A cosmetic product sprayed onto hair to keep it in place by forming a stiff coating.
Compound of 'hair' from Old English 'hær' and 'spray' from Middle Dutch 'sprayden' (to sprinkle). Invented in the 1940s using aerosol technology developed during WWII, revolutionizing hairstyling.
Hairspray technology emerged from WWII aerosol research, meaning the same science that created insecticides also gave us big hair. The 1980s wouldn't have looked the same without this military-derived beauty product enabling gravity-defying hairstyles.
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