Aqua Net
Aqua Net is an aerosol hair spray created by Rayette of St. Paul, Minnesota. The company brought the product to retail stores in 1961. By 1964, hairspray had become the top-selling beauty product in America. and for its marketing strategy, which aimed to make hair spray "as ubiquitous as soap". The brand is known for its distinctive large purple spray cans, and the spray itself is known for its strong hold and distinctive smell. History. Aqua Net was invented by the Rayette Company of St. Paul, Minnesota in the 1950s. Rayette was founded by chemist Raymond E.  Lee in 1935 and specialized in professional hair care products including shampoo and hair coloring as well as curlers, dryers, rollers, brushes, and hairnets. By 1959 the company had annual sales of over $11 million. Mark L. Arend and George Barrie took over the firm in 1959. Barrie immediately began an aggressive marketing campaign and increased sales by 700% The company acquired Faberge in 1963 for $20 million. Sources differ on its availability around this time. One source describes it as being initially available only in hair salons and not offered directly for sale to the public until  the late 1950s. Another states that this change happened in 1961. Yet another says that it was on the market as early as 1953, but does not specify whether that included direct sale to the public, or only to salons. Regardless of how they obtained it, those who did have access to it in the 1950s and 1960s found it suitable for facilitating the bouffant hairstyles popular in those decades, such as the beehive. In the 1960s, Aqua Net was advertised by The Three Stooges. In the 1980s, a renewed trend for big hair, and the rise of glam rock  and hair metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Cinderella resulted in the widespread use of hair spray in mainstream and alternative culture alike. Aqua Net became synonymous with these trends during that decade. In the 1980s, Aqua Net was advertised by Donna Mills. Around January 1989, Fabergé entered talks to sell a number of brands, including Aqua Net, to Unilever. The sale was completed in February 1989. c. 1989-1992, Aqua Net was the subject of a product safety lawsuit, "Nowak v. Faberge USA", that has since entered legal textbooks. In the 1990s, Aqua Net was used by punk musicians  such as Lars Fredriksen and Michelle Cruz Gonzales. The brand was acquired from Unilever in 2006 by Lornamead, Inc. Lornamead instigated a rebranding effort intended to reference the product's heritage by reviving parts of its original design elements. Li & Fung acquired Lornamead in 2012. Lornamead is currently part of Meiyume, owned by a joint venture between the Fung Group and Hony Capital called LH Pegasus. Composition and health effects. Aqua Net's ingredients include dimethyl ether, SD alcohol 40-B, and aminomethyl propanol. From at least 1970 through 1972, during a period in which it was manufactured by Fabergé , Aqua Net contained vinyl chloride as a propellant. Vinyl chloride exposure is associated with a raised risk of certain liver cancers. In 2002, during the period in which it was manufactured by Unilever, Aqua Net was reported to contain the phthalates dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diethyl phthalate (DEP). Pthalates are associated with male reproductive dysfunction. Alternative uses. Besides hairstyling, Aqua Net has been used: