosol cans used in World War II for insecticides could be used as a dispenser for hairspray.[6] It thrived and became increasingly popular and mass-produced, as updos and other such hairstyles were created. By 1964, it became the highest selling beauty product on the market.

In 1968 at the feminist Miss America protest, protestors symbolically threw a number of feminine products into a "Freedom Trash Can." These included hairspray,[7] which was among items the protestors called "instruments of female torture"[8] and accoutrements of what they perceived to be enforced femininity.

Sales of hairspray declined in the 1970s as hairstyles became predominantly worn straight and loose. By the 1980s, hairspray's popularity came back as big hairstyles resurged with the glam metal scene.

Prior to 1979, the most popular propellants in hairsprays were CFCs. Owing to environmental concerns, they were replaced.

Hair spray can be used for things other than hair. For example in the beauty world one might spray some hairspray on the leg and on the inside of the dress so that the dress will stay in place and won't ride up.

See also

[edit]

• Aerosol spray
• Copolymer
• Microbacterium hatanonis, an extremophile bacterium found to live in hairspray

Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b c T. Clausen (2006). "Hair Preparations". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a12_571.pub2. ISBN 3527306730.
2. ^ Victoria Sherrow, "Hairspray". Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History.
3. ^ https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/NAA%20CARB%20IPE%20Proposal%20122020_%201.pdf [bare URL PDF]
4. ^ US patent 2305356, Luckenbach, William F., "Dressing of Hair", issued 1940-4-4 
5. ^ US patent 2464281, Peterson, Durey H., "Cream Hair Treating Preparations", issued 1945-3-7 
6. ^ Liz Suman. "The History of Hairspray". About.com.
7. ^ Dow, Bonnie J. (Spring 2003). "Feminism, Miss America, and Media Mythology". Rhetoric & Public Affairs. 6 (1): 127–149. doi:10.1353/rap.2003.0028. S2CID 143094250.
8. ^ Duffett, Judith (October 1968). "WLM vs. Miss America". Voice of the Women's Liberation Movement. Vol. 1, no. 4. p. 4. JSTOR community.28046325.

General and cited references

[edit]

• Selinger, Ben (1994). Chemistry in the Marketplace, fourth ed. Sydney, Australia: Harcourt Brace. OCLC 32145668.
• Sherrow, Victoria (2006). "Hairspray". Encyclopedia of Hair: A Cultural History. Westport, CT: Greenwood. pp. 183-84.

External links

[edit]

• Media related to Hair spray at Wikimedia Commons

v t e Cosmetics
Face	Anti-aging cream BB cream Botulinum toxin (Botox) CC cream Concealer Cotton pad Cleanser DD cream Facial Facial toning Foundation Highlighter Moist towelette Moisturizer Permanent makeup Primer Powder Rouge Toner Venetian ceruse
Lips	Lipstick Balm Gloss Liner Stain
Eyes	Blepharoplasty Circle contact lens Eyelash extensions Eyelid glue Eye liner Eye shadow Kohl Mascara
Hair	Conditioner Hair coloring and bleaching Removal chemical electric laser IPL plucking shaving threading waxing Shampoo Sindoor Styling products gel mousse pomade spray wax
Nails	Artificial nails Buffing Manicure Nail polish Pedicure
Body	Cold cream Lotion Peeling Plastic surgery Skin whitening Sunless tanning
Related	Cosmetic electrotherapy Cosmetic ingredients Cosmetics advertising Cosmetic packaging Cosmetology History of cosmetics Cosmetic industry Male cosmetics
Major cosmetic brands Ahava Almay Amorepacific Anastasia Beverly Hills Anna Sui Aqua Net Artistry Aveda Avon Bath & Body Works Benefit Biotherm Bite Beauty Bobbi Brown Bonne Bell Brihans Natural Products Bumble and bumble Burt's Bees Carol's Daughter CeraVe Clarins Clinique Coty ColourPop Cosmetics CoverGirl Creme 21 Cutex Daigaku Honyaku Center Dermacol Douglas Dr. Wu Skincare Elizabeth Arden, Inc. Estée Lauder elf Etude House Fabergé Farmec Fenty Beauty Fresh Garnier Guerlain Hard Candy Helena Rubinstein Jeffree Star Cosmetics Kao Corporation Kevyn Aucoin Kiehl's Kylie Cosmetics Lancôme Laneige Laura Mercier Cosmetics Lise Watier L'Oréal L'Occitane Love Cosmetics Lush MAC Cosmetics Make Up For Ever Mary Kay Max Factor Maybelline Merle Norman Missha Molton Brown Morphe Cosmetics NARS Natura Natural Wonder Nature Republic Neal's Yard Remedies Neutrogena Nexxus Nivea NYX Cosmetics O Boticário OPI Oriflame Origins Paula Begoun Pond's Red Earth Revlon Richard Hudnut Rimmel Sephora Shiseido Shu Uemura SimplySiti Sinful Colors SK-II Skin Food Stila Tarte Cosmetics The Body Shop The Face Shop Ulta Beauty Ultima II Uoma Beauty Urban Decay Vaseline Victoria's Secret Wella Younique Yves Rocher
Categories Companies People History

v t e Human hair
Classification	by type Lanugo Body Terminal Vellus by location Body Ear Nose Eyebrow unibrow Eyelash Underarm Chest Abdominal Pubic Leg
Head hairstyles(list of hairstyles)	Afro Afro puffs Asymmetric cut Bald Bangs Beehive Big hair Blowout Bob cut Bouffant Bowl cut Braid Broccoli haircut Brush, butch, burr cut Bun (odango) Bunches Businessman cut Butterfly haircut Buzz cut Caesar cut Chignon Chonmage Comb over Conk Cornrows Crew cut Crochet braids Croydon facelift Curly hair Curtained hair Czupryna Devilock Dido flip Digital perm Dreadlocks Ducktail Edgar cut Eton crop Extensions Fauxhawk Feathered hair Finger wave Flattop Fontange French braid French twist Fringe Frosted tips Hair crimping Hair twists High and tight Hime cut Historical Christian hairstyles Hi-top fade Induction cut Ivy League, Harvard, Princeton cut Japanese women Jewfro Jesus look Jheri curl Kinky hair Kiss curl Laid edges Layered hair Liberty spikes Long hair Lob cut Lovelock Marcelling Mod cut Mohawk Mullet 1950s 1980s Pageboy Part Payot Pigtail Pixie cut Pompadour Ponytail Punch perm Professional cut Queue Quiff Rachel Rattail Razor cut Regular haircut Ringlets Shag Shape-up Shikha Shimada Short back and sides Short brush cut Short hair Spiky hair Straight hair Standard haircut Step cut Surfer hair Taper cut Temple fade Titus cut Tonsure Updo Undercut Victory rolls Waves Widow's peak Wigs Wings
Facial hair(list)	Beard Chinstrap Goatee Ned Kelly Shenandoah Soul patch Van Dyke Moustache Fu Manchu handlebar horseshoe pencil toothbrush walrus Designer stubble Sideburns
Hair subtraction	cosmetic Removal waxing threading plucking chemical electric laser IPL Shaving head leg cream brush soap Razor electric safety straight disorders Alopecia areata frictional universalis totalis Pattern hair loss Hypertrichosis Management Trichophilia Trichotillomania Pogonophobia
Haircare products	Brush Clay Clipper Comb Conditioner Dryer Gel Hairstyling products Hot comb Iron Mousse Pomade Relaxer Rollers Shampoo Spray Volumizer Wax Hair texture powder
Haircare techniques	Backcombing Hair coloring Crimping Curly Girl Method Hair cutting Perm Shampoo and set Straightening
Health and medical	Greying of hair Hair follicle Hair growth Trichology
Related	Andre Walker Hair Typing System Beard and haircut laws by country Bearded lady Barber (pole) Eponymous hairstyle Frizz Good hair Tonsure Sheitel Hairdresser list Hair fetishism Wig